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Am I seriously the only one who thinks the iPhone 5 is great, but really ugly?

itisjoey

itisjoey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 25, 2012
4
0
Minneapolis, MN
I'm a designer. I'm in love with the appearance of my iPhone 4S. It's simple, clean, elegant, and generally amazing.

When I saw the design of the iPhone 5, I thought that it was pretty awesome. A bigger screen? Awesome! Faster? Awesome! Sign me up.

But then I saw the backplate. What the ****? Was someone drunk? This can't be real, I thought.

But sure enough, it was real, and now it's an actual product...

It's like they put no thought at all into the design of the backplate. The two tone, brushed and glossy, don't make sense at all in size/design. It's not an equal distance from the top and bottom of the camera, it doesn't match the borders of the front of the phone, it's just placed in a really ugly spot right underneath the camera.

Anyone know if these backplates are easily replaced with a better looking one? I love the shape/design of the phone otherwise, but damn this two toned **** needs to be covered up.
 
I think the black back looks great, but the white one looks hideous. I just don't think the white and silver go together well at all.
 
That's because Apple is beyond your conventional design wisdom!

They operate in a different realm, where earthly canons like ratios and conflicting finishes are of no concern to them.
 
I like how you start off with you being a designer. Not really important I think. You do have your opinion of course, and I'm not questioning that. I thought the prototype that was leaked was a bit on the ugly side yes, but the model that Apple showed was much better than I expected. Oddly I fell for it and will be getting a black one. Thing looks really cool.
 
No your not. I've said the two tone back was ugly since the rumored photos first appeared. I still think it's ugly. But, I could care less. It's going to be in a case and I'll never see the back. Only time will tell but I have a serious inkling the back will show scratches like crazy. For whatever reason Apple doesn't like using materials that wear well.
 
SprSynJn said:
I like how you start off with you being a designer.
Click to expand...

I work with designers.

It's terrible. They always think they know everything.

Anyway,

----------
ejisfun said:
I think the black back looks great, but the white one looks hideous. I just don't think the white and silver go together well at all.
Click to expand...

They they've been going very well together on many an Apple product. The Mac mini, for instance. (Original model-- not the current one.)
 
The two-tone back stopped bothering me when the leaked shells started showing up with the black anodized band instead of silver; this to me balanced things out. The two-tone back with the 4S's silver band would have been really ugly though.
 
itisjoey said:
Anyone know if these backplates are easily replaced with a better looking one? I love the shape/design of the phone otherwise, but damn this two toned **** needs to be covered up.
Click to expand...

From what I've seen, no. Unlike the iPhones before (and most notably the 4/4S), there is not so much a "back plate" as there is a unibody-type construction going on. So at that point you'd basically be replacing the entire phone's casing.
 
You're never going to be able to color match or texture match aluminum and glass and attempting to do so would be bad design.
Accentuating the difference is called good design.
:p
 
I'd much rather have the backing of the iPhone 5 instead of the easy-to-scratch reflective aluminum. :p
 
I'm actually getting pushed over the fence to buy an iPhone 5 BECAUSE of the design. I think it looks great and, I'll bet, feels great in the hand. Love me some aluminuminuminums.
 
itisjoey said:
I'm a designer. I'm in love with the appearance of my iPhone 4S. It's simple, clean, elegant, and generally amazing.

When I saw the design of the iPhone 5, I thought that it was pretty awesome. A bigger screen? Awesome! Faster? Awesome! Sign me up.

But then I saw the backplate. What the ****? Was someone drunk? This can't be real, I thought.

But sure enough, it was real, and now it's an actual product...

It's like they put no thought at all into the design of the backplate. The two tone, brushed and glossy, don't make sense at all in size/design. It's not an equal distance from the top and bottom of the camera, it doesn't match the borders of the front of the phone, it's just placed in a really ugly spot right underneath the camera.

Anyone know if these backplates are easily replaced with a better looking one? I love the shape/design of the phone otherwise, but damn this two toned **** needs to be covered up.
Click to expand...

As a designer, you know it isn't always just about looks, at least where Apple is concerned. You might want to check out this gem of an analysis by Don Lehman from back in August:

http://thetechblock.com/the-unibody-iphone

So the backplate has a function which outwardly addresses antenna issues from previous gen iPhones.

In my mind that makes it more than beautiful, it's GOOD design because for (among many reasons), it's honest.
 
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