IPhone 4G: Proof | Hacker News Reader

IPhone 4G: Proof

engadget.com

57 pointssamratjp28 comments

I don't buy it. Apple has always been more about less complexity, less parts, more unibody. The "leaked" photos show a chassis with multiple components/pieces (the line/break in the metal next to the headphone jack). Apple has always been about an internal battery, and the battery inside of the screenshots is clearly coated in consumer friendly material, as though it were removable. If you've ever opened an iPhone the battery inside is about as unfriendly as it gets. Everything about the design, with the exception of the flat and glossy face, is uncharacteristic of of Apple.

EDIT: ihodes has an insightful comment below with a link to Gruber's comments on the matter, which make a lot more sense. (link: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1275921)

Consumer-friendly material? As opposed to what? Something that electrocutes you? The iPhone 3GS battery is not really consumer-unfriendly, it's just hard to access.

iPhone 3GS battery: http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/sRE6GIaYuMouSGsY.huge

Yes you're right. But.. you probably wouldn't find any of the batteries on the shelf in an AT&T store looking like that (http://www.google.com/help/hc/images/android/battery.jpg)

I was implying that the battery in the leaked photos looks like it's the kind you can remove from your phone. Coated in plastic, with a barcode, serial number, etc... the opposite of what you would find inside a traditional iPhone. That's part of what leads me to believe that these are fake, because I don't see Apple moving towards a device with a removable battery any time soon.

TL;DR you linked to an internal battery, which is not what you see in the photos of the leaked iPhone 4G. What you see is something more on the lines of what you might buy for your Nexus One (or other device with a removable battery).

But, alas, if this is just an internal testing machine for Apple purposes only, I suppose something with a removable battery might make sense.

When you're building a prototype device, you usually tag everything and anything so you can track various problems. You might put 4-5 different batteries from different vendors in there to see which one performs better, or if one explodes you can track it back to the vendor and lot #.

So if this a prototype phone then yeah, you're probably gonna see labels and tags on it that you don't see on a production device. I'm not taking a side yet on if these photos are real, but in the CE world you see something like this a lot.

I normally like to think I have better things to do than to go all Zapruder on a purported Apple leak, but hey, lazy Sunday...

I propose to disprove that the image Engadget claims as proof actually depicts a slab-shaped iPhone. It is simply an optical artifact caused by the slow shutter speed of the camera used. I took a photo of an iPod Touch (using an iPhone, naturally) that shows the same smearing effect, visually extruding the iPod's chrome bezel into a slab (this one's too thick, but you get the idea):

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/6633/extrudeblur.jpg

As you can see from the other edges in the Engadget photo, the vertical motion blur follows the same direction and length as the purported 4G iPhone.

I propose to disprove your disproval, as the motion blur is actually at a slightly different angle than the angle of the slab/bevel. Also, the motion blur shows some unevenness - it slopes downward at the end of the blur - while the iphone slab is straight.

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/7155/iphone4g.jpg

How long until Apple compares the fingerprints on the device to its employment records to decide who to fire and sue?

Do they seriously fingerprint employees?

No idea. Perhaps they should, now that all the devices they make are so shiny :)

I wouldn't want to be the guy holding onto this internet-connected GPS device with a backdoor just for Apple. Lock your door, man.

Seeing as it mysteriously stopped booting, I'm guessing they bricked it remotely when it went missing. Who knows if they can still track it.

If I found one of those, I would pull the battery out right away, or if that wasn't accessible, I'd go into the subway.

Although, it probably has a dead man's switch anyway.

Even though these might only be development prototypes (Read: Not the final design), this photo: (http://www.engadget.com/photos/iphone-4-hd-hands-on/#2903374) could be incriminating to the photographer.

Other notes: Housing near the top of the device, but no obvious user-facing camera housing (there are lots of other sensors that current iPhones have there). Mic hole near the headphone input? (http://www.engadget.com/photos/iphone-4-hd-hands-on/#2903372) Stereo speakers?

