Germans create physical iPhone 5 prototype based on design rumors

By Andrew Couts September 29, 2011

iphone-5-teaser1 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

We won’t know until Tuesday what Apple’s next iPhone will look like in real life, not officially, at least. But if the rumors or true, we might just have a sneak peek thanks to some highly motivated Germans. The gadget heads at Germany-based technology website Giga.de have created their own iPhone 5 prototype based on a variety of iPhone 5 rumors. That’s right, they made an actual iPhone 5 – or at least something that might look just like one.

The Giga team created a computer mockup based upon “CAD designs, hardware components, several leaked hints, cases and recent, believable mockups,” according to a post on the sit. Their device was made using the same process that’s used to create the iPad, they say, which includes machining the rounded-edge back plate from a solid block of aluminum, which they later treated with glass pearls to give it “the same slightly rough touch” as the iPad.

Just as the rumors dictate, the iPhone 5 mock-up is slightly wider (59.94 mm vs 58.66 mm) and slightly shorter (109.98 mm vs 115.2 mm) than the iPhone 4. It also has the tapered “tear drop” shape we’ve been hearing so much about, with a 6.86 mm thickness at the top, going down to 5.33 mm at the bottom. The new shape gives the iPhone 5 prototype a screen size of about 4 inches, as opposed to the 3.5-inch display of the iPhone 4.

Also included in the iPhone 5 mockup is a newly-designed home button, which isn’t really a “button” at all. Instead, the Giga crew replaced it with an elongated space that could, theoretically, function as a touchpad that functions similarly to the touchscreen – a detail some say the iPhone 5 will have. The phone does lack a camera and LED flash because little has been said about the form these will take, though we are nearly certain the camera will have an 8-megapixel sensor.

Of course, the mockup doesn’t actually work – so there’s little chance Apple will come after them for patent infringement, or any other such nonsense. But this does give us a very good idea of what Apple will unveil at its event on Tuesday – you know, if the rumors are true.

If this is what the iPhone 5 will look like, would you buy one?

Watch a (sub-titled) video of the Giga iPhone 5 prototype, and check out more photos, below:

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Check out a lot more pictures of the prototype at Giga.de, here.

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