Gizmodo has managed to one-up Engadget in the 4th generation iPhone news war. They have the device, they"ve taken it apart, put it back together, and pretty much confirmed its authenticity (the innards contain Apple components). Whether this will be the exact form that the device takes upon launch is still unknown. However, it will likely be close. Here"s their teaser video that they posted to YouTube.
Along with two other videos (sorry, they aren"t allowing those to be embedded), Gizmodo has taken dozens of photos, provided plenty of specs, and really went all out trying to gather as many details as they could. Unfortunately, they were unable to boot the device into the OS. It seems that Apple remotely killed the phone upon learning of its whereabouts.
The device is said to be 4.5 x 2.31 x .37 inches and weighs 140 grams. It"s got a bigger battery, higher resolution screen, a camera flash, front facing camera, and much more.
Here are all the juicy details (taken straight from Gizmodo):
"What"s new
- Front-facing video chat camera
- Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
- Camera flash
- Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
- Improved display. It"s unclear if it"s the 960x460 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the "Connect to iTunes" screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
- What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
- Split buttons for volume
- Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic
What"s changed
- The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
- An aluminum border going completely around the outside
- Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
- Everything is more squared off
- 3 grams heavier
- 16% Larger battery
- Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery"
Below are some photos comparing the new phone to the current 3GS model. For more photos, visit Gizmodo"s exclusive review.