Is this what the iPhone 5 looks like?

Wed, Aug 10, 2011

What you’re looking at above are purported schematics of an iPhone 5 case sourced from a Chinese case manufacturer. The design above, if accurate, indicates that Apple’s next-gen iPhone will carry a larger edge to edge display (as has been previously rumored) along with a larger home button and a tapered design that resembles the iPad 2 in a small way.

Apple’s iPhone 5 design has been the source of much controversy and debate, and while some reports have suggested it will carry a similar form factor to the iPhone 4, some reports have pointed to a teardrop style design that goes from thick to think a’la the iPod Touch.

Suffice it to say, only Apple at this point really knows what the iPhone 5 will look like – but that’s not to say that we, along with millions of others, aren’t endlessly curious to find out now!

So with that in mind, MacRumors took some alleged iPhone 5 case schematics and commissioned a design firm to create some renderings depicting what the next-gen iPhone will look like.

Here’s what they came up with.

Okay, not too bad. They got the bigger screen in there which is nice, though it might take some time to adjust to the new oval home button.

It’s also possible, MacRumors notes, that the home button will retail its circular shape and that “Apple has simply allowed extra space for swiping across the home button in a left to right or right to left manner. There’s been some speculation that Apple could allow such a gesture for users to quickly switch between multitasking apps.”

This, of course, sounds a little bit like the Palm Pre and how its multitouch functionality extends beyond the display.

More photos after the break:

Moving along, these renderings are decidedly sleek, and much like the iPhone 4, they depict an iPhone with a flat back as opposed to the curved back of previous iPhone models.

Is that a teardrop design in the rendering below? Sure looks like it.

Lastly, MacRumors writes that the iPhone 5 design, if accurate, sports measurements of 4.33 inches by 2.36 inches and .27 inches at the top and .21 inches at the bottom. By way of comparison, iPhone 4 measures in at 4.5 inches by 2.31 inches and .37 in thickness.