Rumor: First photo of supposed 'iPhone 6' front panel surfaces

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited April 2014
A single photo of what appears to be a larger than normal iPhone front panel assembly showed up on Chinese microblogging website Sina Weibo on Tuesday, offering what could be the first look at Apple's next-generation handset.


Click for larger. | Source: Sina Weibo user jiezhixc


While the image is not of the highest quality, it looks as though someone is holding a black iPhone 5s next to an oversized front panel supposedly belonging to Apple's next-gen iPhone 6. The somewhat suspect photo was posted to Sina Weibo by user jiezhixc (via iPhon.fr).

Taking a closer look, there is an immediately noticeable difference between the two front faces and it seems as though the iPhone 5s could fit width-wise into the purported iPhone 6 screen's cutout without much trouble. It is unclear if the larger panel holds a screen with the correct 16:9 aspect ratio used in all iPhones since the iPhone 5.

The usual home button cutout is clearly visible in the alleged part, as are holes for a front-facing FaceTime camera, IR proximity sensor and pill-shaped opening for the ear speaker. Screen bezels look to be very slim in comparison with current Apple handsets, though the overall layout corresponds with existing models.

Even if the part is not legitimate, the photo offers a good example of what a 4.7-inch or 5.5-inch iPhone could look like in comparison to a current-generation model.

A number of publications and analysts, including KGI's Ming-Chi Kuo, predict Apple will bring two larger iPhone versions to market, likely in a fall product cycle refresh.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 70
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    Who's copying who now. ;)
  • Reply 2 of 70
    otterfishotterfish Posts: 45member

    But my thumb only goes from here to here... 

  • Reply 3 of 70
    zabazaba Posts: 226member
    Jive Talking
  • Reply 4 of 70
    radster360radster360 Posts: 546member
    cnocbui wrote: »
    Who's copying who now. ;)
    How is changing the screen size considered copying - It is the natural progression in form factor.
  • Reply 5 of 70
    adrayvenadrayven Posts: 460member
    @cnocbui - Crating new divides with a new screen size is not copying.. It's simply a response to their market.. Something Apple is slow to respond to, they like taking their time.. Shoot, it's been 7 years on the 3.5" and 4" sizes.

    They tend to dominate as best they can with whats working first then look into other markets.. They have the 4" dominated.. now they move into the larger screen space..
  • Reply 6 of 70
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by radster360 View Post





    How is changing the screen size considered copying - It is the natural progression in form factor.

    Feeding a troll, response it was hoping for.

  • Reply 7 of 70
    19831983 Posts: 1,225member
    The part looks quite convincing. The side bezels appear to be the same width as the current 5s not slimmer. Also the IR sensor hole appears larger than the FaceTime camera one. I don't remember if it's always been that way but maybe that's actually for the FaceTime camera instead allowing for a higher resolution part for better quality selfies like on the HTC One M8. Anyway it's the most realistic looking leak of an iPhone 6 part so far.
  • Reply 8 of 70
    ajbdtc826ajbdtc826 Posts: 190member
    I like the 4", just big enough to see and small enough to use and conveniently store in my pocket. I just don't get the phablet trend beyond niche yet.
  • Reply 9 of 70
    takeotakeo Posts: 446member
    I really hope that's not real. The size of that thing looks absolutely ridiculous.
  • Reply 10 of 70
    shogunshogun Posts: 362member
    I'll be absolutely shocked if they scale up a 5s and use that for the 6. The phone looks ridiculous that big with such huge top and bottom bezels. A larger phone means more of the internals can be hidden beneath the screen. So the top and bottom bezels can and should shrink appreciably.
  • Reply 11 of 70
    marvfoxmarvfox Posts: 2,275member

    You are correct it looks ridiculous indeed. To dam big to carry around.

