A Closer Look at Apple's Next-Generation 'Unibody' iPhone Design

[aerok]

It sure is.

Dude, go look online. The iPhone has never been unibody, maybe you need to look at the definition again.

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I almost went for sgs3 (thank god i didnt) but it was def the plastic that stopped me, i buy the phones outright and i want something that will last

The plastic will last, I have yet to have seen the plastic of a Samsung phone let go (Unlike the white/black Macbooks and iPhone 3G/3GS). But it is true that it scratches easy and looks cheap.

 

[blackhand1001]

I carried a 80% aluminum Colt M4A1 in Iraq and Afghanistan, fired countless rounds, and slept in the open elements many times. Our aluminum weapons held up better and longer than ANA steel AK47's.

Remington was testing magnesium alloy weapons with some parties that shall remain nameless towards the end of my last rotation. They seem to hold up okay from what I saw.

Also, since Apple is again using a reception exoskeleton, I dont think it will replicate the issues of the Transformer Prime.

Just remember that not all ak47's are created equal. The country of origins have a wide range of quality levels. The good ones are pretty much indestructible. The bad ones which there are a lot of are pretty mediocre not to mention many of them are probably over 20 years old. Most of them are shoddy AKM (lighter version of ak47) clones.

 

[AuburnApple]

I did a quick web search and it seems steel costs about 650 USD per metric tonne while titanium costs 14,760 USD. That's a pretty significant difference. Also, titanium has different properties from those of steel. It's lighter and stronger but it's also got a far more dull finish and is far harder to work with.

I think stainless steel looks great. I always choose stainless steel watches over leather straps.

Material cost isn't as big of a factor as you think, but manufacturing cost of working with titanium would be higher. Keep in mind that a iPhone case made of Titanium would be around 50% lighter than one made of Steel. So by weight you'd need less titanium to make the case, bringing the material costs closer. The real hindrance is as you mentioned: titanium is hard to work with. Machining titanium cases at the speed and quantity required to meet iPhone demand would be nearly impossible to do in a cost effective manner. Also recycling the scrap titanium from machine would be 10X harder than it is for Aluminum. However, if anyone could do it on that massive of a scale, Apple could. 5 years ago if you said Apple would be machining every MacBook case out of a solid piece of Aluminum, people would think you were crazy, but they did it.

 

[lucas107]

I almost went for sgs3 (thank god i didnt) but it was def the plastic that stopped me, i buy the phones outright and i want something that will last

why thank god? the s3 is a great phone and if its half as durable as my s2 then its a very durable phone. my s2 has been dropped many times onto concrete, hardwood floors and even left on the roof of my car to fly off as i back out of my driveway and its still in great shape. although for the record holding an iphone 4 the 4 really does feel more expensive but from my friends experience could not take the abuse my gs2 has

 

[Ramio]

You've been lucky then!

I have used a case on my iPhone 4 since day one and it is crack free, but "All" of my friends on the other hand have cracked their phones by not using cases. Most of them cracked just by putting their phone down on a table and some by bumping into a hard surface while in their pockets.

+1. I'm a phone dealer and i can't tell you how many cracked 4 and 4s iPhones I get because of being dropped or smashed. That's why mine is in a case too.

 

[lazard]

the only reason I would get this phone is so I can sell it on ebay for triple the price. Otherwise, there's no reason to upgrade from the 4S to the 4SL.

 

[twietee]

why do they call it unibody whilst cutting it into three pieces??

 

[Silver Box]

First ever unibody? There has been a few already, I'm actually holding one right now... Here are some of them

HTC Legend
HTC One X
HTC One V
HTC One S

Those are the ones on top of my head, I'm pretty sure there are more...

Questionable, unless somebody wants to define what a unibody is? Examples:

HTC Legend:

HTC One X

Etc etc

 

[Zunjine]

Questionable, unless somebody wants to define what a unibody is? Examples:

HTC Legend:

Image

HTC One X

Image

Etc etc

I think that's the thing - a "unibody" doesn't have to contain ALL the parts. The new iPhone's unibody comprises the central back plate and the two sides. The top and bottom of the band are separate pieces because they're the antennas. Then there are two glass windows above the central back plate. Obviously the front part is glass.

So that's three metal pieces and three glass pieces if I've got my sums right. The chassis is one piece but there are additional pieces attached to it.

The HTC phones look similar to that.

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why do they call it unibody whilst cutting it into three pieces??

