Prototype Next-Generation iPhone Front Panel Reveals Identical Design to iPhone 4

[kdarling]

I'm terrible at predictions, but:

Apple has a pattern and one of them is to add at least one desirable feature (e.g. 3G, videocam, voice input, MMS) to a new phone that the old phones don't have.

As always, Apple will claim that no other iPhone can use the feature, while jailbreakers prove them wrong within a week

So... my guess along those lines is that they're going to sneak in some kind of Siri-based voice interface that only the iPhone 5 will work with.

 

[Number 41]

Honestly, a lot of people would be happy with "just" an updated iPhone 4 with an 8 MP camera and A5 dual-core processor.

A lot of gearheads maybe, but I've yet to meet one person who really cared about the processor speed of their phone.

For that matter, I know dozens of people who own iPhone 4s, and I can never recall a single one of them saying "Boy, I wish this phone ran a little smoother."

 

[daneoni]

...or it could be the 3GS replacement i.e. iPhone 4 8GB.

 

[oliversl]

Nice, now search all employes with a red camera!

 

[chrmjenkins]

I'm terrible at predictions, but:

Apple has a pattern and one of them is to add at least one desirable feature (e.g. 3G, videocam, voice input, MMS) to a new phone that the old phones don't have.

As always, Apple will claim that no other iPhone can use the feature, while jailbreakers prove them wrong within a week

So... my guess along those lines is that they're going to sneak in some kind of Siri-based voice interface that only the iPhone 5 will work with.

Yup, that's the pattern to hook all the new buyers in. We can't forget that if some of the true details of the iphone 5 have been hidden from us, it could have a "gesture area" which aids in multi-tasking like what we see on the iPad. I'd love to see an iPhone where I never have to use the home button if I don't want to.

A lot of gearheads maybe, but I've yet to meet one person who really cared about the processor speed of their phone.

For that matter, I know dozens of people who own iPhone 4s, and I can never recall a single one of them saying "Boy, I wish this phone ran a little smoother."

Most people don't care about CPU, true, but when you get to the CPU effects like UI speed, they do care. You may not think the iphone 4 chugs with the A4, but when the iPad 2 got the A5, everyone noticed immediately that it was faster still. People will notice the A5. If they don't, it's time to start asking your OS to do more to take advantage of the power you're giving it. Else, why give it the power?

 

[Tonewheel]

Throw it all against the wall and see what sticks.

What's.The.Point?

 

[reebzor]

guess I just need to buy a new logic board instead of a new iPhone. Good news!

 

[Tonewheel]

A lot of gearheads maybe, but I've yet to meet one person who really cared about the processor speed of their phone.

For that matter, I know dozens of people who own iPhone 4s, and I can never recall a single one of them saying "Boy, I wish this phone ran a little smoother."

Really? Smoother would be good. Thumbs up from me.

 

[StyxMaker]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8L1)

If this is the real deal, I have no idea what Apple has been doing for the last 14 months.

hahaha so true!.. and if this is the new phone.. im sure i wont get it!!
ill just wait for the real upgrade..

It's not a 'real' upgrade unless cosmetic changes are made to the outside?

 

[chrmjenkins]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8L1)



It's not a 'real' upgrade unless cosmetic changes are made to the outside?

Yeah, we already went over this with the 3GS. It absolutely trounced the 3G in performance but people refused to see it as new since the casing was the same. It's actually an exercise in marketing though. You have to show the consumer why the new one is better if it looks just like the old one. That's why Apple has an incentive to change the look every year.

 

[longofest]

I can't imagine that apple keeps a A4 chip production line running. I seem them more likely to have only one type of CPU in all iOS devices. It's more economical. Maybe they have different clock speeds for iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 and iPad 2/3. That's how it was done with computers before.

A4 is cheaper to make, and is still used in Apple TV. They'll keep producing it for a while to come.

 

[Reach9]

Thank god.. This upgrade will be amazing.

I believe 3.7" will still be known as Retina Display, hence, i believe that's the size upgrade we'll be getting. If the bezel is supposed to be smaller, then the screen will feel even bigger than usual.

Since AllThingsDigital has reinforced the rumor we've heard that the glass design "fell out of favor" by Apple execs, they said we can expect a metal chasis. That means, this phone will be very sturdy as well. I believe the case leaks that we've seen before might actually be true.

So I can expect the iPhone 5 to have the following:

1) A5 Dual Core processor
2) Better camera
3) Bigger screen
4) Antenna redesign
5) External redesign
6) additional really cool features, exclusive only to the iPhone 5, to get people to upgrade.

i.e, this upgrade will be major.

 

[jdsipod]

Iphone 4

I bet that it is just another iPhone 4 that they are still using to test phone networks and things like that. Probably are using the CDMA iPhone to test sprint out, hence the newer date on the test sticker

 

[longofest]

They may be putting iphone 5 internals in an iphone 4 shell for testing purposes. The fact that they are putting out a slightly revised iphone 4 and all new iphone 5 seems to be confusing the rumor mill (I assume that's their plan, of course).

Agreed... hence my prediction that we'll see iPhone 5 in new design and a cheaper iPhone 4.

