"iPhone 5" Back Cover Hands-On Video

[zub3qin]

I'm not buying it.. Remember Tim told that they will double the "secrecy" this is not yet the so called iPhone 5

Given the recent leaks between lost iPhone 4 at Gourmet Haus Staudt, the German Beer Garden/bar, and the lost iPhone 4S at the Cava 22 bar in Aug 2011, it really doesn't mean much that they are doubling down on the secrecy of the past.

All that means is that there won't be iPhone prototypes in bars... they still float around in Asia and on rumor boards!

 

[CubusX]

Not imprssed

So the newly designed iPhone will look like the iPhone 4/4S just longer with a two tone back? Not impressed by this at all. I wish Apple went with the teardrop design and kept the smaller screen size.

 

[paradox00]

+1 for NOT having the jack at the bottom.

UNLESS you have the ON/OFF switch on the side. But that probably won't work as it will be activated accidentally just holding the phone in your hand.

Do you actually have experience with the switch being accidentally activated by keeping the phone top down or are you just assuming it would be a problem?

 

[brettcam]

Snooze

This video was so boring that I actually fell asleep before it finished. Thanks for the nap. I needed it.

 

[boshii]

I agree. My current phone sits in a doc while it charges and I often listen through my headphones while this happens.

You will need to buy a new dock anyway since the charging port is different and i'm sure these new docks will have a 3.5mm connector so you can plug your headphones into the dock.

 

[Fraaaa]

Obviously fake. I mean, it's so difficult to put your phone in your pocket upside down. No way they would move the jack...impossible.

Actually when you put your iPhone with the earphones attached you have to put it right side up, which will be upside down on your hand, unless you rotate it.
So, have it upside down in your pocket will be right in your hand, plus the earphone plug will be on the upper side of the pocket.

 

[Drunken Master]

Do you really have headphones plugged into your phone all the time?
I don't. I have an iPod for music and my iPhone is my phone.

Pardon?

I put my phone in a cup holder, then plug an FM adaptor into it, so that I can listen to music in my car over the radio.

Driving with headphones in is dangerous and looks stupid, if that's what you were referring to.

 

[verniesgarden]

Micro USB doesn't support most of the pins that the current 30-pin dock connector does, such as audio line out, video out, etc. Sure, micro USB is great for charging and syncing, but lots of people use the direct line-out audio capabilities because the audio is cleaner than what goes through a pre-amp on it's way to the headphone jack. You'd lose functionality by going with USB.

Thanks for the info, I didn't know that.

 

[zub3qin]

Apple would pull this if it were real. Why are you all forgetting this?

Maybe it's that many of you haven't been on sites like this for very long, but Apple does take-downs of real leaks.

Apple generated a TON of press when they tried pulling the leaked iPhone 4 (Gizmodo) and iPhone 4S (CNET reported the loss at a SF Bar Cava 22 in Aug 2011). Apple sent the security gestapos to get the stuff back, and ultimately the head of security at Apple was let go, in my understanding.

Maybe NOT freaking out when the actual device is leaked is a better way to keep things quiet.... just saying.

 

[Prodo123]

I'm pretty sure it's metal.

Glossy part is plastic.

 

[RebelScum]

Hi all

I like the new design so far, finally dumps that all shiny fingeprint magnet back, glass appears to have been dumped in favour of aluminium near the top and bottom (bars) and a different surface in the middle, plus the biggest change is the back which is now one piece with the frame. The antenna housing is now colour coded to the frame - no more silver / black, and this could also mean its anodised for better functionality and less attenuation when in contact with skin oil.

From the picture / video I have seen so far, I believe the back of the case maybe a touch panel or improved grip or even NFC built-in, the internal grooves inside the frame on the back are either wiring panels or some type of inductive charging system or even possible micro heat fins as the left side is where the battery will sit (long rectangular area). The secondary pick up microphone which was on top has been changed to the rear between the camera and LED flash.

