“A tipster sent us some pictures of what he now thinks is the iPhone 5,” Seth Weintraub reports for 9to5Mac.
“He caught what he said was likely an Apple employee hunched over the device on the way home from work in San Francisco earlier this week,” Weintraub reports. “He told us he was able to get a very good look at the device but the pictures he snapped ‘didn’t do it justice.'”
“We contacted the tipster by phone and checked his background. We believe he saw a totally new Apple device, probably a prototype iPhone 5. He contacted us because when he got home, he doubted what he saw was legitimate until he looked at the green cases we posted,” Weintraub reports. “Then it all came together for him. Our tipster has had an iPhone 3GS and currently has an iPhone 4. He knows his iPhones and iPods and this was like nothing he’s ever seen.”
Like flying saucer pictures, this one is just out
of focus enough to tantalize. I would’ve asked
the guy what phone he had.
And if he is testing the new iPhone 5 for Apple I’m sure he would have been open and honest about what he was using, maybe even let you hold it.
We know how transparent Apple is…No secrets at all.
Whatever he would have said or done would have “revealed” more information than this photo does.
That picture might be an iPhone 16 or fake iPhone all together. It reveals nothing.
It reveals how crappy zoom is on the iPhone camera 😉
That is because the iPhone does not even HAVE (optical) zoom. Digital zoom is identical to not having zoom, and then enlarging the image in Photoshop when you get home. Of course, sticking an optical zoom lens into a phone isn’t very practical from a manufacturer’s perspective.
Looks like a 3GS. Apple would not let the new phone out in the wild without a disguise. The 4 when seen before release had an elaborate case to hide it’s identity. Looks a bit sus.
The found iPhone 4 was just in a 3GS case.
It looks like a 3G or 3GS.
Yes.
Sup Steve?
Look at the finger nails. If this person works for Apple it must be as a gardener. Too convenient to say the photo “didn’t do it justice.”
Well geez, I hope they are finished testing by now! Mid September isn’t but a few weeks away. Doubt they could or would change much at this late stage. Get the damn thing out there! I need a new iPhone and I can’t wait for that big bump in the $tock. Oh boy!!!
Right; mid-September is just six weeks away; mid-October is two and a half months away, and mid-June is almost a year away. However, save for some rumors that seem to imply that Apple would release a new version of iPhone sometime in September, none of that is really relevant at all. Apple still has to actually announce the thing, and they’ll only do it once the testing is done and they’re ready. Mid-September, Mid-November, Mid-March… We don’t know; Steve (and a handful of other around him) are the only ones who do.
There’s one test yet left to perform: ramming the iPhone 5 up Eric Schmidt’s ass to see how well it fits there. Probably give him a hemorrhoid or two, I suspect.
I went in to an AT&T store down here in Florida and a very reliable acquaintance that mentioned no vacation time is being granted mid Sept. Also mentioned that there will be a pre-paid version of an iPhone very similar to the 3GS. Could be a rumor within the company but I doubt it. I believe Apple will release at least a couple of versions at this time. As far as the photo…. looks like a 3Gs.
Now we can all keep guessing for that “imminent magical device”!
One more thought on the consequences of NOT releasing a new iPhone in late June/early July. Quite a sizable number of AT&T iPhone owners wait for the new model before they replace their old one. Many of them (millions, as we know) do as soon as iPhone is released. By forcing those whose 2-year contract (for 3GS) had expired in July to wait until September/October, Apple is giving AT&T a sizable gift. Once your two-year contract expires, your subsidy for the price of the iPhone (a bit under $20 per month) is paid off, which means for every month you still use that old iPhone, you’re giving AT&T a donation in the amount of that monthly subsidy (for a phone you already paid off in full).
If millions of people who bought 3GS as soon as it was released wait for iPhone 5, this could bring AT&T an unscheduled windfall of some $40 million. That isn’t all that much in the greater scheme of things, but is certainly NOT the kind of pure profit anyone would refuse; especially not AT&T.
Those of us who purchased the iPhone 3GS have been eligible for an upgrade since February of 2011.
The eligibility for upgrade will depend on what kind of plan are you paying for. With the cheapest $55 voice+limited data+no text plan, you can’t upgrade before two years are up.
Yup, that’s me too. I didn’t want the 4 with Verizon not so much because of waiting for the 5, but because you can’t talk and surf simultaneously on Verizon’s network. That won’t work for me. As much as I hate AT&T I have to stick with them. So I’ve been holding off for the 5. Alright already! Get the damn thing out there I’m ready. Geez, if they screw around much longer I’ll wait for the 6!!!
“‘Almost EVO-like’ in screen size, this iPhone also appears thinner than the current iPhone 4 but also wider.”
So Steve decided to make one of those big Android “Hummer phones” that “no one’s going to buy.”
Can’t say I’m upset since that’s exactly what I wanted Apple to do, but it will burn many a RDF fanboy who went to the ends of the earth telling us how the narrower 3.5 inch screen and hardware were so perfect. Telling us how Apple would never make an iPhone with a big screen and will be proven wrong once again.
Goodness you don’t mean Apple fan boys live on this site?
Hopefully he’s staying the heck away from anyone even remotely affiliated with Gizmodo or Gawker.
The put their test units in very de-identified, general cases usually, so I doubt this is really a new unit.
And you know this because you are in Apple’s super secret security division? Or are you in charge of the ninja fanboy undercover team?
the guy who took the picture must be paranoic figuring out what kind of phone people are using just to see if there is an iPhonexx out there!!!!
Time to hang out at the Stadt Haus in Redwood City again??? 😉
Nope… Try BJ Restaurant where is right next to Apple’s HQ
I suspect the pictured “Apple employee” is actually a Google employee who is testing the iPhone wannabe, a Samsung phone. 🙂
Its 3GS on picture 🙂
regards,
Urmas Saask
Looks like a 3GS. Any iPhone 5 would have a case or disguise on it. When the iPhone 4 was found at a bar, it had a case to make it looks like a 3GS.