More rumors of larger iPhone 5 screen

Here we go again with the rumors that the iPhone 5–or whatever Apple chooses to call its fifth-generation iPhone–will have a larger screen. This one comes out of China, where iDealsChina has posted what it claims is a photo of the front bezel or digitizer panel for the iPhone 5.

Here's the long caption that was posted along with the image, which was first noticed by 9to5Mac:

China's 1st iPhone 5 photo has surfaced! From this photo it seems that the screen size will be larger than iPhone 4. There has been a lot of speculation about a larger screen and maybe this will be one of the upgrades we will see when iPhone 5 is released this summer.

Previous rumors have the iPhone 5 sporting a 4-inch "edge-to-edge" screen, which some are interpreting to mean that it will have a smaller bezel or border. With so many of the new Android smartphones having more generous screens than the iPhone, some consumers–including many CNET readers–are hoping that the next iPhone will have a larger screen.

It's also worth pointing out that a recent rumor suggested the next iPhone and iPad will ditch the home button for onscreen gesture commands. But as you can see from this photo, there's a spot for the home button.

If you're looking for a track record on iDealsChina's rumors, it's hit and miss. In 2008, this Chinese reseller of Apple parts claimed on its Web site that an iPhone Nano was in the making (ironically, those same rumors of a smaller iPhone are making the rounds now). But it did better with posting images of some molds for iPhone 3G cases prior to that model's launch.

iDealsChina says that more photos of parts for the iPhone 5 "may be available soon" and that the part it would really like to see is the back of iPhone 5 to "verify if the rumored tapered back is true."