With rumors of the iPhone 5 being very similar to the iPhone 4 (just with an A4 chip) floating around, the guys behind This is my next are claiming something very different, as you can see from their mockup.
According to Joshua Topolsky, Apple’s next iPhone will be a massive departure from previous designs, and will sport nearly edge-to-edge glass and a teardrop-shaped back, in addition to being thinner than the iPhone 4.
The screen, it is said, would retain the same resolution, but be enlarged to 3.7 inches. Such a shift would keep the pixel density within the range of Apple’s “Retina display” standard.
Perhaps the most unusual bit of information from the former Engadget editor-in-chief is that the home button will be enlarged, and it will support gestures. Gestures have already shown up in iOS beta builds, but haven’t been enabled, even on the larger iPad. However, the Palm HP WebOS line of phones supports gestures that start in the region under the home screen, and work quite well, even with the thumb, as they are quite simple.
It just makes sense that Apple would bring new features to its Multi-Touch system on the iPhone, which has remained largely the same since first introduced in 2007.
I’m not sure what I think about this mockup. While I think the upgrades outlined by the site are probably accurate, I have my doubts about the teardrop design, as well as the edge-to-edge LCD. I’m not sure even Apple could cram an A5, the radios and battery all into such a tapered design. That said, if anyone can do it, Apple’s designers can.
The edge-to-edge LCD would be a pretty big step forward, as no phone manufacture has been able to get rid of the bezel around their screens. I’d love to see it, especially if the physical screen size got a bump.
I guess we’ll know this fall. Got any thoughts? Let’s discuss below in the comments!
