Bigger Screen iPhone 5? Chinese Case Makers – Yea; OEM Panel Suppliers – Nay
Posted by CharlesMoore on Thursday Sep 1, 2011 Under iPhone 5 Predictions, iPhone 5 RumorChinese Apple-watcher blogsite M.I.C. Gadget’s Chris Chang, who previously reported that early iPhone 5 cases are “now everywhere” in China, now says Chinese case manufacturers are confident enough in the leaked designs that they’re starting to mass-produce iPone cases of, all types that are flooding the market.
Chang has posted a new gallery of case designs, noting that only an iPhone is as thin as an iPod touch could fit in these cases perfectly. The cases come in various colors and materials, and reveal some design clues regarding the upcoming iPhone 5, which,if the Chinese case designers have made an accurate call, indicate that in addition to being wider and longer, the cases show the mute switch being moved to the opposite side of the device, a handset as thin as the iPod touch, and an aluminum back like the iPad 2.
The cases are available on Chinese trade site Alibaba.com,
which you can check out here (Chinese language).
Chris Chang’s blog contradicts a report from Taiwanese tech industry trade journal Digitimes’s Yenting Chen and Joseph Tsai who say that despite rumors about the iPhone 5 featuring a 4.2-inch display circulating within the IT market for a while, their anonymous sources at upstream touchscreen panel suppliers are telling them that the iPhone 5′s panel size will still be smaller than 4-inch.
Chen and Tsai do agree with Chang that the new phone’s back design will be metal chassis instead of reinforced-glass, but their sources contend that widely-rumored iPhone 5 specifications speculating a 4- to 4.2-inch HD touch panel, 8-megapixel camera, full HD video recording, an A5 dual-core processor and new ultra-thin industrial design reflect mote the market’s expectations for iPhone 5 than factual reality, and that iPhone will not have many differences compared to iPhone 4 in terms of components. What they’re predicting is an iPhone 5 with a 3.5- to 3.7-inch panel with a design that will allow the screen bezel to be thinner, make the screen look larger. than it actually will be.
Meanwhile, French Apple-centric news site HardMac’s Lionel also predicts that Apple will do away with the glass back and give the iPhone 5 a more conventional metal back, and that they’re also hearing that the screen will not be much larger, perhaps only by a few millimetres, than the iPhone 4’s display. If he’s right, it further corroborates intel that the iPhone 5 News Blog received from its own exclusive sources recently as Michael reported on Tuesday, that the iPhone 5 will utilize the same form factor and screen size as the iPhone 4, although as he observed, it’s entirely possible that everything we are seeing and hearing right now from the rumor mill is planted by Apple to lower expectations and make a much more radical new iPhone 5design a more spectacular splash when it’s finally announced — that is if Apple actually calls the next iPhone “iPhone 5,” — but that’s another movie.
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September 1st, 2011 at 2:26 am
This sounds semi-promising. At least it’s a change from the everyday rumors of the next iPhone being a refresh. I don’t even care if they don’t go to a 4 inch screen, 3.5 or 3.7 is honestly good enough for me. However, I do think it is time for a new form factor!!!
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September 1st, 2011 at 3:56 am
I’m with xtonyx, this is “semi-promising”. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I’d rather thinner than bigger.
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September 1st, 2011 at 4:06 am
So when is the long-awaited event at which apple will tell us the actual specs…. Is it beginning of September? I cant wait and have my fingers crossed that the first part of the above could be true!!
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September 1st, 2011 at 4:54 am
The reason for the delayed new iphone is that it looks indentical to a samsung galaxy s2 but with smaller screen ! Samsung has copied the design of the new iphone (like they did withthe galaxy tab 10.1)but managed to release it before apple . They do not want the tit4tat law suits , the same as what is happening in the tablets wars !
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September 1st, 2011 at 6:48 am
Apple are not going to release the designs of the iPhone 5 to some second rate Chinese company to make cheap crappy cases.
They are guessing it will be something like that but there is no way Apple would have told them what the thing looks like, especially considering the big boys who make quality cases like Moprhy and Otter Box haven’t got anything yet.
There is also no way that this French Apple-Centric site can know what the iPhone 5 case will look like its all speculation.
Personally I think they will probably go to a metal back although I would prefer it if they stuck with the glass because metal heats up easier than glass.
I have an iPad 1 and its got a metal back and it heats up real easy and is very uncomfortable to hold when it does, I also have an iPhone 4 and that doesn’t get anything like as hot as the iPad.
Metal also doesn’t look as attractive because they have to plastic section for the antenna which is why the original iPhone with the metal back and the iPad with wifi+3g have a little plastic section at the top which I think really spoils the things looks.
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September 1st, 2011 at 7:36 am
Well I was hoping for dual core, 8 megapixels or at least full HD, and a bigger screen, perferably a 4″ one. If all three of those DON’T happen I’m going galaxy S2, so I hope your right Charles that it’s just “adding to the excitement” for the actually release.
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September 1st, 2011 at 8:04 am
Well, they have to have an event for iOS release, and hopefully the ending ‘BOOM – one more thing…’ is the new iPhone, whatever it might be.
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September 1st, 2011 at 8:14 am
I think we might have heard if they had the capability to do retina on a >3.8″ screen, no? That fact is what makes me skeptical about anything larger than that. I do agree that it probably looks very similar to the Galaxy phone, that would jive with the heated tension and lawsuits between the 2 companies. However, I don’t see apple releasing a disappointing iphone4 refresh… they simply can’t. There are too many other options out there now…
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September 1st, 2011 at 8:18 am
I don’t think Apple will compromise on the pixel density just to make a larger screen. they will have to bump the resolution if they get too close to 4″.
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September 1st, 2011 at 8:32 am
Have you heard that someone misplaced the new iPhone!?
