14 DAY TRIAL // Adding another blade to the iPhone 5 rumor mill, physical cases purportedly fitting an Apple iPhone 5 have been leaked to a Mac-centric blog whose editors try to align the design specifications with rumors regarding the next-generation of Apple smartphones.
Obtained by 9to5mac.com, the fluorescent-green silicone case displayed in the image above next to an iPhone 4 case seems to corroborate claims that Apple’s next handset will boast a tapered design, much like that of the iPod touch line of portable players.
Softpedia has long advocated that Apple could achieve a thinner iPhone 5 - more visually than physically - with a tapered design that does well to hide the spot where the phones comes at its thickest point.
The method is applied to numerous Apple products, including the MacBook Air, the iMac, the iPad and, of course the iPod touch.
In fact, if our theory is correct, the next-generation iPhone 5 will look much like the original (2G) iPhone, which many believe was the best-looking iPhone ever shipped by Apple.
And that's pretty close to this concept iPhone 5 rendering on the left (click to enlarge).
Should this case design prove accurate (a perfect match for the actual iPhone 5), the placement of some physical buttons will be different on the next-generation of iPhones.
Specifically, the hardware-lock switch appears to have moved from the left-hand side (where it is currently placed on the iPhone 4, above the volume buttons) to the right-hand side (adjacent to the back-facing camera) when viewing the device from the front.
The case does well not only to corroborate rumors, but also to squash some of them, such as talk of a relocated back side camera, or a second LED flash.
Perhaps the second LED flash is not entirely bogus, as the leaked case cannot confirm whether or not Apple is placing it on the front of the device, to serve the front-facing camera on the iPhone 5.