 

[aluren]

So many leaked "4S" parts these past couple weeks and nothing about the 5. I think more and more that the upgrade this year will be the 4S and nothing more. I haven't seen so many rumors about an upcoming 2nd tier iPhone compared to the past.

 

[chrmjenkins]

Agreed... hence my prediction that we'll see iPhone 5 in new design and a cheaper iPhone 4.

I disagree on two points. I think battery life will stay the same (iPad 1 and iPad 2 battery life are roughly equal).

Also, given that their cloud strategy does not involve streaming content they own or licensed content in a last.fm/pandora/spotify sort of way, I think they will offer a 64GB model. Whether that replaces the 32GB or is at a higher price point is an interesting question. The higher GB models are proven money makers when you consider that's a single upgrade that costs around $20 to $30 for an extra $100 in revenue.

 

[mbarriault]

Do you have any guesses as to what make it worth it to upgrade internally from a 4 to a 4S (if that is all they release)?

iOS5 runs perfectly on an iPhone 4. So a speed boost isn't a necessity. The camera will get upgraded, but who cares?

Is there anything that you can even imagine that would make it worth it to somebody who has an iPhone 4 to upgrade?

A screen upgrade would grab me. I'm imagining a 1366x768 (16:9) edge-to-edge screen, but with the same 320 dpi as iPhone 4. Current apps would show at a 1:1 scale, so physically their appearance would be unchanged. New APIs would allow apps to make use of the extra space, with usability focus on games and videos, but productivity apps and the like would be allowed to scale for more display space.

 

[Nicolas4ever]

im not going to cry becuase they are *JUST RUMORS*

 

[longofest]

I disagree on two points. I think battery life will stay the same (iPad 1 and iPad 2 battery life are roughly equal).

Also, given that their cloud strategy does not involve streaming content they own or licensed content in a last.fm/pandora/spotify sort of way, I think they will offer a 64GB model. Whether that replaces the 32GB or is at a higher price point is an interesting question. The higher GB models are proven money makers when you consider that's a single upgrade that costs around $20 to $30 for an extra $100 in revenue.

Possible. My size points were based on the rumor of the 8 GB iPhone 4.

 

[Ger Teunis]

Compared to what the competitors are doing? Like marketing outdated garbage like Flash as if it were a desirable feature, which confuses consumers to the point of allowing a harmfully obsolete technology to gain an extra five minutes of life?

You are clearly wanting a bigger screen and Flash, that's all.

Huh, please do not talk for me. I can do that myself. I am clearly NOT saying that. I am not talking about Flash, but a bigger screen in the same form factor would be nice. But come on, you have to agree; this is just a lazy update. Just technology which I do not care about too much.

Apple's great selling point is it's exclusive feeling by the nice simple designs they make. An iPhone 4+ new technology which I do not care about it just too bad.

And the Macbook pro is just sad sad, years of no change at all. Just "better numbers" inside it.

Thats why I say: lazy.

----------

You don't think they take this into account? Think again.

So you think they take into account they release a relative lazy update?
Some new hardware stuff inside it. Just some "look at me; i have bigger numbers inside this iPhone".

 

[andreiru]

May be IT, may be not. For one, it's a good marketing ploy to lower expectations a bit, then over-deliver.

 

[DotCom2]

I'm terrible at predictions, but:

Apple has a pattern and one of them is to add at least one desirable feature (e.g. 3G, videocam, voice input, MMS) to a new phone that the old phones don't have.

As always, Apple will claim that no other iPhone can use the feature, while jailbreakers prove them wrong within a week

So... my guess along those lines is that they're going to sneak in some kind of Siri-based voice interface that only the iPhone 5 will work with.

I think you hit the nail on the head!

 

[GreyMatta]

Out of interest:
Are you in the UK?
If so, what network are you with and what is your plan and how much do you pay?
(If you're not in the UK, ignore all above questions)

I'm sick of the thought of having to save up for 50 years before I can buy a new iPhone. So, when my iPhone 4 is rougly a year old, I want to get a contract that will allow me a free upgrade to the latest iPhone every year. Also, if you take out a contract like that, do you have to aim it, so when you first purchase the contract it's within the time of a new iPhone release? You wouldn't want to get to the end of a year and realise you can't upgrade to the next iPhone cause it isn't out yet. (What would you do in that case?)

Have a look at GiffGaff.com they are dirt cheap for pay as you go with unlimited data

 

[9secondadidas]

If the iphone 5 doesn't have a bigger screen, I will not be buying it. What's the point of buying a device that looks identical to what I already have? I'm sure it'll be a bit faster, but the iphone 4 is fast enough for my needs. I honestly just want a bigger screen and if that means going to android then so be it.

You know I'm in the similar boat. I have an Android device now with a larger screen, and sadly the large screen is one of the few redeeming factors it has. It makes for a terrible ipod replacement and the call quality is sketchy at best. I'm ready to make the switch back, but I am so not ready to be stuck looking at a tiny 3.5" screen again. I'm kind of spoiled.

blah

 

[GlenL]

I don't care about the front. I want a redesigned back. I love the idea of going back to the 1st gen metal back.

I don't want to go back to the metal back! That's definitely many steps backward. My iPod with the metal back has so many scratches it looks like brushed aluminum whereas my iPhone does not have a single scratch! I don't use a case for either.