Early iPhone Prototype Resembles Latest iPhone 5 Part Leaks

As we noted, The Verge has come across a number of photos of iPhone prototypes in court documents related to Apple's lawsuit with Samsung. One of the early prototype images seemed particularly familiar to us.

This two-tone design with a central aluminum backing looks like an early version of the rumored next-generation iPhone:


On the right is a prototype iPhone design posted by the Verge. The image on the left is a rendering of the next generation iPhone by Blackpool Creative. The rendering was based on leaked parts of the upcoming iPhone. The parts were also shown on video here:


Similar parts have been circulating for a couple of months now. One early report described it as such:

According to our source, Apple will make one major change to the rear casing, adding a metal panel to the central back of the new iPhone. This panel will be flat, not curved, and metal, not ceramic.

It seems possible that the new iPhone has evolved from some of the early Apple prototyping of possible designs.