Apple might be famous for simplifying things for its customers, but there's no doubt the company loves every moment of the hysteria surrounding the launch of its iPhone 5.

The Cupertino technology giant has been extremely tight-lipped about its new iPhone. No official press releases. No detailed discussion of specs from its engineers. Not even an official announcement, or release date. When you're Apple, you let the people do the work for you. And that's part of the company's genius.

On Monday Chinese website Apple.pro claimed photos of the front assembly of the next gen iPhone. The photos showed a new component never seen before in the iPhone, which was speculated to be a near field communication device.

"At first glance the images appear to be similar to those of a semi-assembled front panel published earlier this month, however closer inspection reveals more parts are present, including what could be a near field communication chip located next to the unit's front-facing camera," Apple Insider reported.

The report cited Japanese Apple blog MacOtakara, which said that the square-sized component, covered by EMI shielding, was similar to the dimensions of currently available NFC packages, such as NXP's 5 millimeter-by-5 millimeter solution.

So, considering all these information and leaks at a time when the next iPhone is just weeks away, it does sound quite reasonable to believe that mobile payment would indeed be possible via NFC in the new iPhone.

With everyone clamoring to get their hands on anything iPhone 5 it's difficult to identify truth from conjecture - new rumors on specs seem to change almost daily. And today is no different.

While stories about the iPhone 5's rumored NFC have been circulating on the Internet for the past few days, now, new rumors suggest this may not be the case.

According to AnandTech, "They said in one of their reports Monday that the new iPhone's backside ruled out the possibility of NFC within the device. According to the report, inclusion of NFC is very unlikely because of the mostly metal back plate of the next iPhone. Given the primarily metal backside of the new iPhone, it's highly unlikely that NFC is in the cards for this generation. In fact, given the very little space at top and bottom dedicated to those glass RF windows, you can almost entirely rule it out," the report explained.

As CNET has pointed out, NFC antennas are big inductors and need sufficient and dense space, "more than would be possible if it were placed at the tight top or bottom of the phone's assembly."

"With an NFC antenna at the extreme top or bottom, alignment with non-iPhones (for example, payment tokens or reader tags) becomes a much more confusing task, and that doesn't seem like the Apple-like level of polish everyone is waiting for to drive NFC adoption," said the AnandTech report.

As far as the mystery component seen in the photos, AnandTech speculated it to be the touch and display controller meant for the new iPhone's thinner in-cell touchscreen.

The report also challenged the inclusion of "Passbook" in iOS 6 as the most significant piece of evidence for Apple incorporating NFC in the iPhone 5. According to it, "Passbook" in iOS 6 isn't necessarily an indication of NFC as "Apple hasn't disclosed at all whether it would favor NFC or a Bluetooth LE (low-energy) or even QR code based payment token through that gateway."

While NFC may be out of the picture, here's what most can agree are the features of the iphone5:

According to speculation the iPhone 5 will flaunt a slimmer body in thickness, but a wider screen. The current model has a screen of 3.5 inches, while speculators say the new one will have a screen of four inches; others think it could be even bigger - 4.8 inches. The Washington Post reports, "It's likely that Apple's going to pump up the screen size. But, since Apple is a company that prizes usability, it's unlikely that the phone will get too big for the majority of consumers to use one-handed."

In addition to the larger size, The Wall Street Journal predicts the screen will contain a new in-cell design in which the touch-screen sensors are embedded within the LCD screen, the new technology allows for higher quality graphics. The technology also permits the body of the phone to be more slender than its predecessor.

You're going to need new accessories. Reuters reported that the new iPhone would come with a new dock connector. According to the report the dock connector of the iPhone 5 will be a 19-pin port as opposed to the 30 pin port connector of the iPhone 4S. This essentially means that the accessories including chargers that iPhone users possess now will be rendered useless should they decide to up-grade to the latest iPhone

According to an insider from Apple "the leaked [iPhone 5] design has three pieces of metal instead of four. It still has two U-shaped pieces at the top and bottom, but this time the two flat sides become one single piece of metal that also comprises the back of the device. That single piece of metal is the unibody backplate."

According to The Telegraph, users could stream music without the need of a WiFi network wih the help of the new upgrade. "Sources familiar with the iPhone-maker's plans said that Apple wants to improve the AirPlay wireless music streaming technology, which currently requires Airplay speakers and a WiFi network. The new version will require just speakers or a hifi and an iDevice; the iPhone, iPod or iPad would form its own network to allow a direct connection and music playback."

The name "AirPlay Direct" is not set to be the final and could be changed until the September 12 Apple event when it is rumored to be introduced. The reason for bringing an update to AirPlay is the new smaller dock connector.

If rumors are true, then after the launch on September 12, the phone will be out in stores on the 21st, but Apple will begin accepting pre-orders on the day of the launch. 

Eric Savitz of Forbes Magazine says that the sales of iPhone 5 might be the most important in the company's history. According to business analysts, Apple might sell as many as 250 million of its next generation iPhone.