The Prototype iPhone Dissected, No User Removable Battery

[lewisdorigo]

This whole thing is just wrong.

Not only has Gizmodo knowingly purchased stolen property, but has also now - instead of returning it - taken it apart and revealed a prototype device's internals to competition.

This is breaking so many laws that it's not even funny. I really hope that Apple sues them and puts an end to them.

 

[Schtumple]

Ok, so why would Apple bother to wait till late May now to announce it? Since the ATT vacation block is for all of June.

Apple always announces the iPhones early, as the FCC releases details. So Apple gets there before the FCC can steal their thunder.

 

[notjustjay]

I undersand this but then I pay Apple's price. Also, I can't carry a spare. So no, I don't find these two things to be one in the same. I'd like a battery I can swap myself. I don't need to be tied to Apple any more than I already am.

Pay Apple's price? As opposed to who else's price? When I buy a new battery for my Nokia phone, I'm paying Nokia's price. Unless I get a knock-off battery, but they tend not to work as well as the real thing.

I understand the part about keeping a spare. And the same argument goes for laptop batteries too. But the reality is that in all the years I've owned various laptops and cell phones, I have never actually gone out and purchased the second spare battery for either, let alone go through the trouble of keeping two of them charged up at all times so I could have one ready to swap. It always seemed like a good idea and it was nice to know I could always do it, but in reality I never did. Apple must realize this is the case for "most" people.

Even my camcorders, the one device where I did buy multiple batteries, I tended to find the one battery that had the most capacity, and use that one 99% of the time.

 

[troop231]

Apple always announces the iPhones early, as the FCC releases details. So Apple gets there before the FCC can steal their thunder.

But now that this has leaked, I would assume they get on the ball faster with other phones coming out.

 

[stagi]

battery 50% of the phone wow, I hope this really improves battery life compared to current. Can only get about 1/2 a day of use until I need to charge.

 

[muskratboy]

They started taking it apart but didn't continue because they didn't want to damage it?

That's what i'm saying!

Who cares if they wreck it? They took apart... why the hell wouldn't they keep going? at least we'd have an idea of ram/cpu/gpu ...

what, were they hoping that it would magically turn back on again when apple wanted to leak more info?

they KNEW they'd lose it eventually (if they really thought it was authentic, it was a ticking clock before apple came demanding it back) ... so why not tear it to pieces?

1) they are scared of upsetting apple
2) it's all a big fake in the first place
3) they're just not very good at taking thing apart. or thinking.
4) they thought they could get it working again

so whether it's real or not... i call gizmodo a little girly baby because they just... stopped taking it apart, for no reason.

once it was dead... that thing woulda been PIECES on my desk, man... PIECES.

and then i could hand apple back their phone in a little baggie when they came calling.

 

[*LTD*]

It's nice to have confirmation on the non-user-replaceable battery. Most people realized Apple was not about to do that when their entire line or portables emphasizes long battery life due to the built-in technology.

Agreed.

We don't need a removable-battery, just a good one.

 

[extraextra]

Everybody's a legal expert on Macrumors today, huh?

 

[msb3079]

all that metal is gonna kill reception, and since i find the 3g to struggle in marginal reception areas as it is, this phone will blow outside of major metro areas. It was fun while it lasted Apple but I dont think ill go beyond the 3g

Sorry to pick on you.. but comments like this drive me nuts. You have NO CLUE about reception of the phone. You REALLY think they'd make it WORSE? C'mon....

 

[cvaldes]

The next event they will be invited to by Apple will be a court hearing.

If Gizmodo's staffers get invited to the next Apple media event, then we know it was a plant.

 

[*LTD*]

all that metal is gonna kill reception, and since i find the 3g to struggle in marginal reception areas as it is, this phone will blow outside of major metro areas. It was fun while it lasted Apple but I dont think ill go beyond the 3g

Sucks to be on AT&T.

With Rogers up here in Canada, it's clear as a bell, even in the middle of the Northern Ontario woods. The phone isn't the problem. It's the carrier.

