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Glass and stainless steel please. It simply gives the iphone more premium feel.

I also find the argumentation "glass breaks" weak. Iphones are not designed to be droped.

Accidents happen. When I used to drop my Sony Ericsson or Blackberry phones I wouldn't feel half as bad as when I dropped my iPhone. Obviously neither look as good as the iPhone but I miss not having to worry so much. I'm not particularly clumsy or anything but whenever I don't have a case or bumper on, I have this feeling like I'm gonna drop it and it'll shatter to pieces like many of my friends iPhones have.
 
I don't have useful input into this gem of a thread, but I'm honestly surprised no one has said: Unobtainium.

But what would be nice, maybe, is a cheese grater/Mac Pro like backing. So aluminium with the holes filled with a high quality plastic. If that makes even the slightest sense...
 
I really like the glass on the iPhone 4, but its just too fragile! I want to use my phone naked AND don't want to worry about dropping and shattering it. The polycarbonate unibody on the Lumia series feels SO solid and premium too. Since its already taken, maybe liquid metal or graphene (yes, I am dreaming :D).

Realistically, how about clear fiberglass? Would look like glass but also be very durable.
 
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I hope they keep it thick and chunky like the iPhone 4S, I dread Apple releasing an iPhone that's tapered like the iPad 2.

But please make it out of something that won't shatter when dropped, Apple has removed all worry that my phone back can withstand a robot hand slowly exerting force until it bends, but dropping it is a far more likely outcome.
 
My choices would be:

Keep the glass, go back to aluminum like the original iPhone, or a soft-touch material.
 
Accidents happen. When I used to drop my Sony Ericsson or Blackberry phones I wouldn't feel half as bad as when I dropped my iPhone. Obviously neither look as good as the iPhone but I miss not having to worry so much. I'm not particularly clumsy or anything but whenever I don't have a case or bumper on, I have this feeling like I'm gonna drop it and it'll shatter to pieces like many of my friends iPhones have.

I hear you. But you can't have both. Either you get a good looking, great feel device (which then hurts if you drop it), or a cheap one you can use as a hammer when nothing better is around. :)
 
Definitely has to have or include Gorilla Glass, the amount of iPhone 4's and 4S's that I have to fix due to cracked screens are phenomenal :rolleyes:

Would also like to see them stick with a same backplate as the iPhone 4 & 4S, seeing as I thought when I used to own various iPods, the metallic backplate would become heavily scratched or very very dirty.
 
My choices would be:

Keep the glass, go back to aluminum like the original iPhone, or a soft-touch material.

I concur. I would love a slimmed down version of the original iphone with the aluminum back.

Basically, if it looks like a mini ipad 2 with a gorilla glass and a different type of home button i would be very happy.
 
I would also like Aluminum. Like a mini iPad 2!

Titanium would be awesome but way too expensive! It's light and Strong.
Kevlar if done right would be great too, especially if it were replaceable.
 
Man, I took the back skin off my iP4 (it was peeling up around the edges) and I can barely hold on to the slippery little devil! It's so slick that if slid off my desk a couple times just from my USB drive vibrations. Put a bumper on it toot-sweet.

I haven't held one yet, but the polycarbonate construction of the Nokia N9 and Lumia 800/900 looks gorgeous. Reviewers have praised the choice of material - maybe Apple could start manufacturing something like that?

I LOVE the look of the N9!

I makes my iP4 look dated.

nokia-n9-family.jpg
 
"Living tissue over a mimetic polyalloy endoskeleton"


Oh wait that will be the iPhone 23 when phones became bonded body structures.
 
Man, I took the back skin off my iP4 (it was peeling up around the edges) and I can barely hold on to the slippery little devil! It's so slick that if slid off my desk a couple times just from my USB drive vibrations. Put a bumper on it toot-sweet.



I LOVE the look of the N9!

I makes my iP4 look dated.

Image
That's the brilliant of the design in the N9 IMO, it's a gorgeous phone and at the same time it's ergonomic and can be used without a case without many worries.
 
Man, I took the back skin off my iP4 (it was peeling up around the edges) and I can barely hold on to the slippery little devil! It's so slick that if slid off my desk a couple times just from my USB drive vibrations. Put a bumper on it toot-sweet.



I LOVE the look of the N9!

I makes my iP4 look dated.

Image

I would have to agree. It looks really nice!
 
I played with the Lumia 710.Nokia has always been known to make really good hardware,It even made me come away not hating WP7.We should definitley be seeing gorilla glass 2.Which is supposedly even stronger then the original glass
 
Glass and steel really give a product a premium feel. I can't imagine Apple giving that up.

However, despite the amazing iconic design of iPhone 4/4s it is ergonomically less pleasant to use then the older iPhone 3/3GS. iPhone 4/4s has a lot of hard, sharp edges that give it a gorgeous look, but render it a bit uncomfortable in a soft fleshy hand! :)

Obviously Apple is aware of this as they introduced their vision of the proper case for iPhone, the Bumper. It is actually shocking how drastic a difference there is going from using a bumper to a naked iPhone and back again. That little strip of rubber makes a big difference.

I think Apple's evolution of the design will bring in a few elements:

- Steel and glass of course
- a 'bumper style' element
- curves

So how will it look? Curved glass over a metal frame with low profile rubber edges over external antennas.

Apple is very proud of the work they have been doing in curved glass, why not bring it to their flagship product line and maintain the premium feel of glass while returning to a more hand friendly shape? In true Apple fashion noone else in the industry will be able to reply as I am sure Apple will have manufacturing capacity and tooling for their method locked up for years.

External antennas are here to stay due to the dramatic internal space savings they allow, especially now that the reception issues have been solved with iPhone 4s.

A rubber bumper element not only protects the antennas it also allows for a much more secure grip on the device and provides some additional drop protection.

The N9/Lumia 800 should be a wake up call to Apple. Nokiasoft can not touch the iPhone for marketshare or functionality right now, but the Lumia 800 was a shot across Apple's bow proving that there are other companies out there that can take function, design and software integration to the highest of levels. I expect Apple to blow us away with their response and change the game just as much as the original iPhone 4 did.
 
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