What are the seams for?

[gloss]

I'm not sure I buy this. Proponents of this theory, please address the following points:

1 - iPad is equally as likely to be dropped (maybe even more so because of its size) and it has a unibody frame without any seams. In fact, not only are the sides one piece of metal, the entire back is as well.

2 - Why 3 seams and not 2 or 1? Why is the top seam placed off to the side?

3 - The dock connector provides a point of shock absorption where vibrations resultant from a drop would dissipate to. No need for seams to accomplish this. If anything, if Apple wanted to create a shock absorption area, the bottom would be the best place as it would result in much less visible seams, keeping with Apple's clean designs.

Larger items like computers tend not to get dropped as much as phones, which are constantly moving in and out of bags and pockets. And I would assume that the iPhone's situation is different in that it's allegedly encased in a brittle material on both front and back, meaning that any pressure from the sides is likely to crack or shatter one or both of those surfaces. Impacts on an iPad would likely be absorbed as much by the case itself as the glass, although a corner-on impact would, I'm sure, shatter the screen.

I can't speak for the logic behind three distinct seams, but the teardowns seem to show that they are filled by a rubber material that protrudes into the guts of the phone, which tends to support the shock absorption theory. I would guess the top seam is placed off to the side for aesthetic or internal layout reasons.

 

[Carniphage]

I'm not sure I buy this. Proponents of this theory, please address the following points:

1 - iPad is equally as likely to be dropped (maybe even more so because of its size) and it has a unibody frame without any seams. In fact, not only are the sides one piece of metal, the entire back is as well.

It's a point. But perhaps the iPhone is designed to be more robust than an iPad.

If the iPad is dropped from 4 feet onto concrete. Does anyone expect it to survive?

But don't we all share an expectation that our phones ought to survive such a drop?

C.

 

[allonym]

Here's a dubious hypothesis. Apple used to say:

iPhone 3G delivers UMTS, HSDPA, GSM, Wi-Fi, EDGE, GPS, and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR in one compact device — using only two antennas. Clever iPhone engineering integrates those antennas into a few unexpected places: the metal ring around the camera, the audio jack, the metal screen bezel, and the iPhone circuitry itself.

I can't see those words on the 3GS pages but they're recorded here:

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/06/09/clever-antenna-engin.html

Perhaps the metal outer sections in the new iPhone are antennas and the seams are there to physically (electrically?) separate them. Electrical separation does seem a bit unlikely (wouldn't your hand screw up the separation?) but perhaps someone who knows something about this could comment.

 

[redrog]

I reckon they are grooves so that things can be clipped onto the phone eg. a games controller

 

[redrog]

I reckon they are grooves so that things can be clipped onto the phone eg. a games controller

And they are asymmetric to allow access to the buttons.

 

[mcdj]

I still think they make the sides clickable.

 

[Geckotek]

Hmmmm....heart rate monitor??

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/06/apples-seamlessly-embedded-heart-rate-monitor-could-turn-the-ip/

 

[senorhappy]

For the seams to act as shock dampers, the front glass and the back (whatever it is made of) would have to float, or not be fixed to the sides. The 3G/3GS design allowed the bezel and sides to transfer the energy around the screen and deform the plastic back, which is also aided as a spring by its convex shape. I wonder if there is any kind of filler between the screen and the sides? You wouldn't have to "cushion" or slow down the phone at impact, just transfer the energy around the ceramic/glass parts to the dampers. But those brittle pieces would still need to float.

I'm concerned there isn't a bezel to protect the edges of the screen/back. I could envision some small chips over time. Sharp edges are not good for the fingers.

I'm just about sold that those are dampers. Having 3 makes good sense. I do like the idea, tho, of them being for clickable sides. I wish that was the purpose, in combination with touch-sensitive back. Oh i can dream....

It looks to me that those seams are there to stay, at least in this iteration of phone. They look pretty permanent to me, not just temporary filler to keep crap out from the internals. I'm praying this is just one of a hundred different prototype designs and that the final iteration is much more sleek and futuristic... maybe magical???

 

[boss.king]

Was it you who suggested this last night in another thread? I actually tend to agree. A rigid aluminum case would/will transfer nearly all the energy of an edge-on impact to the glass front and back. The current plastic case absorbs the shock, deforms, and releases the energy back into the surface it strikes. I personally have dropped my 3GS on its edge and seen (in that sickening second of impact that I relived for days) the phone literally bounce off the concrete...indicating some sort of elastic rebound. If the same had happened with an aluminum case like this, I imagine the glass would take the brunt of the impact and might easily shatter.

I disagree, I think the seams are a down to it now being a final release product (easy access to internals) and that the rubber that people say is lining the inside is there to keep water/dirt out of the phone. I doubt apple would make a phone out of something so brittle that they need to factor in shock absorbers when they already have plastic as an alternative. Thats like converting your car to run on a different fuel just for the hell of it.
I could be wrong, but it just seems a bit far-fetched to me.

Edit: Also, can you imagine what people who already complain about their bezels not being fluch etc will say if they heard that their phone could shatter on impact? There would be an outcry of "Its a scam, Apple wants to cheat us" and "I dropped my phone and it broke so now its Apples fault"

 

[kdarling]

I reckon they are grooves so that things can be clipped onto the phone eg. a games controller

+1 I think this could very well be the answer.

I was clipping an optional modem onto the bottom of an industrial handheld field device today, when it hit me that the iPhone v4 seams, especially the bottom ones, are very similar.

The iPhone seams could be used for clipping on medical, sensor, gaming, etc extensions.

