To this date, we’ve seen a number of supposed dummy units, purported front and back panels, cases, batteries, manufacturing molds, technical drawings, volume buttons and numerous other alleged iPhone 6 parts.
Today, we show you another interesting leak. Coming straight via a post on Weibo (China’s version of Twitter), it’s a supposed screen backlight part. The part measures 4.7-inches diagonally and for the most part resembles its iPhone 5s/5c counterpart…
The images of the purported iPhone 6 backlight panel part seen top of post and below were first spotted in a Weibo post and republished by the French blog NowhereElse.fr [Google translate].
The top image shows the difference between the alleged 4.7-inch iPhone 6 backlight panel (left) and the four-inch part currently used in the iPhone 5s (right). Photographed below: the said part in the poster’s hand (left) and multiple 4.7-inch backlight modules.
These parts are commonly used in mobile devices with displays that require backlight, such as iPhones and iPads that use LCD IPS screen technology (unlike Samsung’s mostly AMOLED devices).
Take the shots with a few pinches of salt.
As NowhereElse editor Steve Hemmerstoffer notes, he couldn’t vouch for their authenticity because he absolutely couldn’t establish the reliability of the source.
The scuttlebutt is that Apple will release the next iPhone in larger sizes, one measuring 4.7-inches and the other filing as a 5.5-inch tablet.
Of course, Apple could also choose to keep the current four-inch smartphones (the iPhone 5/5s/5c) on the market – or even refresh them with better hardware – to make the inevitable form-factor transition easier on app developers.
Apple is believed to have shrank the thickness of the iPhone 6 down to 6mm or 7mm, dependent on whether or not its engineers are cool with a protruding lens on the back.
Various sources have indicated that the handset’s slimmer body has been realized by switching to thinner LED backlights and possibly using a lighter device frame.