“While on a trip to Shenzhen last weekend, our crew received a tip from an iPhone accessories supplier that an iPhone 5 prototype had gone missing from the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen Futian district,” Chris Chang reports for M.I.C. Gadget.
“Ok, here’s what the supplier told us. The missing prototype is said to have been enclosed in a case to disguise it as a current-generation iPhone 4,” Chang reports. “How Apple achieved that with the iPhone 5 supposedly wider and longer than the current iPhone 4 is a point to ponder. It is said to be a test model with a finalized iPhone 5 chassis featuring the tear-drop design.”
Chang reports, “With its past experience, one might think Apple would have been able to track that prototype down in a heartbeat. However, Apple was outsmarted. The person who had access to the prototype wiped the phone’s software, thus disabling the GPS hardware needed to track it down. It was then allegedly sold to one of the iPhone case manufacturers for RMB ¥20,000 (about $3,100). We were told that Foxconn was aware of the loss and had penalized internal management for the incident.”
Much more in the full article, including more photos and videos, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Just an attempt by a shitty case manufacturer to get some publicity for their ugly cheap products
We have ways of dealing with these kinds of things. Please ignore the sudden spike in suicides.
my iPhone 4 was stolen, so I’m waiting for the iPhone 5. Am I the only one who liked the boxy squared off iPhone 4 better?
Nope, I like it too. The only problem with the iPhone 4 has easily shattered glass. I hate the tapered design people are rumoring.
I have finally seen an iPhone 4 with broken glass!
Ran over by a car…
Screen was real badly broken.
Do people treat their stuff with such disrespect that when they break it… It’s the manufacturers fault?
I carry my iPhone 4 in my pocket. Not a scratch on it.. It’s never been dropped.. I don’t pull it out and use it while in the bathroom.. (I have read so many stories of people dropping them in the toilet..)
I used to have a case for it, my niece broke part of it (accident, in her hand when my nieces ran into each other) now I just have a screen protector front and back. The back is a carbon fiber look, front clear.
Never understood the claims of weak glass etc.
I love the design of the iPhone 4. I even like the glass. Makes all other feel cheap in my hands.
Did you see how much bigger the case is, compared to the current iPhone 4 (in the video at about 1:20)?
There is no way this is the next iPhone. I seem to recall cases were being made for the “iPhone mini” too.
I look forward to you and your ilk eating that heaping plate of crow on October 4th when Apple joins the big phone bandwagon.
Hey, I’m looking forward to the new iPhone, whether it has a larger screen or not. I’m just expressing my opinion on what I believe Apple will and will not do. Don’t take it personally… 🙂
I just don’t believe this significantly larger size; the height and width dimensions are more important for a phone than thickness. I also don’t believe the tapered design, which makes it unsymmetrical when held in landscape mode. Every iPhone (and iPod touch) SHAPE has had left-right AND up-down symmetry, which to me is aesthetically pleasing as well as functional.
It says in the article that the internals were modified iPhone 4 parts. Perhaps the new shape is for a low cost phone based on the iPod touch, and the more expensive version retains the original iPhone 4 shape. Now that would be fun.
I do not believe these reports of a tapered design. Where is the battery going to go to power a devise with an A5 processor, plus all the other functions that an iPhone 5 is going to have? People bitch about poor battery life with the iP4, they’ll have a field day with a new phone which has a smaller case and battery giving poorer life. I just can’t see it. I can, however, see a new iPod Touch with a sleeker design. Look at that opening on the side; why only one? The free case I got for my iP4 has two, for the mute and volume controls. What iPhone’s going to have just one small aperture? This is bogus, I’m convinced of it.
If you notice, there was an opening on either side.
I wonder where they got a white iPod touch…
Scenarios for two new models:
a) iPhone Nano and Shuffle (partnership with Nike)
or
b) Red and Pink, with donation to charities
I personally like the larger screens and hope they adopt it.
I’m more interested to see if the voice assistant rumors are true.
It’s disturbing that the reports reports say “gone missing” or the like, which in this case is an euphemism for “been stolen, modified and sold for cash.” Maybe it’s not a bad idea that Apple is moving some of the iOS device manufacturing elsewhere. Perhaps, Brazil will prove to be less corrupt.
that’s too big for me, and it would uncobfortable to have in my pockets! (i can’t imagine using baggy pants just because the iphone 5) 😉