Is This The iPhone 5 Home Button?

The next iPhone isn’t expected to launch until later this year but it appears that some parts, specifically its home button, have leaked out today in both black and in white.

First discovered by Apple Bitch, the parts are currently available through Chinese vendor TVC-Mall. The parts appear in the iPhone 5 replacement parts section of the website which was empty before these parts showed up.

TVC-Mall has in the past, offered up parts of unreleased Apple products which makes this leak fairly credible.

Interestingly, the home buttons that have leaked out are a little different than those found on previous iOS devices. As noted by MacRumors, the new home button appears to have a rounded square look to it.

The listing notes this difference:

Different from iPhone 4S 4, the iPhone 5 home button is round in the centre and square outside as the pictures show. The two parts are indivisible.

It does, however, keep the depression that has shown up on Apple’s previous iDevices like the iPhone and the iPad. It’s unclear though if this change , if real, will be evident to consumers as that rounded square part of the button might sit below the surface of the phone’s bezel rendering it invisible to users.

If this is indeed the iPhone 5’s home button, it looks like a re-designed button is out of the question. There has been quite a bit of chatter regarding an oval shaped home button or the lack of a home button at all. But, for now, it appears that Apple will be sticking to its guns.

As for the phone itself, not much is known about it. The device is rumored to have 4G LTE capabilities and there has been talk about a thinner and lighter design. There has also been chatter in regards to the iPhone 5’s screen size.

There is also much debate as to when the iPhone is going to launch.

Previous rumors have stated that it will be launching during the summer at WWDC while others peg the iPhone 5 release date as being in the fall of 2012.