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[h1]This Is Apple's Next iPhone[/h1]
http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3ecc2f4&security_token=prod3.b4111cce5ff26b72http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3ecc2f4&security_token=prod3.b4111cce5ff26b72 http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3ecc2f4&security_token=prod3.b4111cce5ff26b72http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3ecc2f4&security_token=prod3.b4111cce5ff26b72
You are looking at Apple's next iPhone.It was found lost in a bar in Redwood City, camouflaged to look like aniPhone 3GS. We got it. We disassembled it. It's the real thing, andhere are all the details.
While Apple may tinker with the final packaging and design of thefinal phone, it's clear that the features in this lost-and-foundnext-generation iPhone are drastically new and drastically differentfrom what came before. Here's the detailed list of our findings:
[h2]What's new[/h2]
• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It's unclear if it's the 960x460 display thrownaround before—it certainly looks like it, with the "Connect to iTunes"screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic
[h2]What's changed[/h2]
• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) orshiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping onthe back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared totapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be theorientation of components inside making for a different sound
• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery
http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3e2ca2c&security_token=prod3.d0a38e0b4ae41c03http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3e2ca2c&security_token=prod3.d0a38e0b4ae41c03
[h2]Why we think it's definitely real[/h2]
We're as skeptical—if not more—than all of you. We get false tipsall the time. But after playing with it for about a week—the overallquality feels exactly like a finished final Apple phone—anddisassembling this unit, there is so much evidence stacked in itsfavor, that there's very little possibility that it's a fake. In fact,the possibility is almost none. Imagine someone having to use Applecomponents to design a functioning phone, from scratch, andthen disseminating it to people around the world. Pretty muchimpossible. Here are the reasons, one by one.
It has been reported lost
Apple-connected John Gruber—from Daring Fireball—says that Apple has indeed lost a prototype iPhone and they want it back:
http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3ecc2f4&security_token=prod3.b4111cce5ff26b72http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3ecc2f4&security_token=prod3.b4111cce5ff26b72 http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3ecc2f4&security_token=prod3.b4111cce5ff26b72http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3ecc2f4&security_token=prod3.b4111cce5ff26b72
You are looking at Apple's next iPhone.It was found lost in a bar in Redwood City, camouflaged to look like aniPhone 3GS. We got it. We disassembled it. It's the real thing, andhere are all the details.
While Apple may tinker with the final packaging and design of thefinal phone, it's clear that the features in this lost-and-foundnext-generation iPhone are drastically new and drastically differentfrom what came before. Here's the detailed list of our findings:
[h2]What's new[/h2]
• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It's unclear if it's the 960x460 display thrownaround before—it certainly looks like it, with the "Connect to iTunes"screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic
[h2]What's changed[/h2]
• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) orshiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping onthe back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared totapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be theorientation of components inside making for a different sound
• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery
http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3e2ca2c&security_token=prod3.d0a38e0b4ae41c03http://bg-video.cp.motionbox.com/mo...3e2ca2c&security_token=prod3.d0a38e0b4ae41c03
[h2]Why we think it's definitely real[/h2]
We're as skeptical—if not more—than all of you. We get false tipsall the time. But after playing with it for about a week—the overallquality feels exactly like a finished final Apple phone—anddisassembling this unit, there is so much evidence stacked in itsfavor, that there's very little possibility that it's a fake. In fact,the possibility is almost none. Imagine someone having to use Applecomponents to design a functioning phone, from scratch, andthen disseminating it to people around the world. Pretty muchimpossible. Here are the reasons, one by one.
It has been reported lost
Apple-connected John Gruber—from Daring Fireball—says that Apple has indeed lost a prototype iPhone and they want it back:
So I called around, and I now believe this is an actual unit from Apple — a unit Apple is very interested in getting back.
Obviously someone found it, and here it is.
The screen
While we couldn't get it past the connect to iTunes screen for thereasons listed earlier, the USB cable on that screen was so highquality that it was impossible to discern individual pixels. We can'ttell you the exact resolution of this next-generation iPhone, but it'smuch higher than the current iPhone 3GS.
The operating system
According to the person who found it, this iPhone was running iPhone OS 4.0 before the iPhone 4.0announcement. The person was able to play with it and see the iPhone4.0 features. Then, Apple remotely killed the phone before we gotaccess to it. We were unable to restore because each firmware is devicespecific—3GS firmware only loads on 3GS devices—and the there are nofirmwares available for this unreleased phone. Which is another clue toits authenticity.
It is recognized as an iPhone
This iPhone behaves exactly like an iPhone does when connected to acomputer, with the proper boot sequence and "connect to iTunes" restorefunctionality. Xcode and iTunes both see this as an iPhone. Mac OS X'sSystem Profiler also reports this as an iPhone in restore mode, whichis a natural consequence of remotely wiping the phone, but report different product identifiers (both CPID and CPRV) than either the 3G or the 3GS.
It uses micro-sim
The fact that it uses a micro-sim is a clear indicator that this is anext-generation iPhone. No other cellphone uses this standard at thispoint in the US.
The case it came inside was a fully developed plastic case to housethis phone to disguise it like a 3GS. This wasn't just a normal case;it had all the proper new holescut out for the new switches and ports and camera holes and cameraflash. But it looks like something from Belkin or Case-Mate. It's aperfect disguise.