The additional pieces are the antenna band, top and bottom, and the glass plates at the back. The main chassis is a unibody structure as it contains all the supporting structure for the iPhone including internal structures to which the PCB and battery are fastened.

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It's not paranoia if it scratched already.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/yes-you-can-certainly-scratch-the-iphone-4/
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Uh-Oh-The-iPhone-4-s-Glass-Back-Is-Already-2463465.php

I was the same on mine. Just take your phone, put some light on the back of phone and you'll see all the scratches.

There's no such thing as a completely scratch proof material - unless you intend to diamond coat your phone! I'd say that if you have to shine a light at the surface and search for scratches it's as good as unscratched. We're talking about how something appears under normal conditions.

 

[AuburnApple]

Unibody generally means the structural frame and the primary exterior body are integrated together. It doesn't necessarily mean the entire body and structure are one piece. On a unibody car for instance, the car frame and the main body are one piece, but obviously the trunk and doors are a separate piece. On pre-unibody MacBooks, there were separate structural pieces inside the exterior shell. The unibody MacBook has the structural support and exterior shell integrated together by machining the shell out of solid aluminum. We are seeing something very similar with these iPhone leaks.

As to whether other phones qualify as "unibody", I haven't looked at other phones taken apart to say. Some people are saying the new iPhone isn't really a unibody because it has separate pieces on the back. That doesn't mean it's not a "unibody". I'd say it's more unibody than any phone design I've seen.

 

[ixodes]

You know, with as much logic that is going into this design, I still find it aesthetically distasteful. I'm afraid nothing will change that, unless the release ends up much different than this one.

For me, it's more about it being nothing more than a couple of rectangular slabs of glass, one of which is now being replaced with metal and a somewhat different internal design. It's rather bold to claim that's much of a "style".

There are no curves, no interesting or compelling shape, just board flat glass rounded at the corners for safety so that users don't cut themselves on a sharp point.

How in the world this qualifies for all the praise, the accolades so easily given out by various "experts" is a bit baffling.

It's certainly good to be Apple these days. The simple act of producing a product of any type draws rave reviews. How strange...

 

[apolloa]

The only device I think that has a unibody is the Nokia phones, the new designs were milled from a single block of acrylic? The design started with the N9 I think.

 

[GorgonPhone]

Change for the sake of change is stupid. This looks like an excellent improvement over the current design.

i think that is what apple is thinking..lololololl

 

[brock2621]

Lame. It looks just Like the last two models just longer. No thank you.

You tell 'em! Tell that industrial designer it's lame!!

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The benefit of a tapered design is two-fold. First, It sits in your palm better without having to constantly squeeze your fingers on the edge. Second, it's easier to pick up when it's sitting on a table or other surface. I thought the 3G/GS design was superior in function while I find the 4/4S design superior in form.

I think this is why most everyone uses a case with the 4/4S. And I'm not even talking about protection for the fragile glass on the back.

It's also top heavy, unbalanced, and won't sit flat. It could literally flip backwards out of your hand...

Balance both functionally and aesthetically are very important in design.

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Questionable, unless somebody wants to define what a unibody is? Examples:

HTC Legend:

Image

HTC One X

Image

Etc etc

That legend pic looks so much like the first iPhone.

I believe unibody is billet machined out of a single piece of metal, with the components themselves being fastened directly to it; hence its acting both as the main shell, as well as organizational brackets and frame for the main SOC.

 

[Geckotek]

One of the rumor pictures on another site shows just that type of support structure that goes behind the screen. Maybe people should not judge based on rumor pictures. Not that anyone is doing that in this thread.

Got a link to that, because I was thinking the same thing....no need for the middle support structure any longer.

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I think you're thinking about the shield between the screen and the battery. I don't think that's a supporting structure so much as it protects the screen from the other internal components. The iPhone 4S has this too. I think all phones do.

This is what I was thinking.

 

[DanteMann]

You tell 'em! Tell that industrial designer it's lame!!

Ummm....He just did. Is he supposed to bow down and worship the person that designed it. Do you praise and give most of the credit for the iPhone 4/4S design to Shin Nishibori? Because that is the man who designed what you and everyone else knows as the iPhone 4/4S today. For some reason in Apple forums this guy doesn't exist until this recent lawsuit with Samsung. So what's your answer regarding Mr.Nishibori? Have you ever given him any recognition for the industrial designed iPhone 4/4S?

