Leaked Photo of iPhone 5 Prototype Running on China Mobile [Updated]

We actually haven’t seen too many “leaked photos” of Apple’s next smartphone over the last few weeks. We’ve seen some really cool concepts of what the device might look like, but nothing claiming to be the actual device.

Today, 9to5Mac passes along this photo, of what appears to be the next iPhone, that has been circling the gadget blogs this morning. Though the photo doesn’t offer much information regarding the design of the device, the mysterious gadget does seem to be running a version of iOS…

The photo shows the infamous About screen, which offers all kinds of details about an iDevice, including disk capacity and carrier name. If you notice in the picture above, this iPhone is sporting a baseband version which hasn’t been released yet, 06.10.01.

You’ll also see in the snapshot that there is no IMEI number, much like the iPhone 4 prototype that was spotted on eBay a few days ago. Could this really be a a picture of an iPhone 5 prototype? Maybe.

Photoshop enthusiasts know that the large flash in the middle of the iPhone’s display can be easily created. But the iOS About screen with perfect font matching and screen glare would be hard to produce.

Another interesting fact is that the device appears to be running on China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in the world. We’ve heard countless Apple rumors concerning the company, including COO Tim Cook’s recent visit to China Mobile headquarters.

Leaked photos should always be taken with a grain of salt. Aside from last year’s iPhone 4 debacle, Apple has a pretty solid record of keeping its secret projects under wraps.

Is this the next iPhone? Would you be disappointed if it was?

Update: Engadget’s Chinese Editor-in-cheif Richard Lai has informed us that the photo is fake. He notes that when the pic is blown up to native resolution, the font spacing of the Chinese print looks off. And seeing as how we can’t read chinese, we’re going to go with him on this one.