Others have questioned why the size of the lens and LED have been separated. It's been discovered the F rating of the rear camera module (Sony) has been altered which would alter the lens shroud, and having the LED further separated stops light bleeding from the flash. Meanwhile the secondary pickup microphone is between these two, possible as a microphone for video recording as well - perfect positioning.

The longer (elongated) design means you have a greater viewing area, but keeping its width means you still have full access without having to use two hands. Making it wider also makes it more difficult to use single-handedly. The bottom has some drastic changes, new Mini USB connection port which matches the UK 30 pin adapter here: http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MD099 and this mean the speaker / microphone area (if not dual speakers) is larger and will produce better audio.

I noticed on the right side of the frame there are two to three flat circular screw plates / thread plates which indicates a PCB or other component will be screwed to the chassis. The relocation of the headphone jack to the bottom matches up wtih the iPod touch etc and allows more valuable space to be freed at the top.

Way to watch the video and tell us what was in it. THANK. YOU.

 

[Dangerous Theory]

Also, why would a company put their name in the video to show a fake part? They'd be stupid to try and trick us knowing they'd be outed as fakes and their company is one to avoid because they're liars. They'd be WAY more interested in showing us the real part so we'd think, yeah, they rock, they showed us the actual part way ahead of time.. I like that company.

It seems so obvious this is the real deal.

This is a Chinese spare parts company. All they're looking for is heavily publicising their company, as you can see with the constant attack of their logo everywhere in the video. They aren't going to be remembered as "that company that lied about the design" because nobody cares about them. It's not like a rumour site that needs to build reputation for those sorts of things to thrive.

It's a complete fake. When you take a little time to look at it carefully you may eventually realise how shoddy the design is. Tim Cook couldn't stand out on stage and sell that like previous iPhones.

 

[paradox00]

So the newly designed iPhone will look like the iPhone 4/4S just longer with a two tone back? Not impressed by this at all. I wish Apple went with the teardrop design and kept the smaller screen size.

You do know that the teardrop design was for a larger screen size right? It was larger than this design too. You probably couldn't fit all the phone components into a teardrop design for the 3.5" screen size.

----------

Way to watch the video and tell us what was in it. THANK. YOU.

He actually got it wrong too. The aluminium is in the middle.

 

[MacTheSpoon]

That actually looks pretty decent. I think the previous pics were of a white iPhone 5--it was pretty terrible, imo. The two-tone just doesn't look very good with white.

I like how it's thinner. Of course it is longer, so weight may stay the same.

If Apple manages to increase the horizontal screen res so it's 720p, I might actually get this thing. But if they're just tacking on extra vertical pixels, that will really be a shame.

 

[Jerry-macrumors]

iPhone

I can see this being a believable leak.

1. Dock connector - Why have such a hugh connector? Especially next to the area where the speakers are found. If you decrease the connector size, you make a lot more room for other items. i.e. Headphone jack, larger speakers, larger battery. In my mind the current connector is awful, just because of the size. MagSafe would be great!!!

2. Headphone Jack on bottom - I don't even want to explain this one... Plug in your headphones and lay your iPhone on a table in front of you. You just lost around 4 inches of cord, the rounded cord takes up more table space, and it gets in the way of what your doing. On the bottom it flows neatly from the phone to you. None of this applies if you use you phone in landscape.
The other benefit is the pocket placement or even holding the phone in general.

3. Speaker holes - not 100% on this one. But I would hope that this will help spread the sound out more to give a surround effect. The current speaker setup is ****** and not loud enough.

4. Height - Can't see any direct negatives. A few positives would be: more room for the notifications and adds. Place extra apps on the screen. Better for picture viewing and movies in landscape. Again more room for important internal components like battery.

5. Materials of back - I do not care as long as its solid, do not smash easily like some phones we know, and allows great signal. Most people cover the back with a case anyway. Color of back does not add / remove any value of what the phone actually gets used for.

