UniBody iPhone 5 Design detailed [Video]

iPhone 5 announcement is just few weeks away and Rumors shake the suspense every other day. Which one to believe is always a question.

And then one fine day, one Rumor to rule them all is leaked from a random chinese vendor. The Plot changes and everything looks real. Well, thats the current scene.

iphone 5 design

So the Latest iPhone 5 rumor is about a Unibody design that Apple may have deprecated or is about to appear in iPhone 5 for Real. This can be a prototype Apple had rejected, but the form factor and design definitely makes it look to be the potential Real iPhone 5.

Apple is unifying the design principles across all its devices: iMac, Macbooks and now iPhone. Unibody – One design to rule them all. Unibody essentially promotes having no assembly parts for the casing, its made of one single piece. This makes the device stronger, thinner and lighter than the one with joints.

iPhone 5 Unibody design on Video:

Two things stand out right away: A “taller” proportion compared to traditional iPhones and the wraparound metal backplate. This is perfectly in-sync with proofs found in iOS 6 which hints at a taller Retina display having 1100x 680 resolution, which makes it a 16:9 ratio screen, finally learning from Android smartphones.

Previous design, of iPhone 4S, steel band is comprised of four pieces of steel: two U-shaped pieces at the top and bottom, and two long, flat pieces on the side. The steel sections don’t actually touch each other — they are separated by a .65mm piece of plastic. The flat steel sides are only there to visually continue the metal band all the way around the phone and for structural reinforcement. The GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth antennas transmit out of the glass backplate.

However, iPhone 5‘s leaked design has three pieces of metal instead of four. It still has two U-shaped pieces at the top and bottom, but this time the two flat sides become one single piece of metal that also comprises the back of the device. That single piece of metal is the unibody backplate.

Thinness is a major feature of this design. This would make iPhone 5 32 percent thinner, bringing it closer to Galaxy S3 and Optimus 4X HD smartphones.

Not just thinner, the new design would make it lighter, but may not be as light as competition. Stainless steel is much denser than aluminum, which makes it more resistant to wear and tear, but also heavier and harder to machine.

The rear seems to be well designed as well. Apple has tinted the metal housing black. Clear anodized aluminum or buffed stainless steel would “pop” too much against the black, creating a visual striping effect. Tinting it black starts to integrate the materials a little more.

There is the additional issue of the camera on the back not being centered vertically with the upper piece of glass/plastic. Instinctively, I want to move it up a millimeter or two as it looks a little out of alignment in its current position. This is probably not possible because of the space the camera requires.

Overall this design is a major improvement over the 4/4S. Functionally, it’s worlds better, and aesthetically. Finally it could be a iPhone 5, that wouldn’t hurt the hands.

Other Changes in iPhone 5 Design:

  • The FaceTime camera is now exactly in the center, lying above the earpiece.
  • Headphone jack may have been moved to bottom instead of top, like it or not.
  • Speaker grills have been ditched with pinholes. They look nicer for sure.
  • The black version features a black tinted metal on the rear. The white version would be white throughout. If the metal is aluminum, all it would require is a simple anodize bath to make it black. If it’s steel, there are other methods of tinting it black
  • Smaller dock connector. Apple is moving from 30-pin to 19-pin connector. The new rumor is that it will be an 8-pin connector.

Apple is moving to the new connector, which is thinner, much like Micro-usb you see on Android, Blackberry and WP7 devices. But this connector would still be a proprietary port. Going by open market traditions, isn’t really an Apple style. But we’re glad, the connector would now be easier to plug and unplug.

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