Designer profiles unibody iPhone 5 case design, antenna changes

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Industrial designer Don Lehman has posed a detailed analysis of shell components thought to be the final design or a late prototype of the coming iPhone 5, particularly examining changes to the back plate.

Lehman examined rumored iPhone 5 components on The Tech Block, noting "two things stand out right away: A 'taller' proportion compared to traditional iPhones and the wraparound metal backplate."

Evolution of the iPhone 4 antennas

Rumors of a taller, 4 inch screen have been widely discussed, but Lehman focuses on the progression of Apple's iPhone 4 design, which Steve Jobs first unveiled in 2010 (after the new design had leaked following the loss of a prototype).



While the initial iPhone 4 (GSM) model used its "exoskeleton" metal band as two long antenna segments, Apple revised the design when it introduced a CDMA version for Verizon Wireless in order to accommodate Verizon's requirements of a dual-antenna design for its cellular network.

The subsequent iPhone 4S design retained the same top and bottom, dual cellular antenna design, while transmitting GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth radio signals through the phone's rear glass panel.

New unibody case design

Lehman notes that "the leaked [iPhone 5] design has three pieces of metal instead of four. It still has two U-shaped pieces at the top and bottom, but this time the two flat sides become one single piece of metal that also comprises the back of the device. That single piece of metal is the unibody backplate."

He adds, "same properties that unibody designs give to Apple?s laptops apply to this design as well: stronger, lighter, and thinner."

As with Apple's unibody MacBooks and iPad shells, it appears the iPhone 5's new one piece backplate and sides is milled from a single piece of metal, with integrated "bosses" that provide points to screw down the logic board and other internal components.





The new design eliminates the full glass back of the phone, and reduces its thickness considerably, essentially making it as thin as the band, about 2-3 mm thinner than today's iPhone 4S.

"That sounds small, but it?s a huge difference," Lehman writes. "That?s as much as 32 percent thinner. As a point of comparison, the Retina MacBook Pro is only 25 percent thinner than the old MacBook Pro."

Lehman adds, "the cell antenna is integrated into the metal case, but there are still separate Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and (potentially) NFC antennas to deal with. They need to transmit their signal through non-signal-blocking materials such as plastic or glass.

"That was why the original iPhone had a black plastic piece at the bottom of the case, why the 3G/3GS?s back was made entirely of plastic, and why the 4/4S?s back was made entirely of glass. This is why there are the two pieces of either glass or plastic at the top and bottom of this design."

Polished chamfer edge



Lehman also noted "the chamfer that runs along the edge of the metal appears to be polished, as opposed to the side, which is buffed or sand blasted.

"The polished chamfer helps the edge look more continuous and will make this design appear to be even thinner than it already is."

Bringing up the rear



Additionally, the two round speaker grills on either side of the lower Dock Connector of the existing iPhone 4S design have also been replaced with asymmetric pin hole areas on either side of the smaller new Dock Connector replacement port, and a headphone jack has been added to the bottom (visible above). The pin hole speaker grills "integrate better into the asymmetrical space," Lehman noted.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 50
    jason98jason98 Posts: 768member


    I love the thin factor but hate the bezels. The screen is still perceived as a tiny window compared to the entire front panel :(

  • Reply 2 of 50


    Whenever I see this article in every other sites, I hear Job's "Impressive Engineering."

  • Reply 3 of 50
    dickprinterdickprinter Posts: 1,060member


    I'm hoping that the glass will be easily replaceable if broken like the non-retina MacBooks, iMacs and current iPhone 4 and 4S designs. From the looks of it, the new design certainly makes it appear that way. :-) 


     


    Funny...why don't I see the name iPhone in the pic showing the chamfered edge like I can see it in the video?

  • Reply 4 of 50
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by jason98 View Post

    I love the thin factor but hate the bezels. The screen is still perceived as a tiny window compared to the entire front panel :(


     


    Except they're necessary. Let's not get into that again.

  • Reply 5 of 50
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member


    IMO from what we've seen I personally think the new phone looks gorgeous. The aluminum should also be very resilient. 

  • Reply 6 of 50
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post

    IMO from what we've seen I personally think the new phone looks gorgeous. The aluminum should also be very resilient. 


     


    I hope that the release version of the black glass model swaps the darker aluminum panel for a lighter one as a throwback to the original. 

