iPhone 6s Casing Photos Leak, Show Few ChangesiPhone 6s Casing Photos Leak, Show Few Changes

10 Essential Google Apps For iPhone Users

While Apple usually takes the wraps off a brand new version of its best-selling iPhone smartphone every two years, it uses the year in between to unveil an upgrade with minor structural changes -- something newly leaked photos of the so-called iPhone 6s appear to confirm.

Photos of the unofficially named iPhone 6S, which were published by Apple-centric technology blog 9to5Mac, appear to show a nearly identical exterior to the current iPhone casing -- including the plastic antenna strips running across the back -- but featuring certain noticeable changes inside.

Citing a trusted source in the supply chain who provided the site with the photos, the images confirm rumors that Apple has reconfigured the smartphone's internal mounting structure, but features the same lens casing, position of the headphone, microphone, Lightning port holes, and number of speaker holes.

In addition, the placement of the camera lens hole appears identical to the current generation of iPhone, effectively dousing hopes that the iPhone 6S would feature a higher-quality camera.

Another major upgrade rumored for the latest iPhone is the addition of Apple's Force Touch technology, which would make Apple's smartphones better able to respond to user input and could open up a new dynamic for interacting with smartphones.

The technology is already included on Apple's latest MacBook laptop, and a report earlier this week on Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter, confirmed Apple had already started production on iPhones with Force Touch.

On a more cosmetic front, rumors are also swirling that Apple will add an additional color option -- rose gold -- to its current stable of white, space grey and gold color options.

A leaked Vodafone memo obtained by Mobile News earlier this month indicated Apple plans to release the new iPhone on Sept. 25, and will be taking pre-orders starting Sept. 18.

The leaks come at a time when sales of the iPhone 6 seem to have slowed just enough for other smartphone makers to create some headway, at least in the US market.

Arch rival Samsung has managed to claw marketshare back from Apple in the past three months, according to a report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

[Read more about the upcoming iPhone 6s.]

Samsung was able to grab 55% of all Android handsets sales in the US in the three-month period ending in May, up from 52% in the period ending in April, while the Android platform marketshare was up 2.8% to just under two-thirds of the overall smartphone market.

While the iPhone was the best-selling smartphone of the period -- the company overall boasts just under 35% market share -- Samsung's strength in second and third place helped but the company ahead of Apple.

It seems a good of a time as any for Apple to start gearing up for the release of a new iPhone to gain back marketshare and restore its dominance.