Next Generation iPhone Case to Have Matte Finish? Enhanced 3G?

[Andrew K.]

Okay so if you put together a matte black ( rubbery texture ) and no chrome bezel, you have a pretty boring looking phone, seriously Apple's design team isn't that lazy.

Thinking about larger demographic , not us macrumorians...rumorans? san diagons? ANYWAY, you have to look at this from a business standpoint of: exposure, difference between product lines, and the consumer appeal.

This would look no different except for gloss from the 3G, not good for regular consumer appeal and letting them know this is the new one. And what happens to the white one? Matte White? Do you know how fast those smudge and get dirty? So they only have black, they just lost a percentage of their demographic.

No more bezel? So it may sit flush like the 2G iPod Touch, but again matte back, front glass and no shiny anything anywhere else besides the screen? Not Apple's style.

Besides we've seen this case on eBay already. China has fooled us before.

I don't know I just don't believe Apple will be going this direction, plus if they were where are the deliberate take down notices?

 

[sam10685]

My electronic macgasm meter is off the charts.

 

[igazza]

list of Rumors so far

600/800MHz Processor, 256 VRAM, 3.5G Network, Magnetometer, Glowing Apple Logo, 32GB, Matte Finish, 5/3.2 MP Camera + Video, 1.5 X Battery, OLED Screen, FM Transmitter



hope all is true

 

[Deefuzz]

I've been wanting to make the 3g upgrade jump. A new phone would be a perfect time for it.

Bring on the matte!

 

[celtikmind]

So the new iphone borrowed the matte finish from the old macbook pro?

They had to put all that overstocked, black plastic somewhere when the black MacBooks got replaced by the unibodies...

Can't be aluminum. There is no way that an iPhone will ever have a metal back again because of the signal loss and the necessity for an antenna cover or more extreme wiring of the antennas into the headphone jack ring, the chrome bezel, the buttons...just not worth it.

Why not make the whole case an antenna? It could be aluminum then, couldn't it?

 

[hhaeschen]

I don't believe Apple is producing 3 different versions. Apple standardizes as much as possible for cost reduction. Maintaining 3 iPhones would come with a high price or a lower margin, which I would rule out.
The most I can imagine Apple doing is introducing a seperate model for mainland China and one for the rest of the world. China is a huge market by population and it might be worth the extra cost.

 

[Warbrain]

Why not make the whole case an antenna? It could be aluminum then, couldn't it?

No, because some reception does come through the back. And the plastic may dissipate heat better, too.

 

[ckurt25]

The rumor going around now is at at&t crippled SlingPlayer because they may have their own service for u-verse coming out down the road.

Hmmm... That kinda makes sense. I had heard months ago when u-verse came to our area that you'd eventually be able to control your DVR from the iPhone and even watch your u-verse DVR content on the iPhone. I tell you what, I'll be one of the happiest people around if and when that is supported. I travel some for work and if I could see shows I've recorded on my iPhone it'd be fan-freaking-tastic.

I used Orb when I owned a WinMo device and it was pretty cool to watch live TV. I was sitting in my father-in-laws living room and it was about an 8 second delay when we were watching ESPN. A true battery killer on the phone I owned, but it was still cool. U-verse DVR support would be great... Being able to stream live even better. There is an easy work around if its just DVR, as long as you don't want to keep switching channels... Say you just want to watch a football game thats on.... Just set the DVR to record it (you can even do this quickly on AT&Ts site via Safari on the iPhone) and watch the recorded version seconds behind the live broadcast. If your battery could last, this would be great for going to games and watching "instant replays" of what just happened.

 

[slicecom]

A matte finish would be nicer to hold in the hand - also give you some grip on it.

The plastic back of the current 3G just slides out of your hand.

The current iPhone 3G would have MORE grip than one with a textured back. One of the things people like about the 3G vs the original is that it doesn't slide out of your hand because it isn't textured. Texture means less surface area to grip on to which means less grip. Thats why racecars have slick, smooth tires and not grooved ones.

 

[Woodcrest64]

I'm going to hold out for the next revision as my 3G 8GB iPhone works for what I need it to. Hopefully by the next revision we'll have LTE 4G networks and iPhones that have incredible battery life.

 

[ipoppy]

list of Rumors so far

600/800MHz Processor, 256 VRAM, 3.5G Network, Magnetometer, Glowing Apple Logo, 32GB, Matte Finish, 5/3.2 MP Camera + Video, 1.5 X Battery, OLED Screen, FM Transmitter



hope all is true

A glowing Apple logo...hmm don't you think that will eat extra battery? No, No, No...that wont happened. Hopefully rest of these features will be there

 

[Thunderbird]

Great news. Now if they can only bring a matte finish back to the iMac screens, they'll make everyone happy.

