Just a little while ago we brought you news of what appears to be the first images of external components for the new iPhone. The images came from a Chinese parts supplier and purport to show the new iPhone’s rear panel. The panel appeared to be made of metal and to follow the same basic form factor as the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, but thinner and with room for a larger display.
Now new photos have surfaced that appear to offer additional confirmation of what the next iPhone will look like. Like the earlier image, these photos were sent to 9to5Mac. They match the previous image, and offer some more interesting details about the new iPhone. Check them out below:
The first thing to note is that the new iPhone is getting what amounts to a unibody frame. The antenna looks to be integrated with the rear panel. Additionally, the camera lens and LED flash have been moved a bit farther apart, presumably to make room for what looks like the noise-canceling microphone that was introduced with the iPhone 4 and currently resides on top of the iPhone, next to the headphone jack. Also, the rear panel has the two-tone design first predicted earlier this month.
The photos also allow a better look at the apparently upgraded speakers at the bottom of the phone. What’s surprising, though, is the opening all the way to the left of the phone, next to the speakers. It looks like the iPhone’s headphone jack will be moving to the bottom of the device, where the iPod Touch’s headphone jack has always been.
The front glass in the third image shows that the iPhone will be getting a new display that’s taller than the current (and every previous) iPhone, but the same width. The front-facing camera will also be moving, it seems. It looks like it’s centered above the ear speaker, where the light sensor currently sits (where the light sensor is going is not clear.
Assuming these images are genuine, as seems likely, it looks like the new iPhone’s redesign isn’t quite as major as some reports have predicted. Though several of the design elements are a definite improvement over the iPhone 4/4S (e.g., the metal back), the overall form factor is very similar.
That just leaves one real question: whose bright idea was it to move the headphone jack to the bottom? Yuck.