  • Reply 12 of 70
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    shogun wrote: »
    I'll be absolutely shocked if they scale up a 5s and use that for the 6. The phone looks ridiculous that big with such huge top and bottom bezels. A larger phone means more of the internals can be hidden beneath the screen. So the top and bottom bezels can and should shrink appreciably.
    You're forgetting about the home button. Until the home button goes away the top and bottom bezels are always going to be as wide as necessary to accommodate it. And Apple will never go with asymmetrical bezels.
  • Reply 13 of 70
    achillies7achillies7 Posts: 11member
    If this is it, I would be disappointed, I was hoping for a smaller bezel and a bit different design on the front.
  • Reply 14 of 70
    vtvitavtvita Posts: 26member
    I believe! That's it; it's the iPhone 6, 4.7" diag.
    Extraordinarily intriguing!
  • Reply 15 of 70
    steven n.steven n. Posts: 1,229member
    That thing looks ginormous. Hope they have a top-tier 4" offering.
  • Reply 16 of 70
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  • Reply 17 of 70
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member
    shogun wrote: »
    I'll be absolutely shocked if they scale up a 5s and use that for the 6. The phone looks ridiculous that big with such huge top and bottom bezels. A larger phone means more of the internals can be hidden beneath the screen. So the top and bottom bezels can and should shrink appreciably.

    How is it ridiculous? Its still smaller than most flagship android phonees.Also, how the hell would the bottom bezel get and smaller? It barely fits the home button as is, which is a non-negotiable component. Also, it still has to LOOK like an iPhone, which is iconic. Consistency is good. This looks like a bigger iPhone, exactly what it should look like. You think it looks ridiculous now because you're not used to it- a couple months after release,when millions of them are around, it will look as normal as every other iPhone. Everyone also said the iPhone 5 looked ridiculous too.
  • Reply 18 of 70
    toysandmetoysandme Posts: 243member
    This seems legit. Pay attention to the lower right hand side of the photograph. There is a whole pile of front panels
  • Reply 19 of 70
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,322moderator
    AppleInsider wrote: »
    <div align="center"><a href="http://photos.appleinsidercdn.com/14.04.15-iPhone-6-Panel.jpg"><img src=http://photos.appleinsidercdn.com/gallery/8960-396-140415-iPhone6-Panel-l.png alt="" /></a><br><span class="minor2 small gray">Click for larger. | Source: Sina Weibo user <a href="http://www.weibo.com/jiezhixc">jiezhixc</a></span></div>

    The holes are wrong - Apple not only maintains symmetry with the top and bottom bezels but they properly space out the camera and earpiece. You can see the difference with the front facing camera placement in the Chinese knock-off Goophone and genuine iPhone 5S:


    [VIDEO]


    [VIDEO]


    Go to 0:07 in the first and 4:33 in the second and look at the spacing of the parts at the top. The Goophone 5 arrived before the iPhone 5:

    http://www.itworld.com/networking/294199/chinese-clone-goophone-arrives-real-apple-iphone-5-first-shot-patent-battle

    They are somehow managing to get product details before the genuine product is launched and building replicas in advance. This could mean they've built a replica front-face under the assumption that Apple will just put a huge display in.

    It could be Apple has put a similar size through their supply chain to catch out the Goophone leaks. They've hinted already that they're considering a large display but I'd be very surprised if they ship a device that looks like that.
  • Reply 20 of 70
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    achillies7 wrote: »
    If this is it, I would be disappointed, I was hoping for a smaller bezel and a bit different design on the front.
    different design on the front? How different can you design a rectangular screen? As far as the bezels, Apple just introduced Touch ID into the home button last year. Did anyone seriously think a year later the home button would be gone? Did anyone seriously think Apple would incorporate asymmetrical top and bottom bezels? I suppose they could have shrunk the bezel to just barely cover the home button but I've seen mockups that do that and it really makes the button look out of place. As far as the side bezels I don't get what people are complaining about. Would shaving 1mm or whatever really make that much of a difference? I don't get it.
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