Is the recently sighted mockup of a purported iPhone 5G case showing a wider screen and shifted flash component legit? One PCMag reader thinks it is—and what's more, he thinks it could mean Apple is planning to change the screen ratio on its next-generation smartphone to match it to the iPad's.A listing on Guangdong, China-based Kulcase's trading site AliBaba.com sighted Saturday by Electonista shows the front and back of what it claims to be the "Newest design crystal case for apple iPhone 5g." The unconfirmed case mockup has an edge-to-edge screen.
The flash component shown in the mockup is moved away from the rear camera, which would also be a change from earlier versions of the iPhone.
"I figure there is more to the edgeless screen than just having more screen real estate and looking cool," Tab Julius, a a software engineer with Dynamic Network Systems in New Hampshire, told PCMag on Sunday.
"The iPhone currently has a 2:3 screen ratio (320x480). The iPad has a 3:4 screen ratio, or, rotated, 4:3. I suspect the wider screen on the supposed iPhone 5 is a move to the same screen ratio as the iPad. The photograph supplied is obviously smaller, but the ratio should hold," Julius said.
"The photograph measures roughly 105x143 screen area, which if you want to wiggle a bit, is pretty close to 108x144, which would, in fact, be a 3:4 screen ratio—the same as the iPad.
"So I offer that the iPhone 5 photo is real, and shows an effort to move the iPhone to the same screen ratio as the iPad, which would be a logical thing to do."
Another thing that lends some credence to the AliBaba.com mockup is that Apple has already had trouble keeping its case designs for new products under wraps, notes AppleInsider.
Three employees of Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn Electronics were reportedly charged in March with leaking the iPad 2's case design to third-party accessory suppliers.
The workers, employed at Foxconn's Shenzen, China plant, were arrested by Chinese authorities on Dec. 26, 2010 and officially charged with violating company trade secret regulations on March 23, according to reports.
Foxconn, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry, assembles iPads, iPhones and iPods for Apple.
Images of iPad 2 cases featuring a rear-facing camera and a thinner profile than the first-generation media tablet from Apple began to surface last December. At the time, Foxconn reported its suspicions that the design had been leaked by its own employees, according to reports.
The steady drumbeat of rumors about Apple's plans for the iPhone 5 seem to have fallen off in the past few weeks. But in March and April, speculative stories about delays, a faster processor and the like were flying off the shelves.
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