Rumor: Rear shell for 4.7" 'iPhone 6' shown with inlaid Apple logo in new photos

Posted:
in iPhone edited July 2014
Yet another rear shell for Apple's next-generation iPhone has purportedly been outed by sources in the company's Far East supply chain, with the latest set of photos showing a more refined unit complete with an iPad-like inlaid Apple logo.




The part appears to be at a later stage of manufacturing than those shown in previous leaks, with a smoother appearance. Utility comparison site uSwitch was first to publish the images.

The reason behind Apple's supposed move to an inlaid logo is not immediately clear, though some have speculated that it could be designed to allow the logo to light up -- similar to the company's MacBook line -- to notify users when a call or message comes in. The more likely explanation, however, is that the opening would be used for signals from one of the device's many antennae.

Another possible explanation is the widely-rumored inclusion of NFC in the so-called "iPhone 6," possibly coinciding with the introduction of an iTunes-backed mobile payment system. Placing an NFC antenna behind the Apple logo could be convenient for tap-and-go purchases.

Apple is widely expected to offer the iPhone 6 in two versions -- one with a 4.7-inch display and a larger, 5.5-inch "phablet" variant. Other features rumored to be in the offing are a new, 128-gigabyte capacity version, optical image stabilization, and a faster "A8" CPU.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37
    leesmithleesmith Posts: 121member
    How about all of the above?
  • Reply 2 of 37
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,949member
    I hope they don't axe the current form factor. Many people prefer a smaller phone. Especially those of us who carry iPads for large screen functionality.
  • Reply 3 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by leesmith View Post

    How about all of the above?

     

    Apple isn’t Samsung.

  • Reply 4 of 37
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Interesting. I see the white plastic dividers in the outer edge but I do not see any place for glass inserts on the back.

     

    Hard to tell but the power switch does look like it is on the side

     

    The edges of the case do not look rounded like in the mock-ups

     

    The inner surface looks incredibly smooth. Could it be…?

  • Reply 5 of 37
    shogunshogun Posts: 362member
    Every other iPhone they've made has had serious milling marks on the inside of the back. This one is clearly a forged or stamped piece instead. Why the difference all of a sudden? A December 2013 patent described making liquidmetal in float forges like glass is made so that it comes off the line in large flat thin sheets ready for stamping...
  • Reply 6 of 37
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,033member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by leesmith View Post



    How about all of the above?

    It would be unprecedented for all of the items in a highly speculative Apple rumor post to end up being true.

     

    The odds do not favor such an outcome.

  • Reply 7 of 37
    leesmithleesmith Posts: 121member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

     

    Apple isn’t Samsung.


    You get points for accuracy, but none for relevance to my comment.

  • Reply 8 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Originally Posted by leesmith View Post

    You get points for accuracy, but none for relevance to my comment.

     

    “Apple doesn’t throw a bunch of useless crap into their devices just because they CAN have a bunch of useless crap in their devices. What they put in their devices is given purpose, utility, and integration with the rest of the content thereon. Samsung is incapable of creating a product of that sort, as evidenced by generations of garbage, overloaded with things its users never use, for the sole purpose of increasing the length of their spec sheet.”

     

    In the future, understand the three word version as the above. :p 

  • Reply 9 of 37
    leesmithleesmith Posts: 121member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mpantone View Post

     

    It would be unprecedented for all of the items in a highly speculative Apple rumor post to end up being true.

     

    The odds do not favor such an outcome.


    No reason why there can't be multiple purposes for the cut-out, but you're probably right about ALL of them.

  • Reply 10 of 37
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator

    I wish the noise about a 5.5" version would stop until such time that we actually see even a single part leak that would support an iPhone in that size.  So far, the rumor is very weak.

