It’s not often we get to stumble upon an iPhone 5 prototype that at least moderately looks like something built by Apple, but the fine people at Giga.de accomplished just that. They make it look similar to a mini iPad 2, which is essentially what the countless rumors have been conveying.
It has a sleek metallic back with a thin sheet of glass overlaying the opposite side. The large, 4-inch display blends in beautifully with the rest of the glossy black front. On top you’ll find the standard VGA camera and speaker, and at the bottom is the new wide home button. The same curved edges and black buttons of the iPad 2 are on this prototype too. And Giga.de took it one step further with a teardrop design. The device is 6.86 mm thick at its top and slims down to 5.33 mm at the bottom. These specs are probably exaggerated, considering the iPhone 4 is much bulkier at 9.3 mm.
An important aspect is that wide home button though, because the Giga team decided to opt for a capacitive touch button instead of physical one. They claim it “takes away valuable space inside the device and, because it’s the most used button, is likely to fail during the lifetime of the phone.” I don’t think Apple will agree, since touch-sensitive controls have also proven to be unreliable.
If Apple does announce a redesign of the iPhone 5 on October 4th (and let’s be honest, it’s fairly likely), I certainly hope the new design is similar to that of the prototype. Job well done, crafty Germans.