Leak stands to confirm that Apple will not refresh the design this year

May 9, 2013 12:49 GMT  ·  By

Every year there are high hopes that Apple will do more than just beef up its iPhone’s inner workings, but it seems fans still can’t “escape” the incremental, bi-annual S upgrade.

All rumors so far have pointed to a new iPhone version that looks and feels virtually the same as the iPhone 5, and a new leak via Nowehereelse.fr stands to confirm these rumors.

Pictured above (and to the left) is what the French site claims to be a portion of the iPhone 5S circuit board, namely a part that holds together the phone’s camera modules.

Compared to the same part in the current-generation iPhone 5, it seems that Apple has made no major redesign – only improvements – in this department.

While the functionality could be somewhat different, the part itself is almost identical in shape and size to the current model.

Such leaks are a common occurrence ahead of a new refresh, but there’s still a lot of debate as to when Apple will launch this new model.

The Worldwide Developers Conference in June promises to yield a couple of exciting software announcements, but no iPhone refresh.

However, come fall 2013, Apple will reportedly have a “blizzard” of new products to dazzle the fan base with. Among those new products, a family of iPhones is predicted to arrive.

Unlike previous years, this time around Apple plans to unleash as many as three new iPhone models to cater to all audiences, analysts say. And many pundits agree.

The iPhone 5S may be the first model to arrive with multiple color options, according to several sources. A company called Anostyle has shown it’s not only doable, but very easy to achieve and quite popular with the user base. Apple has had every indication that it should do the same.