 

[DeathChill]

Ummm....He just did. Is he supposed to bow down and worship the person that designed it. Do you praise and give most of the credit for the iPhone 4/4S design to Shin Nishibori? Because that is the man who designed what you and everyone else knows as the iPhone 4/4S today. For some reason in Apple forums this guy doesn't exist until this recent lawsuit with Samsung. So what's your answer regarding Mr.Nishibori? Have you ever given him any recognition for the industrial designed iPhone 4/4S?

Wait, what? Do you understand that the designs are a team effort and that Jonny Ive constantly points that out? We don't know everyone who contributed and we don't have to know.

Also, I don't know what you mean. The "Sony" design was based of the Purple design, which looks decidedly more like the iPhone 4 anyways. Or are you just regurgitating whatever you think you could find negative about Apple?

 

[RebelScum]

Noah Wylie would never have let this happen.

 

[lupinglade]

Those are not toolmarks, the lines are there for rigidity.

 

[manu chao]

I think that's the thing - a "unibody" doesn't have to contain ALL the parts. The new iPhone's unibody comprises the central back plate and the two sides. The top and bottom of the band are separate pieces because they're the antennas. Then there are two glass windows above the central back plate. Obviously the front part is glass.

So that's three metal pieces and three glass pieces if I've got my sums right. The chassis is one piece but there are additional pieces attached to it.


The additional pieces are the antenna band, top and bottom, and the glass plates at the back. The main chassis is a unibody structure as it contains all the supporting structure for the iPhone including internal structures to which the PCB and battery are fastened.

I think unibody could be defined as: all pieces that don't need to be detachable to assemble the phone and are made of the same material come from one solid block of material (assuming all pieces that can be made from a functional point of the same material are made from the same material)

 

[RebelScum]

911 is not just a car. It's a luxury product, it's not your everyday ride, it's not the best selling car of the year or first choice for average Joe. iPhone is though.
Do you see my point now?

It is if you decide it is.

 

[nickelt]

Questionable, unless somebody wants to define what a unibody is? Examples:

HTC Legend:

Image

HTC One X

Image

Etc etc

Well i dont think the one x is unibody like the one s but Those examples will actually be similar to the new iphone, due to cell reception the entire back cannot be completely metal.

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why thank god? the s3 is a great phone and if its half as durable as my s2 then its a very durable phone. my s2 has been dropped many times onto concrete, hardwood floors and even left on the roof of my car to fly off as i back out of my driveway and its still in great shape. although for the record holding an iphone 4 the 4 really does feel more expensive but from my friends experience could not take the abuse my gs2 has

Well its just the plastic feel in my opinion even if it is just "feel", i may look at the new nexus phones aswell if they are out at the same time as the new iphone, also if the htc one s was tweaked a bit better i also quite like that phone. But at this stage i believe the iphone will have the best build quality.

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So you replace the battery how..... IFixIt will not be happy.

Prob u will take off the screen and go in that way. But if things end up like the new macbook the battery might be glued to the rear shell then that will cause problems.

 

[manu chao]

It's pretty funny when you hear people use the word 'innovation' in reference to their phone's giant screen!



Not 'always' unfortunately.

Image

Image

You forget that look nice and appealing is part of the functionality that Apple's products have to fulfil. And I am only half joking, if something pleases its user every day by its nice looks, it definitely fulfils the function of making the user happy and satisfied, which is the ultimate function to perform.

 

[nia820]

I almost went for sgs3 (thank god i didnt) but it was def the plastic that stopped me, i buy the phones outright and i want something that will last

The plastic is of good quality though. I've had my GS2 for 10 months and it still looks flawless.

 

[tbrinkma]

please tell that to the thousands of people who did break the glass.

OMG! *THOUSANDS* out of the approximately 55 *million* iPhone 4 sold have broken! (That's friendly sarcasm.)

Statistically speaking, the iPhone 4 design suffers fewer broken-screen incidents than the prior designs (or same-era, same-age Android phone designs). Yes, it also has rear-panel broken-glass incidents, but those are insignificant from a repair cost perspective. (You'd need to break the rear panel almost 10 times before the repair costs were greater than the typical 3rd party insurance/warranties which cover them.)

Also, current glass faced phones suffer fewer breakages of those surfaces than the corresponding plastic surfaces of earlier phones with similarly sized plastic screens. It's true that people worry about breaking the glass of their phones. However, that's because we all grew up in an era when "glass" meant *FRAGILE*. That isn't universally true anymore, and certainly isn't true of the glass used in modern cell phones.