back to article Leaked snaps said to confirm iPhone 5 speculation

Much of the speculation surrounding Apple's next iPhone appears to have been confirmed through allegedly leaked product shots which show the iPhone 5 to have a smaller dock connector, redesigned speaker grilles and a repositioned microphone on the rear. iPhone 5 leaked body shots Various images of the supposed next-gen …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Headphone jack at the bottom?

    What idiot would believe this.. oh wait quite a lot apparently.

    1. jai

      Re: Headphone jack at the bottom?

      Not so surprising - they've done it before with iPod nanos, switched the location.

      Plus, wouldn't a headphone jack at the bottom make a lot more sense? if you are using the headphones and the microphone on them, then when you hold the phone out in front of you while talking, the jack would be towards you, instead of dangling out in front.

      1. gabe3886

        Re: Headphone jack at the bottom?

        Or those who want to use it as an MP3 player in a car or similar where the audio interface is through the headphone jack.

        That way it can be charging and playing without having to have cables going from all sides - well two of them but still.

    2. Annihilator
      Boffin

      Re: Headphone jack at the bottom?

      Anyone who's ever owned an iPod Touch perhaps?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Headphone jack at the bottom?

      YOURE RIGHT THE HEADPHONE JACK SHOULD BE AT THE HEAD AND THE BUTT PLUG GOES INTO THE BOTTOM

      1. Mr Young
        IT Angle

        Headphone jacks are not very reliable long term Big Dumb Guy 555

        But stick around anyway - do you have a fan club with a subscription fee?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Big Dumb Guy

        Except you've got you often confuse the two...

  2. Kevin Johnston
    Joke

    Camera?

    I'm sure I read somewhere that HTC had a patent for putting the camera in the centre........

  3. Platelet

    It's not officially leaked till it's "accidentally" left behind in a pub

  4. AndrewInIreland

    Well finally....

    Looks like Apple are going to join everyone else and move to the Micro-USB connector.

    1. Nick Ryan Silver badge

      Re: Well finally....

      It would be nice, especially given the industry guidelines (a bit shy of regulations IIRC) on what connectors should be used.

      Will knacker all the 3rd party integrators and force users to buy new docks... but then Apple would likely blame this on a governing body and then rake in the profits from sales of new docks and connectors.

      1. Preacher

        Re: Well finally....

        Actually Apple already complies with EU regulations (and they are regulations) - http://www.tuaw.com/2011/10/04/apple-unveils-dock-to-micro-usb-adapter-to-comply-with-eu-standa/

        You can get it one here - http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MD099?mco=MjU5MjAwODM

        1. Anonymous Coward
          FAIL

          Re: Well finally....

          You can get it one here - http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MD099?mco=MjU5MjAwODM

          A bargain at only 8 quid!! Shame that it's not possible to actually order one.

          Apple FAIL.

          1. Paw Bokenfohr
            FAIL

            Re: Well finally....

            @Stike Vomit

            What do you mean? It's in stock and ready for dispatch.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Well finally....

              "What do you mean? It's in stock and ready for dispatch."

              Not from The Netherlands it isn't. In fact, it doesn't even show up in the Dutch Apple Store.

    2. Eponymous Cowherd

      Re: Well finally....

      You reckon?

      What about all of those Hi-Fis , 3rd party docks, clock radios, etc fitted with iThing docks. Its actually near impossible to buy something capable of playing music without a fruit-orientated connector (or with a connector for anything else).

      The iThing add on industry will suffer collective apoplexy if Apple drop their propitiatory connector, not to mention the ire of iThing owners when they discover their new shiny won't fit their £400 BOSE speaker dock.

      Of course, there could be an adaptor, but that is just so kludgey and, well, un-Apple-like

      1. St3n

        Re: Well finally....

        Like Apple would ever care about who they upset... True fanbois would just buy newer stuff with the new connector.

      2. Blitterbug
        Happy

        Re: new dock connector

        Precisely. I'm laughing fit to burst over all the Macolytes who a) think an iAnything has decent enough sound to warrant a dock sound system and b) the stupid twats who have shelled out a grand or more on a B&O sooper-dooper iDock and will now be crying into their chardonnay when this is released...

        1. LosD
          WTF?

          Re: new dock connector

          Now, I'm no iAnything fan, but the quality of the amplifier doesn't really matter when the dock output has both digital sound output, and pre-amplified output...

          1. Blitterbug
            Happy

            Re: new dock connector

            'Fraid the amp does indeed matter - you're feeding the lo-fo output from your iDevice's DSP straight out of its headphone socket and into your expensive HiFi. High-quality gear can help disguise a multitude of sins but it can't make up for a low-fidelity source...

            1. Blitterbug
              Meh

              Re: new dock connector

              Should have said 'dock connector' not 'headphone socket'... duh

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Well finally....

        > Of course, there could be an adaptor, but that is just so kludgey and, well, un-Apple-like

        What, like the iPad's HDMI connector or the 'camera connection kit'?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No thanks

    Same frikkin' uncomfortable in the hand sharp-cornered shape as the 4 though. The 3's were far sexier, and nicer, to hold.

    1. Chris 2
      WTF?

      Re: No thanks

      The 4/4S at least had the saving grace (to my mind) that they were really beautiful objects. The white one of these is (again, to my mind) an extremely ugly bodge job, apparently change for the sake of it. If these are the real thing, then it's a major, major misstep in terms of looks.

  6. Purlieu

    Not such a big deal

    Looks exactly the same as the 4

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Looks exactly the same as the 4"

      Yes, how will the unwashed masses know you're better than them if it looks just like the previous version?

      1. B33k34

        Re: "Looks exactly the same as the 4"

        The same way they did with the 4S - they won't. Will be interesting to see if Apple drop the model number from the iPhone in the same way they have the iPad and turn it into a commodity item.

