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Lower-Cost iPhone's Plastic Rear Shell Reportedly Surfaces

I love it. Minimal. Plastic can evoke quality

I think this looks great and is in many ways more of a return to Apple's less is more design philosophy than the 4S/5.

The 5 has to many parts, to many surfaces, especially on the back panel to compromise between a metal frame and plastic 'windows' for the antennae. Apple tends to aim towards an inevitable and reductive simplicity in design removing the unnecessary creating as few parts as possible.

As for plastic being cheap, there are many ways that plastic can be created to give it a feel of quality - look at products like Apple TV, Berg's Little Printer or products from the Braun archive. New plastic technologies also allow for biodegradability.

It may not even be plastic - Apple has been looking into carbon fibre composites http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/11/apple-hires-carbon-fiber-expert-kevin-kenney-to-posit-composites/ If you've ever examined a high end carbon fibre racing bike the finish and shaping can be very beautiful and feel very premium. The material is very lightweight, strong (but prone to shatter) and permeable by radio waves.
 
Now you are grasping at straws. The retina display is a power hungry screen. You need light and a processor to drive it. The a6x is too power hungry for the battery size of the mini. It would last 10 hours!

Squilly said:
Yes. Just like they do on every other revision... upgrade the technology, same price.
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Make several sizes - 3.5", 4.5" and 5.5". I'll pick up the 5.5" on day one and sell my android phone.

I don't understand why this upsets so many people on this forum? :confused: Choice is good. Apple makes several different laptops. Does that irritate you?
 
iGrip said:
Well, kind of like the Nexus 4, but with a tiny screen, slow processor, crappy camera and a stale OS.
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so youve used it? can you link us to your review, please?

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ConCat said:
This is different from the Mac Mini. The Mac Mini's only reason for being cheaper is that it doesn't include a display by default. Include a display and the price shoots up to well over a thousand bucks. The innovation was that now you could bring your own display, and save a whole lot on computer upgrades. This is purely a cheaper iPhone. I don't believe they've ever done anything like this.
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ipods? notebooks? anyone?
 
TC03 said:
I like this a lot! I think it's going to sell extremely well.

The width/length ratio looks like 4" to me.
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It should be possible to determine this based on this case, taking the perspective into account right?

I'm not that good at math but I think based on this it does look more iPhone 4-shaped to me than iPhone 5..

FWIW, I think it's genuine, matches the rumours of a 'curved' back (by being rounded), and I think it looks nice. I've been holding off on the iPhone 5 because it bends so easily and the 80 euro price increase also put me off. If it does have a 4" screen I will definitely pick this one up and finally replace my iPhone 4.

The plastic will probably also increase the signal quality. Certainly won't do it any harm.

As a developer, I really hope they will standardize on the new aspect ratio. Vertically you always have to have dynamic scaling (for the personal hotspot / call bar) but it would make it easier to support landscape orientation.
 
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steve119 said:
apple made a thing of beauty with the iPhone 4, it felt and looked good in your hand
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I chuckle when I see people with those squared-off brick-like thick things with their tiny screens. A thing of beauty? Maybe if you like this sort of a look:

2ndgen.jpg
 
frayne182 said:
Whats wrong with having a cheaper affordable option? Stop acting like you know Steve Jobs or Apple for that matter. Times have changed. Not everyone can afford a "luxurious" model Apple product.

Hence the reason for the iPad Mini and this rumored cheaper iPhone.. The iPod Shuffle. iPod Nano. etc
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I don't proclaim to know Steve jobs, but I do read. Maybe you should try it yourself sometime.......
 
carlgo said:
The case has the contours of the original 2G, not the elegant 3GS.
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I totally preferred my old 2G over the 3G(s).. At least you could lay it on a table without it wobbling back and forth all the time.
 
