“Exclusive photos of an iPhone 5 engineering sample straight from a factory in China show the new phone will be slightly taller, slightly thinner and about the same width,” Shawn Ingram reports for Gotta Be Mobile. “A trusted source inside the Apple supply chain sent images of the metal iPhone 5 design sample. The metal block shows the size of the iPhone 5, where the antenna and ports will be be and other design aspects.”
“The new iPhone 5 will follow the iPhone 4S’ general design language. Its display will be larger thanks to the taller dimensions and smaller bezel, but Apple is not following Android manufacturers’ lead and producing a jumbo iPhone,” Ingram reports. “Apple’s iPhone 5 has been rumored to be coming with a metal back. While the engineering sample doesn’t provide any conclusive evidence of the iPhone 5’s backing, it does show that there could be two materials on the back of the iPhone 5.”
Ingram reports, “The middle part could possibly be made of metal, possibly even Liquidmetal, while the top and bottom of the device could feature glass, plastic, or something else entirely.”
More info and photos in the full article here.
Whatever it’s made of, it’s not VapourMS™.
but, it has no kickstand…wtf?
This sentence is freaking hilarious.
“The middle part COULD possibly be made of metal, POSSIBLY even Liquidmetal, while the top and bottom of the device COULD feature glass, plastic, or SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY.”
I concur! Exquisit way of saying “we haven’t got a clue”
Purported FTL drives may contain Unobtainium!
Might as well be Kryptonite for all I care.
They better not ugly it up. I’d rather they leave the hardware alone altogether with an iPhone 4SS than release another ugly duckling like the 3G/3GS. The iPhone 4 brought the sexy back and it better remain intact.
Very simply… It’s a new design with 16:9 screen aspect ratio… Pretty obvious really. Who needs 4″ displays when u have retina and wide screen 🙂
Fits in ya hand better!
Looks like something i could whip up in 10 minutes with a saw and a grinder out of a piece of scrap aluminum.
Lets see, 70 million x 10 minutes…. Dude, you’re gonna be busy!.
that sounds like what MS did with their Surface
You missed this bit: “Exclusive photos of an iPhone 5 engineering sample straight from a factory in China show the new phone will be slightly taller, slightly thinner and about the same width,”
Do the words ‘engineering sample’ ring any bells?
Probably just to define dimensions, and show positions of important features, perhaps for case manufacturing?
It ain’t it… if it is a sample of “an engineering sample” why are there obvious lenses in the camera and flash holes? An engineering sample would have only the holes. The scored lines are far too rough and appear to have no engineering purpose. If they are a separation of two sections, then they would be far better fitting. If they are cosmetic, they would be finer, balanced with the camera and flash spacing, and, again, not so rough looking. No machinist would produce a “engineering sample” that was so rough looking. He would have pride in his workmanship and would not send off something with scratches in the finish. This is fake.
Fake. It’s all scratched up. That’d never fly.
Looks like the lid off of an old square spam container..
Actually, having had both, I prefer the 3GS as it fits more comfortably in the hand.
a Junbo iPhone… that was funny!!!!
We have had the same design for 2 years. It can’t be possible that it’s going to the same and just slightly taller. There has to be something more.
Looking at the full selection of photos, this smacks more of ergonomic test dummy than engineering sample. These would have been used to test the feel of a purposed iPhone size in the hand, how it would feel, drop, handle, etc., rather than look, metal usage, etc. Notice the front has no placement of screen, front facing camera, and the home button seems undersized, a mere place holder. This would explain the scratches and “slab of metal” appearance. IT IS a slab of aluminum machined to approximate the weight and feel but not the functionality of components of an iPhone.