Rumoured iPhone 5 cases show no home button, flipped controls

Either every single outlandish rumour surrounding Apple's upcoming iPhone 5 is real, or someone has been reading the blogs and sending around "case leaks" again. We'll bet on the latter until there's real physical proof of the former.

If you're into this sort of thing, though, MobileFun is claiming two sources on these cases, which show off a bigger screen, sound controls on the opposite side of the iPhone, and no home button, just a large gesture area.

Steve Jobs originally intended for the iPhone to be buttonless, but found he couldn't quite get away with it. It looks like he's some way closer to that goal with the iPhone 5; the physical home screen button has been replaced with a touch-sensitive ovaloid area which takes up the middle half of the bottom border. This area might be used for unique multi-touch gestures, given its increased size.

Again, take with the largest grain of salt you can ingest without crystallizing.

MobileFun

Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.