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Sketchy photos claim to show iPhone 5S box with tweaked home button as fingerprint sensor speculation increases

Update: C Technology has provided higher quality versions of the images above, which can be seen in the gallery at the bottom.

Only days away from Apple’s September 10th iPhone event, new photos have come out  which claim to show the box for the upcoming iPhone 5S. The same site has also leaked alleged photos of iPhone 5C packaging in the past. Notable here is the tweaked home button design, which appears to ditch the iconic inset square in favor of a ring around the edge.

These new images line up with previous whispers about the fingerprint sensor and also match photos we’ve seen of iPhone 5C packaging, which carry color-coded wallpapers based on the base color of the device itself, similar to the iPod nano.

Last month, we reported that the iPhone 5S might have a different type of etching around the edge of the home button:

Also contrary to recent talk, the new Home button’s design will not be noticeably convex. Perhaps the shape has changed, but the tweaked button is nothing distinct enough for the iPhone 5S to be identified as anything but an iPhone 5 by the untrained eye. There’s the possibility, however, that the etching and border of the Home button could become more shiny and look slightly different.

Some have also speculated that the gray rings on the Apple event invitation are references to the new fingerprint sensor.

Fox News’s Clayton Morris has echoed similar thoughts about the fingerprint sensor on TwiT. The Wall Street Journal believes the same. 

Of course, the legitimacy of these images can’t be verified. While they look accurate enough to pass, the corners of the phone look slightly distorted, either indicated tampering, or perhaps it’s just how the light reflects off of the chamfer. (This can be seen in photos on Apple’s website.)

Here’s a mockup of how the iPhone 5S home button could look:

Both the iPhone 5S and lower-cost iPhone 5C are expected to be unveiled on September 10th.

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Comments

  1. Apple has shown the default ios wallpaper on the box since iOS supported wallpapers. Why would that suddenly change?

  2. Mikee Mike - 11 years ago

    Not to mention, it’s very likely going to ship with iOS 7 – That looks like iOS 6. Can’t imagine they’d put that image on the box.

    • PMZanetti - 11 years ago

      Not it isn’t. That’s iOS 7 with black wallpaper.

      This is exactly what we’re going to see.

  3. Pawan Adhikari - 11 years ago

    nice ,,,looks like real deal for me!!!!

  4. RP - 11 years ago

    Looks like they are carrying over the matching of the wallpaper to the device like on the 5c

  5. Michael Caruso - 11 years ago

    I would expect to see iOS 7 on the box as well. That is a big red flag that it may not be a legit photo.

  6. It must be fake some icons don’t exist. Like the toggle icon in the top row

  7. I downloaded these image files from their original source and checked their EXIF data. It says that these images have been modified using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4.4 (Macintosh). Other than that, EXIF also reveals that these were originally taken on September 6th at around 23:00 (time zone unknown).

    • I originally thought that EXIF displayed Photoshop Lightroom as the photo software because they used it to apply their watermarks, but a quick check with watermarked photos from their other pages do not show Photoshop under EXIF. This makes me strongly believe that these images of the iPhone 5S packaging are not legitimate.

      • mkimid - 11 years ago

        Very simple, Color print the photos, and take a photo again, it is a perfect way to remove the faking evidence (such as color shadow mismatch), and create new perfect EXIF

  8. PMZanetti - 11 years ago

    1. That is clearly iOS 7, not 6. No idea what some of these commenters are drinking.
    2. That ring matches the invitation, and the home button part that leaked.
    3. This is the real deal.

  9. Jim Phong - 11 years ago

    There are pictures of iPhone 5S with 4.2″ displays too with body size change and a smaller home button.
    What is the truth we will find out soon.

  10. Pierre Calixte - 11 years ago

    leaks are coming fast and furious leading up to Tuesday.

