The iPhone 4 and a potential "iPhone 5" prototype. Photo courtesy of French blog nowhereelse.fr

Get ready for the next iPhone. Apple is set to release what’s been unofficially dubbed the “iPhone 5″ on Wednesday, the first iPhone release since the passing of Steve Jobs last year. Here’s some of the top rumors about what to expect, plus this promising video of what looks like the new phone.

The most consistent rumors indicate a bigger screen and a new dock connector. It looks like Apple may be changing its screen size to four inches, a 14 percent increase over its current models. In addition, a Reuter’s report in July suggested Apple will be switching to a 19-pin dock connector (as opposed to the 30-pin consistent across devices) to make room for bigger, better speakers. Get ready to buy all new devices for your Apple products, unless someone decides to make an adapter.

Moderately-consistent rumors indicate the new iPhone will revert back to a metal body, as opposed to the glass body currently on the iPhones 4 and 4S, which many have complained is too breakable. Other reports have suggested the battery in the new phone may be bigger, which will be necessary if the phone follows through on the rumors about a bigger screen and more powerful processor. Also, many in the industry are expecting Apple to introduce 4G LTE capabilities on the new phone, which has pretty much become an industry standard.

The more spectacular rumors still swirling question whether Apple will embrace security-enhancing technology or NFC (near-field communication) chips, which would allow payment with a phone (like swiping a credit card) and beaming information between devices. The latter is looking less and less likely, though.

As always, though, only time (and Apple) will tell. Keep an eye on the news on Wednesday to see how spot-on (or off) these predictions are!