Two Chinese parts vendors are now offering “iPhone 5” Home button parts. As noted by Mac Rumors, the parts—which are available in both black and white from both vendors—are slightly different than the same part from the iPhone 4S, as they are rectangular in shape, with rounded corners and a round Home button sticking up in the center.
Prior Home button parts featured a more closely tailored button surround with “wings” on either side. As with previous models, everything save for the round button itself will likely lie below the glass front surface of the device, and thus the changes will be invisible to the user.
It appears at least somewhat likely that Apple has adopted the new design as a way to reduce reports of failing Home buttons, although it is possible that the new buttons also afford a small space savings from side-to-side.
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