Images of the next generation Apple iPhone, variously called iPhone 4S, 4GS and iPhone 5, have surfaced in China even as rumors fly that Apple is preparing for a possible launch in August or September.

Tech Web site Apple.pro has featured multiple pictures of the next iPhone, which it got from Chinese social networking site Weibo.The report says the iPhone images could be the first leaks of the next generation iPhone design.

We’re apparently looking at a test iPhone 4GS unit that happens to run iOS 4.0 out of the box, which is definitely strange, says the report.

Parallels are drawn between the window of time before the launch of iPhone 4, during which a lost prototype had exposed the phone's features prior to release.

There have been rumors since April this year that Apple has passed on iPhone 4 S prototypes to select developers in a bid to make gaming a strong point of the next-generation device. The plan was to let developers design games that can run on the new A5 processor, the same that powers iPad 2. The device that developers got ran on iOS 4, though.

According to Nexus404.com, the latest leaks take the Apple release data story forward by shedding light on the advanced stage of manufacturing preparedness. It also outlines the innovations that Apple will bring in terms of the features.

The report says the leaked images show an iPhone that looks very much like the iPhone 4. According to diagnostic software it sports a 5-megapixel camera on the back, just like its predecessor, says the report. It also says the iTunes profile of the device looks different from the current iPhone 4’s iTunes image.

In fact some rumors say that the fifth-generation smartphone is being tested under disguise, so we may be looking at the first images of Apple’s next smartphone.

If the latest leak gives a believable clue to iPhone 5's release date, it also creates confusion regarding its features. The leaked images show a phone much similar to iPhone 4 in design and features, suggesting, or rather strengthening, rumors that Apple will go for only cosmetic modifications to its next generation iPhone and launch a full-fledged new phone in 2012.

Smartphone China Manufacturing China