iPhone 5 Apple A5 Processor Reportedly Spotted

What's tipped to be the iPhone 5's Apple A5 processor has been caught in the wild, the latest in a series of what's said to be component leaks for the upcoming smartphone. The picture, posted to Chinese site Weibo, shows a board section that differs in design from the only public implementation of the A5, the iPad 2.

Opinions differ, however, as to the component's authenticity, particularly because of the somewhat smudgy nature of the A5 processor labeling itself. The board is believed to be from an iPhone prototype, and uses a different battery to what's inside the current iPhone 4; the existing smartphone has a 1,420 mAh pack, but what can be seen of the battery next to the A5 chipset suggests it has 10mAh more.

It's unclear whether what looks to be a white iPhone fascia to the left of the board is attached, and if so whether this could in fact be the iPhone 4S. The 4S is tipped to have the same design as the iPhone 4, but upgrade the processor and come in at a cheaper price-point, and some recent rumors have suggested Apple may be forced to announce it ahead of the true iPhone 5 because of production issues. More details on that in our full iPhone 5 rumor roundup.

[via PhoneArena]