Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Lost Next-Generation iPhone Believed to Be Late-Stage or Final Design
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This cannot surely be a design?
I hope this isn't the final design. I liked the move away from the alluminium features and the original's flat back. This looks very flat and thick. Apple need to come up with a good design reason for people to move from the 3GS and this is not it.
This design looks like a winner. Going back to the aluminum-esque style of the 1st generation is going to make my 3G look like a toy.
Hoping the increase the screen size in the future.
I hope this isn't the final design. I liked the move away from the alluminium features and the original's flat back. This looks very flat and thick. Apple need to come up with a good design reason for people to move from the 3GS and this is not it.
and I bet the Magic 8 Ball gets good reception because its not surrounded by aluminum
Somebody earlier has a signature quote that is:
"What Apple does best is create products nobody wants, and make billions selling them."
Some years ago Alan Kay, then an Apple Fellow, phrased it as "... you want to design a product that creates a need that only it can satisfy".
"What Apple does best is create products nobody wants, and make billions selling them."
Some years ago Alan Kay, then an Apple Fellow, phrased it as "... you want to design a product that creates a need that only it can satisfy".
I couldn't agree more with the way people changed their tunes, but that goes to show how quick people are to dismiss things. It's a beautiful machine and it was even when people thought it was fake
Most interesting theory I've read on here so far concerning the seams on the aluminum bezel is that they allow the frame to flex slightly if/when it's dropped on its side. If the back of the case is indeed glass or ceramic, then a side impact on an inflexible aluminum ring would transfer all the force onto the rigid casing, shattering it (this is what happens sometimes to screens on current iPhones in the event of a corner impact).
It's a suspension system of sorts.
And that seems to be Apples talent ..... I don't "need" any of them...but i want them
Some of it might be the fact the initial photos of the thing were kind of blurry and not very good. Since then, we have gotten beautiful, hi-res photos that really show off the design, so naturally people are going to think it looks better.
Thanks skyehill, your insight is valuable as always. You make MacRumors a real joy for intelligent discussion.
(Adds skyehill to Ignore list.)
Getting tired of the troll infestation around here.
It's possible that those buttons will have multiple functions, not just volume but camera operation. If any of those operations require both buttons to be pressed simultaneously, they can't use the rocker model.
It does look kind of funky and retro, but I wouldn't put it past Ive since he's on some sort of minimalist roll. I couldn't see how the aluminum iMac could possibly be made any simpler, but Ive managed to remove the aluminum border around the screen by going for edge-to-edge glass. I couldn't see how the iPod Shuffle could be more spartan than it already was, until all its buttons disappeared. So don't be surprised if the rocker is replaced by two unmarked, circular buttons.
Forget the design (which I like).
Admire the marketing savvy. This has been the main story for a third day now, and every fan site is falling all over itself since the plant.
I guess Jobs is worried about competition from the upcoming Androids, and the Nexus One (with similar features to the G4) coming to Verizon, and decided to steal the limelight.
Apple has decided that it needs to keep the sheep focused on the carrot, so to speak.
Admire the marketing savvy. This has been the main story for a third day now, and every fan site is falling all over itself since the plant.
I guess Jobs is worried about competition from the upcoming Androids, and the Nexus One (with similar features to the G4) coming to Verizon, and decided to steal the limelight.
Apple has decided that it needs to keep the sheep focused on the carrot, so to speak.
Forgetting the fact that the 3G and 3GS have SCREWS on the bottom, how do you think they are suppose to get inside the case again without damaging the product?
Yeah - roll that one around in your head a bit
The same way they got into the first gen metal iPhone with the plastic casing!!!
ZOMYGOD!Yeah, chew on that grizzle for a bit!
I'd say it is close, but if you look at the image from the Chinese site, the screws are not on the bottom, so i reckon the the Chinese version is a production handset
I'm ecstatic! i think it looks miles better that the current phones. I cant wait
That makes sense. That would be the demographic this appeals to.
They are also the people who love Modernist design, with its emphasis on the rational and its disregard for the emotional.
In college we used to make jokes about the architecture professors who all dressed in black--many wore the same outfit every day, just like Steve Jobs.
Basically, it's design for people who love the academic style of design and are uncomfortable with emotions.
I understand your frustration... but anyone that knows even the basics of PR would see that Apple's hands are kinda tied on this one. Sure they might strike a small blow against future situations like this, but in the process they'd throw plenty of fuel on the "Apple rules every aspect of their company and you with an iron fist" fire. The backlash that would occur from their loyal customers wouldn't be worth it in the long run.
... and besides all of that I don't completely think this was all an accident... they're going a long way towards consumers second guessing the next series of Android phones about to be released and being willing to wait a few months to see for sure. In the world of cellphones, there's a short window to get a customer and then they're stuck in a contract for 2 years until the window opens again, converting them while that window is open or stretching the time frame is key.
I wasn't one calling it ugly and fake, but it did look a lot worse in the grainy photos that Engadget posted.
All the buttons/switches on the current iphone (save the home button) are metal.