The fact that it's in the wild right now
Logic can also narrow down why this phone is this year's iPhone, ratherthan next year's model or one from the previous year's, just because itwas found in the wild right now. It makes no sense for Apple to betesting 2011's model right now, in super finished form—they wouldn't benearly finished with it. The phone also can't be last year's testmodel, because last year's model (based on the iPhone 3GS teardowns)components were way different. No micro-sim, much bigger logic board,no flash, no front camera, smaller battery and an inferior camera. Thatonly leaves the 2010 model.
And finally, when we opened it up, we saw multiple components that were clearly labeled APPLE.And, because the components were fit extremely well and extremelyconformed inside the case (obvious that it was designed FOR this case),it was evident that it was not just a 3G or a 3GS transplanted intoanother body. That probably wouldn't even be possible, with the sizeconstraints of the thinner device and larger battery.
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[h2]The New Industrial Design[/h2]
At first sight, this new iPhone's industrial design seems sodifferent from the previous two generations that it could be discardedas just a provisional case. Even while the finish is so perfect that itfeels right out of the factory, some of the design language elementsthat are common to all Apple products are not there. Gone is theflushed screen glass against the metal rim. Gone is the single volumebutton, replaced by two separate ones. Gone is the seamless rim, andgone are the tapered, curved surfaces.
Despite that, however, this design is not a departure. Not when youframe it with the rest of the Apple product line. It's all thecontrary: This new iPhone gets back to the simplicity of the iMac andthe iPad. In fact, you can argue that the current iPhone 3GS—with itsshiny chrome rim and excessively curved back—is out of place comparedto the hard edges and Dieter-Ramish utilitarianism of the iMac and the iPad. Next to the iPad, for example, the new iPhone makes sense. It has the same feeling, the same functional simplicity.
But why the black plastic back, instead of going with an unibodyaluminum design? Why the two audio volume buttons? Why the seams? Andwhy doesn't the back have any curvature at all?
Why the plastic back?
The plastic back is the most obvious of the design choices. The iPad,with its all aluminum back, has seen its Wi-Fi reception radiusreduced. The 3G version comes with a large patch on the top, probablybig enough to provide with good reception. But the new tiny iPhonedoesn't have the luxury of space: It needs to provide with as muchsignal as possible using a very small surface. I'm sure Jon Ive isdying to get rid of the plastic back, and go iPad-style all the way,but the wireless reception is the most important thing in a cellphone.A necessary aesthetical-functional trade-off.
Why separate volume buttons?
This new iPhone uses separate buttons for the volume instead of thesingle button that you can find in the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.It's one of the factors that may indicate that this is a provisionalcase, until you think about one of the most requested features forApple's phone: A physical button for the camera. The new iPhone has abigger sensor and a flash, which means that the camera function keepsgaining more weight. It's only logical to think that Apple may haveimplemented this two-button approach to provide with a physical shutterbutton. It makes sense.
Why the seams?
The seams are perhaps the most surprising aspect of the new design.They don't seem to respond to any aesthetic criteria and, in terms offunction, we can't adventure any explanation. But they don't look bad. In fact, the whole effect seems good, like something you will find in a Braun product from the 70s.
It's doubtful that the seams are arbitrary, however. Either theywill disappear from the final product, or they have a function we can'tforesee at this time.
Why no tapering or curves?
As you will see in a future article, the new iPhone is so miniaturizedand packed that there's no room for the tapered, curved surfaces.Everything is as tight as it could get, with no space for anything butelectronics.
[h2]The hardware specs[/h2]
The phone measures 4.50 by 2.31 by 0.37 inches. It weighs 140 grams.The 3GS weighs 137 grams on a postal scale (and 135 on Apple's officialmeasurements). So, in comparison, it's 3 grams heavier. The battery is5.25 WHr at 3.7V, compared to the 3GS battery, which is 4.51 WHr at3.7V. On the back of the phone, it said it was XX GB, but since we wereunable to get the phone to a running state, we couldn't see exactly howlarge it was.
[h2]How it feels[/h2]
Freaking amazing. As a person who never really liked the round moundof a back in the 3GS, the sleeker, flatter, squarer design is superwelcome. It feels sturdier than the 3GS, and much less plasticky. Themetal buttons give it a heftier feel—less of a toy—than all previousgenerations. The closest analog to it would be the original iPhone,which is more square and heavy than its newer brothers.
It feels completely natural up to your face, and the fact that boththe front and the back are glossy makes no difference on how well youcan hold it without the phone slipping. And because it's thinner, itfeels even nicer in your pants.
[h2]What all this means[/h2]
Apple has updated the exterior drastically different from the 3G and3GS. That design is old, it felt out of place compared to the rest oftheir products and needed desperately to be killed. Now you have athinner body, a much more pleasant form factor with no wasted space andlots of hard lines. But the design isn't the most important part that'schanged.
They've delivered many of the features people have been waitingfor—that damn front camera!—while at the same time upgrading everythingelse. Flash, better back camera, better battery life and anothermicrophone for better voice clarity. People who bought the 3G two yearsago and are now in the perfect position to upgrade and get adramatically different, and better, phone. If confirmed this summer,and if it performs as we expect, this next-generation iPhone looks likea winner.
Much additional reporting and design analysis by Jesus Diaz. Rosa Golijan also contributed.
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Steve Jobs might have murdered someone today...again...