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September 1st, 2011 at 9:04 am
Ray i was gonna post the same thing.. San Fransisco bar it was lost in and it was apparently lost since like July.. they still havnt found it so its time for a treasure hunt!!
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September 1st, 2011 at 9:05 am
I don’t know how they can’t find it. It’s got a tracker on it…they had the location down to the exact house it was at, but the owner denied it was there.
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September 1st, 2011 at 9:05 am
it supposedly sold on craigslist for 200, which makes zero sense.
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September 1st, 2011 at 9:48 am
@Brett…my ipad2 back doesn’t heat up at all. Of course, im using it in a thin case, but ive had it sitting on my lap for hours and haven’t noticed any heat, even when the outside temperature is in the 90s which makes me more sensitive to those things. Plus, we normally have our phones inside a case? I don’t really know the answer to that since im waiting to buy this new iPhone and schuck my current Xenon.
I would love it personally if the phone took on a more ipadish look with the metal back. Thinner is good to me because once you put it in it’s case, it wont be as thick as they are now. I always notice that when I go to Starbucks or wherever….those phones are so darn thick in those cases.
So have I made my case? LOLOL!
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September 1st, 2011 at 11:14 am
LOL! Those cases are probably for the counterfiet iphones! I did hear on the radio this morning that there was another phone lost in a bar and it had a larger display and rounded metal back. I wonder if this will be the 2011 iphone 5 or the 2012 iphone 5?
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September 1st, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Braden
I am not sure a bigger screen for the sake of a bigger screen is such a good idea because the bigger the screen the more battery hungry the thing is and so I think its better to have a decent size but not really big screen if it comes at the expense of battery power.
I keep thinking about the HTC Thunderbolt, its an amazing phone but it does so much and has a huge 4.3 inch screen and so battery life is awful.
The last thing Apple need is a Thunderbolt experience where the phone is great but you can’t enjoy it for very long before the battery goes down.
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September 1st, 2011 at 1:25 pm
@Brett
The primary reason for the Thunderbolt having such terrible battery life really didn’t have much to do with the screen at all, it’s the LTE connectivity. 4G LTE is a HUGE battery drain on any phone, hence the reason many people think the next iPhone won’t have LTE. Apple won’t implement it until they can solve the problem of the battery drain caused by LTE. Apple putting a bigger screen on the next iPhone isn’t just because they can. They’ll do it because it makes for a better and more satisfying experience. A bigger screen means more space for a bigger and better keyboard, which that alone is reason enough for me. Like everyone else has said, Apple also has to compete with the other phones in the market. I swore I would never own anything other than an iPhone, but I must admit that the Samsung Attain (Galaxy S2 for those that didn’t know) is looking quite appealing to me. I hope Apple wows us all, because if they don’t, I fear they will lose a great deal of customers.
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September 1st, 2011 at 3:54 pm
The iPhone 5 has been out since July
An Apple employee apparently lost an iPhone 5 prototype in a tequila bar in San Fransisco.
The lost an iPhone 4 prototype last time now they have lost an iPhone 5
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September 1st, 2011 at 5:55 pm
its september 1st and still. no official news about the fall event *sigh*
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September 1st, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Someone else made a comment on another site that was interesting today. iPhone 5, iOS 5, iPod touch 5 all on 5 October. It IS on a Wednesday and there would still be time enough to get the press invites out… Here’s to hoping…
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September 1st, 2011 at 7:15 pm
People were talking about the HTC Thunderbolt so I got to thinking: Maybe Apple will release a USB 3.0 (Thunderbolt) 30 pin dock connector for syncing! The estimates say that a thubderbolt port cable can cut syncing time in half! Even though iCloud will kick in with iOS 5, syncing would be a prudent action to do. Syncing takes FOREVER if you download a lot of media like I do, so that would be great! Btw Apple wouldn’t just upgrade screen space just because! Bigger screen means more finger space which also means more GESTURES! I recently jailbroke my iPhone 4 and downloaded 4 finger gestures through Cydia but they’re a little uncomfortable because the screen is so small! Even though they are sometimes hard to execute (because of screen size) I use them all the time! I have literaly no need for the home button! Pinch with 4-5 fingers and you go to the home screen, swipe up with 4-5 finger and reveal the multitask bar and swipe left or right with 4 to 5 fingers and you switch apps instantly! AMAZING!
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September 1st, 2011 at 7:46 pm
i predict that the fall event will not be on september the 7th
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September 1st, 2011 at 11:31 pm
I think that you are right, Daniel.
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September 2nd, 2011 at 12:10 am
I say I want to see this so called iPhone 5.
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September 2nd, 2011 at 5:19 am
OMG this anticipation is Killing me!
I agree on making the screen just a little bit bigger like 3.7 or so! I still own an iPhone 3G an I can’t stand it I have been thinking of getting the iPhone 5 since the beginning of the year but at this point it doesn’t make any sense sin the new Iphone is around the corner (or they say so).
I better check this samsung galaxy S2 just in case lol
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September 3rd, 2011 at 3:50 pm
iphone5 9/23/11
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September 4th, 2011 at 10:35 am
daniel
I am guessing that the announcement will come by Monday 12 September which is the start of the second full working week in September and then Saturday October 1st people will be camped outside Apple stores to be amongst the first to get an iPhone 5.
I even think that Steve Jobs will co host the event with the new guy and kind of officially hand over the reigns of power and reassure everybody Apple is in safe hands without him.
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October 15th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
i hope apple would made iPhone5 thinner not bigger.
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October 23rd, 2011 at 8:16 pm
[...] were created for did not materialize, there are still rumors circulating regarding a future release.[caption id="attachment_49" align="alignleft" width="356" caption="iphone-leather-case"][/caption] H… [...]
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