982 Design Reading: Industrial Design Analysis of Apple's supposed iPhone Gen4.

Industrial Design Analysis of Apple’s supposed iPhone Gen 4

Gizmodo, in probably their scoop of the year, has written an interesting industrial design analysis of Apple’s supposed iPhone generation 4 prototype that some poor Apple employee (probably now fired) left behind.

The New Industrial Design

At first sight, this new iPhone’s industrial design seems so different from the previous two generations that it could be discarded as just a provisional case. Even while the finish is so perfect that it feels right out of the factory, some of the design language elements that are common to all Apple products are not there. Gone is the flushed screen glass against the metal rim. Gone is the single volume button, replaced by two separate ones. Gone is the seamless rim, and gone are the tapered, curved surfaces.

Despite that, however, this design is not a departure. Not when you frame it with the rest of the Apple product line. It’s all the contrary: This new iPhone gets back to the simplicity of the iMac and the iPad. In fact, you can argue that the current iPhone 3GS—with its shiny chrome rim and excessively curved back—is out of place compared to the hard edges and Dieter-Ramish utilitarianism of the iMac and the iPad. Next to the iPad, for example, the new iPhone makes sense. It has the same feeling, the same functional simplicity.

But why the black plastic back, instead of going with an unibody aluminum design? Why the two audio volume buttons? Why the seams? And why doesn’t the back have any curvature at all?

Why the plastic back?

The plastic back is the most obvious of the design choices. The iPad, with its all aluminum back, has seen its Wi-Fi reception radius reduced. The 3G version comes with a large patch on the top, probably big enough to provide with good reception. But the new tiny iPhone doesn’t have the luxury of space: It needs to provide with as much signal as possible using a very small surface. I’m sure Jon Ive is dying to get rid of the plastic back, and go iPad-style all the way, but the wireless reception is the most important thing in a cellphone. A necessary aesthetical-functional trade-off.

Why separate volume buttons?

This new iPhone uses separate buttons for the volume instead of the single button that you can find in the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. It’s one of the factors that may indicate that this is a provisional case, until you think about one of the most requested features for Apple’s phone: A physical button for the camera. The new iPhone has a bigger sensor and a flash, which means that the camera function keeps gaining more weight. It’s only logical to think that Apple may have implemented this two-button approach to provide with a physical shutter button. It makes sense.

Why the seams?

The seams are perhaps the most surprising aspect of the new design. They don’t seem to respond to any aesthetic criteria and, in terms of function, we can’t adventure any explanation. But they don’t look bad. In fact, the whole effect seems good, like something you will find in a Braun product from the 70s.

It’s doubtful that the seams are arbitrary, however. Either they will disappear from the final product, or they have a function we can’t foresee at this time.

Why no tapering or curves?

As you will see in a future article, the new iPhone is so miniaturized and packed that there’s no room for the tapered, curved surfaces. Everything is as tight as it could get, with no space for anything but electronics.

§心得:

日前，據傳Apple的工程師在美國的Redwood City 的酒吧，弄丟了一隻Apple即將推出的iPhone 4GS。iPhone 4GS外形與iPhone 3GS沒有太大的差別。GIZMODO買下這支手機後，經過拆解後，可以明顯的看出這隻丟失的新一代iPhone 多了哪些新功能。以下就是他們的新發現：

§新功能:

‧ 視訊鏡頭

‧ 更棒的照相機（鏡頭明顯比iPhone 3Gs 大了許多）

‧ 有閃光燈的照相機

‧ 跟iPad 一樣採用了新的Micro-SIM 卡，而非一般的SIM卡。

‧ 更美的螢幕，雖然還不知道是不是之前傳聞的960x460 解析度，但是這隻手機上所顯示的"請連接到iTunes" 圖示解析度已經比3GS 還要漂亮的多。

‧ 在上方的耳機孔旁邊，似乎多了一個麥克風收音孔用來減少噪音，以達到更好的收音效果用。

‧ 音量鍵被分開，成為兩個獨立的按鈕

(因為iPhone 4Gs的照相功能持續增加，所以Apple將音量鍵分開，以提供一個快門鍵。)

‧ 電源鍵、靜音快撥、音量鍵全都是金屬按鍵。

§改變:

‧ 手機的背面完全是平的，為了取得更好的收訊，使用了應該是玻璃、陶瓷或者是其他的塑膠材料。這與iPad及iPhone 3GS背面所用的材質不同：前者的背面使用的全是鋁；而後者的背面上頭則有一個大的語音連結系統，以提供一個比較好的收訊效果。拍打這個背感覺是空心的，與正面的玻璃觸控面板感覺完全不同，應該是裡面零件的關係。

‧ 週邊採用了全鋁的邊框

‧ 新的液晶螢幕比3GS 小了點，但有更高的解析度。

‧ 每個物件都趨於方正

‧ 比iPhone 3GS 重了三克

‧ 電池的大小比IPhone 3GS 大了16%

‧ iPhone4GS沒有一頭逐漸變細的及彎曲的表面，每個內部物件都盡量地微型化，以確保有足夠的空間可以塞下比3GS 大了16%的電池。