Leaked iPhone 5 Design?

I've been following iPhone rumors since I decided in May of 2008 that the smartphone I wanted was an iPhone.  At that time, the iPhone was in the $399-$499 price range; there was no App Store; pictures were 2MP with no autofocus, flash or HDR; there was no GPS; there was no gyroscope; there was no multitasking (some say there still is none); there were no push notifications - well, you get the picture.  The iPhone was in its infancy and although it gained a lot of notoriety, only those with deep pockets could afford one.

But, in those days, iPhone rumors were, more or less, spot on.  I even told an AT&T employee that the iPhone's price would drop into the $199-$299 range and he said, "No way!"

In my pre-iPhone 3G posts, I already knew the features of the next iPhone.  Since then, iPhone rumors have taken a life of its own.  These days, I take each rumor with a grain of salt.  But this morning, there may have been a leak of the real iPhone 5 design that we will eventually see when the product is unveiled in the coming weeks.

Case-mate put up an interesting iPhone 5/iPhone 4S page.  Rumor has it that there will be up to two iPhones being released this fall with the 5 being the major upgrade and the 4S being the minor upgrade.  The 4S will replace the iPhone 4 because it will have a GSM/CDMA chip in it becoming a true world phone.  But, those who want to spend a little more for the very best will get the iPhone 5.  Now, Case-mate seems to plead the 5th in all of this saying that they're not sure that there will be an iPhone 5 or an iPhone 4S.  But, their "inside resources" have the details on the new form factor and launch date.  Case-mate goes on to tell us the same information that we have been getting with all of the rumors from the tech blogs, so none of this is really new.  But, it's interesting that an iPhone case manufacturer would reiterate tech blog blather.

What's even more interesting is that the Boy Genius Report found actual web pages and images of its forthcoming iPhone 5 cases.  Case-mate took down the links to those cases, but I managed to find a few of them still online.

The images throughout these articles are screen captures from the Case-mate website.  Although MacRumors seems to think that these mockups are based on a leaked design document used by Asian manufacturers, the fact that links to these picture have been taken down signals to me some kind of legitimacy and possibly an accidental posting of actual cases that will go on sale.

If these pictures are the real deal, then it looks like the iPhone 5 will indeed be thinner, have a metal backing, tapered edges, the same positioning of the camera flash, iPad 2-like volume controls, and the mute button on the opposite side of the iPhone.

Personally, I like this look.  It definitely goes hand-in-hand with the latest version of the iPad.

Just a few days ago, there was a report that the iPhone 5 would NOT be redesigned.  I was even ready to blog that we need to accept the fact that the next iPhone will be a relatively minor upgrade (like the 3GS).

I'm not getting an iPhone 5.  I'll wait until my two year contract is up next year and perhaps by then there will be an LTE iPhone.  But for those who are looking to upgrade now, it's looking better and better.