Images allegedly taken by a source within Apple's supply chain and obtained by rumours site 9to5Mac show internal and external views of silver metal casing, looking similar to the anodised aluminium used in production of its predecessor model.

The casing seems to be the same width and thickness as the 6, suggesting Apple is planning to keep to the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch dimensions introduced with the 6 and 6 Plus, as previously reported.

Internally the frame sports newly-located mounting points to support a new logic board. However, the likelihood of a DSLR-quality camera as rumoured in the past is looking significantly lower given that the camera lens, LED flash and microphone holes appear identical to the 6's.

It also looks like the next model will have the same plastic antenna strips which run across its width as the 6. A patent detailing how Apple is developing a metal composite to replace the strips, which are necessary for the phone's antenna to send and receive signal.

The speaker holes, headphone jack, microphone and lightning charging ports remain in the same places.

It's believed the next iPhone - likely to be called either the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus or the iPhone 7 - will go on sale on September 25, with pre-orders being accepted from September 18, according to a leaked internal email from Vodafone.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities suggests that Apple could offer rose gold versions of the phones, in response to strong demands from the Chinese market.

Chief executive Tim Cook has said that the company takes Chinese consumer tastes into account when it designs many of its products, and considers details including colour palettes to suit local tastes. The decision to offer a gold iPhone in 2013 reflects in part the popularity of that color among Chinese users, he added.

It's also been reported that initial production has started on the two sizes of phones, which will include the pressure-sensitive Force Touch technology used in the Apple Watch.

(telegraph.co.uk)