  • Reply 7 of 50
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    jason98 wrote: »
    I love the thin factor but hate the bezels. The screen is still perceived as a tiny window compared to the entire front panel :(
    Don't mind the chamfered bezel. But I do wonder exactly how a piece of solid metal is going to be able to utilize the top and bottom as antennas ... It appears as though the top and bottom have been cut off and glued back on with a thin band separating them ... But that can't be right!

    Agreed on the front panel, they should have reduced the height of the end sections, put the camera, sensors and earpiece all in the same line, not take advantage of the extra room, and made the home button smaller and touch sensitive.

    I keep imagining my iPhone 4 longer in my hands and it just looks wrong ...so narrow ...
  • Reply 8 of 50
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    I hope that the release version of the black glass model swaps the darker aluminum panel for a lighter one as a throwback to the original. 



     


    Dunno, kind of like the dark aluminum. It's unique and looks classy, as well as fitting in well with the rest of the phone and potentially being able to hold up to visible wear/tear better. 

  • Reply 9 of 50


    Final judgement reserved until I can get some hands on time with it.  

  • Reply 10 of 50
    I love the notion of metal and unibody construction, but hope the final implementation of the back panel is better because the lines when the metal stops and plastic or glass top and bottom areas is truly horrible - the first Apple design I've had a negative reaction to since the iPod nano. It looks like a removable battery back. I hope (trust) the integration of the back panel will be more elegant than the photos. Hopefully the metal part has a protective film on it that will removed in the final production units. The elegance of the matching front and back of the 3GS and 4/4S is one of its key differentiators. Lines, splits, multi materials is a huge step back.
  • Reply 11 of 50
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post

    Dunno, kind of like the dark aluminum. It's unique and looks classy, as well as fitting in well with the rest of the phone and potentially being able to hold up to visible wear/tear better. 


     


    And if it's LiquidMetal, their color options are slightly limited—true.

  • Reply 12 of 50


    I think this is a rejected prototype part, purposefully leaked by Apple.


     


    The REAL iPhone 5 will look better than this.

  • Reply 13 of 50


    With a metal back I think we will be seeing some colors besides black and white.

  • Reply 14 of 50
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by amoradala View Post


    I think this is a rejected prototype part, purposefully leaked by Apple.


     


    The REAL iPhone 5 will look better than this.



     


    Not sure why people set themselves up for dissapointment like that. There's a good chance it's real. Why not assume it is, and get your negative feelings out of the way so that when its officially revealed you can focus on the positive aspects? Remind me of all the bullshit 'LOL THIS CANT BE THE IPHONE 4 ITS A CONTROLLED LEAK' posts. 

  • Reply 15 of 50
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by bdkennedy View Post

    With a metal back I think we will be seeing some colors besides black and white.


     


    Like off-black.

  • Reply 16 of 50
    ivladivlad Posts: 742member


    Ok, mr. Obvious thanks for that "analysis."

  • Reply 17 of 50
    ivladivlad Posts: 742member


    Well it does look like the opening will be through the front panel instead of the back one, like in the current 4S. So getting to the screen will be very easy, but getting to the battery will be almost impossible. Smart/Evil move by Apple.

  • Reply 18 of 50
    lerxtlerxt Posts: 186member
    Not crazy about the abnormally tall iPhone design. I can't believe that Jonny Ive would approve it.
  • Reply 19 of 50

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post


     


    Not sure why people set themselves up for dissapointment like that. There's a good chance it's real. Why not assume it is, and get your negative feelings out of the way so that when its officially revealed you can focus on the positive aspects? Remind me of all the bullshit 'LOL THIS CANT BE THE IPHONE 4 ITS A CONTROLLED LEAK' posts. 



     


    It's not a negative feeling, far from it.


    I am remembering the ipad 2 'leaks' that came out, and the real iPad 2 looked so much better than any of the fake parts.


     


    Apple designers are ahead of most wannabe designers with their 3d renders and machine shop fabrications.


    This design just lacks something.


     


    I might be wrong of course, but I'm honestly not too worried about dissapointment, (I'm a grown man, I can take it) ;)

  • Reply 20 of 50
    noirdesirnoirdesir Posts: 1,027member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by amoradala View Post


    I think this is a rejected prototype part, purposefully leaked by Apple.


     


    The REAL iPhone 5 will look better than this.



    Are you often surprised in your life that things are different than you think the should be?


     


    Because in this case your certainly will be again.


     


    ----


    Or maybe to ask differently, if you have seen such detailed leaks for new products already a few dozen times and in all cases the released product looked like the leaks, shouldn't human pattern recognition tell you that history will almost certainly repeat itself once more?

Sign In or Register to comment.