We've seen a lot of supposed hardware of the iPhone 5 and plenty of hints as to what we'll see in iOS 6, so some designers have mashed it all together in AutoCAD and created models what they expect the final product will look like. Blackpool Creative has released a big zip file full of still images of their renderings and put together a short video which you can see below. There are a few minor inconsistencies that the designer admits to, such as not knowing what color the volume buttons will be, the size of the SIM slot, and accidental mic placement on the top bezel, but on the whole, this is looking pretty solid. The designer that cooked up these mock-ups had some interesting (if subtle) observations about what we've seen so far.
- The mute switch and volume buttons all appear lower on the left side of the phone than previous models.
- The back side of the phone looks to be flush with the aluminum bezel. The iPhone 4/4S has back panels (and front panels) that are extruded somewhat from the bezel. This change is probably because of the aluminum unibody design, which made it simpler to go from the side, to chamfer, to back. The front panel still appears extruded, but perhaps slightly less than older models. This should all equate to a thinner overall phone.
- The camera and flash (and new back mic hole?) appear to be higher on the phone, closer to the top than to the side, ostensibly to provide room for the unibody design of the back panel. Prior models had the camera positioned equidistant from the edges.
- The speaker and mic grills on the bottom of the phone have changed to be a perforated circle pattern, bringing the iPhone into the same design family as the iPad with its similar speaker.
- In fact, all of these unibody details and changes unify the iPhone and the iPad into the same design language. Maybe the next black iPad will have a black anodized aluminum unibody back panel? It’s interesting to note that even the bezel on the leaks appears to be dark gray/black, only on the black model. The white model keeps the bezel the standard silver color.
Of course, this is all pre-release and based on speculation, so there's no telling how much of this will actually pan out, but it's hard to ignore the consistency at which these parts are surfacing. Assuming the 4-inch iPhone is here to stay, what do you think of the new look? Do these spic-and-span renderings improve your opinion of the size, or are you going to have to hold one in your hand before passing judgement?
Source: Blackpool Creative