        My 2 year old iPhone 4 still runs the latest version of the OS and performs well - compare that to the miserly sub 10% penetration of the newest version of Android after a year. Apple are taking the majority of the profit from the mobile market - they don't NEED to play the same games as everyone else.

        It's *not* about the hardware specs - it's about he experience and that's 90% driven by the OS not the hardware.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    For a company who used to be so interesting and innovative in terms of physical design, Apple rarely seem make anything all that different any more, especially when it comes to their phone. This, if it's real, just looks like 90%+ of the stuff on the walls of the phone shop already - and I don't care who copied who or who did it first or whatever, the fact remains they're all the same. I may be not keeping up all that well, but Sony seem to be the only company capable of coming up with anything other than a slightly-rounded-at-the-corners (with varying degrees of roundedness) rectangle shape.

  8. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    "which show the iPhone 5 to have a smaller dock connector, redesigned speaker grilles and a repositioned microphone on the rear."

    In other words - the same gonads but viewed from the side...

  9. amanfromearth

    Oh Dear

    You'll get fired from the Reg by referring to Apple.

    The approved terminology is "Foxconn-rebrander"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Oh Dear

      Maybe they got permission from Samsung to stop using it.

  10. jalsa
    Mushroom

    Thunderbolt?

    Any chance this new dock connector will use Thuderbolt tech instead of USB?

    1. David Simpson 1

      Re: Thunderbolt?

      So 99.9% of the worlds population will be unable to plug it in to their computer ? That would be smart.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. M Gale

        Re: Thunderbolt?

        In order to creat a publically-consumable iOS App, Thou Must Use A Mac.

        So that's, what, 95% of the populace that are excluded? Hasn't stopped them. Just make sure you buy your Thunderbolt-to-USB or Thunderbolt-to-firewire or Thunderbolt-to-ethernet or whatever adapter along with the phone.

        Wonder how many people had those godawful iThing docks before the iPhone came out?

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Can't be

    The back of that case looks terrible doesn't add up with the Apple aim for perfection at all. The white border on the bottom / top of the back of the case looks cheap and snide it should be all the same colour.

    It's either a fake a unfinished prototype or Steve Jobs is currently being rotated in his coffin and these are falling out of his ass

  12. uhuznaa

    Awful

    No, really. The two-toned back, the asymmetric bottom part with different sized mic and speaker grills, the headphone socket squeezed in next to these... And if Apple REALLY throws away its almost total market penetration for music players everywhere this would be just straight crazy. Especially if this will be a new, incompatible dock connector instead of USB or such. Madness. If this is the new iPhone I would start to sell my Apple stock (if I had some).

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If I was Apple

    I'd make sure about one fake iPhone body was "accidentally" leaked per month in various ways in the runup to the release of the new products. With different sizes and form factors, randomly moved or changed connectors, etc. Maybe have one in Zune turd brown to get the four Zune enthusiasts up in arms about how Apple is copying Zune.

    Then if something real does escape (or gets left in a bar) it would just be treated as yet another rumor. I guess nobody remembers the two "iPhone 5" bodies shown off in similar pictures around this time last year, neither of which looked anything like the iPhone 4S that Apple actually started selling last October. Given how 98% of the talk until the weekend before the official announcement was about the "iPhone 5" with a curved metal back, I'd say it worked pretty well.

    There's zero chance of Apple using a USB connector, since the 30 pin dock connector does a hell of a lot more than what USB can do (such as video output, so there's no need for a separate connector for the 2% of people who want to hook their phone to their TV's HDMI input) Sure, Apple could introduce a new dock connector with the pins closer together and maybe with some changes to the electrical specifications so that there could be a Thunderbolt adapter down the road, so if this is real that's what I'll bet this is. They've had the same dock connector for a decade now, probably about time for an update...

    1. M Gale

      Re: If I was Apple

      "...since the 30 pin dock connector does a hell of a lot more than what USB can do..."

      You know what the "U" part of "USB" means, don't you? Even the old version 2 is 480mbits/sec of fun, more than enough to send a stream of digital information to an ickle microcontroller in a USB Video Adapter or somesuch.

      Really though, I don't see Apple changing that dock connector. It's their baby, they've gotten a whole market of people making iThing-only docks for it, and they'd piss a rather large number of not-unimportant people off if they made everyone from customers to manufacturers change their shit around. Might even prompt some of them to make a universal dock that isn't ball-and-chained to Apple.

      Oh please, Apple, change the dock connector! I double-dare you!

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple are clearly running out of ideas and this phone shows this. They don't have the innovation or the eye for detail like Nokia have. Expect Nokia to eat away at Apples marketshare once this phone is released

  15. Hilibnist
    Thumb Down

    Nothing to see...

    ...well, if a lack of a hole constitutes "nothing". Or is that a lack of nothing so there's something to see? Anyway, looks to me like somebody should have tried harder to photoshop the slot for the SIM holder.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    New dock connector

    Does anyone know what the spec is for a 'dock'? The 'universal' docks have a big hole into which various plastic adaptors slot so as to hold everything from a Nano to a Classic. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that they could manufacture an adaptor that fits nearly all of the existing devices and provides a secure support for the new phone design and dock connector.

    Apple have a fair amount of form on dumping 'legacy' connectors - most mac laptop owners have a drawer full of adaptors to deal with the various video output sockets from the last 5 years or so.

    Having the headphone socket and dock connector at the same end makes a lot of sense. If it's in a pocket it doesn't matter which way up it is. If you're charging it, listening to headphones and making a call both at the bottom would work a lot better (I unplug the dock connector when that happens at the moment)

    I don't buy any increase in overall size however.

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