There are rumours doing the rounds that highly anticipated iPhone 5 is set to be launched on August 7. According to a report, the smartphone is expected to ship with Apple's iOS 6 operating system.

According to Daily Mail, in May established Apple site 9to5Mac revealed a leaked image of what is claimed to be the back of an iPhone5, and the site which has a good record for reporting accurate leaks from Apple has a plethora of details about the new model.

It estimated the new screen size at a very specific 3.999inches, with a resolution of 1136x640, giving the screen the 'Retina' like feel of the new iPad.

There appears to be a choice of colours, a black model and a white model, as has been the case with the last few models of iPhone.

Herald Sun says that Chinese blog Macotakara cites listings for iPhone 5 cases on China's Alibaba.com and says the back of the phone is made out of both glass and aluminium.

Some Chinese retailers are already accepting pre-orders even though the product release has not been formally announced, the International Business Times reported.