The real story of the iPhone 5

Tech giant unable to craft curvy Gorilla.

Today, the web is positively buzzing with news about Apple scrapping its 4in iPhone 5 powerhouse a mere few months before its official launch, only to replace it with the incremental improvement that was the 4S. Well, we been made privy to a rather interesting development in this ubiquitous iPhone 5 tale.

See also: Top 5 future tablets

According to an anonymous source who works with Chinese components manufacturers, it wasn't just a case of Steve Jobs asserting his authority through fear of fragmenting the entire iPhone range.

It was actually Apple's ambitious plans to adorn the fifth-gen iPhone with a curved Gorilla Glass display that threw a spanner in the works, scuppering our iPhone 5 hopes and dreams in the process.

Our source tells us Apple's designers simply couldn't find a cost-effective way of manipulating the scratch-resistant glass into the iPhone 5's intended form-factor – leading to Cupertino nixing the phone's planned October launch.

With rumours pointing to Apple's purchase of 200-300 glass-cutting machines specialising in curved displays, hopes for a curvaceous glass screen before the impending launch were at an all time high. But it appears Apple was a little too ambitious, and it just didn't have enough turnaround time to unveil a more radical curvy design for the iPhone 5.

If we don't see curvaceous hardware next year, there's a very strong possibility Apple will get there in the end.