iPhone 5 Design Images with Larger Edge-to-Edge Screen?
iDealsChina claims to have engineering diagrams of the new iPhone 5. The images look pretty much like an iPhone 4 with the exception of a larger screen which seems to take up a larger portion of the front face.
Context & Ripple Effects
Two weeks after an iPhone 5 part surfaced showing a larger display and thinner bezel, iDealsChina now claims to have engineering diagrams pointing the same direction: a body recognizably the iPhone 4's, but with the screen taking up more of the front face. Two independent-looking channels converging on the same design delta matters more than either alone.
The relationship between the two leaks is the story's real signal — neither is confirmed by Apple, and both arrive during the window when accessory makers and suppliers are locking in assumptions about the next device. iDealsChina's track record on such claims is exactly why MacRumors frames this as "claims" rather than news.
First-order effects
- Apple's next iPhone is now publicly expected to keep the iPhone 4 form factor while enlarging the display, based on the February part leak and these diagrams — expectations set well before any official announcement.
Second-order effects
- Case and accessory producers face a bet on exact bezel dimensions they cannot yet verify, since a slightly different front-face layout renders existing molds useless; display suppliers get an early demand signal for larger panels.
Third-order effects
- If every iPhone generation now leaks through parts vendors and diagram sites months ahead of launch, the pre-announcement leak cycle becomes a standing feature of Apple's annual cadence — shaping carrier, accessory, and competitor planning around unofficial specifications.
The trend: Apple's yearly iPhone cycle increasingly unfolds in public through a months-long supply-chain leak run-up, with parts and diagrams doing the announcing before Apple does.