 

[andrew0122]

Gizmodo knew that the phone was Apple's property. Gizmodo should have known that they may have been purchasing STOLEN property. That Apple would definitely not want any information about the phone released yet. And that by posting images of the internal details of the phone that they significantly decreased the value of Apples substantial investment in iPhone engineering.

I agree that I'd like to know what's in the next iPhone, but for the moment, my curiosity is irrelevant; it's Apple's property, it's up to Apple to decide what information is released and when. I definitely agree that transparency is essential to many situations, but so is privacy.

I suspect that Gizmodo broke California law, and injured Apple's business in the process. If laws were broken, I hope they are prosecuted. Likewise I hope the Apple sues Gizmodo as this was a serious violation of Apple's intellectual property rights.

You should learn about the law and legal terms before making another post like this.

1. The iPhone was not STOLEN! Gary Powell a 20 something year old got drunk on his birthday and left the phone on a barstool in a bar. Leaving a possession would fall under the LOST category, NOT STOLEN. The guy who found the phone tried to return the phone to Apple, which had already been 'bricked' before the next morning. Follow the story here I feel like this is going to be a waste of time to try and talk some reason to you.

2. Yes he iPhone does belong to Apple and YES Gizmodo gave it back to them. Gizmodo was incredibly smart in requiring Apple to send a formal request that would verify that the iPhone was in fact a real working model.

3. Again Apple does have intellectual property rights in the iPhone, but if they are going to give it to their employees to test in the wild (Don't get me wrong they need to) then the rights loose their importance.

If Coke left their secret list of ingredients to make Coke-Cola out for anyone to see they would loos their trade secret. Just like if an iPhone was left out in the wild 20 MILES away from 1 Infinite Loop. (Apple's Headquarters if you didn't know.)


EXAMPLE OF THEFT:
Person possessing the iPhone (Gary Powell) was mugged then you would have a case dealing with STOLEN property.

EXAMPLE OF A LOST GOOD:
Person possessing the iPhone (Gary Powell) unknowingly left the said iPhone on a barstool after having a few too many during a birthday outing.

 

[msb3079]

Rant.

Are you people serious? You go to macrumors, engadget, wherever for tech rumors, reviews, and entertainment. You go to these sites hoping to find even the smallest bit of news/leak about upcoming apple products, especially the iphone. Then the IPHONE 4G, one of the most anticipated phones of all time gets leaked and people are complaining? Ummm..thats pretty much best case scenario when you log on to one of these sites, looking for news/rumors. People need to get off their freakin high horse. Gizmodo is a tech entertainment BLOG, and you're siding with apple? The same apple that will make you wait/waste months of your life in misery waiting for a new mbp with not even the slightest hint or clue of when it will come out. TUAW is the worst however, iphone 4g gets leaked/taken apart and they're talkin about the fruit ninja app. What self righteous *******.

Could not agree more. Some of you contradict yourself pretty badly.

 

[Anuba]

But the reality is that in all the years I've owned various laptops and cell phones, I have never actually gone out and purchased the second spare battery for either

Same here, but the thing is that none of those phones did everything an iPhone does. No mail, no browser, no music player, no video player, no GPS, and extremely basic games. Of course I never needed a spare battery, because all I did was call and text. Rarely have removable batteries made more sense than for the iPhone, and of course that one had to be the one device without a battery door.

So you end up having to worry about power moderation, you fiddle with 3G/BT/Location Services and other settings buried deep inside nested menus, you avoid playing music or checking out YouTube clips, you set the backlight to some minimal setting that forces you to squint, etc.

Like I've said before, it's like an electric Humvee, and it's your choice... you can switch off the wipers, the stereo, the headlights and the GPS and drive 30 miles, or you can leave the bells & whistles on and drive 3 miles before you're out of juice. The power source and the device are a terrible match.

 

[goobot]

WTF?
So this is the 3GS logic board
http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/DTaHMIn3GNdOTNZr.standard
This is the new logic board
http://cache-04.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/04/500x_open19_01.jpg


Really? That tiny little thing holds all the stuff necessary?

and old computer

and a new one

 

[xnu]

Anyone else think this looks like one HUGE antenna?

http://cache-01.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/04/open17.jpg

Could it be some kind of charging technology?

