iPhone5 cases are now everywhere in China

The idea of a next-generation iPhone shaped like a teardrop dates back to a report published by This is my next in late-April, describing a 3.7-inch iPhone with edge-to-edge glass and striking new design shape akin to the late-2010 MacBook Air, meaning thicker to thinner from top to bottom. Piggy-backing on the story, agile Asian vendors followed up with teardrop-shaped cases.  Or so we thought.

While we will ‘talk iPhone’ next Tuesday, M.I.C. gadget reveals that an iPhone 5 prototype had recently gone missing from the Shenzhen district. “This should explain why we are seeing a whole lot of iPhone 5 cases in China today”, the publication concludes.

Much like the widely publicized iPhone 4 prototype that had gone missing at a German beer bar in California, the missing handset was camouflaged in an iPhone 4-like case (strange because the teardrop phone is wider and taller ). Inside: A test model with a finalized iPhone 5 chassis sporting the tear-drop design.  The publication then builds on this tip by speculating that the device houses“slightly modified iPhone 4 electronics” plus the A4 chip “and even the same amount of memory”.

If this is true, then the tear drop iPhone may be the low end device, and the one inside the iPhone 4 case might be the high end.

[via: 9to5mac]

Case-Mate iPhone 5 Cases Leaked [Update]

Hot on the heels of the purported iPhone 5 screen protector surfacing since yesterday, BGR is reporting that more accessories have turned up in the next-generation iPhone department. Case-maker Case-Mate just unveiled 6 new iPhone 5 cases.

Sure, we’ve already seen several cases that are reportedly for Apple’s next smartphone. But not from a company as well-known as Case-Mate. And the phone design depicted in the pictures is better looking than anything we’ve seen so far…

The form factor shown in Case-Mate’s photos matches up fairly well with previous iPhone 5 case designs we’ve seen. The mute button is on the opposite side of the volume controls, and the body looks slimmer and more tapered than the previous model.

The images even depict a device with an aluminum backing, something we’ve been hearing for several months.

Given the fact that accessory-makers have a history of exposing the design of Apple products ahead of announcement, we had to give these cases some attention. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t a bit skeptical.

As many have suggested, this could very well be a publicity stunt — a move to generate website traffic. However, the design falls in line with previous rumors, and all of them seem to point to the same thing. Caste-Mate isn’t an obscure accessory maker, either. It would be a shame for the company to put its entire reputation with Apple and its customers on the line with a move like this. I guess we’ll know for sure in a few weeks.

What do you think of this iPhone 5 design? Is it an improvement over the iPhone 4?

UPDATE: Case-Mate has pulled the case renders from its site. The wrath of Cupertino is not to be trifled with.

[Via: idownloadblog]