  • Reply 11 of 37
    argosyargosy Posts: 3member
    shogun wrote: »
    Every other iPhone they've made has had serious milling marks on the inside of the back. This one is clearly a forged or stamped piece instead. Why the difference all of a sudden? A December 2013 patent described making liquidmetal in float forges like glass is made so that it comes off the line in large flat thin sheets ready for stamping...

    Shogun,

    I noticed that too. Maybe this is the year Liquidmetal is finally going to be utilized in an iPhone chassis!
  • Reply 12 of 37
    I read in a Mongolian news paper that the iPhone 7 will have no back and will be made of sapphire and readable from either side. Also the screen will be 6.75 inches and Santa will return in Christmas of 2020....


    WhooooHooooo
  • Reply 13 of 37
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member

    I'd like to go back in time and "discourage" whoever coined the term "phablet" from doing so.  It's such a bad term to refer to "large smartphone."  If anything it should refer to tablets with street cred (phat tablets) or perhaps ironically fashionable tablets (fabulous tablets).  Or how about we just stop using the term all together?  Thanks in advance.

  • Reply 14 of 37
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    I'm thinking die casting! That might be a sign that the so called Liquid Metal is being used.

    shogun wrote: »
    Every other iPhone they've made has had serious milling marks on the inside of the back. This one is clearly a forged or stamped piece instead. Why the difference all of a sudden? A December 2013 patent described making liquidmetal in float forges like glass is made so that it comes off the line in large flat thin sheets ready for stamping...

    Stamping wouldn't give you the screw mounting locations common to iPhone designs and seen in these pictures.
  • Reply 15 of 37
    Ummmm.... Backside pic? Why wouldn't they show that?
  • Reply 16 of 37
    I wish the noise about a 5.5" version would stop until such time that we actually see even a single part leak that would support an iPhone in that size.  So far, the rumor is very weak.

    AppleInsider will keep the expectation alive, so that Apple can "disappoint" fandroids who claim to want one.
    It's an important function of the rumor mill to keep rumors alive without evidence. :)
  • Reply 17 of 37
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    AppleInsider will keep the expectation alive, so that Apple can "disappoint" fandroids who claim to want one.
    It's an important function of the rumor mill to keep rumors alive without evidence. :)

    Fandroid response? "No 5.5" iPhone? I won't buy. Sorry, Apple, you just lost another customer." Samsung rulez!
  • Reply 18 of 37
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    argosy wrote: »
    Shogun,

    I noticed that too. Maybe this is the year Liquidmetal is finally going to be utilized in an iPhone chassis!

    It could be a common zinc or aluminum die casting. Zinc can do really interesting thin wall sections but it is a heavy metal.

    I spent the first few years of my work life in the zinc die casting industry and seen some really amazing things cast with that material. It is also highly recyclable. The problem is it is heavy compared to aluminum. There are also zinc and aluminum alloys out there. The problem with most aluminum die casting allows is that you can't do the thin cross sections well. At least not back in my youth with the aluminum allows available at the time. This is why I'm wondering about Liquid Metal.

    A die casting would still require post molding machining to tap holes and the like. However that CNC work would be far less than milling a phone from a plate of aluminum. Apple could make use of self tapping screws and other fastening methods to reduce CNC machining even further.

    Die casting was an interesting business, too bad much of that business went to China.
  • Reply 19 of 37
    georgeip5georgeip5 Posts: 225member
    Well I've been hoping big for Johnathan Ive to and that design with the feature so lets hope there's a light up Apple logo, the chasy is still suspicious to me because of the side button. I like it on top.
  • Reply 20 of 37
    kennmsrkennmsr Posts: 100member
    Ummmm.... Backside pic? Why wouldn't they show that?

    It was published, but because of the flack received by the site who showed it, AppleInsider opted not to contribute to that hrang-a-thon. But to add fuel to that fire, here is the "Fugly Jock Strap" rear view.

    700

    As has been suggested elsewhere on the blogosphere this is possibly one of those Chinese knockoffs that appeared in the Rumor Arena last week.
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