14 DAY TRIAL // A prototype 30-pin dock connector allegedly crafted for Apple’s iPhone 5 has been leaked via a Taiwanese website whose moderator claims it is indicative of the phone’s thinner design. The person leaking this image also upholds that earlier 4-inch screen leaks were fake.
It is unclear where tw.apple.pro gets its information from, but the site has been accurate in the past - for example, leaking the screens of Apple’s sixth-generation iPod nano.
The Taiwanese source now claims to have an image of an iPhone 5 part. Labeled "821-1300-02 HF/c1," the dock connector is shown tethered to its internal ribbon cable which bridges it with the rest of the phone’s inner workings.
The source interestingly alleges that Apple is working on an iPhone with a "sliding cover," using a "frame shape."
This device would be similar to the iPhone 4 but "slightly thicker," it claims.
Apple has been more than reluctant to introduce an iPhone with a slide-out keyboard and has, in fact, rejected all possibilities of replacing the adaptable, virtual keyboard with a physical one.
The source also weighs in on the possibility of seeing a 3D display on one of Apple’s upcoming iPhones, though not the one launching this summer, it says.
Finally, tw.apple.pro claims that the digitizer screen leak we reported on earlier this week was a fake. Based on the leaked image, many assumed Apple was to introduce a 4-inch iPhone, though Taiwan’s source upholds this is not the case.
The June-July timeframe is when Apple is widely believed to introduce its next-generation iPhone this summer, in accordance with the company’s annual product refresh cycles.
At its March 2 event (tomorrow), Apple may preview iOS 5, the next major version of the mobile operating system developed by the company to power iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads.
iPhone 5 is expected to ship with iOS 5 preinstalled.