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MacRumors Poll: Design of the Leaked Next-Generation iPhone

First, Apple should not have let some employee take this outside the controlled area. If they did "please test this in the real world" then they must have accepted the risk. Don't these phones need FCC approval first? I think so, so maybe they got it already. Otherwise, it was the employee that stole the phone.

Second, could always be Apple testing the new design with an "official leak". Or maybe someone used a working prototype that isn't going to see production and then this turns back into theft by the employee.

Last, I believe the phone was stolen. Using the (admittedly imcomparable) child analogy, "I know you can't find your daddy, but hey, let me take lots of photos of you in compromising positions." Seems disrespectful of Gizmodo. I have to agree with Jon Gruber on this. When the time is right, then I will be happy to see the phone. Until then, Gizmodo ruined it for me. I won't go to their site ever again.
 
bcotten said:
i'll be posting a list of those who gave a definitive "this is not the next iPhone" and acted like a total douche to anyone who thought it might be. :apple::apple::apple:
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I seriously can't wait to see that. Like I said before, all these people saying how fugly it is will come around and be buying one in a few months
 
The side reminds me of a blackberry for some reason.

I don't know if it has discussed before. Why did someone carry a non-functional phone to a bar? I can see if it's functional, it makes sense to bring it out and test it. :confused:
 
Pakaku said:
It just looks uncomfortable to hold. And how do you tell the difference between the front and the back just by holding it? The body is symmetrical in every dimension.
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The home button is on the bottom of the front, the silent mode toggle and volume buttons are in the upper left when the phone is facing you, and the power switch/screen off button on the top right. If you need use the curved back to tell the front from the back, you must hold it upside down a lot. Any of those buttons will allow you to figure out front from back as well as top from bottom without looking at the device.
 
So I was thinking, assuming this is true (I am), why the design change? This is a pretty big shift from where the iPhone had been going design wise. I have a few thoughts.

1-A more professional look. People have said this looks like a lot of other Windows phones. Well, if Apple wants to appeal to more professional market, maybe following those design trends isn't such a bad idea?

2-More in line with the current look of Apple. This design looks much more like an iPad, iMac or a Mac Book Pro (again, Pro angle) than it has before. Apple has been going more towards an industrial look and away from the overly shiny look it used in the past. The iPhone was one of the last holdouts. Hell, even the Macbook has been dulled down a little.

3-Making it different from ATT exclusive iPhone. Just putting it out there that, if Verizon gets an iPhone, Apple may want to give it a new look from what ATT had been getting. Of course, ATT would get the new phone too, but this way it really is different. Encourages more people to change to the new phone too.
 
lifeinhd said:
The Cube was not a case of choosing design over function. I mean, look at how easy it was to upgrade compared to the Mac Mini! And it used desktop-sized parts to boot! No, the Cube failed because it was underpowered and overpriced.

And being underpowered does not necessarily mean "lacking in function." My 120HP car does not "lack in function" to a 350HP car, for example.
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From a design aspect, I believe the cube started as just that, a cube. "What can we do with a cube form factor?", may have been the first step in that design. While this led to the positives you mentioned, it created problems with case cracking and an impractical media slot for cd/dvd. My personal experience with supporting them in an educational institution left me thinking what a great aesthetic concept with failed implementation. I've always thought that they took what they learned from that experience and put it into the mini. My mini is a virtual workhorse. I'll buy another when the one I use for a home media station and everyday computer finally poops out.
 
cybermat said:
I don't know if it has discussed before. Why did someone carry a non-functional phone to a bar? I can see if it's functional, it makes sense to bring it out and test it. :confused:
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*Sigh*

It was working until Apple remote-disabled it. RTFA (read the article ;))
 
So it was found in bar near the Cupertino campus? This, plus the fact that none of the typical cease-and-desist orders have been issued by apple makes me say: intentionally "lost" to throw off the rumor crowd? not to mention it looks very un-apple-like to me...
 
techfreak85 said:
I like it better except for the seams on the case and the visible screw.
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I hope MacRumors won't ban me, I posted this pic in another thread before this one was created, but seams definitely have to go, the side ones of the bottom and the top, it looks so much better without them.

38958869.jpg
 
Radio Shack?

That was the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw it: Radio Shack. Like some cheap voice recorder you buy at Radio Shack.

The buttons on the side look cheap.

The seams on the top and bottom look cheap.

I would love for the end of this story to be that the device was made by Windows users looking to prove that Mac fans will freak out about ANYTHING... and I say that as a Mac fan who will freak out about ALMOST anything.

One question... are there any videos with the device ON? I'd love to see that this thing actually works before we all believe it to be legit.
 
theheadguy said:
I don't hate it, I don't like it. It's simply nothing special...

I wouldn't be surprised if this is not the final design; it could even be radically different. The hardware is likely final, but the case? It's pretty bland. Anyone in love with it is just drunk on the koolaid.
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Amen.

