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MacRumors Poll: Design of the Leaked Next-Generation iPhone

Quote:
Originally Posted by zacman View Post
Reminds me of:

Can you guys seriously stop it with the "it reminds me of". Who really cares? Just stop it.

It's appropriate because when critiquing and judging - sometimes comparison occurs. It's healthy, and it's real world.
 
mciarlo said:
The design as a whole is much less familiar as an iPhone and an Apple product. The classic silver bezel is gone as are the simplistic lines that grace all of Apple's industrial designs. By removing the curved backing, Apple has taken away ergonomic considerations, something they were careful to champion when the first iPhone and even the iPad were released.

Taking this a step further, the transition between the glass front and the aluminum center housing is awkward. Evidence by the close up images provided by Gizmodo, the materials are not flush and come together more like tectonic plates than a finely tuned industrial design. There are also smaller design inconsistencies, including the volume buttons, which no longer have their contexts defined.
Click to expand...

those aren't very good points.

The design does look like an apple product..see the ipod nano and the imac. The silver bezel is not gone...its has been changed into a silver bumper around the phone. Ergonomically, the iphone 3GS slips out of my hand if I palm it, and slides/rattles around in my car because of the curved back. When holding the phone, I generally grip the edges...so the new, not curved edge looks easier to hold.

The transition from glass to aluminum is simple. Its like a sandwich. Evidenced by the photos, they are not flush...the aluminum works like a bumper. And the volume buttons do have their context defined...they are in the same place as the rocker was, and are the same shape. Except now, the buttons can be used for other things too, since it is not a rocker. Not to mention I think using the buttons in a context sensitive way is more important...I don't know anyone who constantly adjusts the volume of their phone; they just use silence.
 
I hope it fits in my tomtom car kit!

I wonder if that back "glass" is capacitive? I couldn't tell from the teardown. what if the back side has some sort of quick glance notification window.

A higher res screen and a better camera with flash is tempting. I'm not all that hyped about a front facing camera. nobody looks good from a phone-in-hand kind of angle. They should call it iDoubleChinChat

The real swing for me will be the features they hold back from the 3GS. if its just better camera/flash/frontcam/more storage/better battery I can wait a little bit. But if they come out with some kind of cool stuff (like the voice control on the 3GS) then I might have to craigslist the 3GS and give AT&T another year of my soul.
 
I don't like the seams and I personally loved the more curvy designs from Apple... well regardless I'll be buying it since my 3G contact is nearly up. :D
 
I've disliked the curved backs because that leads to a lot of unused space; try as they might, even succeed as they have, you can only cram so much squared-off 90*-angled flat-surfaced components into a round space. Flatten the case and use/lose the orthogonal space.
 
Looks a little too much like...

rotary-phone.jpg
 
Worse at first, since I do like the current design (other than being so rounded it’s droppable, and wobbles when used on a table). And especially because the new design was initially described as thicker.

But better now that I know it’s thinner. And of course the features sound great. The seams are odd (not clean-looking) but the new camera looks cleaner than the old, so it’s a wash to me.

It reminds me a lot of those big cannons they shoot clowns out of, only smaller and less colorful, and with more of a slab-like or phone-like form factor.
 
Am i the only one who still thinks its ugly as sin?...it just doesn't look like an Apple device, Sony Ericsson or Nokia yes, Apple...not soo much

Its predecessors are waay better looking and what's with the smaller screen. I don't care if res has gone up, smaller is no good because it affects the keyboard size and consequently typing experience

If thats anything close to what's coming in June then i'm migrating to Android and holding on tight to my 3GS...might even get AppleCare for it.
 
Might this just be one of several possible design prototypes? While the next iPhone is likely to look different isn't it too presumptuous to assume that Apple has only one design prototype? At the very least there are likely to be some tweaks and fit/finish refinements despite how solid Gizmodo felt it was.
 
Absolutely terrible. Looks cheap and un-apple like. I would seriously be put off getting this phone! Also if apple are so secretive about their phones then why does it have the apple logo and name plastered across the back, surely they would leave this off until final production....

It is so different to the iPad which is their latest product, (i.e the buttons etc.) surely it would be more similar to the iPad if this is the actual release product!
 
I think the design is a good one.

Its a classic design that works. Having a different material on the flat sides of the unit than the back and front allow for better grip of the phone. Ergonomics. The curved back of the 3GS made it difficult to hold, especially for long periods of time when your hands became sweaty. How many people have dropped their phone because of that? And because the front is glass, dropping it usually meant breaking it.

Not having an all aluminum case was a necessity so they could improve RF penetration.

Do you guys seriously think Apple hasn't spent millions of dollars and countless hours researching the ergonomics of this phone??

I'm a huge fan of the iPhone, and my only complaint is the fact that there is no physical keyboard...tactile feedback would make this phone perfect...

I'm definitely on the list of people wanting one as soon as it is released...my 3GS was the main reason for this decision!
 
