Forget anonymous sources within the supply chain, the latest iPhone 5 rumor is a doozy and has more evidence than we've seen to date.
Forget anonymous sources within the supply chain, the latest iPhone 5 rumor is a doozy and has more evidence than we’ve seen to date.
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9to5Mac scored the scoop by securing photos of what purport to be the back plates for Apple’s next-gen iPhone. The image, seen below, corroborates a previous report from the typically reliable Jason Horwitz of iLounge who wrote a few weeks ago that the iPhone 5 will be the same width but will have a longer screen, resulting in a 4-inch display.
Furthermore, the photos corroborate Horwitz’s claim that the next-gen iPhone will have a metallic sheen on the back, a’la the recent iMac models.
From a production standpoint, it appears that the metal antenna band is molded into the metal backplates. We assume this is Apple’s way of creating a unibody enclosure for mobile devices. Apple introduced unibody notebooks in late 2008, and the purpose of the unibody is to allow Apple to produce thinner and lighter, yet stronger, devices. Now that most of the phone’s external elements are one piece, Apple is likely able to squeeze more into the iPhone internally. Apple needs all the space they can get with their plans of producing LTE smartphones with proper battery life.
And speaking of better battery life, if you look closely at the photos, you can see that the dock connector is noticeably smaller. You might remember a number of rumors pointing to a smaller dock connector. And while there might be other considerations Apple is taking to mind, a smaller dock connector would free up some space inside the phone to potentially allow for a larger battery. And if we assume that the next-gen iPhone will support 4G LTE and feature a larger display, well, it’s going to need all the juice it can get.
Another interesting difference – note how the headphone jack is located near the dock connector. While Apple has used that design on the iPod Touch before, all previous iPhone models have had the earphone jack located at the top of the device. There are a few more interesting tidbits worth checking out so head on over to 9to5Mac for the full scoop.
