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iPhone 5 to Get Aluminum Backing, Redesigned Antenna?

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Apr 12, 2001
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031208-iPhone5_500.jpg
Mockup design of iPhone 5 with Aluminum backing​
GadgetsDNA points to a Mac Otakara report about the upcoming iPhone 5. According to a Chinese source, Apple will be abandoning the glass backing of the iPhone 4 and moving back to an aluminum casing. Apple's first iPhone also shipped with an aluminum back casing. From the translation:Decision to design similar to iPod touch instead of using glass is supposed that Apple seems to stop problems which are told widely damages from scratching, difficulties of painting white and weight of glass.The antenna will also be redesigned which means Apple will also be abandoning the current external iPhone 4 antenna design. The iPhone 4 antenna was the source of a major controversy over signal loss and attenuation when it was held in a certain way. The iPhone 5 is also said to have the new Apple A5 processor and will likely be announced in June/July.

Article Link: iPhone 5 to Get Aluminum Backing, Redesigned Antenna?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/03/07/iphone-5-to-get-aluminum-backing-redesigned-antenna/
Last edited by a moderator:
so the sandwich-like front and back glass panels will be gone... really good looking and I think it'll remain an iconic design (regardless of the antenna-gate). I love my iPhone 4 and I've even gone to replace the black backing with a white one :)
 
i'm fine with aluminum, but i'm not a fan of the tapered edges on the ipod touch. it makes the volume and power buttons really hard to press.
 
2 steps back ... can't believe that. iphone 5 better called as iphone 4.0 beta ...
 
The mock-up looks like a badly designed 3GS. Don’t have an iPhone 4 myself, but would prefer it over that mockup :p
 
Don't judge the appearance based on fake mock-ups, but it's a credible rumour. I agree with the poster above who says the iPhone 4 design is iconic -- if they go back to the tapered back it will be doubly so. In years to come, iPhone 4 will be the one that appears in coffee table design books.
 
I really like the aluminum back. I loved the look on my original iPhone (which is still the best back-casing I've had on any iPhone, and I've had them all), I love the look on my iPad, and I love the look on my 2011 MBP.

My only issue with the original iPhone was the black band at the bottom. If Apple could run the wireless through the Apple logo, and then maybe through the power button, or headphone jack, or dock connector (kind of like how they do that with the superdrive slot on the unibodies), then I'd be game.

While I think the iPhone 4 looks great, it's edges are too sharp, and I feel like it is more prone to breaking than any iPhone I've had before. I got my wife a 4th gen iPod Touch the other day, and man, if I could get that as an iPhone but with the non-glossy aluminum back and slightly more rounded corners then I'd be so happy! If they could bring the edges of the device in further so that the screen goes all the way to the edge, then that would be even better!
 
It looks like someone saw a new iPad photo with no reference scale and thought it was an iPhone.

Just can't see it... Sorry.
 
Wasn't there a problem with the signal getting through the aluminum and that's why they changed it?
 
iPhone 4 is sexier. But on the other hand, this one is probably way more durable. iPhone 4s (how should it be written in plural?) have even exploded because of cold.
 
Booooo. I seem to remember getting tons of scratches really easily on my 1st gen iPhone.... :cool:
 
Makes sense that they make it look like the iPad 2 with a black and white glass option to boot.
 
here comes all the iPad 2 look alike mods for iPhone 5... like this has never happened before.
iPhone-G4.jpg
 
Can't imagine Apple removiving the flash from the rear camera

No front facing camera

Silent switch slides "up and down", all previous versions have been "front to back"

Altough this design may work for the cheaper iPhone Nano that has been rumoured.
 
mikeapple said:
here comes all the iPad 2 look alike mods for iPhone 5... like this has never happened before.
iPhone-G4.jpg
Click to expand...

I would actually love an iPhone that looked like that. The original iPad design was much better than the current iPad 2 in my opinion.
 
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