Earlier this week, case designs for the rumored iPhone 5 / 4S surfaced, pointing to the iPhone 5 getting a redesign. The case designs showed tapered edges, very similiar in design to the look of the fourth gen iPod touch and iPad 2.
Apple is widely expected to change the design of all of the next generation iPhone (fifth gen) to resemble one unified design as they have in the past. 9to5 Mac recently published photos of the purported iPhone 5 / 4S case showing a thinner, flatter appearance when compared with the current design. The new design resembles that of a hybrid between the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4.
The new case does not show any of the rumoured claims of a larger screen or gesture area but does show very minimal changes of the mute switch being taken to the opposite side of the iPhone. The physical characteristics of the iPhone essentially remain the same aside from the volume controls appearing more like the elongated buttons found on the current iPod touch than the round individual buttons of the iPhone 4.
This small change makes sense as Apple could adopt a button design similar to the iPad 2 and iPod Touch.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 5 in September, alongside the release of iOS 5.
{via MacRumors}