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There's Still Another Prototype iPhone in the Wild

*LTD* said:
It's very likely (almost guaranteed) that the average user has no idea any of this is going on. They find things out en masse via Apple's announcements.
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Don't bet on that! SkyNews UK ran a news flash on the "leaked 4th Generation iPhone" saga yesterday!!!
 
satcomer said:
Well one thing I can guess that who ever lost this iPhone prototype will be looking for an unemployment office soon. ;)
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More like the guy's family is looking for a funeral home.

miketcool said:
Years ago, the mentality that American could accomplish ANYTHING and that Americans could do anything, gave this world the GREATEST technological advances the world has EVER known.

I long for that same hard working, optimistic, American sense of PRIDE to come back. I think WE can still do anything.
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I miss this, too. Now, it's just "How can I make the most profit while I sit on my lazy butt?"
 
Nothing special here. There will be small differences within prototypes. Some first prototypes will even be handcrafted. Move on.
 
iDisk said:
Controlled Leak.

Apple is seeing how future and current iPhone users react to the design of the phone and the specifications of it.

This is really about the iPhone "design" and if we accept this new shift.
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When has Apple ever done something like that? They don't engage with focus groups to gauge feedback on a range of designs, they go with whatever direction Jobs/Ives has ordained and have enough trust/ confidence in their abilities for it to be a success.
 
MacRumors said:


The left image reflects the original Twitter leak while the right shows the Gizmodo leak. The first image has no visible screws on the bottom of the device. The original images also don't seem to have the Apple logo on the back of the device, or even the iPhone name printed on it. We're not sure the significance of this, or who might have possession of this other device, but it seems more of these unreleased iPhones are out there in unauthorized hands.

Article Link: [url=https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/20/theres-still-another-prototype-iphone-in-the-wild/]There's Still Another Prototype iPhone in the Wild
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If you look at the photo in the lower right hand corner, it does appear to have the iPhone name and the associated serial numbers and regulatory marks on it, it's just hard to see because of the reflection of the flourescent light over it. I'm not sure if that round logo is a watermark on the photo or if it's some arbitrary replacement for the Apple logo.
 
iDisk said:
Controlled Leak.

Apple is seeing how future and current iPhone users react to the design of the phone and the specifications of it.

This is really about the iPhone "design" and if we accept this new shift.

We already know the technical specifications of the device were going to be great after seeing the iPhone OS 4 event.

I personally like the photos that gizmodo took of the device and after looking at it enough (if that is the design) I think it's a winner. If this isn't the design, then expect a iPhone that looks like the 3G iPad.
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the question is then this....is Arn and the Macrumors crew also part of this?
Having a poll shortly after the 'leak' seems a little bit co-iincidental...:)
 
It's getting really weird now, because Apple's pre release products are usually so hush hush. Hmm
 
Lame,lame And Thrice Lame!!!!

Ha-ha-ha,
I can't believe all the fuss over this non-story?This is 110% real and Jobs must be screwing,though, hilarious! That's not the world beater we'd all hoped for Steve! So,if the back comes in silver as well, it would be more Apple like right? So apparently the battery's 16% larger than the 3gs, so 1600mah. That's great, except I've got an out of market 1800mah battery on my 3g now. Even with a flash, a lens that small is never gonna take good pics...period...The screen sounds good, though. This is gonna have to be at 64gig for me to wanna buy, but it looks like HTC might just cause me move away from Apple in the summer.
 
miketcool said:
Years ago, the mentality that American could accomplish ANYTHING and that Americans could do anything, gave this world the GREATEST technological advances the world has EVER known.

I long for that same hard working, optimistic, American sense of PRIDE to come back. I think WE can still do anything.
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Believe me, I feel your idealism, and I want it too, but the fact is it's too late. The genie is out of the bottle. Consumers have grown used to paying $200 for what is (essentially) a $700 device -and that's only possible because of insanely cheap labor and heavy carrier subsidies.

If these things were made in the USA, you'd have to sign a lifetime contract with at&t or accept a $2,500 early termination fee just to offset the cost of production. Pardon a little hyperbole on my part, but it's not far from the truth.

