“Despite some rumors to the contrary, according to our sources Apple still hasn’t finalized the design of the next generation iPhone 5 (or whatever Apple ends up calling iPhone 5,1). No giant screen,” Rene Ritchie reports for iMore. “No 16:9 aspect ratio. No metal back.”

“Apple typically makes extensive use of the prototyping process, which could well be the source of inconsistent rumors (perhaps best seen in the conflicting iPhone rumors last year),” Ritchie reports. “Currently, the new, smaller dock connector is being implemented, but no changes to screen size or aspect ratio have been decided on. And yes, it still has a Home button.”

Ritchie reports, “Once again we’re hearing that if the screen size does change, it won’t be by a lot (no larger than 4-inches). We’ve heard nothing to indicate a planned change in the aspect ratio either way… October is still the planned launch period, alongside the 7-inch iPad.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: According to whispers we’ve heard, any smaller iPad, if produced, would most likely feature a 7.85-inch screen. As for the next-gen iPhone, the rumors are so hot and heavy that the only “certainty” we can nail down with any confidence is 4G LTE capability.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers "Fred Mertz" and "Lynn Weiler" for the heads up.]