With being just a few months away from Apple’s annual WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference), the next generation of Apple’s iPhone has apparently leaked. But not just in pictures, popular technology site Gizmodo actually has a physical exclusive hands-on video with the supposed new device, not set to launch until June 22nd.
It’s been a roller coaster ride, with some (even us) doubting it. After technology site Engadget ran a story entitled ‘Proof’ on the basis of a blurry photo, many people were less than convinced. The story and the device were seemingly quickly debunked as been another Japanese “Knock-Off”. But then something changed. The net started to believe this was actually the next unreleased iPhone.
Here’s why Gizmodo thinks the device is the next iPhone to be announced by Apple:
We’re as skeptical””if not more””than all of you. We get false tips all the time. But after playing with it for about a week””the overall quality feels exactly like a finished final Apple phone””and disassembling this unit, there is so much evidence stacked in its favor, that there’s very little possibility that it’s a fake. In fact, the possibility is almost none. Imagine someone having to use Apple components to design a functioning phone, from scratch, and then disseminating it to people around the world. Pretty much impossible. Here are the reasons, one by one.
It has been reported lost
Apple-connected John Gruber””from Daring Fireball””says that Apple has indeed lost a prototype iPhone and they want it back:“So I called around, and I now believe this is an actual unit from Apple ”” a unit Apple is very interested in getting back.”
The screen
While we couldn’t get it past the connect to iTunes screen for the reasons listed earlier, the USB cable on that screen was so high quality that it was impossible to discern individual pixels. We can’t tell you the exact resolution of this next-generation iPhone, but it’s much higher than the current iPhone 3GS.The operating system
According to the person who found it, this iPhone was running iPhone OS 4.0 before the iPhone 4.0 announcement. The person was able to play with it and see the iPhone 4.0 features. Then, Apple remotely killed the phone before we got access to it. We were unable to restore because each firmware is device specific””3GS firmware only loads on 3GS devices””and the there are no firmwares available for this unreleased phone. Which is another clue to its authenticity.It is recognized as an iPhone
This iPhone behaves exactly like an iPhone does when connected to a computer, with the proper boot sequence and “connect to iTunes” restore functionality. Xcode and iTunes both see this as an iPhone. Mac OS X’s System Profiler also reports this as an iPhone in restore mode, which is a natural consequence of remotely wiping the phone, but report different product identifiers (both CPID and CPRV) than either the 3G or the 3GS.It uses micro-sim
The fact that it uses a micro-sim is a clear indicator that this is a next-generation iPhone. No other cellphone uses this standard at this point in the US.The camouflage case
The case it came inside was a fully developed plastic case to house this phone to disguise it like a 3GS. This wasn’t just a normal case; it had all the proper new holes cut out for the new switches and ports and camera holes and camera flash. But it looks like something from Belkin or Case-Mate. It’s a perfect disguise.The fact that it’s in the wild right now
Logic can also narrow down why this phone is this year’s iPhone, rather than next year’s model or one from the previous year’s, just because it was found in the wild right now. It makes no sense for Apple to be testing 2011’s model right now, in super finished form””they wouldn’t be nearly finished with it. The phone also can’t be last year’s test model, because last year’s model (based on the iPhone 3GS teardowns) components were way different. No micro-sim, much bigger logic board, no flash, no front camera, smaller battery and an inferior camera. That only leaves the 2010 model.The guts, the definitive proof
And finally, when we opened it up, we saw multiple components that were clearly labeled APPLE. And, because the components were fit extremely well and extremely conformed inside the case (obvious that it was designed FOR this case), it was evident that it was not just a 3G or a 3GS transplanted into another body. That probably wouldn’t even be possible, with the size constraints of the thinner device and larger battery.
All that’s missing now is an official announcement from Apple, of which we’ll have to wait until this years WWDC to find out if this really was the next iPhone.
[via @Gizmodo]
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