Designer profiles unibody iPhone 5 case design, antenna changes

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  • Reply 21 of 50
    bsimpsenbsimpsen Posts: 398member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post



    and made the home button smaller and touch sensitive.

     


    If the home button were touch sensitive (like the display), putting it in your pocket, facing your skin, would activate it. It's a recessed mechanical button for precisely that reason.

  • Reply 22 of 50
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by bsimpsen View Post

    If the home button were touch sensitive (like the display), putting it in your pocket, facing your skin, would activate it. It's a recessed mechanical button for precisely that reason.


     


    Capacitive areas don't work through cloth. They don't even work with your fingernail. But that's not the reason a non-physical Home Button is a terrible idea.

  • Reply 23 of 50
    rarerare Posts: 27member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Capacitive areas don't work through cloth. They don't even work with your fingernail. But that's not the reason a non-physical Home Button is a terrible idea.



    Not reliably, but they certainly do. Sometimes I listen to podcasts with my iPhone in my pocket, and I've had it annoyingly skip to the next episode when I'm walking. I've learned to make sure the screen is either turned off or turned away from my body.

  • Reply 24 of 50
    I think Apple have inevitably arrived at this unibody structure to make it thinner and functionally perform well. But in terms of aesthetics, they can still play around with the finishing to make it look elegant such as giving a matte finish on the two pieces of glass that matches with the finish of the body. They've done such treatment on the trackpad of their existing laptops and they should be able to mimic that same effect on the upcoming iPhone and cut a little hole for the flashlight.

    It's also quite possible that the piece of glass is actually a piece of ceramic in order to match the finish of the metal body even more as it will appear more solid than glass when light shines onto it. Being a designer myself, I've actually visited a large ceramics factory in China several months ago that said that Apple have approached them before to make some small and thin pieces of ceramic for the iPhone. I doubt that they actually supply those parts to them right now but at least it gives us some insight that they are looking into using ceramic. I'd bet they're going to end up using some ceramics that's similar to the toughness of those ceramic knives out there if in fact that they are going with this unibody design.
  • Reply 25 of 50
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    mac_128 wrote: »
    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!

    It's not a piece of solid metal. The casing is made of at least 3 distinct metal pieces. Note that the forehead and chin of the back of the casing is a different color. That is probably not metal, or at least not conductive. I'd guess a plastic or glass. Also, note the dividing lines on the sides of the casing right where that black forehead and chin meet the center of the casing. That's exactly how the external antenna has been separated from the other pieces in the past. Finally, take a gander at the inside of the casing and see screws right at those four points where the antenna ends. This, too, is exactly how all the iPhones with external antennas dealt with the design. The major difference here is the ability to make it appear more seamless instead of the sandwich shape of the iPhone 4/4S.
    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 ...

    I want the Home Button to be larger, not smaller. Elongated a bit would be my preference.


    PS: Remember when people said that Apple was stupid for using an external antenna design when all these professional handset makers have using internal ones for decades/? What does Apple know about phone anyway? I guess Apple will never learn how fundamentally flawed their 4th, 5th and 6th generation iPhones are¡
  • Reply 26 of 50
    macgregormacgregor Posts: 1,434member



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    I quite like the gun-metal color and shiny chamfer or whatever that edge is called on the detail photos, but the full shot does look strange and not very unified.  I almost always have mine in a case anyway, so size matters more than color, but it would be nice to have a few kinds of anodized metal - I'd really go for copper!


     
  • Reply 27 of 50
    dimmokdimmok Posts: 359member


    I thought I read somewhere....that the headphone jack on the bottom would also serve as bass port for the speakers next to it.


    Similar to the way bass speakers are ported for better airflow and louder bass?? Cool design....not sure I dig the color.

  • Reply 28 of 50

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


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





    Because there's no way to make a smartphone out of a non-conductive material that doesn't look cheap, right guys?



    image


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  • Reply 29 of 50

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by DimMok View Post


    I thought I read somewhere....that the headphone jack on the bottom would also serve as bass port for the speakers next to it.


    Similar to the way bass speakers are ported for better airflow and louder bass?? Cool design....not sure I dig the color.



    That would be badass.

  • Reply 30 of 50
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    lukeskymac wrote: »

    Because there's no way to make a smartphone out of a non-conductive material that doesn't look cheap, right guys?

    I have no idea what non-conductive materials have to do with bezels on the edge of the display but I'm still going to address your post as if there is a point about bezels that I'm missing. The Lumia's bezels are larger than the iPhone's....


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  • Reply 31 of 50
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member


    Wil be so funny when all these pics turn out to be either - prototypes that were abandoned or iTouch rather than iPhone parts. 


