Hot Mobile Rumor Says Radically Redesigned iPhone 5 To Be Released in August

A new headline courtesy of the Boy Genius Report (BGR) has set the tech blogosphere ablaze today.

According to “reliable sources” speaking with BGR, Apple will release its 5th generation iPhone in August, not September as initially – and widely – reported.

But the most attention-worthy aspect of the report pertains to the design of the next generation handset. Until now, the lion-share of industry estimates have suggested that the new iPhone will be almost identical – at least in terms of its design – to the iPhone 4.

But BGR is confident that something “radical” lies ahead.

“While Apple has indeed been giving some developers access to a device known as the iPhone 4S — an iPhone 4 with upgraded internals — BGR has independently confirmed that the next-generation iPhone will not merely be an upgraded iPhone 4 as had been previously rumored,” the report asserts.

“We have been told by a reliable source to expect a radical new case design for the upcoming iPhone. We have not been given any additional details surrounding the design of the new iPhone case, though,” BGR concludes.

As you may have noticed by now, iPhone 5 rumors have been both plentiful and diverse this year. Three months ago, we heard that the device would have an internal antenna and aluminum body. Next we heard rumblings about the iPhone 5 sporting an edge-to-edge display and a n ultra slender teardrop-like design. Then, for the last eight weeks, we’ve heard that only small phsyical changes are on tap.

Could the BGR report be accurate or are we simply looking at yet another one of the rumor mill’s greatest contemporary hits?

Chances are we won’t know for sure until late summer when Apple finally lifts the curtain on the most eagerly anticipated smartphone release of 2011.