The iPhone 4 - Purportedly genuine prototype appears online

Apple recently unveiled their newest mobile phone operating system, the iPhone OS 4.0, and although it will be available to download and install in previous models of the iPhone there is undoubtedly one phone in which it is guaranteed to make a bigger stir: in the newest version of the iPhone set to be announced in the summer. However, while users all round the world had seen the potential of the iPhone OS 4.0 they had not, until today, seen what the phone might actually look like.

However, that situation has now changed, as technology website Gizmodo has managed to obtain what is purported to be an actual prototype of the next iPhone, which is rumoured to be called, according to various sources, the iPhone 4G or the iPhone HD.

What they have in their possession is alleged to be a lost prototype of the next iPhone, which does tie in well with the fact that Apple have gone on record to say that one of their prototype mobile phones had gone missing after being lost by an employee. While earlier leaked photos had claimed to be of the next iPhone, this latest news by Gizmodo does seem to be more likely to be genuine. Instead of grainy, out of focus photographs, the technology news site has posted a series of clear images, and have taken the time to open the casing of the purported iPhone 4G prototype, both to test the veracity of the device and to see, if it is genuine, exactly what is new.

The first new fact about the iPhone 4G, and one which does tend to lend credence to the idea of it being a prototype for the new phone, is that unlike previous iPhone models such as the iPhone 3GS, it does not have a traditional SIM card slot. Instead, it uses the new miniSIM format, found in the upcoming 3G iPad, a format which is most definitely not used in previous iPhones. As it is too early for the 2011 model to have been developed, then it seems logical that this must therefore be the 2010 model of the iPhone.

What is also clear is that the design has also been changed and the potential new incarnation of the iPhone has an industrial design which is more in line with that of the iPad. The curved back of previous iPhones is gone, to be replaced by an aluminium surround on the sides of the phone and a shiny black flat back panel, which seems to be made of some kind of glass or ceramic. It is worth noting that Apple recently patented a new ceramic casing for wireless devices, which is more transparent to the signals, causing less interference, and leading to a better signal. Perhaps the next iPhone will be the first phone to feature this new ceramic casing?

While the potential new design is a departure from previous iPhones, it does tie in very neatly with the design ethos of the iPad, and as such, it seems likely to be genuine. After opening the case, it as also found that everything was put together far too snugly and professionally for it to have been an obvious fake. This does not, of course, rule out the possibility of it being a stunt, but it does seem likely that this may be the genuine article and, as such, that the next iPhone will be a beautiful mobile phone.