By Stephen Schenck | April 23, 2012 3:23 PM
We’ve heard plenty of theories about what Apple might be planning for its next iPhone model. From larger screens to LTE, we’ve heard about more than a few stabs at guessing what Apple’s been planning. Accompanying those rumors, there have also been a good deal of renders made to show how the iPhone 5, or whatever Apple ends up calling it, might end up looking. What we haven’t seen, though, is much in the way of photographs of actual hardware. Today we take a look at just that kind of imagery, possibly showing-off one of the components that Apple will be using in the iPhone 5.
Unless you’ve spent some time taking apart current-generation iPhones, you might not notice anything amiss about the replacement home buttons shown above. The center portion, featuring the circle with rounded-off square inside, should be just what you’re used to. It’s the part that you won’t see, beneath the phone’s shell, that gives this away as a new component.
The home buttons we’re used to are of the design you see below and to the left, with small tabs used to keep the button in position. This new construction substitutes those tabs for a much larger, rectangular design. We’re curious what may have motivated Apple to make such an adjustment, since while the new part looks somewhat more reliable, it’s also going to be consuming more precious real estate.
This tweaked home button is available from component suppliers in both black and white. It may not tell us much of anything about what to expect from the iPhone 5, but it’s nice to see some evidence that it’s real, all the same.
