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Next iPhone Back Cover Material?

Back Material

  • Total voters
    92
RossMc

RossMc

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 30, 2010
1,220
70
Newcastle, UK
What would you prefer for the material for the back of the next iPhone?

Just seen this render which someone has done with an Aluminium back and it looks pretty good.

iphone5_concept.jpg


iphone5_concept5.jpg
 
Sweet looking mock up. WOW! :eek: I'd buy that.

I hope its more iPad2 like then MB Air like. Those mock up's of a Air looking iPhone are awful.
 
I doubt any metal will be used for major parts of the case.... after the fiasco with the antenna on the 4...
 
A metal back is very unlikely. Keep in mind metal hinders signal strength and how much Apple has promoted the distinctive glass look in the iPhone 4.

The original iPhone had a metal back and plastic top part for the antenna, but for the 3G/S they went plastic due to the added gps radio.


I personally would love a brushed SS back, but most probably Apple will use glass again (maybe stronger this time).
 
RebeccaL said:
A metal back is very unlikely. Keep in mind metal hinders signal strength and how much Apple has promoted the distinctive glass look in the iPhone 4.

The original iPhone had a metal back and plastic top part for the antenna, but for the 3G/S they went plastic due to the added gps radio.


I personally would love a brushed SS back, but most probably Apple will use glass again (maybe stronger this time).
Click to expand...

@TS: that's an awesome mock up, me liking it.

@Rebecca: but the iPad is using Aluminum (metal) back even it has a connection to it. And everybody seems fine with it. I believe, over time, Apple has developed a way to combine those metal back and strengthening the signal reception.
I don't know.. Anyone?
 
wow! best mockup ive ever seen, but i think it's too tapered. look at how weird the camera position on that.
 
agojes said:
@TS: that's an awesome mock up, me liking it.

@Rebecca: but the iPad is using Aluminum (metal) back even it has a connection to it. And everybody seems fine with it. I believe, over time, Apple has developed a way to combine those metal back and strengthening the signal reception.
I don't know.. Anyone?
Click to expand...

The antenna is behind the apple logo for the wifi and the 3G reciever is behind the black plastic patch
 
I think a tapered back will not leave enough room for all the innards and Apple won't go thicker to make up the difference. I think Apple will fess up and go with Gorilla glass on the back. And no, it is not already Gorilla glass. Gorilla glass does not shatter like the back glass on the iPhone 4.
 
If they use a metal back it will be the same material as the antenna band/sides. The different metals make that mockup look all kinds of wrong.
 
I definitely want an iPhone made out of asteroids.
But seriously though, I'm hooked on the glass one. It's nice. I wouldn't mind aluminium at the same time.
 
I kind of like that mock up. It looks a little curved, but I'd rather just have it be flat how the iPhone 4 is. Also, having the camera a little bit more to the center may be less intrusive when trying to take pictures. I know a lot of people rotate to the landscape camera with the camera on the bottom and their fingers get in the way.
 
Yeah, very nice render. I'll agree that it looks a little too tapered but if that's what the next iPhones look like, I'm in. I'd prefer some sort of metal backing this time around.
 
This is nice but I don't like the home button as it looks to be capacitive and not actually a button. I also don't like the camera position. The earpiece is also too big and I don't want to go back to a volume rocker; I prefer the single buttons. Otherwise nice render!

EDIT: Just noticed that the silent switch became a button; not a fan of that. It would get pressed too much accidentally.
 
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Love the mockup, but did you turn the mute switch into a button? I think it would get pressed far too often on accident. The switch works great for me, and very rarely does it get toggled accidentally.

Other than that, I love the look, and would love to see an aluminum back!
 
Aluminum - Durable and looks good. Could impact antenna performance
Glass - Looks great, but can shatter.
Plastic - Looks OK and is durable against major damage, but prone to minor scratching.
Ceramic - A lot of unknowns but has potential.

For me Aluminum is a nonstarter. Antenna performance is too important.
My practical side likes plastic and I feel that it is the best material for a mobile device. I wish I could pick glass, but it's simply not practical for a device that WILL be dropped at some point.

If your phone requires a case, you failed!
 
I trust apple with whatever they do, because so far they have been great.

Honestly, I really don't care about what it is made of as long as "it just works"
 
agojes said:
@Rebecca: but the iPad is using Aluminum (metal) back even it has a connection to it. And everybody seems fine with it. I believe, over time, Apple has developed a way to combine those metal back and strengthening the signal reception.
I don't know.. Anyone?
Click to expand...

They did it with an antenna that looks like this:
(the black strip on top)

ipad_back.jpg


That's longer than an iPhone actually IS, isn't it?

If you somehow re-shaped that for an iPhone it would pretty much cover the whole back.

err404 said:
I wish I could pick glass, but it's simply not practical for a device that WILL be dropped at some point.
Click to expand...

I find this argument unconvincing. I've dropped both my iPhone 3G and my iPhone 4 multiple times.

I badly damaged my plastic back once (had to replace it) and the glass back is still fine.

Sure, I'm just one person and that's not a good sample. But the point is that if I, personally, had made purchase choices based on your advice they would have been bad choices.
 
Last edited:
Small White Car said:
...If you somehow re-shaped that for an iPhone it would pretty much cover the whole back...
Click to expand...
Just like the iPhone2G. That big black plastic strip was for the antenna. It was 1/4 of the back and still lead to signal issues (hence the plastic back on the 3G)

Small White Car said:
I badly damaged my plastic back once (had to replace it) and the glass back is still fine.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if you were lucky with the Glass or unlucky with the Plastic. The hardness of the surface you dropped it onto can makes a bigger difference with Glass. There were some statistics near when the iP4 was release that showed a clear trend of more frequent damage to the glass backs (fortunately they are cheap and easy to replace).
 
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Ideal back would be metal (stainless or aluminum) that wouldn't have any negative affect on reception. Also a material that wouldn't scratch. But since that material prolly doesn't exist, it won't happen. I'll prolly end up putting a case on it anyways.
 
Im thinking its going to be a curved glass back. With the reports that Apple bought 100 glass cutting machines for its manufacturers, I think its pretty possible the next one will be glass back.
 
Why do people "cry" so much about the back being glass and being able to shatter when you can get a replacement for $30? As opposed to a back like this... looks like it would go more towards the design of the 3G/S where everything would be removed from the screen down. Now, you just slide the back off to get to the insides and are able to easily replace the back.

PLUS... if they use the glass they use on the front, it will wear much better than any aluminum they currently use.

Glass, FTW.
 
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