Pocketnow.com is reporting that an image originally posted on Flickr by an Apple software engineer may actually be the first known photo taken by an iPhone 5.
The report states that while EXIF data labels the photo as an iPhone 4 shot, the original image was cropped down from 8 MP – a resolution not achievable on the iPhone 4, and around the mark of what has been rumored for the iPhone 5.
This (very attractive) photo claims to have been taken by an iPhone 4, but the rest of its EXIF data tells a different story: although the image has been cropped to 2235×2291 (5.12 megapixels), the original picture was a much larger 3264×2448 — or just shy of eight megapixels. What’s more, the lens was recorded as a 4.3mm f/2.4, which is closer to that of a point-and-shoot than the iPhone 4’s actual 3.85mm f/2.8.
The fact that the image has now been pulled from Flickr only adds substance to the rumor.