This Is the iPhone 5 Design – All But Confirmed

There’s hardly any doubt right now regarding the design of Apple’s next iPhone. Assuming this new leak isn’t a forgery (and the consistency of these rumors has been staggering), this is what the next iPhone will look like, period.

The video embedded below features the exact same type of hardware showed in photos by various repair shops with access to Apple’s supply chain. By all accounts, this is what the next iPhone should look like (pictured left). Showcased in a YouTube video by eTradeSupply (highlighted by the peeps at cydiablog) this unibody construction looks genuinely fit to house the internals of a next-generation smartphone from Apple. The video description states: “New iPhone component. Maybe for iPhone 5. But it is neither a battery door nor a middle pate. It is a integrated part! Great changes in the design.”

A comparison is shown indicating that all rumors regarding the next-generation iPhone 5 are correct: the device is longer but identically wide; the screen will be bigger; the jack plug has been relocated to the bottom; the dock connector has shrunk, paving the way for Apple to release new cables and perhaps new iPods as well. Furthermore, the enclosure is now one big part, as opposed to a chassis covered by to glass plates; the back is made of metal, not glass; the antenna frame is no longer present (at least not as a standalone part); the speaker grills are longer, more prominent, featuring larger holes; the SIM slot seems to be identical to the one found on the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S; Finally, the handset will be a tad thinner than the current-generation iPhone.

The metal used to manufacture these parts is said to be aluminum, not Liquidmetal as previously rumored. A co-inventor of the amorphous metal alloy was recently quoted as saying that the technologies used to manipulate Liquidmetal are not yet mature, and that large-scope manufacturing will require at least another three years for Apple to adopt the material for large components.

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