Confirmed next-gen Apple iPhone seen in person, disassembled
Apple's next-generation iPhone has been obtained by Gizmodo, confirming the forthcoming hardware's forward-facing camera, high-resolution 960x460 display, camera flash, a secondary mic for noise cancellation, and a number of design changes in the new-look device.
Author Jason Chen went hands-on with the device Monday, in a major leak completely uncharacteristic for a company as secretive as Apple. It is the exact same device revealed in photos over the weekend by Engadget.
In addition to a forward-facing camera for video chat, new iPhone also has an improved camera on its back side, with a lens "quite noticeably larger" than the one on the previous-generation iPhone 3GS. As was previously reported, the device also uses a MicroSIM card for its GSM cellular connectivity. It also has split buttons for volume, and the power, mute and volume buttons are all metallic.
Apple also changed the back of the device to be completely flat, with a material made either of glass or "shiny plastic," Gizmodo wrote, to improve reception. The handset also has an aluminum border that extends around its outside.
The screen is also said to be "slightly smaller" than the iPhone 3GS, but with a higher resolution. The device is also 3 grams heavier and has a 16 percent larger battery. The internal components have been shrunken to make room for the battery.
"We're as skeptical?if not more?than all of you. We get false tips all the time," Chen said. "But after playing with it for about a week -? the overall quality feels exactly like a finished final Apple phone -? and disassembling this unit, there is so much evidence stacked in its favor, that there's very little possibility that it's a fake.
"In fact, the possibility is almost none. Imagine someone having to use Apple components to design a functioning phone, from scratch, and then disseminating it to people around the world. Pretty much impossible."
Gizmodo was unable to get past the iTunes connectivity screen on the device, so the new features in the phone could not be accessed. The person who found the phone said it was running iPhone OS 4.0 before it was announced, but Apple "remotely killed" the device, making it unusable. The device could not be restored because each firmware is device specific, and there are no publicly available firmware versions for Apple's next-generation iPhone.
The device also came in a plastic case housing to make it look exactly like an iPhone 3GS. The report called it a "perfect disguise."
Opening up the case revealed Apple-labeled parts with new components not found in previous versions of the device. Though the external appearance is "drastically different," the report said the new iPhone "gets back to the simplicity of the iMac and the iPad."
"In fact, you can argue that the current iPhone 3GS?with its shiny chrome rim and excessively curved back?is out of place compared to the hard edges and Dieter-Ramish utilitarianism of the iMac and the iPad," Chen wrote. "Next to the iPad, for example, the new iPhone makes sense. It has the same feeling, the same functional simplicity."
For more, see Gizmodo's exclusive report.
Author Jason Chen went hands-on with the device Monday, in a major leak completely uncharacteristic for a company as secretive as Apple. It is the exact same device revealed in photos over the weekend by Engadget.
In addition to a forward-facing camera for video chat, new iPhone also has an improved camera on its back side, with a lens "quite noticeably larger" than the one on the previous-generation iPhone 3GS. As was previously reported, the device also uses a MicroSIM card for its GSM cellular connectivity. It also has split buttons for volume, and the power, mute and volume buttons are all metallic.
Apple also changed the back of the device to be completely flat, with a material made either of glass or "shiny plastic," Gizmodo wrote, to improve reception. The handset also has an aluminum border that extends around its outside.
The screen is also said to be "slightly smaller" than the iPhone 3GS, but with a higher resolution. The device is also 3 grams heavier and has a 16 percent larger battery. The internal components have been shrunken to make room for the battery.
"We're as skeptical?if not more?than all of you. We get false tips all the time," Chen said. "But after playing with it for about a week -? the overall quality feels exactly like a finished final Apple phone -? and disassembling this unit, there is so much evidence stacked in its favor, that there's very little possibility that it's a fake.
"In fact, the possibility is almost none. Imagine someone having to use Apple components to design a functioning phone, from scratch, and then disseminating it to people around the world. Pretty much impossible."
Gizmodo was unable to get past the iTunes connectivity screen on the device, so the new features in the phone could not be accessed. The person who found the phone said it was running iPhone OS 4.0 before it was announced, but Apple "remotely killed" the device, making it unusable. The device could not be restored because each firmware is device specific, and there are no publicly available firmware versions for Apple's next-generation iPhone.
