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.
Next-Generation iPhone With 'Radical New Case Design' Coming in August?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)
The next iPhone will indeed be radical .. You know why? ....iOS 5 !!! that's why!
The next iPhone will indeed be radical .. You know why? ....iOS 5 !!! that's why!
But with very little actual hard evidence; only people pointing at the 3GS and going "Look! They did it before!". Yes. Once. That proves nowt. If I give you the sequence '1,2,...' what's the next number? 3? 4? It could be either (x+1 or 2x). We don't have enough iPhone history to make the assumptions people are making. And that assumes Apple are keeping to any kind of sequence at all.
The iPhone 4S does seem to exist, as a dev-only phone for now and is basically an iPhone 4 case with an A5 chip. Whether it becomes the 5th generation iPhone or whether we're in a for a new case design is still speculation and nothing else.
Personally, given how much effort Apple seems to have put into the iPhone 4 case, and especially in perfecting the white finish, I'd be surprised if they threw it away and started again. A redesign could easily happen though whilst still keeping the same manufacturing processes.
The August timing suggested baffles me though. People are still on holiday in August; surely for most impact (which we know Apple has a penchant for) you'd go for September as Apple normally does when the nights are drawing in and the next great thing to happen (Christmas) is months away.
Funny thing is, the retro-inspired design queues in the iPhone 4 are actually quite popular right now. Take a look at the Micro 4/3 camera market, many home appliances, and even some home entertainment equipment.
I must be getting old
Because in the context of your comment, I have no idea what diesel means.
Oh dear.
Because in the context of your comment, I have no idea what diesel means.
Oh dear.
The competition with Google is not just the hardware. It's also the software. Or maybe especially the software now.
In either case I don't have a smartphone and at the rate the pricing plans are going in the US, I don't see myself having one anytime in the foreseeable future. The iPod Touch is nice however.
I hope not. I'm stuck with the 3GS contract, and skipping the 4. It would be almost a 'null upgrade', at least visually.
If it's gonna be rounded, at least please get rid of the chrome!
I give Messrs Jobs a lot of respect for his one true skill. As one of the most clever salespeople on the planet, he has complete control over the leaks that go out via a variety of "legitimate" sources. If not for his cunning ability to strategize & manipulate, Apple sales would be but a shadow of the present results. In fact that's what concerns me when he departs. But that's another conversation.
To the topic of the upcoming model, it seems there is more reason than ever for him to pull out the smoke & mirror machines Apple owns. There's a lot riding on this launch, far more than most Apple followers care to acknowlegde.
To the topic of the upcoming model, it seems there is more reason than ever for him to pull out the smoke & mirror machines Apple owns. There's a lot riding on this launch, far more than most Apple followers care to acknowlegde.
To me it looks like the old engadget crew probably nailed it with their report months ago on this.
http://thisismynext.com/2011/04/22/iphone-5-design/
http://thisismynext.com/2011/04/22/iphone-5-design/
As an owner of a 3GS who will have resisted upgrading to the iPhone 4 for 2 and a quarter years, I will be pissed if they don't throw in some new hardware.
A5, bigger screen, credit card scanner, more onboard storage, and something more ergonomically friendly than the 4 and I'd be happy.
A5, bigger screen, credit card scanner, more onboard storage, and something more ergonomically friendly than the 4 and I'd be happy.
I don't disagree - too much change can be bad. They are in a tough position, I highly doubt we will see a radical new design this time around. I think the focus will be on iOS5 with better hardware and then the next phone will be a redesign.
I can see Apple wanting to milk their R&D efforts on the iphone 4's design for another year or two. It would be nice if it was a little thinner but I wouldn't want to sacrifice battery life. Some small changes would benefit it greatly though - a slightly more ergonomic design would be pretty sweet or an edge to edge screen. They can pull those off without totally overhauling the device.
Don't push 'History repeats itself' too far. Inductive reasoning is widely believed to be flawed nowadays.
Besides, it is a different time now than when the 3GS was released. It might require different decisions.
QFT. Those of us who will be upgrading hope it will be something better than what those of us who will not be upgrading already have, while those of us who will not be upgrading hope what they already have is nearly indistinguishable from what they'll not be upgrading to.
There doesn't seem to be anything behind this "rumor" other than hope + speculation, but it's a hope I have too.
iPhone 4 is a clunky step backward for Ive, & its aesthetic doesn't fit the rest of the line whatsoever. Add to that the antenna issues, twice as much breakable glass, gangly buttons and portholes everywhere.... can't wait to see what's next.
iPhone 4 is a clunky step backward for Ive, & its aesthetic doesn't fit the rest of the line whatsoever. Add to that the antenna issues, twice as much breakable glass, gangly buttons and portholes everywhere.... can't wait to see what's next.
they cant call it the 4s because the phone after that would be the iphone 6.
Apple wont confuse anyone anymore, so the next phone will be called the iphone 5 no matter what.
Also, history is clearly not repeating itself in this case. If it were, we'd already have the "4S" (which, by the way, is a ridiculous name for a phone and doesn't fit the nomenclature at all)