 

[Fuzzygoat]

If it is aluminium, it would be anodized like the iPod Nano, not painted. It's a pretty durable coating. HTC used a micro-oxidation treatment for the aluminium back on the One S, that they claim is incredibly durable. There are plenty of ways to avoid most scratches.

That would certainly make sense, the MAO finish on the HTC does look nice, although I have not seen the device in question first hand. Thanks again for the clarification.

 

[SpectatorHere]

Apple generated a TON of press when they tried pulling the leaked iPhone 4 (Gizmodo) and iPhone 4S (CNET reported the loss at a SF Bar Cava 22 in Aug 2011). Apple sent the security gestapos to get the stuff back, and ultimately the head of security at Apple was let go, in my understanding.

Maybe NOT freaking out when the actual device is leaked is a better way to keep things quiet.... just saying.

I agree, I think they go over the top with their secrecy...but that's sort of my point. It would be a major change in policy to just let this stuff run wild. Of course, there has been a major change with Jobs' passing.

I guess I'm just saying that until we know differently--and if this is what the phone looks like in the end, it would prove a change in philosophy--people should really be careful about reading much into any "leak" when Apple doesn't take aggressive action.

I think you're far safer assuming fake. The fact that it's a real part makes it more substantial, and showing up in multiple places seems to confirm that too...but we're seeing the cheapest parts of the phone, the leaks are from the east where we know counterfeiters are prolific (and some appear really good at what they do too...even producing working phones that appear to be iPhones and run fake iOS).

My guess, like many others here, is that this is a counterfeit of a prototype or a fake based on internet speculation.

My own hunch is that the next generation iPhone will probably have even a slightly bigger screen and be wider. In Asia where Apple has been so concerned lately, watching TV on your phone is a far bigger deal (5" is looking like the new norm for apparently this very reason). We won't see a screen that big, but I think more along the lines of 4.3."

 

[becomingwater]

Just a wild guess! Just like the ps vita, the two tone may reflect a multi touch back pad!

If they did a touch pad in the back it would be pretty cool..haha

 

[Peter.]

With all the leaks we're getting, I wonder if the release date will be closer to July/August than the rumored September/October date. We can only hope

 

[Fuzzygoat]

I can see this being a believable leak.

I have not seen a lot of leaked parts but this does seem to have a large similarity to current iPhone5 rumours. Also given that this not a part from a skunkworks projects (or indeed another manufacturers phone) there does seem to have been an awful lot of engineering involved in fabricating just a "fake".

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

This is so obviously a Chinese iPhone knock-off that will be running Android. Hence the 16:9 aspect ratio, the unusual plastic back as well as just "iPhone" printed on back with no other identifying FCC or other marks. Combine this with the fact that Apple has not slapped a cease-and-desist on these sites all tell me this is a fake.

Given Apple's "doubling down on secrecy", as Tim Cook said, the real news is in what is NOT being leaked...

 

[Fuzzygoat]

If they did a touch pad in the back it would be pretty cool..haha

Now thats interesting, maybe gesture recognition like on the Mac track-pads, rather than pixel-pefect touch input like on the front?

 

[TimoT]

the speaker holes are actually very similar design wise to those holes on the iMac

 

[Blorzoga]

Apple would pull this if it were real. Why are you all forgetting this?

Maybe it's that many of you haven't been on sites like this for very long, but Apple does take-downs of real leaks.

...It could be that you assume Apple doesn't do anything due to their silence last year over the 4s. Remember, it was supposed to the iPhone 5, and nearly EVERY "leak" was a hoax. Apple doesn't do anything for fakes and hoaxes, their policy has always been to go after true leaks. (That may have changed under Cook, but it seems to be a major problem these "leaks" have to deal with.)

You mean like they did when Gizmodo Got ahold of an iphone4?

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

Took them a year to take an iPhone 4 and make it a 1/2 inch longer?

:facepalm: