Next Up: iPhone 5

Next week Apple will spill the beans on the iPad 2, which can only mean one thing: It’s time to start focusing on the iPhone 5 — which will (probably) be announced in June.

Like clockwork, 9 to 5 Mac on Friday uncovered a photo from a Chinese reseller of Apple parts that will get that process under way.

The site suggests the unconfirmed part could be the digitizer panel for the next iPhone. Interestingly enough, the part appears to have a larger cutout section for a screen which could support earlier reports from DigiTimes that the new model will feature a four-inch display to compete with some Android devices.

Besides being unconfirmed, the photo is problematic because the part doesn’t appear next to anything — giving it no scale. It could just as easily mean that the upcoming iPhone could be smaller if the screensize remains the same and the bezel shrinks. The screen could also be any other size, there’s really no way to tell.

Regardless if this is a legit part or not, it seems like Apple has a few changes in store for the next iPhone besides a larger screen.

Jonny Evans of Computerworld reported last month that the new model is expected to run on a multi-core A5 CPU and may feature a dual-core graphics core. Evans also suggests that Apple will be getting into the NFC field after hiring veteran Benjamin Vigier as the Mobile Commerce Manager.

Stay tuned. The iPhone 5 rumor mill is sure to heat up in the coming months. iDealsChina, the website that leaked the part photo, seems to hint that more photos will be popping up soon.