iPhone 4G: is this it?
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted April 17th 2010 7:48PM
posted April 17th 2010 7:48PM
There may be a chance to get some more face-time with the handset, but we wanted to get these photos to you guys ASAP. Stay tuned, we're working on more details as we type -- for now, enjoy the gallery below!
Update: As a number of observant commenters and tipsters pointed out, this looks almost exactly like a Twitpic posted by TUDream on February 20th, which we're throwing after the break if for whatever reason the source link goes down. It's low-res, shows an indiscriminate bit of the inside, and some mysterious button / possible SIM slot in the middle of the other side. The mic holes on this pic seems to be larger, too.
@DannyDonatello Definitely a FAKE...
check out this new pic: http://twitpic.com/14ge1m/full
you can clearly see a bogus logo on the back, with a removable battery cover. im sorry but thats just not Apple.
@mitchleeh7 "Prototype". Need I say more?
@xbit
It's way too blocky to be an iphone. Looks like a polished version of that old aluminum iphone mod
@Old fogie late bloomer
I think it's a prototype mockup for real life testing as it somehow not resembles anything apple does product wise....the joints could be user by the antenna- anyone?
check it...
http://twitpic.com/14ge1m/full
@mitchleeh7
Notice how the iPad is totally encased in a shell? Could be the same for that iPhone.
@Chris Dunning I think he means.. That phone looks so nice Sprint customers are going to be jealous and will buy an Evo instead, since there is a better chance of AT&T getting an Evo than Sprint getting the next iPhone this summer...
I agree.. My touch pro still has enough tricks up its sleeve to ohh the masses with Wm Sense 2.5 and Android Eclair.. but that tiny 2.8in screen is not very fly these days...
@DannyDonatello I like the one with the aluminum back , anyway until we see the new one this is a fake .
@Brad Green I could get behind that idea. I would love a redesign that brings it closer to the iPad (Probably like the 3g version with the plastic strip for reception etc). I hope this is temporary casing of some kind...
@DannyDonatello : Even if it's NOT the next iPhone, it would be pritty hawd to make a fake that looks that detailed. And that it started up? I'm at this point where there are two options, one is to jump of a cliff, and the other is the same exact thing.
Eitha way, if this is real, somebody had to truly be an idiot to drop a completely pre-release Apple blessed untouchable locked down, him being the only human BEING OUTSIDE the campus able to TOUCH one, somebody's gonna get fired. With a fiery Steve.
larger http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/2429/66996312.png
@doutorpiranha
Mon! Show me dat blunt. Ah, dat's da good stuff.
@bjsguess
Congratulations on the genius Insight. Maybe one day you'll make the leap and realize that really all WP7 phones are going to look the same, Androids, etc etc etc....
What's really gonna blow your mind is when you find out they're all made in the same city, in the same factory. The difference is the OS they run, and the ecosystem they have..
@DannyDonatello
Looks somewhat generic. Have a hard time believing that this is an iPhone.
@Nitesh only one way to find out. Put it in a sock and beat an iPad with it. Then throw it in a fish tank. Then if it is undamaged and not wet we are looking at the new "Magical" iPhone HD.
@DannyDonatello The design reminds of k300, my first cellphone. Also, the silent switch is wider, nice.
@revoltracers
dito
@DannyDonatello
iFake is considered breaking news now.
LOL....LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL (anything iphone eh, endgadget)
@jrei14mecom Given that no HTC phone has sold well in the US, the Evo probably will join their so-so sellers. HTC phones look too geeky for mainstream appeal.
@doutorpiranha
I would say that it looks like a miniature iPad.
So, it just may be the next iPhone.
If it is - someone's head has rolled!
Or it is a plant...
But Apple would never let anything "slip out", most especially in a bar in San Jose
@jrei14mecom yes indeed
@abedinthehouse
I agree. Also the guy that found the pictures says it came from someone in china. All I can think of when I read that is when the PS3 Slim pictures were leaked people called BS when it was real.
@Nitesh Considering donuts now cost about a dollar, I'm not sure that's such a good bet anymore.
@TheLondonExchange mobile builders make stuff like this all the time, clean, well built test platforms. that's what this looks like, a test mule, where it's all about the guts and how well they work, checking out bugs in the os and hardware, not final revision housing but close to final revision hardware
@Nitesh It's on... a donut for you if it's not.
@Old fogie late bloomer You think on the job front? This to me smells an intentional plant in order to get the hype machine going.
And to give those folks thinking about picking up an Incredible second thoughts...
