This morning we reported Apple has now begun internally seeding a prototype next-gen iPhone with the the A5X chip that debuted in the new iPad and 1GB of RAM. Based on his recent trips to China and Taiwan, Topeka Capital Market analyst Brian White, who as of this morning has Apple’s price target at $1,001, has shared some new details of what he described as “the buzz around the new iPhone 5″. According to White (via Barron’s), he expects a “sleek” new iPhone to launch in the December quarter. He also expects the device to sport a new 4-inch display and include 4G LTE capabilities.

White sets his price target based on an expected August or September unveiling of the product claiming the launch “could be extraordinary, dwarfing previous launches and driving the stock closer to our $1,001 price target.” According to the report, Apple is expected to start component production for the “iPhone 5″ in June.

With one iOS device update out of the way for 2012, Apple is working on updates to the iPhone and iPod touch. While these updates are expected, we’ve learned some details about this new iPhone and iPod touch.

First, the new iPhone. Much like they did last year, Apple has internally seeded a prototype next-generation iPhone with the iPhone 4 design. The actual next-generation iPhone is specifically said to not include the iPhone 4/4S design, but Apple is testing these new devices in older casings to throw off leaks. The purpose of the prototype iPhone that we heard about is to test a variation of the “A5X” chip in an iPhone. The A5X processor in the new iPad was specifically built to drive the new Retina Display, so that chip wouldn’t make much sense in an iPhone.

Instead, the iPhone prototypes that we’re talking about have a variation of the A5X’s S5L8945Xarchitecture. Like the A5X-powered iPad, these new iPhone prototypes are packing 1GB of RAM. This prototype is labeled N96 internally, but we’re not sure if this internal codename will carry over to the actual next-generation iPhone. Again, this iPhone that we are describing is an internal-only unit built for testing the performance of a new chip in an iPhone, not an actual phone that Apple will produce.

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Do you remember all the way back to last week when a Foxconn HR/parking lot attendant told a Japanese news crew that the iPhone was coming in June?

Not so, says another un-named HR representative, reports Kokatu.

South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper begs to differ. According to a recently published article, the paper asked the head of human resources at Foxconn’s Taiyuan factory about the iPhone 5 release date. The human resources head apparently told the paper, “We just got the order. It [the release] will be around October.”