Yes, Americans can do anything they put their minds to, but nobody here is clamoring for the standard of living of your average Chinese assembly line worker.
 
baryon said:
Please, think before you write childish and stupid things. You should know that China makes the best stuff in the world for the cheapest price, that's why mostly everything is made in China. If it were made in America, it would be more expensive. And no one said it would be better, since China is specialised in electronics and they have the best and most effective methods of manufacturing such products. Every Apple product is assembled in China, and I don't think anyone has problems with their build quality in general. Even like this they're quite expensive, imagine if they were made in America!
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I agree.
My ipod touch was made in china
and its been dropped a countless number of times even screen first on gravel and it just got a little crack
Still works 100% perfectly.
I think if they made stuff in america it would be more expensive and not as much as good build quality.
But thats just me
 
I'm going to find prototype serial No. 2785 in a supermarket which has been"accidentally" left in one of there trollies on the 17th of May. I will then release photos for you all to see. And wait to see the media storm.

Now excuse me while I go into my workshop for a few days. Would anyone have an old 3G iphone they don't mind me dismantling.
 
miketcool said:
Years ago, the mentality that American could accomplish ANYTHING and that Americans could do anything, gave this world the GREATEST technological advances the world has EVER known.

I long for that same hard working, optimistic, American sense of PRIDE to come back. I think WE can still do anything.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sure that we would all love to adapt to the Chinese standards of living. Those Foxconn employees mostly live at the factory they work at, you know. Dorm-style. I hope you like what you're signing up for.
 
miketcool said:
I say Apple takes some of that R&D capital and puts it right back into American manufacturing. You could save the people Detroit with an idea like this. We need a campaign for this.
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Chinese laborers work for the equivalent of $0.50/hr, if they were to manufacture this in the US it would cost at least 10 times that to make. Think about it, capitalism at its best!!
 
This is why I don't believe Gizmodo's story and that the phone was planted.

An Apple engineer leaves a top-secret prototype iPhone 20 miles a way in a bar of all places, doesn't track it after he realizes he left it there, doesn't get fired for it, and talks to Gizmodo about it afterwards.

Not to mention that Apple purposely makes several different prototypes to throw people off the track.
 
If we hand one of these phones to Apple do we get a tour of the factory and a lifetime supply of chocolate?
 
bdkennedy1 said:
This is why I don't believe Gizmodo's story and that the phone was planted.

An Apple engineer leaves a top-secret prototype iPhone 20 miles a way in a bar of all places, doesn't track it after he realizes he left it there, doesn't get fired for it, and talks to Gizmodo about it afterwards.

Not to mention that Apple purposely makes several different prototypes to throw people off the track.
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Red herring. ;)
 
...

I just hope the sharper edges don't cut your hand like the razorblade edges on the aluminum MacBook pro.
 
baryon said:
For those saying that there isn't time for Apple to change this design until release:

Even these two prototypes are different, so I'm sure the final iPhone will also be somewhat different, it just shows that prototypes are just that: tests and work in progress. Just because they leaked a few days ago doesn't mean that they have been created a few days ago. Maybe these were designed and created 6 months ago, and Apple has since then done something totally different that we don't know about of course.
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Yes, they're different -- one has screws, the other has no placeholder text printed on the back, but the basic design is 99% similar. They have to nail the case design at an early stage in the process, and the case is indeed very much designed from an engineering point of view; the Chinese pictures of the individual parts and the stripped-down chassis scream of production model and have none of the telltale signs of prototypes.

Do NOT expect radical engineering changes like different dimensions, elimination of the seams or anything that involves extensive reworking of the case design between this X months old prototype and the final product. You have to realize that nothing other than print and surface finish (e.g. painted or black anodized aluminum, text and button symbols etc) can change at this point. Or actually not even this point, it would have to have changed a few weeks ago. 8 weeks from launch, they're already ramping up production. Depots around the world need to stock up for the launch. Ad agencies need to shoot photos and commercials featuring the final design. Cell networks as well as FCC and its equivalents worldwide need to test it for approval, and prototypes don't cut it for them.
 
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