Leak: Is this 4.1 inch next generation iPod touch front panel the real deal?

Yesterday we filed a report that said the next generation iPhone is going to have a 3.9 inch screen with a resolution of 1136 x 640 pixels. Today there’s a new piece of information from MacRumors that’s even more significant. Someone sent them photos of what’s supposed to be the front panel of the next generation iPod touch. Said panel has an opening for a screen that’s 4.1 inches across. What does this have to do with the iPhone? Everything. The iPod touch is nothing more than an iPhone, but without cellular connectivity. If the next iPod touch has a 4.1 inch screen, then by definition the next iPhone will also have a 4.1 inch screen.

Is this photo the real deal? This is MacRumors after all, so they’re going to post damn near every rumor that they their sources send them. And hey, 3.9 inches versus 4.1 inches, that’s not too big of a deal. We know the next iPhone is going to be bigger, that much is certain. According to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal, we can expect to see a device with a 4 inch screen. Again, whether it’s 0.1 inches larger or smaller shouldn’t make or break your decision to buy the device.

What is important though is iOS 6. Next month, on June 11th, Apple is going to hold their annual Worldwide Developers Conference. It’s widely expected that that’s where we’re going to get our first look at the next version of iOS. Rumor has it that they’ll be a new mapping application in there, but other than that … nothing.

We know that the next five months are going to be hell, and that many of you prefer not reading rumor stories like these, but the audience for this sort of stuff is huge. Tech rumors are the equivalent of “X celebrity, who is married to Y celebrity, cheated on their parter with Z celebrity” stories, and we all know some people care about such trivial bullshit.