The 4th Generation iPhone. Beauty or Beast?
There's now little remaining doubt that the Engadget images of the 4th Generation iPhone are the real deal. Although it remains to be seen whether the design will evolve before release.
The design is, to my mind, pretty radical.
An aluminum core chassis, sandwiched between the glass display front and the glass-like back. Not a spot of plastic anywhere!
But the design seems having a polarizing effect. With a torrent of haters proclaiming that this is not an Apple Design!
Personally, I like it. To me this looks like the MacBook Pro - whereas the 3GS looks like a MacBook.
The oddest thing about it is the seams.
C.
The design is, to my mind, pretty radical.
An aluminum core chassis, sandwiched between the glass display front and the glass-like back. Not a spot of plastic anywhere!
But the design seems having a polarizing effect. With a torrent of haters proclaiming that this is not an Apple Design!
Personally, I like it. To me this looks like the MacBook Pro - whereas the 3GS looks like a MacBook.
The oddest thing about it is the seams.
C.
Comments
I'm a little concerned about the back being glass as well, just another thing that might break. Would rather that part stay plastic.
Edit: Just read about the ceramic patents Apple had 4 years ago. The back would be tougher and more scratch resistant than the front. Interesting.
I'm not sure what to make of this leak/rumor. It does fall in line with Apple's green efforts. It's not a terrible design, it would look much better in person.
I'm a little concerned about the back being glass as well, just another thing that might break. Would rather that part stay plastic.
Edit: Just read about the ceramic patents Apple had 4 years ago. The back would be tougher and more scratch resistant than the front. Interesting.
As I understand it, the back looks like glass. But could just as easily be a ceramic. The important issue is that it is not opaque to microwaves.
I think a glass/ceramic back would certainly be more durable than what we have at present.
The 3G(s) has a plastic back that will scratch on anything harder than plastic.
C.
I bet Apple will pissed about this...
This has all but been confirmed. What I am curious about is what is stopping Apple from issuing cease and desist letters all over the place.
This has all but been confirmed. What I am curious about is what is stopping Apple from issuing cease and desist letters all over the place.
This comes from an iPhone that was "accidentally" left at a bar near Apple's campus? So they let people analyze this, and get all revved up. Then they send useless 'cease and desist' letters (since it's not illegally obtained, there is nothing Apple can really do) just to add credibility.
This smells of a marketing ploy to me.
The oddest thing about it is the seams.
I agree. I like the general shape (and features), but the obvious seams and screws seem out of place to me, and the round buttons seem out of place on an iPhone.
I'm sure Apple has built several prototypes to evaluate different aspects of the design, including features as well as aesthetics. While is very well could be a 4G prototype, it may not match the final product.
I posted the other day saying that I thought the 4G would be a mild update. I hope I am wrong! This will be quite compelling as a replacement my aging Samsung dumb-phone and 1G iPod Touch.
I'm just not yet convinced THIS leak is legitimate. They claim to have torn it apart, but tell us NOTHING about what's inside. (Apple A4?, CDMA radio?... you know... REAL information!)
The design isn't surprising though... you kind of expect them to eventually move the iPhone to their carved aluminum chassis design.
Fake confimed to be japenese counterfeit
No. That particular debunking was debunked.
I should know, I was one of the debunkers.
The spanish photographs of the "clone" were poor photoshops.
C.
If the back of the phone is a Magic Mouse style touchpad, then you can't use it when its in a case. I think that if this is the real iPhone, the back is just a wireless radio friendly glass/plastic/ceramic.
Agreed re: the case. However - did apple recently not move to ban the sale of screen protectors in the apple stores recently? They have never officially endorsed a case for the phone have they? Just a thought about the back of the phone being touch capacative. Would make sense with a front facing camera - you could control it without obscuring it when touching the front screen. But, yeah it could just be a new anti scratch back or ceramic to allow better signal transmission....
But if it is, it looks a shit ton better than the 3GS, imho.
3GS looks very impressive from the front, but as soon as you flip it over, that tacky plastic... yerch.
Damn it Apple, I buy your products to feel *better* than other people. Tacky black plastic damages my already fragile ego, and I simply will not have that.
AI Article: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...a_lawsuit.html
Apple sent Gizmodo a letter asking for the device back...
AI Article: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...a_lawsuit.html
Do you guys think that the coming ipod touch 4g will be similar to this leaked iphone 4g?
Apple sent Gizmodo a letter asking for the device back...
That letter puzzles me.
The date says 2010
The letterhead-design says 1998.
C.
That letter puzzles me.
The date says 2010
The letterhead-design says 1998.
C.
yes, that letter head design is much more of a mystery than if that 4g iphone is real or not.
purple aqua logo?... FAIL.
Consider the number of handsets on the market that are very little more than a rectangular screen with some amount of bezel top and bottom and a back. The options for differentiation are modest, at best-- back material and color, radius of a few curves, what happens on the sides. Practically speaking, the actual mix seems to be limited to the ratio of aluminum to black and the odd angle here and there.
I think the average, non-tech obsessed consumer might be hard pressed to tell one from the other, and upon having it explained why a given handset is the very definition of beautiful (or industrial or effeminate or business like or playful) whereas another is an insult to the eyes, they would just look at you funny.
For my money the most interesting thing about the tear-down is the radically shrunk electronics, since that may have some real bearing on the battery life and/or performance. Beyond that, I think the leaked design looks fine, in that way pretty much all smallish rectangles with the front being mostly screen look fine.