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Did Apple trash the Teardrop Design?

gmanist1000

gmanist1000

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Sep 22, 2009
2,884
937
This was the biggest rumored design before the 4S came out, and after another year it appears that the teardrop design won't be released this year either. Did Apple trash the design all together? Or are they waiting for a couple more years... possibly for liquid metal?

Comapnies even started producing cases for that design, and it was shown in iPhoto.

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iPhone-5-thickness.jpg

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gmanist1000 said:
This was the biggest rumored design before the 4S came out, and after another year it appears that the teardrop design won't be released this year either. Did Apple trash the design all together? Or are they waiting for a couple more years... possibly for liquid metal?

Comapnies even started producing cases for that design, and it was shown in iPhoto.
Click to expand...

No one knows for sure, it may never have been an Apple design in the first place and just some kid making up a sham. Or it could have just been a concept made by Apple which somehow got leaked. It's impossible to know.
 
I think they wanted this design all along judging by that iPhoto stint, but then backtracked on the idea. I prefer the longer phone design though, to be honest, as that asymmetrical top/bottom will annoy me, especially when holding the phone sideways.
 
dontwalkhand said:
I think they wanted this design all along judging by that iPhoto stint, but then backtracked on the idea. I prefer the longer phone design though, to be honest, as that asymmetrical top/bottom will annoy me, especially when holding the phone sideways.
Click to expand...

I always thought they would follow the design of the iPad. Maybe the next iPad is a redesign and they didn't want to introduce an iPhone with a similar design, only to have it outdated by a different iPad design.

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macingman said:
No one knows for sure, it may never have been an Apple design in the first place and just some kid making up a sham. Or it could have just been a concept made by Apple which somehow got leaked. It's impossible to know.
Click to expand...

How could you explain the iPhoto picture though? It seems like pretty likely evidence that there was at least some sort of prototypes in the works?
 
Maybe they wanted it but decided not to throw away all their work on the ip4/4S antenna, maybe they couldn't find a way to get adequate signal through the aluminum back.

Who knows, no sense worrying about it though cause it appears to be long gone.
 
I'm sure it was a real prototype... just look at some of the crazy stuff that leaked out of the Apple v. Samsung trial, like Sony-parodying designs, octagonal 45° corners, and a pre-iPad that was basically a tablet style dual-USB iBook from the early '00s. They undoubtedly took the iPad 2 design cues and made prototypical enclosures for a next-gen iPhone, but between the ergonomics (thumb stretch issue), media consumption (more media-like aspect ratio), RF antenna performance (no windows or easy way to design windows into that backplate), and aesthetic taste (the taper/teardrop is so ugly to me on a small device), it was obviously scrapped. Maybe just on a whim of Steve's, who knows.
 
I hope not, though I didnt like how the bottom was thinner than the top. If its the same width all across I hope they take that design cue further into development.
 
There is no evidence this design was even under consideration. No reliable schematics and not a single piece of hardware leaked.
 
The teardrop design probably never existed. It's existence was pure speculation and there was so concrete proof of it such as actual part leaks.
 
What does the teardrop design look like?? I wasn't trolling the forum during the 4/4S era, so not sure what you people are talking about. A quick google search shows an iPhone with curved back. Sort of like an Apple mouse. Is that the teardrop design?
 
moosquared said:
What does the teardrop design look like?? I wasn't trolling the forum during the 4/4S era, so not sure what you people are talking about. A quick google search shows an iPhone with curved back. Sort of like an Apple mouse. Is that the teardrop design?
Click to expand...

I posted pictures above on the design.

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Blackberryroid said:
Apple is known for trashing designs, such as the white polycarbonate iPad. You shouldn't be surprised.
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The only thing got me was the picture appeared in iPhoto, I thought that would be conclusive evidence that it would be released sometime in the future.

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willmtaylor said:
What's he Over/Under on "teardrop design" questions & mentions? I'm thinking 10 (about 1.5/day).Any takers?

OP,
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1422884/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1412254/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1406407/

:apple::apple::apple:​
Click to expand...

The only one mentioning the design being trashed was the 3rd link, and that was from July, I didn't want to search that far back to find a thread on it.

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kannesss said:
Looks like the iPod touch sort of.
Click to expand...

Indeed it does. The picture with the case does look similar to the iPod Touch design.
 
gmanist1000 said:
The only one mentioning the design being trashed was the 3rd link, and that was design.
Click to expand...

Wow, did you even read those threads? The point is (and has been for some time) that the tear drop "design" as you call it was a mock up and never a verified leaked design from Apple. Don't be so lazy. :cool:
 
gmanist1000 said:
This was the biggest rumored design before the 4S came out, and after another year it appears that the teardrop design won't be released this year either. Did Apple trash the design all together? Or are they waiting for a couple more years... possibly for liquid metal?

Comapnies even started producing cases for that design, and it was shown in iPhoto.

View attachment 356029

View attachment 356030

View attachment 356031

View attachment 356032
Click to expand...


There was no tear drop design. It was case manufacturers running wild with stupid rumors. The 4S parts leaked as early as January of 2011. This new phone has had parts leaking since May. Teardrop was never in the picture.
 
It could have been a concept that was never fully realized. Just because it wasn't leaked doesn't mean it didn't exist :cool:

Look at all the prototypes that were shown during the Samsung v. Apple trial. We never knew those existed.
 
iEnvy said:
It could have been a concept that was never fully realized. Just because it wasn't leaked doesn't mean it didn't exist :cool:

Look at all the prototypes that were shown during the Samsung v. Apple trial. We never knew those existed.
Click to expand...

That's a great point. It's just that this particular design has been so widely refuted and regarded as "UN-Apple" that it's hard to believe this is the case.
 
See that's the phone I was hoping for. Instead the 4/4s sported wood and that's what we're getting.
 
willmtaylor said:
That's a great point. It's just that this particular design has been so widely refuted and regarded as "UN-Apple" that it's hard to believe this is the case.
Click to expand...

Exactly, we all know Apple likes experimenting with many elements in their products. I remember seeing the original iPad with two dock connectors. That was such a shocker to me since that model almost got released.
 
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