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Maybe Apple needs to get into the phones to replace the battery without having to replace the gasket. Those gaskets are touchy.
 
LUL, fat chance! ANY drop is going to shatter the two glass panels before any shock absorber could be engaged.

Unless you dropped it so that the aluminum part landed squarely on an equal-size surface...

XD
 
I vote that is for shock absorption.

I agree with this to a small extent. I also believe it could do with heat distribution. As Apple had issue with the 3G and 3GS cases cracking, I wonder if it could act as an element to allow the case to shrink and expand to the temperature changes both internally and external?

I could also see it being used for some kind of sensor gesture...
 
It could actually be that the metal is used as an antenna (or more than one). Perhaps a main antenna, perhaps supplementary.

The way most antennae work in mobiles is one end connected to the RF circuitry (normally the RX/TX switch or filter through an isolation ferrite or capacitor) and the other is grounded. The total length of metal is shaped and tuned for the appropriate frequency band(s).
This seems to be the case with a couple of the seams; where one end is held entirely by the plastic(?) material, while the other has connections to the rest of the metal (looking at the bottom part here)
Not normally part of an antenna design, but a small amount of human (etc) contact tends to enhance GSM reception further, while the high frequencies used negates any effects from larger conductive bodies.
It's already a departure to have a predominantly metal phone casing - usually, any metal chassis is used to provide (additional) shielding of the circuitry, with the antenna located as far as possible from such RF obstacles.

Of course; no reason this is for GSM or WCDMA - it could easily be for the BT, GPS or WI-FI signals. (although BT and WCDMA use pretty minute antennae anyway) (more than one WI-FI antenna for higher speed protocols, anyone?)

Disclaimer; I've never designed an antenna. Just historical observations based on Nokia, SE and LG devices. There would also need to be some ESD / RF protective components not usually required when the antennae are completely enclosed.
 
I think it's for the same reason the other 50 posts on the subject said.... we have no flippin clue! How about you wait about a week an you'll know.
 
Wait?! What?!!

You must be trippin' on somethin' harder than Daniels.

We don't wait! We don't wait! >8\
 
i doubt its for shock absorption. either way its **** and i dont want one that looks as if its a factory reject....
 
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