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Apparent Next-Generation iPhone Gets a Thorough Hands-On

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Vitruviux said:
I LOVE the new design

It looks like a monolith from 2001 Space Odyssey.

I love it's thin, exact square, flat, minimalistic, industrial design look. Never liked iPhone's curved design.


All that said though, the seams have to go...

38958869.jpg
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Totally and I think we can be pretty certain that will happen...

I wish Apple would get rid of the shiny 'crome' aluminium, always looks cheap to me esp when they pick up fingerprints.. Apple should be going for Matte much more 'premium'
 
mciarlo said:
Here is my take on this as a designer:

I feel this iteration is a step backwards for a number of reasons. The design as a whole is much less familiar as an iPhone and an Apple product. The classic silver bezel is gone as are the simplistic lines that grace all Apple's industrial designs. By removing the curved backing in place of harsh lines, Apple has taken away ergonomic considerations, something they were careful to champion when the first iPhone and even the iPad were released.
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Here's my take as a designer (graphic, not industrial):

I feel this iteration is a return to class, after the cheap plastic successor of the original, classy, iPhone. Now that the chrome bezel has been ditched, the iPhone finally looks like a member of the Apple family -- specifically, the MBP, the new iMac and the iPad, all of which are squarish and based around the contrast between aluminum and glossy black, not roundish and plastic and framed with chrome. The chrome is a leftover from retired iPod models and inconsistent with *all* current offerings from Apple, and furthermore it's scratch prone and a finger grease magnet -- good riddance I say.

As for ergonomic considerations, the curved back served no such purpose anyway because you held the 3G/3GS by it's thin, sharp-ish and slippery edges. Now there will be a flat aluminum surface where those edges used to be, which provides for much better grip, and thanks to the flush and flat back, the damn thing will finally lay flat on a table top instead of rocking and spinning.
 
atomicdog said:
My guess is this 'leak' is to get feedback on this design as it is fairly major departure from the form of the current design. I'll bet it was engineered by Apple. I agree that this design is most likely function over form... if there is indeed a user-replaceable battery you would have to square off the edges like this. I'm not a fan of the looks of it personally. It's not a sexy as either of the previous designs IMO. I'll still buy it though, but only if they go Verizon THIS summer not next. Otherwise it's Nexus One for me.
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Sorry how exactly is it a 'Major departure'???? IT looks pretty much the same except they took the bezel and made it bigger, plus the phone looks thinner... it pretty much is unchanged and I actually was hoping (though not expecting) a More radical departure. Features have improved but its still very much an iphone!!
 
BeyondtheTech said:
Couldn't they have taken a high-res picture of the "Connect to iTunes" screen? Or did Apple kill that too?

Interesting if they would be able to do a "remote firmware wipe."

Personally, I hope that feature comes to the end-user so a lost or stolen iPhone couldn't be used, EVER. As someone who lost an iPhone recently, even though the remote wipe killed all the data, I know someone else is enjoying it right now as their new iPhone. Imagine if the device could actually be registered with the original user, and no matter what SIM is in there, it could still be disabled when authenticating to a cellular or Wi-Fi network. That would be awesome.
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Yeah Apple doesn't want to be involved in iphone hijackings.

Someone sells an iphone for $100 on ebay, then after delivering it remote wipes it, and demands $500 to transfer it over or restore it.

Apple has no interest in getting involved in that kind of debacle with the customers.
 
Blablabla. Can't somebody please find a New Mac Pro prototype on the floor of some San Jose bar? ;)
 
jasonforisrael said:
i don't see how you can possibly think the 3g looks better in those comparison pictures. it looks much cleaner and much more like the macbooks
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Maybe because I was never a fan of this chrome elements in the 3G, specially the bezel, never liked silver/chrome in tech products anyway, but I like the aluminum matte look like in the macbook pros and this new iphone, it has this cool futuristic retro style.
 
As I said before, it keeps getting better looking!! Now it looks damn fine.

Anyway the home button needs to go the top right edge, and they should make the screen longer. Also make the metal side border sit flush, or at least get rid of the seams.
Edge to edge screen would be really nice, but I can't see this happening.

