September 12 – the date that the iPhone 5 is supposed to be revealed to the world. We’re still a few weeks away from the fateful day, but that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill. It keeps churning out new rumors left and right with today’s being maybe one of the most important.

A post on Chinese forum WeiPhone posted some pictures of what appears to be the new motherboard for the iPhone 5. This is an extremely important leak as it gives us a look at how much the iPhone 5 improves upon the iPhone 4’s specs. Unfortunately, not everything was included with the motherboard, including the processor.

What we do know, however, is that the motherboard once again confirms the smaller SIM card. It also features a battery connector with five pins, compared to the four pins on the iPhone 4S. It’s a good indication that the new battery will have a higher capacity.

The motherboard also shows signs of having more antenna connections than the iPhone 4 or 4S. Going off of that fact alone, it would be reasonable to assume that the iPhone 5 will have an LTE connection. It also uses a new connector for the display which seems to confirm that Apple is making use of a new display technology in the iPhone 5.

Like all rumors, it’s important to take this with a grain of salt. It could all be an elaborate ruse. Fortunately, that doesn’t appear to be the case this time. 9to5Mac did a little digging on the photographer and found that he supplied accurate pictures of the iPhone 4S motherboard a few months before the device was revealed.

With the latest leak, all the pieces are coming together. The iPhone 5 is looking to be a departure from the technology used in the last two iPhones. It would make sense then if Apple were to just name it the “new iPhone” instead of the iPhone 5.