I still don't think that will be the final design. Could also be a decoy you know. I don't know if I believe that an Apple employee would simply "leave" a prototype laying around at a restaurant. I just don't buy that story at all.
 
This is not the next iphone. But then people are so gullable they will believe anything.

Just keep in mind if Apple would force developers who had an early copy of the ipad to keep it under lock in key in a dark room with no windows, After it was announced and unveiled to the public

Then why would they let some drunken fool in a bar or someplace run around with the actual iphone 4G? No one is stupid enough to even do that because that would be the end of that persons career.


Look up the term "Red Herring" and you will see what this really is
 
Vitruviux said:
I hope MacRumors won't ban me, I posted this pic in another thread before this one was created, but seams definitely have to go, the side ones of the bottom and the top, it looks so much better without them.
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Nice pic. Does look so much more like a sleek finished product without the seems.
 
Rot'nApple said:
If you are correct, Engadget's reputation that they are headstrong in maintaining that this IS the 4th gen iPhone will be blown out the water and their posting of such future materials will be highly questionable more so then it is today.
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So, what are your posts driving at? ... Do you think it's the real phone or not? Engadget could indeed be right, it could be the 4th gen iPhone -- and Apple could change the case tomorrow. What does that have to do with their reputation if they indeed found or have the 4th gen iphone in its most current form?
 
For a fake it looks ok

but I can not imagine that Apple came up with a poor design like this :eek:
 
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.
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I agree, but Apple has seemed to go for more sharp-edged designs in some products: the iMacs for example have become less and less rounded throughout the years, the windows in OS X and so on, have also adopted more well-defined angles. The Magic Mouse is also totally sharp compared to the Mighty Mouse (okay, we should call it Apple Mouse...). Also, you can see Edge-to-edge glass on this "new iPhone", something introduced on the newest iMacs.

I think the fact that the back and the front of the device are both made of flat, dark glass-like material is more a sign of consistency and symmetry.

I agree that the round, separate volume buttons are strange, up and down volume should be linked, but as you say, there might be a reason for their separation. Maybe this device is just a prototype, and some minor things may still change until the final one is released.

The aluminium center and the black screen and back reminds me of the MacBook Pro designs (and iMac, iPad for that matter). Matt silver and shiny black, it's something Apple seems to like at the moment.

The seams are strange indeed, but maybe they are really to allow a replaceable battery, in which case they are not unnecessary, but take away from the device's harmony.

All in all, I feel that this design is more "modern" and less "organic" compared to previous iPhones and previous Apple products, and this does seem to be the direction in which Apple is going at the moment.

I feel that theoretically, this device matches up with what Apple would do next with the iPhone, but may be a bit unpolished, mostly because of the seams and the round buttons. However, since there is still quite a lot of time until the new iPhone is released, I think it's totally possible that the design may change either totally or just a bit.
 
People who liked this are lucky because they have other options like buying HTC, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, etc. since it is the same damn thing!

People who don't like it are out of luck. They will stick with their 3GS or 3Gs.
 
Don't expect to be using a front facing camera for any kind of video/audio iChatting until the next generation of networks is in place. AT&T can't seem to handle webpage downloads most of the time - do you think millions of people trying to run live video/audio streams to each other is really gonna work? :rolleyes:

Not gonna happen. Not with 3G. Not with AT&T. ;)
 
FakeWozniak, you have so little understanding of the law that it's hard to even reply to you.
FakeWozniak said:
First, Apple should not have let some employee take this outside the controlled area.
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Great! It works on Apple's campus, let's just hope it works in the real world once we release this thing. :rolleyes:
If they did "please test this in the real world" then they must have accepted the risk. Don't these phones need FCC approval first?
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Not if they're testing the phone and not selling it. How else would people test their devices before asking for FCC approval? Use logic here, bro.
I think so, so maybe they got it already.
FCC approval is public knowledge. This device has not been approved.
Otherwise, it was the employee that stole the phone.
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That's a pretty big finger to point, you have any evidence that the employee stole this? What stupid employee would steal an iPhone and then lose it in a club? Again, this is where some logic might be useful.

Second, could always be Apple testing the new design with an "official leak".
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BUZZ WORDSSSS
Or maybe someone used a working prototype that isn't going to see production and then this turns back into theft by the employee.
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What makes you think this is a prototype and not a production unit? It was being tested in the real world, obviously they're pretty far along in the testing phases. The body of the device is probably for the most part finalized.

Last, I believe the phone was stolen. Using the (admittedly imcomparable) child analogy, "I know you can't find your daddy, but hey, let me take lots of photos of you in compromising positions." Seems disrespectful of Gizmodo.
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Yet entirely legal. Should we pity the multi-billion dollar corporation? I sure as hell don't. It's just a phone.
I have to agree with Jon Gruber on this. When the time is right, then I will be happy to see the phone. Until then, Gizmodo ruined it for me. I won't go to their site ever again.
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It's actually pretty sad that people can get this emotionally invested in a gadget.
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