Add a second front-facing camera and get 3D.
Use eye tracking software and generate illusory depth.
 
Yep...

Gleemen said:
Looks like a freakin Zune
Click to expand...

I've been looking for the right word and you found it in a product name: Zune. I am looking forward to the features upgrade, but the case design seems to be a step backwards. It lacks the modern elegance of most Apple designed products. The squared edges and back will be uncomfortable in the hand and pocket compared to previous iPhone designs. I see some similarities to Apple's macbook and iMac line, but not as refined. I hope this just a working model and not the final case design. Perhaps this is the interim design as Apple tries to find the balance between aesthetics and practicality. It certainly expresses that the material best for design and best for signal reception are often disparate in terms of practicality.
 
I think the seams could hold a clip-on physical keyboard. If they made a keyboard that fit onto the end of the phone, with clips that extended slightly upwards to the seams, it could work nicely. Kind of like this:

|-llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll-| <--clips
|llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll|
|_________________|
|llllllqwertyuioplllllllllllll|
|llllllllasdfghjkllllllllllllllll| <--keyboard
|llllllzxcvbnmlllllllllllllllll|
\_________________/


Just a thought....
 
mciarlo said:
I guess this is a better place for a more formal critique. Here is my take on this as a designer:

I feel this iteration is a step backwards for a number of reasons. The design as a whole is much less familiar as an iPhone and an Apple product. The classic silver bezel is gone as are the simplistic lines that grace all of Apple's industrial designs. By removing the curved backing, Apple has taken away ergonomic considerations, something they were careful to champion when the first iPhone and even the iPad were released.

Taking this a step further, the transition between the glass front and the aluminum center housing is awkward. Evidence by the close up images provided by Gizmodo, the materials are not flush and come together more like tectonic plates than a finely tuned industrial design. There are also smaller design inconsistencies, including the volume buttons, which no longer have their contexts defined. What this means is that the previous volume rocker made it clear that the top was volume up and the bottom volume down. These new buttons, perhaps to Apple's benefit, are no longer as strictly defined.

Overall, the 3G/3GS seem much more well executed and resolved. I will be disappointed if this turns out to be the real deal, but I am extremely doubtful.
Click to expand...

can not agree.

the old one had a lot of problems with breaking plastic, and the new one looks like these things might not happen so easy any more.
nothing is worse than a phone that is falling apart cause it is not robust by design.

also the new metal frame seems more reasonable than the chrome one of the current ones.

and about the design. i like that the back also became a flat black surface like the front, … comes good.

my guess would be that this is a controlled leak so the community can get used to it. the other 95% of the consumers will follow anyway )
 
And this was the point of the leak in the first place. Now Apple knows its beloved iPhone is 67% better loved... great, let's move forward with the release.
 
NSK123 said:
...The new design just looks so much more solid, sleek and professional compared to the old 3G/3GS models...
Click to expand...

I agree. As much as I love the look of the existing iPhone I think this looks more like a cellphone and less like fancy toy. This new industrial look would fit better into business situations, while still looking cool enough for everyone else.

I think it'll expand the market (if that's even possible) and maybe even finally sway the last few sceptics that still see the iPhone as nothing more than an expensive novelty.
 
daneoni said:
Am i the only one who still thinks its ugly as sin?...it just doesn't look like an Apple device, Sony Ericsson or Nokia yes, Apple...not soo much

Its predecessors are waay better looking and what's with the smaller screen. I don't care if res has gone up, smaller is no good because it affects the keyboard size and consequently typing experience

If thats anything close to what's coming in June then i'm migrating to Android and holding on tight to my 3GS...might even get AppleCare for it.
Click to expand...


magically, your mind will change in the next 6 months......are you a professional industrial designer? did not think so....
 
daneoni said:
Am i the only one who still thinks its ugly as sin?...it just doesn't look like an Apple device, Sony Ericsson or Nokia yes, Apple...not soo much

Its predecessors are waay better looking and what's with the smaller screen. I don't care if res has gone up, smaller is no good because it affects the keyboard size and consequently typing experience

If thats anything close to what's coming in June then i'm migrating to Android and holding on tight to my 3GS...might even get AppleCare for it.
Click to expand...


I am with you, flash and a front facing camera dont really interest me, and I think it looks very bad. The high res screen is the only thing I like. I will wait till June and hold one in my hand before I go android.
 
Cougarcat said:
Apple cares about pixel density, not screen size. If Gruber is correct, Apple is trying to approach the quality of print:



Here is the complete post, worth a read.
Click to expand...

Higher DPI isn't always better. The res is almost iPad like and that has a 9.7 inch screen and even zoomed out, the text is very legible. This kinda of DPI is approaching Sony Vaio P territory and that text was horribly small. The res will make text finer but you won't be able to utilise it fully because of the small screen. It's also not a million miles away from 1200x800 on a macbook 13 screen. They should at least make the screen 4.3 inch like the HD2. Make it widescreen if necessary. Move the home button offscreen and onto the bottom fascia.
 
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