Twelve hours from now, someone–most likely new Apple CEO Tim Cook–will be standing on a stage in Cupertino, well into the company’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” event. Normally at this point, it feels like we have a pretty decent sense of what the company is about to announce. Not all the details–which is fine with me, since I like surprises–but two-thirds of the broad strokes.

This time? Things are surprisingly blurry. If there’s no Sprint iPhone of some sort, and no iPhone with ambitious voice commands based on the Siri technology Apple acquired, I’ll be startled. But we don’t really know whether there will be one iPhone or two. We don’t know if there will be a radically new iPhone 5 or one that’s a near-twin of the iPhone 4. We’re not sure if the screen size will change. Basically, most of scuttlebutt of the past few months is still in play.

So here’s a roundup of some of the major rumors. In each case, I’m linking to an article that spreads a rumor–and one which quashed it. If you need to refresh your memory, read any or all of ’em. And then–assuming you’re reading this before 10am PT on Tuesday–vote in our silly little poll. (I’ll report on the results once the news is out.

Rumor: There’s a new iPhone with a teardrop-shaped case.

Pro: Is This What the iPhone 5 Will Look Like, Josh Topolsky, This is My Next

Con: Teardrop Skepticism, John Gruber, Daring Fireball

Rumor: There’s a new iPhone with a larger screen.

Pro: Leaked iPhone 5 Screen protector Suggests a Larger Display and a Wider Home Button, Daisybahu, Redmond Pie

Con: iPhone 5 to Stick With Smaller Screen Size?, Lance Whitney, Cnet

Rumor: There’s a new iPhone with a fancy voice input feature.

Pro: The New iPhone…, Mark Gurman, 9to5Mac

Con: I can’t find any stories denying this possibility!

Rumor: There are two new iPhones.

Pro: “Apple is Releasing Two New iPhones Next Month, and Here’s Why, Jonathan Geller, BGR

Con: Only One New iPhone This Year and It Will Look a Lot Like the iPhone 4, Says Analyst, John Paczkowski, All Things D

Rumor: Sprint will have an iPhone.

Pro: Inside Sprint’s Bet on iPhone, Joanne Lublin and Spencer Ante, Wall Street Journal

Con: No Sprint iPhone 4 (or 5) this year means more Android smartphones, Joan Lee, The Pop Herald

Rumor: Sprint is the only carrier getting the iPhone 5.

Pro: Sprint scores iPhone 5 exclusive thanks to $20 billion deal with Apple?, Jonathan Geller, BGR

Con: BGR is Crazypants, says iPhone 5 is exclusive to Sprint, John Brownlee, Cult of Mac

Rumor: T-Mobile will have an iPhone.

Pro: T-Mobile to get iPhone 5 as well, report says, Josh Lowensohn, Cnet

Con: Well, T-Mobile denied it.

Rumor: New iPhone will come in capacities up to 64GB

Pro: Next iPhone to likely come in 64Gb, 32GB and 16GB capacities, Mark Gurman, 9to5Mac

Con: Vodafone UK Almost Confirms iPhone 5 to
come With 16/32GB Storage, Oliver Haslam, iDownloadBlog

Rumor: New iPhone will have an improved camera.

Pro: iPhone 5 rumoured to have improved camera flash, Andy Merrett, Cnet UK

Con: “Leaked” photo suggests the iPhone 5 camera won’t be much of an upgrade, Chris Foresman, Ars Technica

Rumor: New iPhone is a world phone.

Pro: iPhone 5: Thin ‘World Phone’ With No LTE 4G, Analyst Says, Brian Caufield, Forbes

Con: I can’t find any refutations of this rumor.

Rumor: A new iPhone will look much like the iPhone 4

Pro: iPhone 5 will look a whole lot like the iPhone 4: report, Matthew Shaer, Christian Science Monitor

Con: iPhone 5 to have radical new design according to Case-Mate images, Todd Haselton, BGR

Okay, ready to vote?

Thanks for chiming in–and if you happen to be reading this during the keynote at 10am PT on Tuesday, check out Macworld’s liveblog, the one I’ll be reading. (We’re also embedding it at technologizer.com/iphone5.)

 
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