Images purported to show the next-generation Iphone have leaked online, as more and more details emerge of what’s shaping up to be an unusually crowded Apple product pipeline in 2013.

Sourced by Chinese site Zol.com.cn, the photos, which it's claimed originate from a plant operated by Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn, appear to show the handset at varying stages of the production process.

Assuming what we're looking at is the real thing (and it should be noted that some claim that they're merely fake iPhones), the iPhone 6 is barely distinguishable from the iPhone 5, both in terms of dimensions and design.

Very much present and correct, for instance, is a physical home button, which Apple is supposed to have been considering ditching for years now. If you set much store in rumours, that is.

The presence of curved edges and the centrally located front-facing camera that was repositioned with the iPhone 5 also indicate that the seventh-generation handset may not be the radical departure in the design stakes that some had hoped for.

This chimes with separate reports indicating that the key differences between the current model and the iPhone 6 will be largely restricted to the phone’s internal specifications.

News of Apple’s plans comes amid claims that it is also planning to release a phablet-sized phone this year, variously dubbed the iPhone Math or iPhone+, as well as a budget-priced smartphone in the form of the long-rumoured iPhone mini.

Fresh iterations of the iPad and iPad mini are also due later in 2013 and we may even see the arrival of an Apple watch, as the gadget giant takes a tentative step into the world of wearable technology.