In an announcement made via the Skype blog on Monday, Microsoft's Skype team has revealed that it is preparing to release a brand new version of Skype for iOS. The latest version - version 5.0 - will require iOS 7 or higher, and an iPhone 4 or newer iPhone models.

Revealing that the new Skype for iOS 5.0 version will give Skype a substantial speed boost on the iPhone, the Skype team said that it is currently putting the finishing touches on the new version which will be released worldwide in mid-June.

The Skype team has posted a few screenshots of the new Skype for iOS 5.0 version on the Skype for iPhone page. The screenshots show that the new Skype for iOS version will boast a flatter design, and will be more than five-fold faster than its predecessor.

In addition to the speed enhancement, the Skype 5.0 version for iPhone will be comparatively less laggy than the present version, and will offer a much smoother experience when users scroll and transition from one screen to another. Moreover, it will also enable iPhone to start up group chats from the hub, and also to send messages and photos to offline contacts.

Asserting the redesigned Skype for iOS version will be available across the world in "about a week," Skype Product Marketing Manager Eric Lin said in the blog post: "This is the biggest change ever to Skype for iPhone, and soon we will be delivering a new iPad version too."