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Source Claims Hands-On Experience with iPhone 5 Prototype

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Apr 12, 2001
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While the redesigned "iPhone 5" form factor failed to surface with last month's update that saw the introduction of the iPhone 4S, reports have suggested that the next-generation iPhone expected to debut next year will indeed carry a significant redesign.

iphone5-11-500x231.jpg



Business Insider now reports that it has received word from a source who has claimed to have had access to an iPhone 5 prototype and offered some details on the device.
We've been told this by an industry source who has been right about future Apple products in the past.

We have not been able to verify what he told us with a second source. So we're still treating these details as rumors. You should probably still read this post with a nice fat dose of salt.
Click to expand...
According to the source, Apple did indeed hope to launch the iPhone 5 this year, but was forced to scrap those plans several months before the iPhone 4S was ultimately introduced. Among the iPhone 5 details cited by the source:

- 4-inch screen
- Aluminum back
- Capacitive home button
- "Flatter" form factor
- Much faster than current hardware, but poor battery life
- 10-megapixel rear camera
- Siri prototype known as "Assistant", which had been the rumored name for the feature until its introduction

According to the source, the primary objection regarding the prototype design came from Steve Jobs, who claimed that the larger screen would result in fragmentation of the iOS ecosystem, something the company has worked hard to limit.

Business Insider does not have a particularly solid track record on Apple product rumors, and is also including its own warnings about taking the report with a grain of salt. But the claims are certainly of some interest given the curiosity surrounding what happened with the claimed leaked design that resulted in significant numbers of cases being produced for a device that failed to appear.

Article Link: Source Claims Hands-On Experience with iPhone 5 Prototype
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/11/11/source-claims-hands-on-experience-with-iphone-5-prototype/
Business Insider

When was the last time Business Insider said anything at all worth listening to?
 
Everyone has soon the iPhone 5 because everyone says the same thing about what it supposed to look like and do. Duh!
 
That BI link needs to be fixed.

So, in saying it had a bigger screen are they also saying it also had a higher resolution than the rest of the hand-held iOS devices? Otherwise I don't get how it fractures the ecosystem. A larger size by itself sounds like a non-factor unless I'm missing something.
 
dloomer said:
So, in saying it had a bigger screen are they also saying it also had a higher resolution than the rest of the hand-held iOS devices? Otherwise I don't get how it fractures the ecosystem. A larger size by itself sounds like a non-factor unless I'm missing something.
Click to expand...


You know Jobs demanded the resolution stay above 300 ppi.
 
iRobby said:
why would the larger screen result in fragmentation of the iOS ecosystem?
Click to expand...

Either the resolution would be the same, resulting in larger controls and lower pixel density, or developers would need to redo their apps to optimize them for the new resolution in order to maintain a pixel perfect interface.
 
you know what happens when you have a nice fat dose of salt? cardiac arrest happens.
 
Checklist:

1. Shorter battery life? Check.
2. Thinner with a bulge on one end for a camera? Check.
3. Quad-core for no reason other than to brag? Check.
4. MOAR megapixels? Check.
5. Larger screen? Check.

I can't wait to get my Samsung iPhone Galaxy V. Seriously, this thing is starting to sound like [pick any new Android phone coming out in the next 6 months].

Well, at least it will have iOS 6 and not some Android crap. But I imagine Apple would do something more or different to distinguish this device. Steve Jobs was really involved with the design, even all the way up until his death! It can't be this simple. But let the new rumor season commence! Only 7 more months. Right guys? Guys???
 
BaldiMac said:
Either the resolution would be the same, resulting in larger controls and lower pixel density, or developers would need to redo their apps to optimize them for the new resolution in order to maintain a pixel perfect interface.
Click to expand...

But haven't they kind of gotten used to this, with three separate iOS resolutions floating around now (iPhone / 3G / 3GS, 4/4S, and iPad/iPad 2)? There are lots of universal apps as well as lots of apps that run on both the retina and non-retina iPhones. They seem to have gotten pretty good at handling multiple devices with the tools Apple offers.
 
Steve (God rest his soul) is no longer around to stop them from releasing a 4" screen iPhone.. I think Apple has to, to stay competitive. More and more people are liking the bigger screens. I think 4" would be perfect. It's not small, and it's not overly big either.
 
I hope it will be 4" I couldn't decided on the 4S and one of the main reasons was screen size. I will be pissed if I hold out for the 5 and it ends up being the same old size.

Also held off on 4S because it would make my bill go up $10 a month and I didn't really need it.
 
mkrishnan said:
But haven't they kind of gotten used to this, with three separate iOS resolutions floating around now (iPhone / 3G / 3GS, 4/4S, and iPad/iPad 2)? There are lots of universal apps as well as lots of apps that run on both the retina and non-retina iPhones. They seem to have gotten pretty good at handling multiple devices with the tools Apple offers.
Click to expand...

There are currently two resolutions for the iPhone, but Apple simplified the conversion for developers by simply doubling the vertical and horizontal pixels.

iPad apps have a completely separate interface. There is currently only one resolution to worry about.
 
BaldiMac said:
iPad apps have a completely separate interface. There is currently only one resolution to worry about.
Click to expand...

Yeah, true. Personally, I don't care much about the screen size bump, but I'm not against it either (as long as the phone is thinner and doesn't gain weight in the process). I'd be perfectly happy if they stuck with the current resolution and scaled it up to 4" (which will still be pretty high pixel density), although others won't be.

I do agree that fragmentation is what I don't want. I think the fact that one rarely has to worry about whether apps are compatible with their device is a real strength of the iOS world.
 
iRobby said:
why would the larger screen result in fragmentation of the iOS ecosystem?
Click to expand...

App icons would either be a different size or would be spaced differently (like the iPad).

I personally hope they're a bit larger and the proportions are kept the same. I've never liked the wide-open spacing of apps on the iPad.
 
macduke said:
Checklist:

1. Shorter battery life? Check.
2. Thinner with a bulge on one end for a camera? Check.
3. Quad-core for no reason other than to brag? Check.
4. MOAR megapixels? Check.
5. Larger screen? Check.
Click to expand...

This is why I do not believe this rumour. It's just so un-Apple.
 
BaldiMac said:
Either the resolution would be the same, resulting in larger controls and lower pixel density, or developers would need to redo their apps to optimize them for the new resolution in order to maintain a pixel perfect interface.
Click to expand...

And any developer who design Apps that way to begin with was doing it incorrectly to begin with. That is just piss poor designing that relays on pixel perfect interface.
 
mkrishnan said:
But haven't they kind of gotten used to this, with three separate iOS resolutions floating around now (iPhone / 3G / 3GS, 4/4S, and iPad/iPad 2)? There are lots of universal apps as well as lots of apps that run on both the retina and non-retina iPhones. They seem to have gotten pretty good at handling multiple devices with the tools Apple offers.
Click to expand...

There are actually only 2, iPad and iPhone. The iPhone has two resolutions, but one is a pixel doubled version of the other, with the same aspect ratio. So the only fragmentation is in including hi-res and low-res assets. There is no fragmentation in terms of the design of the interface itself - interface elements are the same size and in the same place on the screen.
 
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