ETradeSupply, a mobile phone parts maker, allegedly has gotten its hands on the next-generation iPhone’s back casing.
Rumors have circulated for a while that the new iPhone will get an updated hardware design with a slimmer profile, metallic back, and a larger display. More recently, some leaked images suggest the headphone jack will move to the bottom of the device and that the 30-pin dock connector will shrink in size. The hands-on video ETradeSupply has with the hardware part supports these rumors and looks nearly identical to the images leaked at the end of May.
Something just doesn’t sit right with me though. The leaked design in this video seems to largely go against Apple’s design philosophy we’ve all become familiar with. The metallic plate on the back with the strip of black glass on the top and bottom takes away from the simplicity of the all-black or all-white glass back in the iPhone 4 and 4S. Also, the stainless steel band going around the sides uses a darker metal than Apple has ever used in any of its products. My last nitpick revolves around the speaker holes — they’re too big. Added up, these minor differences just make the device less aesthetically pleasing.
My hope is that this is just an early prototype of the next iPhone and will not be what ships in the fall. It’s awfully strange that we have all these iPhone leaks already over four months before the device is due.
Anyway, enough of my petty speculation. Watch the hands-on video and post your thoughts in the comments below.
[via BGR]