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Images of iPhone 4G Actually a Japanese Counterfeit
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Which would explain the supposed longer length of iPhone 4.
Also, if you look at the leaked iPad shot, the phone that is actually sitting on the iPad appears to have a front facing camera in the same spot as the other leaked phone.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/18/iphone-4g-proof/
I'm still not convinced that this is the design we'll be seeing in June.
This might be a prototype, as some posters have noted, in order to simplify testing procedures for Apple.
But like I have stated in the other thread, the design doesn't make any sense when you compare it to Apple's current line up, including the recently released iPad and MacBooks (okay, those are still the same design, but that could only be a bigger indicator that Apple will be holding on to the unibody design for quite some more time).
I would be shocked to see this fall into consumer hands this summer. It looks like an old Sony Ericsson of mine. (Has been noted before by other posters).
This might be a prototype, as some posters have noted, in order to simplify testing procedures for Apple.
But like I have stated in the other thread, the design doesn't make any sense when you compare it to Apple's current line up, including the recently released iPad and MacBooks (okay, those are still the same design, but that could only be a bigger indicator that Apple will be holding on to the unibody design for quite some more time).
I would be shocked to see this fall into consumer hands this summer. It looks like an old Sony Ericsson of mine. (Has been noted before by other posters).
It just shows you how quickly Japan's culture is changing.
Its not the honour system it once was, or just that everybody likes money.
I'm inclined to agree. The phone in the picture for this thread (the supposed "Japanese Knockoff") is not the same phone. It has similar buttons on the side, but the similarities stop there. The two phones have completely different aspect ratios and shapes. The legit phone, which we now have in 4 different sets of pictures from 4 different sources, has a unique shape. It's flat on the bottom (new for an iphone), flat on the top, and flat on the sides (also new). The only curves are in the rounded corners. In short, it looks like an altoid tin that's been stretched out to be longer.
The knock-off phone pictured for this thread does not have flat sides, those sides are clearly bulging and tapered just like all the previous iPhones. Moreover, it's got a far wider profile when held in portrait orientation. The "legit" one is very clearly skinnier (not just a trick of perspective).
Meanwhile, for the "legit" one, we now have 2 sets of factory pictures showing partially assembled units in various poses, the iPad leak photo (which clearly shows that altoid-tin flat-sided/flat-bottomed shape, if nothing else), and the found-in-a-bar photos. That's 4 different sets of photos showing, at the very least, the same very distinctive shape with non-tapered sides.
Now for people who don't like the design, which we can only see in good detail in the found-in-a-bar-photos, keep in mind it is a prototype. If the *seams* bug you, realize that they might not be there in the production model. It's entirely possible that the prototype simply has access to the internals for testing purposes.
That said, the mechanism for allowing battery access can be seen very clearly if you look carefully. The microsim slot is on the *side* of the phone (not the top), so that little tiny pinhole you see next to the headphone jack is in fact the sim-release-tool opening for accessing the *battery*, not for accessing the sim card. There's a pretty good diagram someone made demonstrating this by cross-comparing various sets of photos..
I think that's a pretty slick (read: "Apple") way of doing it. That doesn't mean they will in the final version, but you have to admit that if they do you will come to love it in time anyways. Apple has a history of telling you that you don't want something one day, then giving it to you the next day and changing their minds and yours in the process (for instance, video on the iPod).
If you just don't care for the less-tapered shape, however, well you're probably out of luck cause this is starting to look pretty damn legit. Personally, however, I prefer it and I know quite a few others do as well. No doubt the doubters will eventually come around to, because they always do in the end.
Edit: After looking at the "knock off" picture more carefully, I've changed my mind. It does have additional similarities. It still seems quite a bit less skinny than the "legit" photos, but the tapering i saw in the side could be a track of the light -- it might be flat. Also I noticed at the bottom that it has the same seam for battery access that the "legit" one has.
What does this mean? Well it could be Apple misdirection, or it could simply mean that the knock-off maker got a head-start on the new design, which judging by the photos we're just now discovering (that have been around for a while), is not as well-kept a secret in China as it was here.
Personally, I'd lean towards Apple misdirection . . .
It makes sense to me. Apple's current aesthetic is aluminium and black, but you can't have an all aluminium back to a phone as that would block reception. So either they have an all aluminium back with a plastic section for reception (i.e. moving back to the original iPhone rather than forward), or you make it aluminium round the edges and plastic on the back a la this design.
Okay, you've certainly got a point there, but:
Why would Apple differentiate from their iPad 3G design?
They could just slim it down! (more or less). The plastic strip would account for an improved signal. The design would be phenomenal for a phone.
Why yes, that does appear to be a random logo...of a knock-off.
The last photo here seems to be the back. You can see a camera, a flash and text along the bottom. What is the white thing near where the Apple logo would go? Is it a logo?
The dock connector is an extra-special touch in a clone!
It did seem very Apple-like, other than the cracks in the metal band.
I hope Apple comes up with some change to improve on the slippery bar-of-soap effect, though. The current design + 2 strips of rubber sounds good to me. (I dont want to add the bulk of a case.)
It did seem very Apple-like, other than the cracks in the metal band.
I hope Apple comes up with some change to improve on the slippery bar-of-soap effect, though. The current design + 2 strips of rubber sounds good to me. (I dont want to add the bulk of a case.)
If anything this iPhone i would guess is about 25% thinner, look at the headphone jack for reference.
The last photo here seems to be the back. You can see a camera, a flash and text along the bottom. What is the white thing near where the Apple logo would go? Is it a logo?
It looks like just a reflection or a distorted apple logo or whatever.
I wonder if this is a plastic back or a glass back.. Nokia 8600 style anyone? Makes sense for touch gestures.
Maybe they're trying to differentiate the iPad and the iPhone/iPod Touch. I guess Steve believes the iPad is a real computer compared to the iPhone/iPod Touch, and therefore will want to make the iPad closer to their computer range than the iPhone?
A complete guess by the way!