 

[d_saum]

And I remember Gizmodo reporting otherwise. All those original iPhone owners who upgraded are going to be out of contract this June/July. I never said they didn't have to pay the higher tariffs but they definitely did not get the same contract.

Good god man.... admit defeat. I, and ALL of my iPhone using friends HAD to renew a 2 year contract with AT&T when they got the new iPhone last year. It's not even up for debate. The only way you could not renew the contract and have a 3g iPhone was if you paid through the nose for an unsubsidized one (which I don't think was an option when it was released.. never looked into it) OR... you bought one off of eBay.

 

[slicecom]

A glowing Apple logo...hmm don't you think that will eat extra battery? No, No, No...that wont happened. Hopefully rest of these features will be there

Yeah its completely impractical and will never happen. The only reason Apple's laptops have a glowing Apple logo is it doesn't use ANY power because its lit by the screen's backlight. No way would Apple do something so stupid as to install a special battery draining light just for the Apple logo. They care much more about thinness and battery life than a glowing logo.

 

[hefeglass]

i dont understand what the big deal is with slingplayer not working over 3g.

there has already been a MUCH better solution for cheap/free that works great over 3g and you can share ANY media on your PC to your iphone.
i am able to watch 78 channels of cable tv on the hour drive to and from work.

Check out www.orb.com
for orb server which you need to run on your PC.

then download orblive from the app store.

!!!! f sling

 

[acidfast7]

can it handle our soon-to-be complete 150Mb/s network?

 

[robothero]

The current iPhone 3G would have MORE grip than one with a textured back. One of the things people like about the 3G vs the original is that it doesn't slide out of your hand because it isn't textured. Texture means less surface area to grip on to which means less grip. Thats why racecars have slick, smooth tires and not grooved ones.

Race car wheels also aren't made out of plastic.

 

[wolfshades]

They did not have to extend their contract. If they had the original iPhone they could upgrade to an iPhone 3G without extending their contract. It doesn't matter about the different plan rates - at&t did this to keep the iPhone users on their network and ensure sales of the iPhone 3G.

I'm finding multiple variances on this. But I remember it being that you could upgrade without extending your contract.

*sighs* If only Rogers here in Canada would do the same. In all likelikhood (and this is based upon years of experience with them) they will offer an upgrade for a nominal price ($200-$300) PLUS you'll have to re-start your 3-year contract with them. Or you could upgrade without extending the contract, only the "upgrade" will cost you $700 or more.

 

[MikeDTyke]

do you think that those specs would support background apps well if aple decides to integrate that into another version of the iphone OS?

Well on current iPhone 3G you have about 40MB of free Ram for 3rd party apps.

If the rumour of 256MB is true and the OS remains about the same you`ll have 168MB of free ram or about 4 times the amount.

If Apple chooses then yes you could have 1 or 2 apps running in the background.

 

[TheSpaz]

Race car wheels also aren't made out of plastic.

Hahahahahaha!!!

 

[jholzner]

Great news. Now if they can only bring a matte finish back to the iMac screens, they'll make everyone happy.

They're not talking about a matte screen on the iPhone but the back cover of the iPhone will be matte black and not glossy black.

 

[Neodym]

No, because some reception does come through the back. And the plastic may dissipate heat better, too.

Huh? Plastic being better in heat dissipation than metal? No way...

 

[Surely]

Good god man.... admit defeat. I, and ALL of my iPhone using friends HAD to renew a 2 year contract with AT&T when they got the new iPhone last year. It's not even up for debate. The only way you could not renew the contract and have a 3g iPhone was if you paid through the nose for an unsubsidized one (which I don't think was an option when it was released.. never looked into it) OR... you bought one off of eBay.

This is true. Warbrain, you are not remembering correctly.

To upgrade from the 1st gen to a 3G with AT&T, a new 2 year contract had to be signed.

 

[Flowbee]

And I remember Gizmodo reporting otherwise. All those original iPhone owners who upgraded are going to be out of contract this June/July. I never said they didn't have to pay the higher tariffs but they definitely did not get the same contract.

I think you're mistaken on this. Original iPhone buyers who did not upgrade to the 3G will be at the end of their contracts in June/July. People who upgraded to the 3G had to sign up for a new 2-year contract. There was speculation, before the 3G was released, that upgraders would stay on their original contract, so maybe that's what you remember reading.

 

[LagunaSol]

Hopefully that back will be like a thinly rubberized aluminium. I have a Sigg water bottle with a coating like that, you could set a bomb off next to it and it wouldn't show scratches. Same coating over plastic would still be good, as long as it doesn't look too scratched too soon I'll be happy.

The problem with these rubberized coatings is they tend to start peeling off eventually. At least this was the case with my old Compaq laptop and my VW Passat.