 

[Derkatwork]

Apple would never design something with cracks like that. If they were going to design shock absorbers, they would likely do it internally os as to keep the outside aesthetically pleasing.

 

[thelatinist]

Apple would never design something with cracks like that. If they were going to design shock absorbers, they would likely do it internally os as to keep the outside aesthetically pleasing.

But they have designed something with cracks like that. Whether they will be in the final design is an open question, but I tend to think that they will because 1) the internal components seem to have been designed around them and 2) contrary to what others have said, I don't think the three parts of the case would serve as effective "access panels" -- it would require as much disassembly to access the screws that hold in these "access panels" as it would take to access all the internal components!

 

[Carniphage]

I disagree, I think the seams are a down to it now being a final release product (easy access to internals)

But a quick look at the disassembled phone reveals the way to get into the phone is through the back panel. Not through a mythical side hatch.

If you look at the disassembled image, the seams are filled with a black rubber-looking material - which wraps around some internal components.

C.

 

[thelatinist]

But a quick look at the disassembled phone reveals the way to get into the phone is through the back panel. Not through a mythical side hatch.

+1 You'd have to completely disassemble the phone to get access to the screws which hold these "easy access" panels...by which time you'd already have complete access to the internals. I just don't see any advantage (and many disadvantages) to having a 3-part case in the prototype that they didn't intend to keep in the final design.

Can anyone suggest a purpose for having such a case during testing (aside from "easy access")?

 

[Derkatwork]

But they have designed something with cracks like that.

I meant as a final design. A prototype (which is what it likely is) can have imperfections like that. There are no seams on other mac products like the new macbook pro.

 

[thelatinist]

I meant as a final design. A prototype (which is what it likely is) can have imperfections like that.

What purpose could the 'seams' serve in a prototype (they most assuredly do not provide easy access to internals--they cannot be removed except through complete disassembly of the phone) that would not exist in a final product? Remember that the connectors required by these seams take up valuable real estate inside the phone and had to be designed around, so you'd have to offer a pretty compelling temporary necessity to justify their existence only in the prototype.

 

[Carniphage]

What the seams are not....

Lamps, lights, indicators or LEDs. - Apple knows how to do the transparent aluminum trick - and drill micro holes to let light out without interrupting the surface.

Manufacturing seams - Apple can make seamless hardware.

Cooling vents - One, these seam-vents are plugged. And two - a metal case acts as a better heat sink than a tiny air hole.

Quick access panels - they don't offer any.


Remaining candidates are...

Antenna breaks? The three separate pieces of the external case form the antenna.
Shock absorbers? The rubber-filled gaps prevent explode-when-dropped problems
External gizmo mounting points?
Touch sensors? Heart-rate? Fingerprint scanner?

C.

 

[Crp-]

What the seams are not....

Lamps, lights, indicators or LEDs. - Apple knows how to do the transparent aluminum trick - and drill micro holes to let light out without interrupting the surface.

Cooling vents - One, these seam-vents are plugged. And two - a metal case acts as a better heat sink than a tiny air hole.

Quick access panels - they don't offer any.

Antenna breaks? The three separate pieces of the external case form the antenna.

Shock absorbers? The rubber-filled gaps prevent explode-when-dropped problems

External gizmo mounting points?

Touch sensors? Heart-rate? Fingerprint scanner?


Remaining candidates are...

Manufacturing seams

 

[Carniphage]

Remaining candidates are...

Manufacturing seams

You are right. There's a huge 1mm seam on my AppleTV filled with rubber!
Oh wait.. There isn't.

C.

 

[thelatinist]

You are right. There's a huge 1mm seam on my AppleTV filled with rubber!
Oh wait.. There isn't.

C.

Yes, and the MacMini/MacBookPro/iPad have them, too.

Crp- Apple has the ability to mill aluminum to their exact specifications with tolerances of one thousandth of an inch. They can carve microscopic holes in aluminum with a laser that can't be seen with the naked eye to allow light through. There would be no need for them to create seams in the case if those seams did not have a purpose. And if they for some inexplicable reason require seams, they could make them nearly invisible.

 

[Derkatwork]

What is most likely is that they are imperfections in the case since it is a prototype. The imperfections will not likely appear in the final design and their only purpose is to be able to tell the two apart.

 

[Carniphage]

What is most likely is that they are imperfections in the case since it is a prototype. The imperfections will not likely appear in the final design and their only purpose is to be able to tell the two apart.

There's no evidence that this is a prototype. It is a manufactured sample which is exactly the same as cases we are seeing from China.

It would be bizarre to include a carefully manufactured feature - for the sole purpose of distinguishing it from a final unit.

Surely, printing the word "Prototype" would be sufficient?

C.

 

[kdarling]

There's no evidence that this is a prototype. It is a manufactured sample which is exactly the same as cases we are seeing from China.

From what I've read in the past, actual prototypes from Apple use a red circuit board.

Of course, the board could be final, but the case might not be.

Only a week or two before the first iPhone came out, Apple announced a switch from plastic to glass for the screen cover, due to so much negative publicity about probable scratches.

 

[timp123]

I'm 99% sure these seams will not be in the final product we see next month. If they are, I wont be getting it - yes I really think it looks that bad and totally un-apple for a finished product.

 

[bripab007]

Did Apple actually make a switch from plastic to glass the week before the iPhone came out, or was it simply revealed/leaked that they'd be using glass, contrary to what people were guessing/assuming?

I can't imagine many suppliers and manufacturers would be able to make a switch that quickly, especially given they were probably already producing the iPhone in quantity at the factories by that point.