

Purported photos of new iPhone 5 - mikecane
http://9to5mac.com/2012/07/29/new-purported-next-generation-iphone-part-photos-show-fully-assembled-device/

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cwe
I find it hard to believe they'll take a step back in the design with that
metal/glass back. Although I guess it would be their way of admitting an all-
glass back was a bad idea. I'm still hoping they'll manage to fit the larger
screen into the same overall size as the 4s (though still thinner). These
longer bodies seem lazy.

~~~
grinich
Actually, the back of this design is much closer to an early iPhone prototype
that was recently uncovered in some court proceedings. [1] Looks like they've
ditched the extruded enclosure, but maybe the segmented back plate lives on.
[2]

[1] [http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/26/3191793/apple-iphone-
proto...](http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/26/3191793/apple-iphone-prototype-
pictures#3597776)

[2] [http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbuchanan/the-original-
iphone-4-d...](http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbuchanan/the-original-
iphone-4-design-prototype-from-2006)

~~~
mbell
I find it more likely this is a functional constraint. The "panel" at the top
is likely where the antennas live which needed a non-metallic material to
avoid blocking reception. After the "external" antenna debacle I doubt they
would want to repeat that mistake.

~~~
2muchcoffeeman
I don't think they have ditched the idea. You can still see those molded in
separators around the sides. I am on a good carrier, so I have never had
problems with the 4 antenna design, even though I can get the bars to go down
by "holding it wrong".

I like the idea of the body serving the roles of the case, the antenna and
providing structural support. So hopefully this is version 3 which fixes all
the problems they had.

~~~
cwe
Yeah, I was coming back to this thread to mention this. The antenna around the
outside works fine, so the back could be entirely metal, no glass needed. Very
bizarre design.

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dag11
I dislike how the camera is not vertically centered inside of that black strip
on the back.

~~~
mbell
Having it be centered would make it very difficult to take pictures in a
horizontal orientation without your fingers covering the lens.

~~~
dag11
Vertically centered, not horizontally centered.

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jsmcallister
Seems like a weak jump, visually, from the previous generation. Screen is
definitely lengthened and there are obvious differences on the dock, but Apple
is usually much bolder in design changes for a new product.

