iPhone 5 Concept Shows 4-inch Display, Metal Back & Smaller Dock (Photos)

Another day, another iPhone 5 rumor. Today’s rumor says the next iPhone will have a 4-inch screen and a metallic back with a smaller dock connector.

The rumor comes from iLounge, which claims that Apple is abandoning the rumored teardrop design in favor of a larger, thinner iPhone 4/4S design.

According to the rumor, the front of the phone uses Gorilla Glass 2, making it thinner than the current iPhone 4S. The screen in the render is 4-inches, but taller than the current iPhone screen.

The elongated screen makes the phone taller, but keeps the same width.

Read: iPhone 5 Rumor Roundup

The back of the next iPhone will look like the iPhone 4S, with a minor change. The back of the phone will have a metal band along its center.

The render fits the description, but it seems strange to imagine an iPhone with two materials used on the back. Apple hasn’t used two materials on the back since the first iPhone.

The last bit of the rumor is a smaller dock connector along the bottom of the phone. The new dock connector will be thinner than the 30-pin connector, and hold only 16 pins. The design here is a pill-shaped hole in the bottom of the phone. Depending on the actual size, if true, the new connector looks like it could be confused for a mini-USB port.

iLounge has had reliable sources in the past, but we’re dubious of this design.

The taller screen would mean current apps would require black bars on the top and bottom until developers change them to fit the new screen. A new aspect ratio would fragment the ecosystem, forcing developers to make apps for two separate designs. iLounge‘s sources could be right, but we hope the screen keeps the same aspect ratio as every other iPhone.