Apple iPhone 5 rumors emerge: Thinner, faster, later-to-arrive?

While Apple is notoriously silent about its plans and challenges, the Wall Street Journal today added to reports that company could possibly delay the launch of the iPhone 5 beyond the third quarter, when it's widely expected to arrive.

With the impact that the iPhone has had on carrier networks, first AT&T and now Verizon, any delay adds a new twist in the mobile data wars.

In June, Apple introduced a new operating system, OS X Lion, as well as iCloud services, at its Worldwide Developer Conference. However, unlike in past years, it didn't also introduce its most fervent supporters to its newest handset, leaving many to speculate that it would arrive in July, with Lion. Now, sources are saying that, due to assembling challenges faced by Apple supplier Hon Hai Precision (also known as Foxconn), the device could be pushed back even further.

The challenges are being attributed to features the newest iPhone is expected to boast: a slimmer, lighter physique, in addition to an 8-megapixel camera.

The Journal, citing an unnamed source and backing a longtime rumor, said the newest iPhone will also run a Qualcomm chip. In May, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo — surely earning himself a whack on the knuckles from Apple — also confirmed the presence of the dual-mode Qualcomm chip, which would enable to phone to run on both CDMA and GSM networks.

Apple actually began making this move with the Verizon version of the iPhone 4, which the teardown team at iFixit confirmed contained a Qualcomm MDM600 chip, instead of the Infineon chip Apple had used in previous handsets.

"Can it be that ... when the iPhone 5 is released there will be just one phone for both Verizon and AT&T? That would be great," iFixit's M.J. said in a Feb. 8 video. "We can't tell just yet, but what we can tell is that while the chip supports both GSM and CDMA, there's no modding this phone to work on AT&T."