It's a shame that so many people like the idea of another aluminum iPhone. Aluminum significantly blocks radio signals. There is a reason that Apple's aluminum laptops have always had the worst Wi-Fi reception out of all brands of laptops on the market. There is a reason that many reviews praised the plastic iPhone 3G's reception as superior to its aluminum predecessor. Using aluminum for the iPhone body would be a huge step backwards.
If aluminum is such a great material, then why do 3G-enabled iPads have those ugly black plastic patches in the back? Oh yeah, it's because aluminum significantly blocks all radio signals, especially 3G signals.
It would be a form-over-function move if Apple decided to make the iPhone 5 backside out of aluminum.
What about Liquid Metal? I personally like the idea of it, and if they made it look like aluminum (instead of a more gunmetal color) that would be great since radio signals can pass right through it.
My thoughts:
I'm not sure I would like the taper to be that extreme. Maybe a more slight taper is more realistic.
The rendering is not the greatest looking, but its not really meant to be an exact copy of what the iPhone 5 looks like, so cut them some slack. I would personally love a bigger screen, like 4+ inches. My best friend has a Samsung Infuse, (4.5") and it's not too big. It's much easier to type on and play games on. Why does everyone think they're too big?
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I had a fourth-generation iPod touch (until I sold it to get my iPad) and the thinness of it seemed like a bad thing at first, but it actually started feeling thicker and more like a brick every day. It was extremely solid. I had a thin silicon case on it, and that made it feel thick as hell. Believe me, the thinness of the iPod touch is amazing!
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Maybe this is the next iPod touch, but based on how much I used that in landscape for gaming, that extreme taper would not be too good. Again, a slight taper would be nice for aestetics (spelling?) and possibly a more even weight distribution. (Think how the first-generation iPad was exactly the same weight on each side in portrait.)
Just my two cents.
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