Among other things like rumors, reports and leaks, concept designs start popping up in increased frequency on the Internet as the world approaches the announcement and release of a next iPhone. In this post, we will be discussing some of these concepts with hopes of seeing some of their features in the final design of the “new iPhone”*.
Before we get into it, let me first inform you that the design of the next iPhone has allegedly been leaked already, thanks to images showing fully assembled, never-before-seen iPhone design with a smaller dock connector, metal back and a larger display.
The list is sorted on the basis of reverse likeliness of happening i.e. with the least likely to happen iPhone concept at the top and most likely at the bottom.
#1 iPhone PRO With 3D Camera and a DSLR Lens by Choi jinyoung
In all the concepts I’ve seen so far, no concept is as unlikely as this one right. It looks like an ugly mix of iPhone, Galaxy Note and EVO 3D with its gigantic 4.5” edge to edge display, a 10.2 megapixel 3D camera and a mount for attaching DSLR lens.
#2 The Clearly Amazing iPhone 5 With A Transparent Display
It may look cool at first, but there is no functional need for an iPhone with a transparent display. This is besides the fact that having a transparent display either means pushing all components into the minute space above and below the display or using a high-resolution camera to stream whatever is at the back of the phone; both are completely impractical.
#3 Wearable iPhone 5 With Curved Display by Federico Ciccarese
Yes, Apple is more likely to do a wearable smartphone with a curved display than the concept above this one, although it may take a decade or so before they really nail the concept of wearable gadgets.
#4 new iPhone: Super-thin, SIM-less, LED edges and three displays by ADR Studio
Alright, so super-thin and SIM-less I can understand, but having LED-powered edges (like those tackily customized 1996 Honda Civics with neon lights) for notifications / battery status and not one, two, but three displays for notifications, multi-tasking and main desktop just leaves me puzzled.
Save for the 4.5” display and a Pico projector, this is an iPhone that looks a little bit like I would expect a radically differently designed iPhone to look like. It’s thin as air and has a beautiful bezel-less display.
#6 iPhone 5: LM by Antoine Brieux
The “LM” in iPhone 5: LM stands for Liquid Metal. It’s a concept based on strong rumors and reports which suggest that the next iPhone will have its casing made of liquid metal which is actually a solid mix of metals that results in a product that is both sleek and robust. Technical features of this concept include a quad-core A6 chip, a 10 MP camera, built-in SIM card and very unlikely 4.5” display with a virtual home button.
Dedicated to Steve Jobs, this iPhone concept doesn’t have many concept hardware specifications or a mind-blowingly impossible design like #1 and #2, but it does look like a possible evolution of the iPhone 4/4S design: slimmer and lighter. It even comes with Steve Jobs’ signature at the back.
#8 iPhone 5 Concept by Michal Bonikowski
This is my favorite iPhone concept so far. It’s the iPhone 4S’ design, only with what appears to be a slightly larger display, a thinner body, original iPhone-like much-more-durable-than-iPhone-4 metal back that tapers in from the liquid metal corner.
Apple, make this happen!
*Considering how the latest iPad is called “new iPad”, it is very much safe to say that the next iPhone will be called “new iPhone” instead of iPhone 5. Further, the next iPhone will be the sixth-generation; calling it iPhone 5 wouldn’t make much sense.
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