The hole near the headphone jack could be a secondary noise cancelation input like the N1 has although in that particular picture it almost looks like a notification light. A few people have commented on the lack of a SIM tray -- could be a CDMA model.

Why the obsession with MicroSIM cards?

Nobody uses them, and I can't see any real benefit over the already-tiny SIM cards.

If this is true, it's going to really annoy international users.

While I agree the microsim switch is annoying, the chips in sims and microsims are the same; just less plastic in the micro version. If apple starts using microsims for new iPhones, I'm fairly sure cutting toolkits will become common. Only makes switching back more difficult.

The micro-=SIM format adds a bigger phonebook and better protections against spoofing.

There are Micro-SIM adapters coming on line (or available?); sleds for the 3FF ETSI SIM format to allow them to be used with the Mini-SIM UICC format.

The Mini-SIM was itself a shrink of the original SIM cards.

You could also ask what's the obsession with MicroSD cards, right? It takes up less space in the device, and in a year all operators will probably support them, so what's the big deal? EDIT: Don't forget that the SIM card takes up quite a bit of PCB real estate because of the connector footprint. This might be just as important as the physical space savings.

The GSM/3G SIM format is ubiquitous: there are billions of them in active use. Micro-SIM was meant for devices smaller than phone handsets and has seen very limited adoption. There's no good justification for breaking compatibility with existing SIMs.

At this point, I don't think any other phone vendor will start using it aside from Apple, so it's just a clever move that makes it that much harder for users to move between networks and devices while maintaining a facade of "hardware innovation".

Anyone ever notice that the first generation of apple hardware is all curves and flowing? And then as they improve the formula, they always end up squaring up the corners. The most notable exception seems to be the 1st gen iPod.

Can't say I mind, really.

That's probably not the body it'll ship in. No way it has seams like that!

Gruber on the matter: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/04/18/engadget-iphone

That's too bad. I like that look. Ah well.

The iPod is the exception because it started that trend, and Apple has brought everything in line with it.

Quick, which Apple product is this: http://www.photoshopnerds.com/images2/xp_icon_01.jpg

It's an... iPhone. No, an iPod. No, it's a Studio Display or iMac turned to portrait orientation. No, its a widescreen MacBook with the lid closed. No its the front-on view of a Mac Pro... It's an Apple TV from the top down which has been squished in Photoshop... It's an Airport Express base station. Or it's a 4G iPhone. Who knows!

Doh you're right that the iPod did round off its corners for two or three generations - the one with the four touch buttons, and the first clickwheel designs. They sharpened the edges back up when they went to the "Classic" though.

Gizmodo weighed in with a lot more info and pictures. It is looking like the real deal, although they didn't include any pictures of Apple branded chips, etc. that might really seal the deal.

http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone

I'm pretty sure they are fake, this squared case is beyond compare with 3G's smoothly rounded design.

Unlike the current iPhones, iPad's sides are hard edged as well. The "crease" from the border of the iPad to the back of it is a very hard, un-smoothed edge, as is the crease on the front (see the far right http://www.miproconsulting.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/... it's only bulbous because they need space for the guts -- the actual point where the back meets the border bezel is a hard edge).

Despite the way they got stereotyped with the bondi-blue iMac (ten years ago!), Apple tends to not actually like super bubbly or round industrial design, as evidenced in the shapes of all of their displays, notebooks, Apple TV, Time Capsule, and the current iMac family. Bringing their phones in line with the "its a metal border with four rounded corners, containing inset glass on the usable faces" would be 100% in tune with the rest of their current aesthetic. iPhone is currently the weird exception, especially with the plastic backs they have right now.

Also see: http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/04/18/apple-ceramic-pa...

Unlike an iPhone, the iPad is not designed to be carried in a pants pocket.

Didn't stop at least the front half of almost every iPod ever, or the hard ridged edges on the sides of the Magic Mouse, etc. I would personally probably prefer the next iPhone to continue the trend of rounded-off edges, too. I just wouldn't put it past Apple to not do that.

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