Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for today:

Consumers Waiting for Next iPhone: A survey from ChangeWave finds that anticipation for Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) next-generation iPhone is rising, Apple Insider notes. The June survey found that 31% of 4,042 consumers in the survey were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to purchase the new iPhone, which is expected to debut sometime this fall. That compares to 21.5% of consumers who expressed similar sentiments about the iPhone 4S in October 2011. That iPhone sold 37 million units in the three months after its launch. Some 19% of consumers surveyed said they planned to purchase a Samsung smartphone in the next three months, with at least 9% of respondents saying they were at least “somewhat likely” to purchase a Galaxy S III phone. The Galaxy’s larger screen sized was cited as the leading reason for their preference.

New iPhone Already in Production: Pegatron has started manufacturing Apple’s next-generation iPhone at its factory in Shanghai, according to DigiTimes. The report follows similar rumors on Japanese blogs. Most analysts expect the new iPhone to be unveiled in September or October, so it would be reasonable for manufacturing to begin around now. Sources in the report say Pegatron anticipates offsetting declines in laptop orders with the new iPhone.

Apple Makes Hardware Shifts in Next iPhone: In addition to a larger screen, the next-generation iPhone will break from its predecessors by featuring a smaller dock connector, Reuters says. All previous iPhone models, as well as the iPad, have used Apple’s long-standing 30-pin connector. However, the new iPhone will ditch the 30-pin connector in favor of a 19-pin connector. The move is meant to conserve space in order to relocate the earphone jack to the bottom of the phone. That would make the new iPhone incompatible with a large number of existing accessories.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.