  11. I believe this photo could be some-what real. Here’s my feelings about this photo!

    1) Apple would use a full frontal shot of the iPhone 5S on the box to show off the new home button.
    2) That is iOS 7. I use iOS 7 beta on my iPhone 5 everyday.
    3) The grey ring around the home button, match the grey rings on the invite.
    4) The reason the iPhone 5S has a black wallpaper is to match iPhone color.
    5) There’s a 50/50 chance this is a real photo or a Photoshop image.
    6) The grey ring around the home button would match the same diamond-cut beveled edge on the iPhone 5.

    • mkimid - 11 years ago

      In this design of button, tiny dust will stuck inside, even water can easily. I think, it is not practical in real-world environment

      • standardpull - 11 years ago

        Seems like the same “problem” as seem with every other iPhone out there. So I don’t buy that problem.

  12. Bilal Baydoun - 11 years ago

    Different volume buttons colour like iPhone 4 & 4s!!

  13. JohnnyWhite (@tHoj101) - 11 years ago

    I think these images are legitimate. I can see Apple simplifying how the iPhone is displayed on the box to coincide with the simplicity and flatness of iOS 7. The packaging of the last iPhone was conveying it’s thinness as a hardware product, as it wouldn’t need to tout iOS 6, which looks tired and wasn’t the main selling point of the phone. iOS 7 is all about removing a certain sense of space skeuomorphism creates – replacing it with layers, as opposed to 3D ‘lifelike’ design elements. If the packaging of the iPhone 5C displays the phone through plastic – allowing you to see a full frontal view of the product (if looking at it head-on, as it will be displayed on store shelves) it makes sense for Apple to want to unify their product packaging with the iPhone 5S to emulate the same experience.

    • Antony F. Basta - 11 years ago

      Absolutely not! Apple would add the standard dynamic iOS 7 wallpaper to the image of the iPhone on the front of the box! This is fake!

      • JohnnyWhite (@tHoj101) - 11 years ago

        There will be graphite and champagne colour options, and in a lot of high resolution photos the metal appears lighter than it normally would. This could cause confusion when purchasing a device, especially if you want a slate model vs. a graphite model. Yet with colour coded backgrounds, it will be easy to identify the separate models.

    • I agree with you!

  14. Antony F. Basta - 11 years ago

    These aren’t the real boxes. Apple has a habit of providing their standard iOS Background image as the wallpaper on all pictures of the phone, that means on the box, and on the website. FAKE FAKE FAKE

  15. standardpull - 11 years ago

    It is a sketchy photo – very low resolution, which does lead me to question its authenticity. But I disagree with all the criticisms about the box, icons, etc. If it’s a fake, I think its a pretty good fake.

    As for the home button – it seems like a plausible change, and perhaps it even lights up when you have new notifications… just like ye olde Blackberry, brightening your day.

    Regardless, I will not be getting one, because Verizon has my soul locked in for the next year+ :-(

  16. David Pace (@dpacemaker) - 11 years ago

    I believe the ring could possibly light up for authentication and have another color for when there is a denial or wrong person trying to use their thumb print. This could lead the way for multiple user profiles on iPhone and iPads.

  17. Jordan Bonecutter - 11 years ago

    There’s no wallpaper so it’s probably a fake…

  18. drtyrell969 - 11 years ago

    The irony of Apple ushering in the biggest tyrannical devices in history still astonishes me. 1984 will be 1984!

  19. It does have the 9:41 time like Apple has done for the past couple of years. Plus, the new images are better quality. So, we have nothing to worry about.

  20. nathanwise - 11 years ago

    One simple observation makes me sceptical of the legitimacy of these….In none of the photos can you even remotely make out where the front facing camera is located. Not even a pixelated circle can be seen, yet you can make out the ear piece. Not saying its a deal breaker for the photos being authentic but it does make me question them.

Author

Avatar for Michael Steeber Michael Steeber

Michael is a Creative Editor who covered Apple Retail and design on 9to5Mac. His stories highlighted the work of talented artists, designers, and customers through a unique lens of architecture, creativity, and community.

Contact Michael on Twitter to share Apple Retail, design, and history stories: @MichaelSteeber

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