Rumours surrounding the iPhone 8's Touch ID sensor are more back and forth than a Federer, Nadal tennis match. Just when we thought it was pretty much certain that the Touch ID sensor would not be moved to back of the phone, a photo of a rear panel shows up with an extra hole in it.

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The photo of the machined iPhone rear panel, leaked to Chinese site Baidu, shows a hole that is likely to be for the Touch ID fingerprint sensor, that matches up with previously leaked schematic drawings.

The rear panel in question looks legitimate, since there is a vertical cutout in the top right for the newly positioned camera, and two small notches at the bottom for the antenna.

However since those drawings, several renders and even a dummy model have shown no such cutout. We've also seen leaked case designs that don't account for the rear-mounted sensor. Apple is expected to switch to an all-screen front for the iPhone 8, leaving no room for the traditional home button.

For some time now, it's been widely believed that Apple will embed the sensor into the screen, although other rumours suggest it could be move to an elongated power button, or the company will lose Touch ID all together in favour of facial recognition technology.

As Slashgear points out, while having a rear-mounted home button is likely to be the easiest solution for Apple, in terms of design it's a far cry from the sleek design we expect from the tech giant.

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This, combined with the fact we hear conflicting rumours on what seems like a daily basis, mean we have to take this leak with a pinch of salt for now. We wouldn't be surprised if next week a new image of an alleged iPhone 8 rear panel showed no such hole.