I wonder if they voided the warranty on this thing?

 

[mustang_dvs]

I really don't see why everyone is hating gizmodo for taking the product apart, don't you want to know what's inside? Power to the consumer I say, the more we know the better. I don't know about you but im a fan of complete transparency.

According to Section 2080 California's civil code, selling a lost item to a third party automatically makes the item stolen, even if you first made a 'good faith' effort to return it. Gizmodo knew that the device rightfully belonged to a third party when they purchased the device, making them an accessory to the theft. As the phone is likely valued in excess of $400 (likely, given the unsubsidized price of a 3Gs), California's penal code, section 487, makes that Grand Theft, which carries up to a year in county jail. If the value is judged higher, the penalty can result in up to five years in state prison.

Ultimately, what's turned me off of Gizmodo, in this case, was their decision to publicly identify the Apple employee who was likely the rightful 'owner' of the iPhone in question. Then, they posted his Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and MySpace accounts. Then they posted his personal, professional and educational history. Essentially, they chose to nuke the young engineer's career, maliciously. The device was lost to his possession nearly a month ago. It was remotely disabled the next morning. If Apple was going to terminate his employment, it would have already happened. Now, even if he isn't fired (and I have no insight on the matter), if he ever seeks employment, this will hang around his neck like an Albatross, thanks to Gawker media's quest need for ad impressions.

 

[mustang_dvs]

I wonder if they voided the warranty on this thing?

Prototypes do not carry a warranty -- just ask anyone who's purchased an Apple prototype off of eBay.

 

[na1577]

I stopped reading Gizmodo months ago, this reaffirms that decision.

I stopped reading the site after the iPad was announced. They'll do anything for a click; the most annoying of which is the fact that they will post dozens of articles on the exact same thing.

 

[SteveSparks]

Fake iPhone overload.

 

[sososowhat]

im a fan of complete transparency.

Then you're a fan of the wrong company. Apple's about as secretive as they get.

 

[Minimoose 360]

I still think Gizmodo is "in" on this controlled leak...otherwise they would have divuldged all the info such as processor, LTE compatible, etc.

This whole ordeal is too far-fetched to be a coincidence IMO

 

[Dead Panda]

This is getting tiring now. I agree with the person that says it seems like it's being forced now.

Seems like there's just too much news about it and all kinds of crazy stories. I don't even know what to believe anymore.

 

[Anuba]

Rant.

Are you people serious? You go to macrumors, engadget, wherever for tech rumors, reviews, and entertainment. You go to these sites hoping to find even the smallest bit of news/leak about upcoming apple products, especially the iphone. Then the IPHONE 4G, one of the most anticipated phones of all time gets leaked and people are complaining?

No, they go on the internet to complain. Just replace 'hoping to find' with 'to complain about something' and there's no longer any contradiction, it's only a matter of tailoring the complaints for different targets.

It's just like the people who go on the iMDb boards to complain about shows like, say, Lost (not enough questions answered, the last episode dragged, blah blah blah), and when they get there people are discussing the latest episode. Aha! Reprogramming complaint engine... done: "DON'T POST SPOILERS IN SUBJECT LINES YOU JERKS!!!". "Oh yeah? Well don't go on a **** message board if you want to avoid spoilers, idiot!!!"

Fake iPhone overload.

Fake claim overload.

 

[dub3000]

Evidently. The metal cage is a bit weird too, but here's what I'm thinking... the back is made of this zirconia stuff (Apple filed a patent for use of this in 2006), which is great for the signal but terrible for heat dissipation -- zirconia is actually used for thermal insulation on jet engines. If you made a MacBook Pro case from zirconia, the insides would melt. iPhones can get pretty hot too, and now all those components are jammed into a tiny enclosure sealed off by a zirconia wall that stops the heat from going anywhere. So it seems that all the metal on the inside was put there to drag heat out of the components and out through the aluminum border around the sides (where your fingertips will be when you're making a call )

the metal is probably shielding to stop the CPU from screwing up your reception