     
  • Reply 32 of 50
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    lilgto64 wrote: »
    Wil be so funny when all these pics turn out to be either - prototypes that were abandoned or iTouch rather than iPhone parts. 
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    I'm guessing neither is the case. For this to be an iPod Touch it would mean the iPod Touch is getting cellular antennas. I don't have a technical reason this wouldn't be an old prototype but this seems very refined, it looks great, and in the past when this many leaks were seen it turned out to be the product and it was to be available shortly. I'd say the production is nearly in full swing at this point. So much so we could start using the available data to predict how many countries it'll sell in from day one, when that day will be and what the opening weekend will be.
  • Reply 33 of 50
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by Lukeskymac View Post

    Because there's no way to make a smartphone out of a non-conductive material that doesn't look cheap, right guys?


     


    It'd be nice if this reply had anything to do with what it's replying to.

  • Reply 34 of 50


    Why are the milling "Toolpath" lines so thick and deep?  Why not grind it smooth?

  • Reply 35 of 50

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    I have no idea what non-conductive materials have to do with bezels on the edge of the display but I'm still going to address your post as if there is a point about bezels that I'm missing. The Lumia's bezels are larger than the iPhone's....


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    It'd be nice if this reply had anything to do with what it's replying to.





    For a moment I thought you were replying on an antenna window complain. Hence the whole non-conductive materials thing. My bad.



    (However, the vertical bezel on the One X *is* smaller than the iPhone's and I've never heard anyone complaining about that)

  • Reply 36 of 50
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    lukeskymac wrote: »
    However, the vertical bezel on the One X *is* smaller than the iPhone's and I've never heard anyone complaining about that

    Is it? It doesn't look smaller to me. It has less of chin and forehead compared to the iPhone but it also has a much larger display. I think Apple is cutting the chin too close for comfort based on the images but they do have solid history of balancing out utility with usability.

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    That said, I was not a fan of the iPod Nano that got the elongated display. It pushed the scroll wheel further down. The problem comes in when you hold the Nano comfortably and the thumb's pivot point is now much higher than it was before thus making the scrolling a little less natural feeling. I found this to be noticeable to the point of being unpleasant in comparison.

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  • Reply 37 of 50
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Why are the milling "Toolpath" lines so thick and deep?  Why not grind it smooth?

    I remember JeffDM mentioning this as proof it's not a finished product. It seemed reasonable at the time but since it's refined for tool marks and it goes around the screw mounts like a Zen garden at this point I think we should assume it's intended and has a purpose. Rigidity? Air flow? Any other ideas?
  • Reply 38 of 50
    bsimpsenbsimpsen Posts: 398member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Capacitive areas don't work through cloth. They don't even work with your fingernail. But that's not the reason a non-physical Home Button is a terrible idea.



    Wrong. Capacitive areas do indeed work through cloth and other insulating materials, such as the protective plastic sheets placed over touch screens. The reason they don't work with a fingernail is that you must tip your finger up and away from the surface to use your nail, so the flesh of your fingertip is much farther away from the glass surface than if it were pressed up hard against your fanny through the lining of your pocket. This is why swipe to unlock was implemented. Even with a mechanical wake switch, devices can be accidentally powered on in the pocket. The touch surface then responds to your skin in random and potentially undesirable ways. So a particular motion is required to activate the phone. If that motion isn't detected, the device goes back to sleep.


     


    If you don't believe me, place a layer of cloth or a couple sheets of paper over the surface of your iDevice, turn it on, then do the swipe to unlock. I just did it successfully through both my tee shirt and my denim jeans.

  • Reply 39 of 50

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    I remember JeffDM mentioning this as proof it's not a finished product. It seemed reasonable at the time but since it's refined for tool marks and it goes around the screw mounts like a Zen garden at this point I think we should assume it's intended and has a purpose. Rigidity? Air flow? Any other ideas?


    I would think there are multiple benefits to it. First, it would definitely make it more rigid, which is important for a large flat piece of metal which is likely quite thin. Second, it probably cuts down on the amount of time needed to mill each case considerably. Downsides would be slightly more weight and I would also think that components wouldn't be packaged as efficiently as possible with those grooves in there.

  • Reply 40 of 50
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I would think there are multiple benefits to it. First, it would definitely make it more rigid, which is important for a large flat piece of metal which is likely quite thin. Second, it probably cuts down on the amount of time needed to mill each case considerably. Downsides would be slightly more weight and I would also think that components wouldn't be packaged as efficiently as possible with those grooves in there.

    I still feel like we're overlooking something important here. I like your comment about saving cost on processing, but I wonder why that single flat piece needs to be milled at all. I also would why the ridges are so detailed. Look at the right side of the design. If they just went with straight lines instead of curved lines it would be as affective for the previously stated reasons for having grooves and cheaper than having to go around the screw points. I wonder if it's not milled at all but is modeled. Could this be liquid metal? A mold would certainly explain why you'd want the ridges and why a designer might go to the trouble or making it somewhat decorative inside.
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