iPhone 5

If you haven't seen enough photos of iPhone 5 components yet, here's another that's sure to light up your day. The fact that the next generation dock connector is rumored to be an 8-pin symmetrical design is exciting enough. No more fumbling around in the dark with a 30-pin connector and trying to get it to plug in the right way.

Even better is the prospect that Apple plans to incorporate MagSafe technology into the next generation iPhone port. The photo above from nowhereelse.fr clearly shows a metallic housing on the smaller dock port that could indicate MagSafe functionality.

One of the more significant changes that could be coming to the next generation iPhone is a completely redesigned screw. This photo featured on BGR shows a rendering of what is claimed to be an iPhone 5 assembly screw. As you can see, this design leaves no room for at-home repair.

In fact, should this design actually come to fruition, the screw head has no known tools capable of turning the part and loosening the iPhone 5 chassis. The screw is completely asymmetric, unlike any bolt or screw seen before on mobile electronic hardware.

Although these next generation iPhone battery photos from 9to5 Mac may not be much to look at, they give us some more insight into the iPhone 5 hardware coming this fall. With a larger display and an LTE radio, the iPhone 5 will require more power in a slimmer package.

Assuming Apple goes with the battery pictured above, the component is slightly thinner and increases capacity to 1440 mAh over the iPhone 4S at 1430 mAh. Voltage is also increased in the new battery from 3.7 to 3.8 volts. As it turns out, these increases are not as large as some were expecting to see.

The smaller, 19-pin dock connector expected to arrive with the next generation iPhone may be a different design after all. Leaked photos on 9to5 Mac show a dock connector cable with 16 pins, including 8 on each side. Apparently only 8 pins would be used in the iPhone 5, with the other side reserved for future use.

The plug has contacts that look more like a USB cable or SD memory card, and would not have to be oriented in a particular direction to connect. This symmetrical design simplifies the process of plugging in a dock cable to the port at the bottom of the iPhone or accessories. Speaking of which, there is some concern that the new design will render many third-party accessories obsolete, despite a rumored adapter.

Do you hate when your iPhone doesn't automatically switch to 3G if your Wi-Fi connection is too slow? A new feature in iOS 6 will solve this problem. The new option called "Wi-Fi Plus Cellular" allows your iPhone to automatically switch to a cellular connection when Wi-Fi isn't doing the job. iPhone owners can also manage their data usage by toggling specific services on and off. As you can see from the picture below, the cellular option allows you to turn off access to iCloud Documents, iTunes, FaceTime, Passbook Updates and Reading List.

The "Wi-Fi Plus Cellular" option was discovered within the Settings menu in the latest iOS 6 beta by AppAdvice. The blog also discovered a toggle for Shared Calendar Alerts within the beta. When enabled, the new feature will notify you whenever the shared calendar is modified.