The new iPhone will be thinner, lighter, and 25 million strong

July 6, 2011 By Jeffrey Van Camp

The iPhone 5 is going to be thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4, according to several sources. In addition, Apple is prepping 25 million units for 2011.

Apple is gearing up to launch the iPhone 5 (or is it the iPhone 4S?) in the next few months, reports the Wall Street Journal. The hardware maker has placed orders for “key components” in its next generation iPhone, which should launch sometime in the third quarter of 2011 (likely Sept.). Unsurprisingly, the new phone will be both thinner than the iPhone 4 and lighter as well, with an 8MP camera to boot. Sales are expected to be swift as well, with 25 million units being built in 2011 alone. For reference, the iPhone 4 sold a little more than 18 million units last quarter.

“Apple’s sales estimates of the new iPhone is quite aggressive,” an anonymous Apple supplier told the WSJ. “It told us to prepare to help the company meet its goal of 25 million units by the end of the year. The initial production volume will be a few million units… we were told to ship the components to assembler Hon Hai in August.”

Hon Hai is the Taiwanese manufacturer that assembles Apple’s phones and will be dealing with some changes. A few component vendors are being switched out for the iPhone 5 as well as Apple moves its wireless baseband chips from Infineon Technologies to Qualcomm. There is no word whether Apple will continue using Samsung components in the iPhone 5, though the bad blood between the two companies suggests that Jobs may have moved on. The changes in design and parts may not be a good thing, as Hon Hai representatives say the company is having a tough time producing enough next generation iPhones to meet Apple’s goals due to the new design being “complicated and difficult to assemble.”

“The touch-screen devices are so thin,” said Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou at the company’s annual general meeting last month. “It’s really difficult to install so many components into the iPhones and iPads. We hope to raise the yield rate and volume in the second half which will help improve our gross margin.”

The image at the top of this article shows one potential design of the new phone. Previous rumors have hinted that the next iPhone will have a “teardrop” shape and a 4-inch screen.

Showing 13 comments

Eric Asianman Quach at 4:07am 7th July 2011 ya the invisible iphone 6 will actually cost 10x more than the iphone 5, not on contract. there is no discount for a 2 year discount because the manufacturing cost is so much. they're actually doing a good thing for you because the company itself is losing money for making the iphone 6
Dan Gaul at 1:46pm 6th July 2011 I wouldn't mind the new iPhone being as thin as the Touch. That would be just about perfect IMHO.
1. Jeffrey Van Camp at 2:03pm 6th July 2011 Agreed
Erica Kramer at 8:18pm 6th July 2011 The iPhone 6 is actually invisibile. The blueprints already done, Apple just has to capitalize off of iPhone 5 purchases before it will put out the 6. Actually, I think they've already designed the next four.
Eric Asianman Quach at 7:25pm 6th July 2011 fuck I just snapped my iphone
Steve Coyle at 6:45pm 6th July 2011 Still won't matter Android pwns IOS
Melissa Yoes at 5:34pm 6th July 2011 aaahhh I just got a paper cut from my iPhone!
Stephen Editing Hirst at 5:01pm 6th July 2011 sheet of glass lol
Ian Bell at 8:43am 6th July 2011 I would not want the iPhone to get much thinner. Remember how tiny those Pantech phones are/were? They were too small to use effectively! And as a result barely anyone bought them.
Mike Dunn at 8:31am 6th July 2011 That's one of the better looking concepts I've seen. I really hope the back isn't arched like that though, I really hated the back for the 3g/s' curved back.
horiah00 at 8:28am 6th July 2011 If the pictures are real, then the profile of this iPhone lamely copies the famous sculpture "Bird in Space" by the Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi. Just google "brancusi bird in space" and you'll see what I am talking about. Or check the Museum of Modern Art website at http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_.... There's also a funny story about this sculpture: in 1926-1927, when the artist wanted to bring the sculpture in the US to exhibit it in an art gallery, the US Customs did not accept it was a work of art and wanted to impose custom duties for manufactured metal objects - works of art were not being taxed normally. They had to go to court and a judge decided it was indeed a work of art. And boy was the judge right! The sculpture sold in 2005 for a record $27.5 MILLION dollars. I wonder if copying works of art falls under the same category as copying design elements - you know, the kind of claims that Apple brings against Samsung wink:).
1. Ian Bell at 8:42am 6th July 2011 Wow great find, I would agree that Apple would be copying them. My guess is that since this is a concept, it was some bozo design student trying to do a mockup and sending it out to the press as his own.
2. Jeffrey Van Camp at 10:37am 6th July 2011 This is not an official leaked shot. It is merely another possible rendition. The actual iPhone will likely look nothing like this.