Over the past few months, Apple fans have spent plenty of time poring over allegedly leaked photos of iPhone 5 components. We've seen the longer body, the aluminum back, the NFC chip that may have been a total hoax. Regardless, Apple's September 12 event is only a week away now. But impending "official" announcements be damned, someone has posted what looks like a legitimate video of the new iPhone booting up.

Thanks to Chinese site Vgooo (via TNW), we can see the very first video of what appears to be -- ok, so it appears to be an iPhone 5 starting, then hitting an error screen. Not exactly the most exciting thing in the world.

"This device is not registered as part of the iPhone Developer Program. If you are a member of the program, please register your device," reads the alleged iPhone 5 screen in the video.

Boring error messages notwithstanding, the video keeps up with just about every rumor on hand over the past few months. The device is noticeably taller than the iPhone 4S, and the aluminum back is in place. More importantly, the 8-pin connecter appears on the iPhone's bottom panel. 

Now, let's not forget that Chinese companies are quite experienced with fabricating fake electronics devices. That said, this would seem like an awfully elaborate scheme to fool Apple fanatics. Build the entire device to spec with currently running rumors, then find a way to simulate the iOS boot up and error message. Possible to replicate? Absolutely. Likely replicated? Probably not.

Either way, we'll know the real story next week. In the meantime, we'll keep an eye out for any more iPhone 5 units that mysteriously fall off a Foxconn truck. 

Yeah, right.

Follow this article's author, Matt Clark on Twitter.

(Video credit: micgadget YouTube)

If you're one of the remaining iPhone users clutching onto your original unlimited plan with either AT&T or Verizon, it looks like it might be the end of the road. When the new iPhone lands next week, it will come tethered to a new line of "shared" data plans with significantly higher prices--the closest thing to unlimited -- 20 GB on AT&T -- will set users back around $200 a month.

And that's the good news.

AT&T has already technically done away with its grandfathered iPhone unlimited plans, throttling data speeds when iPhone users top 3 GBs of monthly usage. It's not exactly clear whether iPhone 5 upgraders will be able to hold onto their so-called unlimited plans, but it doesn't really matter, since AT&T throttles 4G speeds, too, starting at 5 GBs.

Verizon has taken it one step further, announcing on its site that users switching from 3G to 4G will have to abandon whatever plan they're on and switch over to one of the new shared plans. Basically, the only way to hold onto your Verizon unlimited data plan and get an iPhone 5 is to pay full price for an unlocked phone. Per Verizon:

"You're not required to move to Share Everything, but if you do, unlimited data will not be retained on your line. ... If keeping unlimited is important to you, you can choose to upgrade and pay full retail price for the phone."

But if you're willing to fork over $650 for the iPhone, you don't actually need Verizon at all--T-Mobile's unlimited 4G plans start at $69.99. Of course, you'll have to unlock your phone to get it working at all.