Also someone mentioned noise cancelling being integrated fully, that would be neat.

Also I wonder what jailbreak can implement over the new OS4...

I would buy this phone, given the right plan, but I still hope Apple make improvements before release.
 
I love the new design. It borrows from the iPad, iMac, iPod classic and even the Macbook Pro's to a degree. I can understand the plastic backing, they probably did it to prevent reception issues. My only confusion was the two button volume controls, unless, like mentioned, you use them to take pictures or for some other function.

Did you really want something that looks like a 3GS but with the rumored new features? This is the 4th generation of the iPhone, they had to change it.

It looks classy and elegant. I hate the chrome 'border' around the glass of my 3G and plastic slippery back.

I'm definitely all over this (I skipped the 3GS last year).
 
it must be an inside job.

i agree, this is definately an apple inside job.

the motives? nobody knows, but the big wigs at apple.

however we know apple is aware that these sites exist and us, the large population of somewhat apple crazy people will go MENTAL about this leak.

them sending out a C&D would only draw attention to the fact that it IS a real apple device and at the proportion this story is already at a C&D would only add fuel to fire. This could be for media purposes, or to drum up interest or opinion. we have no idea.

the chinese pictures could be apple too, nobody can say what a company with their level of wealth and influence in this market could do if they put their minds (and funds) to it. i am personally not too sure about the chinese "suicide" last year but that's just another place for further conspiracy.

whether this is a prototype or a near final model, nobody out of apple knows. we just have to wait.
 
simcoe said:
Not a big fan of this design. I was really hoping for something more like this, which is what I think that the final design will be closer to.

http://cdn.gadgetvenue.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Apple-iPhone-4g.jpg
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So basically... All you want is a miniature iPad, which is itself nothing but the display portion of a MacBook Pro sans keyboard.

Personally, it's high time that Apple evolved their current design-language into something less wasteful (those tapered edges contain nothing but air), feminine/rounded, and (boringly) familiar.
 
wiz329 said:
i like the new specs and features, but Steve Jobs will never let something that ugly looking get thru. It looks more like a knock-off Zune HD if you ask me.
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And the Zune HD was a knockoff of the original iPhone with some angles thrown on the back.

Sounds like the new iPhone is simply a refinement of the original iPhone after all.
 
John Gruber twitter:

Folks, listen to me, this is NOT a “controlled leak” by Apple. Apple doesn't do that, and if they did, it wouldn't be to Gizmodo.
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edit:someone beat me to it oh well
 
I apologize if this was mentioned before, but if i was gizmodo, i would have leveraged this. Sit on the phone or give it back, and negotiate with Steve for early access to upcoming releases, inside scoop, behind the scenes stuff, etc..."you scratch our back, we'll scratch your back"....

maybe they did, and apple said "F You"!!!
 
troop231 said:
No: http://twitter.com/gruber
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With all due respect, Gruber is no authority on the matter and he keeps changing his tune about the authenticity of this phone.

His argument "Apple doesn't do that" strikes me as a little short-sighted. Apple didn't get where they are by remaining unchanged and unwilling to try new things.

I'm personally a huge conspiracy theory skeptic and I think 99.9% of such theories are silly if not downright retarded, and I pretty doubtful about this one too... but logic tells me that Apple will try new ways of dealing with leaks and secrecy because whatever they've been doing about it until now has been less successful for every new product launch. Since leaks appear unavoidable, any control freak's instinct should be to at least take control of the leaks. So for once I'm keeping an open mind about a conspiracy theory.

brian4610 said:
I apologize if this was mentioned before, but if i was gizmodo, i would have leveraged this. Sit on the phone or give it back, and negotiate with Steve for early access to upcoming releases, inside scoop, behind the scenes stuff, etc..."you scratch our back, we'll scratch your back"....

maybe they did, and apple said "F You"!!!
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Since when did anyone emerge victorious from negotiations with Steve Jobs? Bigwig CEOs who do that always leave his office with the short end of the stick. What makes you think some zit faced geek from Gizmodo would succeed where others have failed, and with a blackmail scheme no less? He'd be about as successful as the guy who tried to blackmail Letterman.
 
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