iPhone 5 Release Date Disregarded as Manufacturers Commence Selling Cases
iPhone 5 cases have been flooding retail supplier markets as Chinese manufacturers attempt to cash-in early on the highly anticipated Apple release.
Manufacturing companies have allegedly started to build and package cases for the unreleased iPhone 5 after receiving leaked CAD diagrams of the phone.
The iPhone 5 cases are already available to buy by bulk order from numerous Asian websites in a move that will anger Apple chiefs.
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Websites such as Alibaba.com is one of the websites offering the new cases for sale, and will source the cases from small enterprise companies such as Dongguan Zhi Shang Hong Plastics Trading Co and C&T Industry Company Limited.
The cases on offer appear to confirm rumors that Apple is currently working on two new models of iPhones; the iPhone 5, as well as the iPhone 4S.
The iPhone 4S will apparently be a cheaper version of the iPhone 4 and will be more widely available through prepaid deals on various networks.
The designs of the iPhone 4S cases appear to have moved the ringer switch to the other side of the phone, which matches the apparent design on the new iPhone 5.
Earlier this week images of the possible case design for Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 were posted online by British cell phone blog site, Mobile Fun.
The pictures were supposedly leaked from a Chinese case manufacturer according to the blog which suggests that the image along with another image they received from another manufacturer shortly after, show a “radical evolution” of the iPhone concept between the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5.
Mobile Fun explains that the screen size has “been extended considerably,” from 3.5 inches to 4 even though the size of the phone remains the same as the iPhone 4.
Apple has accomplished this by shrinking the bezel and making the screen stretch from edge to edge without wasting any extra space.
The curvature of the new model, which was done away with in the iPhone 4 design, seems to show Apple reverting back to the initial shape and “curvaceous ways” of previous designs.
The rear panel of the case curves gently back around the edges in the pictures much like the iPhone 3G, leading the blog to assume that the backing will be made out of metal and could serve as a replacement for the side antennae on the iPhone 4.
The case in one of the design pictures leaves space for the apple logo on the back which the blog says may lead to rumors that the logo will actually serve as the phone’s antennae. However, the space left for the logo is not consistent in both pictures.
For the controls, the physical home screen button seems to be replaced with a touch sensitive ovaloid area which takes up the middle half of the bottom border. Given its increased size, the blog suggests the area may be used for unique multi-touch gestures.
The blog concluded that the iPhone 5, or at least from what could be assumed about its design from the pictures, is a mix between the best of the iPhone 4 and the previous models.
