New iPhone concept is exactly where we'd like to see Apple go.

Chauncey Dupree
|
February 19, 2009
|
Share

Shrink the device but keep the screen the same size and what do you get?  Slightly bigger than a credit card.  We'll take 10!

from Falco Walde in Germany

Comments (42)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 8:51am

Hell yeah! I would buy that to replace my iPod Touch 16gb 2g any day!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 8:52am

Interesting... there's a camera button on the home screen, yet no camera on the back of the iPhone :)

Looks like someone slipped-up.

admin | February 19, 2009 - 8:54am

there is a magic camera behind the screen.  Don't youread the patent applications?!

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:21pm

So you mean to say that in order to take a picture I'd have to flip the phone around and take a picture with the LCD?

Indeed I do read the patents, but I tend to leave the Kool-Aid at home.

Paz (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:15am

iChat on the iPhone.

Seems totally obvious and a killer app.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:23pm

How do you take pictures of objects/scenery/people?

Or is this too difficult a question to answer/look into?

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:03am

I wonder if the circle on the top is a mini projector :)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 10:18am

or... it's just the headphone jack... way to go

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:12pm

The headphone hole would be at the bottom, along with the microUSB port. Neither would be nessecary though: wireless syncing and wireless headsets are a no-brainer, do you think it will have hologram viewing support? Just goes to show you how far yet we have to go in technology :)

Kev Orng (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:18am

They should do exactly this with the Macbook. Then we'd have... a tablet!

Limeybloke (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 4:55pm

Oh please, if only.

Look everyone's been asking for a tablet for the last 6 years . . .

Just give up hope, I did.

You should know very well by now if someone comes up with a concept on line that they SHOULD make and that everyone says they will buy then that is categorically the one thing they WON'T do.

iMacs where the screen comes off to be a tablet, PDAs before the iPhone, Mid-sized towers, laptops with bays like the black G3 PBs, the list goes on . . .

*sigh*

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:27am

apple has lost their innovative edge. don't expect any changes to the iphone.

MadDog (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:40am

...eck are you blathering about?

yayer13 | February 19, 2009 - 9:46am

 +1 on the loss of innovation

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:29am

where the hell is the home button. but, way to go buddy.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 10:23am

that could easily be replaced with a gesture or side button. way to jump down someones throat buddy. jesus.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 1:16pm

Don't say Jesus' name like that please.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 5:52pm

Jesus is my name. I was signing my post. Don't think that everyone with the name Jesus is a deity. You have a very Anglo way of looking at the world.

Benjamin Dobson | February 22, 2009 - 3:51am

Not a gesture. What is it crashes?

Luke Bornheimer (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:31am

First, how exactly would you get Home, there's no room for the home button!

Also, try playing a game on the iPhone and not cover any of the black areas that make up the home button and earpiece area. You can't do it! Now imagine if you took those away.... then your fingers are covering the screen.

This wouldn't work, but its a nice picture and I like the idea of getting slimmer, but this needs some work.

JohnnyK (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 9:45am

I thought the same thing, you need some bevel to hold on to. The home button could be smaller and placed on the side of the phone or along the bottom as it is. Otherwise, the slimness and at least a smaller bevel is where I'd like to see the iPhone go.

respect (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 10:22am

Return to home by squeezing the phone would be cool. But finding the right balance to avoid accidental going to home and not squeezing too hard may be difficult.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 20, 2009 - 8:13am

I digress. I squeze my iPhone already, particularly when I'm pissed at it for loading so slowly. Squeezing to go home would be a bad thing. No, to get home would have to take a gesture.

noggin' (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 10:56am

what kind of web page can you see on something the size of a credit card? plus, where do you grasp the device? it's too thin.

look, Apple will stick to roughly the same form factor (size) of the current iPhone. it didn't change much between 2g & 3g, and it won't change radically for some time. this is for several reasons...

1. decreased internal component differences (the new line of macbooks are a perfect example) saves on cost
2. the current size is ideal for both min size in-hand, and max for portability
3. any different models produced (say a basic & pro models) will be distinguished on features/specs, and not major structural or design elements.

as i mentioned before, Apple is more likely to:

1.introduce an 8GB flat/matte black-back iPhone with the current specs, but at a considerably lower price (and hopefully not tied to a specific carrier)

2. introduce an iPhone Pro model with an enhanced case design, faster processor, increased memory capacities, and better camera specs... all at the same price points. The Pro model should DEFINITELY be open for use on any carrier.

terry (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 2:43pm

"Thu, 02/19/2009 - 10:56 — noggin' (not verified)
what kind of web page can you see on something the size of a credit card?"

extra points for reading the story so carefully: "Shrink the device but KEEP THE SCREEN THE SAME SIZE (emphasis mine) and what do you get? Slightly bigger than a credit card. "--from the first sentence of the article.

what size screen were you reading the article on? ;)

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 7:49pm

The screen on an iPhone is comparable to that of a credit card...the display actually is slightly shorter than the card itself, and shares a similar width...

FSFunky (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 11:05am

Yeah, it looks cool, doesn't it? Now imagine trying to hold it, oh, now it kind of seems to be a bit awkward.

The beauty of Apple is combining great design with ease of use and ergonomics. Not making it look cool for the sake of looking cool.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 20, 2009 - 8:16am

yeah, thats what i used to think too, and then apple came out with the new MacBooks with glossy screens and no FireWire 400.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 11:28am

That thing looks like it'd be awkward as hell in your hand. And to those who said Apple has lost its innovative edge: Yeah, that's why everybody is STILL trying to catch up and constantly copying everything Apple does, and usually not as well done as Apple does it.

9to5Mac Noob (not verified) | February 19, 2009 - 11:31am

Does the battery and electronics come in a separate box ?