Apple's next iPhone: what we know (and what we don't)

The iPhone 4G? iPhone 4? iPhone HD? Simply "iPhone"? There's plenty we still don't know about Apple's upcoming handset, like the name for instance, but thanks to an unprecedented leak and a whole bunch of peripheral rumors, we've got just about the most info you could hope for going into a major Apple launch. Follow along after the break as we parse through what we know, what we've heard, and what we hope for in the next iPhone.

Industrial design
From all accounts, we're looking at it. The prototype Gizmodo obtained and which we scored photos of -- including a shot of one sitting near a locked down iPad -- is clearly Apple's, and according to John Gruber's sources, the "DVT" in its barcode means the phone is very late in its design cycle, and might even be exactly what we'll be seeing hit the shelves.


The phone sports an oh-so-familiar glass front, but instead of the rounded bezel there's a flat metal band running around the sides creating an ice cream sandwich of sorts. From the side the design is actually a lot like Nokia's N78, with some hints of Sony Ericsson C510 and T610 (one of the most famous examples of this sandwich aesthetic). Around back is the design's most interesting innovation, a flat, glass-like back. Apple has a 2006 patent for a "ceramic" enclosure that's highly durable, scratch-resistant and radio transparent, and the popular thinking is that this is being used here.

One very interesting aspect of the design are the very un-Apple-like vertical notches in the design, one on each edge. Some have thought that this might point to the non-final nature of the handset, but others are speculating based on the build of the device internally that two of the notches actually allow for side access to the battery, while the other two notches are there for aesthetic symmetry. With the MicroSIM card holder located on the side of the phone now, the paper clip-friendly hole on top would make for a convenient way to unlock the side. Meanwhile, Gizmodo has speculated that this hole could be for a noise canceling mic, another possibility, and their discovery of an "Authorized Service Provider Only" tab under the battery would seem to imply that it isn't user accessible.

The final tweak to the look and feel of the device are the all-metal side buttons. The mute switch, lock button, and volume buttons (now two separate circles instead of a rocker) are all silver colored now and made of metal. One potential for the newly separated volume buttons are as dedicated camera controls when the camera app is open, but that's just pure speculation. iPhone 4G: proof