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Apple reportedly testing three iPhone 5 prototypes

by Michael Grothaus Feb 15th 2011 at 12:00AM


A Taiwanese Mac news site with a history of accurately predicting future Apple products says Apple is currently testing three different prototypes of the next iPhone. From what can be gleaned from the Google translation, tw.apple.pro says one of the iPhone 5 prototypes features a a slide-out physical keyboard -- a form factor that Steve Jobs and Apple have never seemed too keen to embrace.

Another iPhone 5 prototype is said to closely resemble the current iPhone 4 with a longer-lasting battery and an 8 megapixel rear camera. The site suggests that if this prototype is released, the iPhone 5 will be to the iPhone 4 what the iPhone 3GS was to the iPhone 3G -- in other words, a spec upgrade, but with no external redesign.

There is no word on what the third prototype features. As AppleInsider points out, tw.apple.pro has a relatively solid history of producing rumors that turned out to be true, including the white iPhone 4, the iPhone 4's battery, the 2008 MacBook redesign, the new Multi-Touch iPod nano and the 2008 MacBook Pro's unibody redesign. However, in 2009 the site claimed that a 15-inch MacBook Air was in development, but that never materialized. This, of course, doesn't mean a 15-inch MacBook Air has never been in development -- or even prototyped. Given the positive track record of rumors from tw.apple.pro, it's reasonable to believe that just because a reported prototype doesn't make it to market, that doesn't mean tw.apple.pro's information was false.

So, is tw.apple.pro's report correct? It's possible, but if they are correct, which of the three prototypes will become the iPhone 5? Only Steve Jobs and a handful of people at Apple know for sure. The next iPhone most likely won't ship until June, so until then, there's plenty of time for more rumors and speculation.



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Rockarollr

oops... I meant TWO of the THREE are decoys...

February 18 2011 at 6:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rockarollr

FOUR of them are decoys!

It's so that nobody knows which one is the REAL prototype. Remember the iPhone 4 that was left in a bar? Apple's going to make sure we don't know which one is the real deal - even if we DO somehow get a glimpse.

February 18 2011 at 6:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
iticles

See the truth about the iPhone 5 rumor: http://www.iticles.com/iphone-news/apple-testing-iphone-5-prototype-sliding-keyboard-joke-google-translation-why/

February 15 2011 at 4:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Pat

Their white iPhone 4 rumor turned out to be true?!?!?

;-)

February 15 2011 at 2:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alex

The most rational (and most likely) rumor of the iPhone 5 is the spec update similar to the 3GS as mentioned. At this point it seems silly to think Apple would make drastic form-factor changes after one generation.

It would be nice if they just worked harder on drastically improving the legacy native apps.

February 15 2011 at 1:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gregory Pierce

An iPhone with a physical keyboard? What's next, an iPhone running Flash?

February 15 2011 at 12:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brad

I get the feeling that, after the whole Gizmodo thing, Apple has prepared some fake prototypes to throw people off the track and confuse things.

February 15 2011 at 9:53 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Brad's comment
Alex Restuccia

amen to that

February 15 2011 at 11:43 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sonnie

I hope they dont get like droid releasing a new phone every month

February 15 2011 at 9:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
EffExt

I have a feeling the new iPhone will be just a hardware upgrade. Dual core processor, possible a camera upgrade and a dual cellular chip so it can run on either network. It will be called the iPhone 4G since both networks are moving to 4G this year. I remember when Apple introduced the new Magic Mouse and I turned to my friend at the store and said I think next Apple will take the trackpad from the MacBook and make it stand alone device. Since my prediction panned out I think you all need to listen to me and TUAW, feel free to write up an article. Don't forget to mention that I was right 100% of the time with my prediction(s).

February 15 2011 at 8:45 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to EffExt's comment
Chad D

Idk about 4g, that will probably come next year. This year however, the iPhone 5 will probably work over hspa+ for att and probably be named the iPhone 4+ and will have Dual core, nfc, and an 8meg camera. I'm still skeptical about a world chip though only because they just released an iPhone 4 on verizon and it doesn't seem right that they would release another phone months later, unless it'll come to verizon a few months after att.

February 15 2011 at 11:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
EffExt

You may be right about the 4G naming. Although in the AT&T commercials they refer to HSPA+ as 4G and Verizons LTE service is also being called 4G but June might be a bit early for that name since both of the services will in the early stages of rollout. Even though as of right now there are two versions of the iPhone 4, which still have a year of production left, I have a feeling Apple will make the move to a world chip just so they won't have to manufacture six different phones.

February 16 2011 at 1:11 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
DarenW

Does anyone think that Apple is dropping nonsense leaks all over the place to screw with the competition meeting in Barcelona?

I do. The ridiculousness and the variety of the rumors floating around has me convinced there's something going on here.

Slide out keyboard on an iphone? Wait until you see my new Ferrari pick up truck.

February 15 2011 at 8:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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