The device also came in a plastic case housing to make it look exactly like an iPhone 3GS. The report called it a "perfect disguise."
Opening up the case revealed Apple-labeled parts with new components not found in previous versions of the device. Though the external appearance is "drastically different," the report said the new iPhone "gets back to the simplicity of the iMac and the iPad."
"In fact, you can argue that the current iPhone 3GS?with its shiny chrome rim and excessively curved back?is out of place compared to the hard edges and Dieter-Ramish utilitarianism of the iMac and the iPad," Chen wrote. "Next to the iPad, for example, the new iPhone makes sense. It has the same feeling, the same functional simplicity."
For more, see Gizmodo's exclusive report.
Comments
An amazing leak.
Google need not hire industrial espionage agents just use the Apple Rumor sites for their needs. Sad Apple is so betrayed at every turn these days.
An amazing leak.
Or was it an Apple drop? It is hard to imagine Apple letting people run around with the new model. Even JI or SJ would probably not use one in the wild. Now they have guaranteed page up and page down with free advertising, yet no-one is able to run the thing, so the important element (OS) are still hidden.
As detractors will say--But does it do Flash!?
An amazing leak.
That thing is way too FUGLY to be authentic.
Just as a posted a few days ago... Nice to see Apple going towards a much more masculine aesthetic.
Its clearly real and somebody's fucked up.
It's made a buying decision easy for me but I always feel a little sad when these things leak. Steve so loves his reveals.
My primary doubt comes from the fact that it's highly unlikely someone could get a phone off of the Cupertino campus without setting off bells and whistles. Clearly, there are a few top-level executives that would have a functioning phone for testing purposes and would be allowed to leave campus, but the theory that they might lose on seems extremely unlikely.
One thing is for sure - whether this really is a leaked phone or it's the greatest hoax ever - there's a great story coming.
That thing is way too FUGLY to be authentic.
Except that it looks very similar to iMacs, iPad, etc. The aesthetics fit Apple's current hardware modeling.
Google need not hire industrial espionage agents just use the Apple Rumor sites for their needs. Sad Apple is so betrayed at every turn these days.
So, um, do you not see some hypocrisy in accusing the rumour sites of "betraying" Apple and yet visiting these same rumour sites? If you and I and the rest were not so interested in these things, the Apple rumour sites would not exist. So, do you include yourself in the betrayal Apple?
As far as 'these day', perhaps you aren't familiar with how AI got started and how it became popular. Hint: it has to do with what you call 'betrayal'.
As Gruber points out, Apple considers this unit 'stolen', not 'lost', and if you think they came down hard on ThinkSecret for a few pictures, consider how they may feel about what can easily be viewed as industrial espionage.
Apple also changed the back of the device to be completely flat, with a material made either of glass or "shiny plastic," Gizmodo wrote, to improve reception.
The screen is also said to be "slightly smaller" than the iPhone 3GS,
If the back were flat, you would have to look at the device in order to know which side is which. You would not know instantly by touch, but instead, you would have to use a second sense and actually look at the phone.
That strikes me as a design choice that is NOT the way Apple does things. It should be intuitive in every sense (pun intended, as that is the Apple way of design).
And a SMALLER screen? In this day and age of bigger and bigger cellphone screens? I doubt that Apple would go in the wrong direction WRT screen size. There have been countless comments on this forum pointing out that higher resolutions on smaller screens are a waste, and that the results are less than stellar, given the viewing angles and distances.
All in all, this doesn't strike me as the sort of device that Apple would release.
Except that it looks very similar to iMacs, iPad, etc. The aesthetics fit Apple's current hardware modeling.
Actually... This design pushes the Apple design language forward a bit by straying away from the (rather inane) illusion of thinness they try to create through the liberal use of tapered edges.
This device (finalized design or not) offers something much more practical, less pretentious, and (again) much more masculine than anything Apple has done since the original titanium PowerBook G4.
It's a red-herring intended for competitors.
Let the paranoid conspiracy theories abound!
Its clearly real and somebody's fucked up.
It's made a buying decision easy for me but I always feel a little sad when these things leak. Steve so loves his reveals.
I agree, this year's WWDC might not be as amazing as the 2008 one.