New features of the iPhone 5 are being revealed as the release date gets closer.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the new Apple iPhone 5, which is currently being manufactures by Asian component makers, will use a new technology that males the smartphone's screen thinner, people familiar with the matter said.

The new technology is called in-cell. Japanese liquid-crystal-display makers Sharp Corp. and Japan Display Inc.-a new company that combined three Japanese electronics makers' display units-as well as South Korea's LG Display Co. are currently mass producing panels for the next iPhone using so-called in-cell technology, the people said.

The technology integrates touch sensors into the LCD, making it unnecessary to have a separate touch-screen layer. The absence of the layer, usually about half-a-millimeter thick, not only makes the whole screen thinner, but improves the quality of displayed images.

The current iPhone 4S is 9.3 millimeters thick, according to Apple's official website. According to PC Authority, KGI Securities analyst concluded earlier this year that Apple's next phone would be a mere 7.9mm thick.

For Apple, the new technology would also simplify the supply chain and help cut costs as it would no longer need to buy touch panels and LCD panels from separate suppliers.

The Journal also reported that while in-cell technology creates extra room for other components such as batteries, the in-cell touch screens are harder to manufacture than conventional LCD screens.

This new feature will bring a thinner iPhone, improved screen imagine, a lighter phone, more space for a larger battery, and faster, streamline manufacturing, according to Time.

Earlier reports suggested that the new iPhone 5 will come out around August. According to BGR, this is not true. From a trusted source, BGR learned that Apple goes through multiple stages before a product is manufactures, and two of these include the "engineering verification test" stage and the "design verification test" phase. Apple's sixth-generation iPhone is currently in the EVT3 stage, the third revision of the engineering test stage, and has not yet entered the DVT stage. This is proof that Apple has not started production yet, according to BGR.

BGR also confirmed that Apple is testing units that have 1GB of RAM, doubled from the iPhone 4S's 512MB. Also, the phone will have integrated 4G LTE radios, and NFC hardware will be in it. "We're expecting Apple's new iPhone to be released at the end of September or early October," the reports says.