Following reports yesterday of a leaked iPhone 5 case diagram, website 9to5Mac today published photos of what it claims to be an actual iPhone 5 case. The case’s shape suggests that the new iPhone will get a complete visual revamp, becoming thinner with a flat back that is edged with tapered curves similar in style to the iPad 2.
According to 9to5Mac, the images come from a Chinese manufacturer who previously leaked accurate images of iPad 2 case molds before the iPad 2 was released.
The images of the iPhone 5 case also indicate that the location of the iPhone’s ringer/mute switch will be switched to the opposite side of the phone from its current position of just above the iPhone’s volume buttons.
A second image published by 9to5Mac shows the case from the front:
9to5Mac claims that multiple Asian iPhone case manufacturers are actively shopping new iPhone 5 cases to potential retail outlets.
Today’s photos follow on the heels of reports yesterday that revealed blueprints for an iPhone 5 case that were leaked by Chinese case manufacturers. Website MobileFun made headlines by publishing the diagram, seen below.
That report from MobileFun included an image of a manufactured iPhone 5 case that resembles today’s leak, right down to the relocated ringer/mute switch:
The leaked iPhone 5 case blueprints show a large band aid-shaped cutout for the iPhone’s home button, indicating a radical change to that area. This seems to match previous reports that the iPhone 5’s home button will be replaced with an elongated touch-sensitive strip. While some have speculated that this meant Apple was removing the home button altogether, we believe the touch strip will work in tandem with a slightly different tactile home button, and the touch strip will simply add new functionality, like the ability to swipe through home screens.
Earlier reports from this year had also hinted that the iPhone 5 would get a major visual overhaul similar to what is being shown today. A concept of the iPhone 5 created by Japanese website Macotakara in March, which were in turn based on reports out of China, shows the iPhone with a flat back with round tapered edges similar to what the leaked iPhone 5 cases show today. That concept image is shown below.
In April, This Is My Next reported that Apple was testing a redesigned iPhone 5 with a teardrop shape that goes from thick to thin. Their mock-up photo, however, does not resemble what the photos published today indicate.
Are they really real? or is it just an idea of how they will look like?
The crazy Chinese people made a fake iPhone 5, based on this cases and the called it the hiPhone 5. LOL