Recent rumors of Apple planning to launch a new 4-inch iPhone 6c later this year have received a boost after a couple of images have surfaced online providing a first look at the purported device.

Following the release of the iPhone 6 towards the end of 2014, Apple has been widely expected to follow up with the launch of the next generation iPhone 7 about 12 months later. The company is also expected to update both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus with the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, and release the iPhone 7 in September this year, by when the iPhone 6 would complete the one-year-cycle.

But there have been rumors that Apple would launch three handsets in September, the iPhone 6s, the iPhone 6S Plus with a bigger screen and a mini 4-inch version. These rumors were in line with earlier speculations that Apple planned to release three new iPhone models later this year — an iPhone 6s, an iPhone 6s Plus and a 4-inch iPhone 6c.

The first leaked images of the purported 4-inch iPhone 6c show its rear casing to be clearly different from the original iPhone 5c. The images show an elongated cutout for the camera flash, unlike the round shape in the iPhone 5C and current iPhone models, indicating that the iPhone 6c could get the same True Tone flash featured in the iPhone 5s.

The leaked images of the purported 4-inch iPhone 6c also show eight speaker holes arranged in two rows, as against four in the inch iPhone 5c and six in the current iPhone 6. The microphone in the iPhone 6c also seems to have gained some additional openings, with six cutouts now seen next to the headphone jack in the leaked images.

If the rumors and images of the next-generation 4-inch iPhone 6c are indeed true, then Apple's "budget" model could satisfy a lot of customers who want the latest hardware, but do not wish to pay for big-screened devices like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.