Apple will shave milimetres off its next-generation iPhone thanks to in-cell touch panel technology designed to make the smartphone its thinnest yet.
The panels, built by Sharp, Display Inc and LG, will slim down the device's screen by integrating touch sensors into the LCD, making the separate touch-screen layer redundant, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The layer, around half a millimetre thick, is said to improve image quality.
Apple's iPhone 4S sits at 9.3mm thick, but analyst predict the next generation device will be merely 7.9mm thick - around the same size as Apple's iPod Touch.
Rumours of in-cell touch tech being incorporated into the iPhone 5 first surfaced earlier in the year.
Soon to drop
European mobile carriers are stockpiling the Apple-designed nano-SIM card, in anticipation of the iPhone 5's launch.
The smartphone is widely expected to launch around September this year.
But carrriers are reportedly building up stockpiles of nano-SIM cards numbering in the millions, to meet the expected demand, according to the Financial Times.
The 4FF nano-SIM is 40 per cent smaller than the current micro-SIM.
A series of leaked photos suggest the next iPhone will feature a 4in 16:9-format widescreen retina display along with a smaller, redesigned dock connector.
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