@bjsguess
I agree. I like the design of all three iPhones so far. This new design is to generic and doesn't fit with any other Apple product designs.
@doutorpiranha lucky bitch
Keep it Real FAKE!
I'm not saying I entirely believe this is real, but i could totally see apple designing a phone like this.
Apple's been slowly but surely caving into the public's demands rather than what they know is right. For example, Apple had plenty of reasons why they didn't implement things like multitasking into iPhone OS. Their version isn't something new like everyone expected, they totally caved and dropped full-blown multitasking, just like all the other OS's. They also caved in the area of homescreen wallpapers and a few other things.
They would put a battery door because people want a battery door, even though they have very strong reasons why they never did battery doors.
Too much of doing this, and Apple loses its place as a holy company and more as just another tech manufacturer, following trends to get by.
Steve jobs will also start wearing business suits if this keeps up.
@Wesscoast
That's right genius. Something I have been pointing out for awhile here. Virtually all devices look the same. The fact is that most smart phones have 3.2" - 4.3" screens. Most now employ a relatively small bezel. Most have a few buttons on the face and few along the edges. They all look pretty darn similar. For anyone who isn't into smart phones 90% of them would look to be interchangeable, one with another.
In my post I didn't knock the design. I knocked the notion that somehow this was a "compelling" design. It's not compelling. It looks like virtually all other phones. My complaint was to highlight the obvious bias that Engadget has for Apple. I guarantee that if this was a Samsung or LG device that Joshua wouldn't have described it as "compelling".
@bjsguess I agree. If this where any other phone Engadget would be talking about how ridged and brick like it looked. Since its Apple its "compelling"
@doutorpiranha yup.. im thinking this thing would be a kirf
@KinGKasH wrong, the battery looks like all the "servicable" ones apple has, including on the ipad.
The phone is more akin to the style of the iPad. awesome, nerdy sexy phone.
@Samuelwolff
Um, are you being sarcastic? the multitasking isn't full blown, just a set of background processes handled by the OS. You also seem to be implying that Apple shouldn't give it's customers what they want as it would make them "like any other tech manufacturer". Just because it's being done by other companies does not automatically make it bad. Apple didn't invent the touchscreen, and they didn't invent UNIX. They aren't "holy". Apple's uniqueness should originate from the features that it possesses, not lacks.
@abedinthehouse
I think this is the verizon version of the iPhone.
@Clyzm
the round volume buttons on the side are completely out of line with anything apple has ever done. Fake.
@DannyDonatello
So, I find what will be arguably the most widely covered piece of phone technogimmickmagickery of 2011, I take the effort to put down a micro fiber cloth...I make sure I have a camera with a nice bright flash...I line up the shot...and then proceed to take 3 really shitty out focus photos that fail to show the front of the phone, or the video chat camera. : /
This reeks of carefully placed PR BS.
@doutorpiranha
i for one do not think it looks good, the 3G/3GS while not great looking, is minimalist and easy on the eyes. but the intrusive buttons and huge seams are a big turnoff for an aesthetically driven device
@bjsguess I agree completely. It's not compelling, and thus (I really, really hope) it's not Apple. Otherwise, it would mark the end to Apple as we know it: compelling, game-changing design. Producing this bore would say to everyone else out there, "Ok, game's over. Everyone can stay right here, and we'll all just make loads of money on the same old things for years to come." How very Microsoft. Ew. :P
Is it possible that this device is a prototype and has been cast in an enclosure for testing hardware?
@Nitesh
I'd bet dollars, but not donuts.
@Ravenwoods I'm not saying it's real, but just because a prototype has seams, doesn't mean the real deal necessarily would. You might need to design your prototype to have easy access to the internals/battery for certain tests.
@DannyDonatello
That battery is huge!!
@DannyDonatello
Is that on the bottem a speaker or a hdmi output!!!??
@doutorpiranha Apple invented seamless simple industrial design, now it appears that they have invented these things called "joints" and "seams"
They are true innovators!
@lexitu
yeah looks more like anyone has glued the front of an iphone on a nokia n78...and oh wait, its thinner or is it the picture...
sry if this is the iphone 4g, its not from apple^^
@doutorpiranha Cut the chase, take the misery out of d' users by announcing if there will be a true release about that mythical iPhone 4G from Verizon. Closest Concepts-- http://j.mp/verizon-iphone-4g
@DannyDonatello The latest about the verizon iPhone is that, it could be released later on 2011, and in fact, a rumor that an "iPhone HD" version will be release this year. Compiled updates. http://bit.ly/verizon-4g-iphone-impressions