Radio said:
im going to quote you for the rest of your time on MacRumors when this turns out to be real LIKE EVERY LEAKED PART!

have you not learned from the "apple never adds seams" guy????!?!


anyways Justperry - just wait :D
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Why, just because I said Fake with two parts of this casing enlarged.:confused:

Where did I say I don't believe there will be a cheaper plastic iPhone.:confused:

I live in Asia and I do believe it is a good idea to release a cheaper iPhone, I myself bought a 3 GS less than a year ago and love it, if Apple releases a new Plastic iPhone and I need a new one I will buy it.
 
Squilly said:
Didn't say it was cheaper. It's more expensive but comes at a 'more affordable' plan instead of one large lump sum.
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Good luck with all future business ventures since apparently you can't see beyond the USA. Many many carriers thru out the world require you buy your own phone up front but the plan costs much less. So in that case shelling out $300 is much better than 700 right? Especially in china (which happens to be the largest on population).
 
samcraig said:
Believe what you want. From their website, to the press releases to their keynotes, etc - they talk specifically to the craftsmanship and materials they use.

But you can hyperbolize "widely" and some random stat of 5% if you want.

My point is - Apple through marketing, messaging and influence has somehow convinced many here that anything not made of metal and glass is crap.

Do you believe that anything made of plastic is cheap and crappy? If not - I'm probably not speaking "to you" :)
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For the most part, yes... but not because it's plastic. It's just that the vast majority of plastic devices are made cheaply. There are good ways to use plastic, too, but Blackberrys for example feel cheap as hell. On the flipside, aluminum never feels cheap.
 
clebin said:
Steve Jobs released two very similar looking phones and they weren't called cheap and nasty. Maybe Apple have raised the bar since then in some ways, but we've also seen that glass smashes and metal scratches.

Steve Jobs wasn't against releasing cheaper versions of products as any glance at the iPod line-up will show you. I think people are being a bit elitist, which is rather amusing when iPhone-ownership is hardly an elite at all.

Apple do need to release a cheaper iPhone because it's getting pwned by Android makers and it would be sensible if they made some kind of visual distinction from the more expensive model. By, for instance, making it out of plastic.
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As I've said from my previous post, it's about the 'whole user experience', I actually sat down and read his autobiography, and I guess that part of it stuck in my head.:)

He wanted his products to be awesome inside and out. His father had the ideal that just because you can't see the back of a chest of drawers, you don't just cut corners and make an inferior rear.

I totally get it.;)
 
subsonix said:
Not really, just a form that is increasingly common.

Also:

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-difference-between-literally-and-figuratively.htm
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I find it funny that in a thread that criticizes cutting corners/cheapening a product that you want to cheapen semantics and the english language by asserting it's ok to use a word incorrectly because a lot of people do it. That doesn't make it ok in my book. Then again - I'm old school.

TimUSCA said:
For the most part, yes... but not because it's plastic. It's just that the vast majority of plastic devices are made cheaply. There are good ways to use plastic, too, but Blackberrys for example feel cheap as hell. On the flipside, aluminum never feels cheap.
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Aluminum NEVER feels cheap? Ok :rolleyes:
 
Simplicated said:
You've been saying this a lot lately. Can you come up with something else?
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Ok - it also differs from the Nexus 4 because it does not use a normal charging cable, but instead uses a proprietary one that is way overpriced.

Are you satisfied yet? I could go on. There are many differences between this rumored cheaphone and the Nexus 4.
 
samcraig said:
I find it funny that in a thread that criticizes cutting corners/cheapening a product that you want to cheapen semantics and the english language by asserting it's ok to use a word incorrectly because a lot of people do it. That doesn't make it ok in my book. Then again - I'm old school.
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It's not me buddy, I quoted Oxford dictionary take it up with them. :) But I literally feel ashamed to derailing the thread now.
 
paulrbeers said:
Good luck with all future business ventures since apparently you can't see beyond the USA. Many many carriers thru out the world require you buy your own phone up front but the plan costs much less. So in that case shelling out $300 is much better than 700 right? Especially in china (which happens to be the largest on population).
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Everyone wants the latest and greatest. It's a step BACK from the previous generation.
 
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