Hands On with a Physical Mockup of the iPhone 5

GSM Israel posted a video of a physical mock-up of the iPhone 5. The device in the video appears fairly similar to the dozens of earlier leaked enclosures said to represent the new iPhone. GSM Israel says it stumbled upon the device at the booth of a third party accessory maker during its normal tour of the IFA show floor in Berlin on Saturday. The physical mockup was created by a case manufacturer to test early case designs on the upcoming iPhone.

The two-tone silver and white handset sports finely brushed aluminum edges and buttons, a larger 4-inch display screen, and what would appear to be a fully-assembled mini Dock Connector and rear-facing camera module. However, the surface of the device produces reflections similar to what you'd expect from a synthetic material, rather than the traditional iPhone Gorilla glass, suggesting its almost certainly a well-crafted mockup based of leaked parts and schematics.

As noted in the video, this is a non-functional mockup. It's only used as dummy shell for case manufacturers. Moreover, AppleInsider also analyzed a high-quality version of the video, discovering some reasons to doubt that the device is an authentic iPhone 5.

For instance, a close up of the markings on the rear of the handset read "Model NO. A1303," which was a model number Apple already used for the iPhone 3GS. Its FCC ID of "BCGA1303A" was also the FCC ID for the iPhone 3GS.