iPhone 3G: Spy shots from around the world [updated]
[Update: The real thing, at right, taken from Apple's website after the keynote. The 8BG model comes only in black; the 16 GB also comes in white.]
With only a couple of days to go before Steve Jobs’ June 9 keynote — and with millions of 3G iPhones reportedly shipped and ready to sell — it’s a miracle that nobody outside a small circle of loyal employees, NDA-bound suppliers and (we presume) a few hand-picked reporters has set eyes on one.
Or maybe we have. Since early April, the Apple rumor mill has been steadily grinding out specs and spy photos purporting to represent the new iPhone. Most are surely red herrings or Photoshop creations. But what if one of them is real?
Just in case, here’s a collection of the images that have come across my desk over the past few months. If you’ve seen more — or better — send me the links, and I’ll pop them in. [Subscribers: click here to see what I'm talking about.]
April 3: U.S. iPodObserver.com. This one with a shiny black plastic back looked promising for a couple weeks…
April 17: U.S. winandmac.com. A shot of one of the many iPhone cases available for sale in Hong Kong.
April 30: U.S. iLounge. Third-party manufacturers have already started building products using the specs in the diagram below, according to iLounge. “Photographs matching these details are apparently authentic,” says iLounge’s Jeremy Horwitz, “ones that do not, are not.”
May 5: China, WeiPhone.com. This is the first of several white 3G iPhone spy shots. Note the similarity of the second image to the iLounge specs above.
May 19: U.S. Mobilewhack.com. These crisp, professionally produced images are white and rounded, but lack some of the details that have become conventional wisdom, like the Apple logo and the distinctive base.
May 26: Greece, iphonehellas.gr. These shots, formatted to resemble an Apple ad, bear little resemblance to any of the others, but they do pick up the iLounge color scheme.
May 27: The Netherlands, iPhoneclub.nl. Another white iPhone entry, this one from the Netherlands.
June 1: U.S. iPhone Atlas. This matte-black version was allegedly obtained last week during the filming of a 3G iPhone commercial at Apple’s Fifth Ave store in New York City, but Arnold Kim of MacRumors points out that it’s actually a custom iPhone that’s been knocking around since last December. See here.
June 2: U.S. Cult of Mac. Not a spy shot, but rather Leander Kahney’s way of showing what an iPhone that’s 22% thinner looks like.
June 6: U.S. CrunchGear. Taken from what looks like an Apple or AT&T promotional brochure, this collection of images has the ring of truth. Either that or the fakes are getting more sophisticated.
Those are the spy shots I’ve seen. Take them all with a grain of salt and note that none has yet been pulled off the Web by Apple (AAPL) legal.
June 9: U.S. Apple.com. The real thing. It goes on sale on Wednesday, July 11, for $199 (8GB) and $299 (16GB).
[Images reposted by kind permission of the Mac Observer, iLounge, MobileWhack, iphonehellas, iPhoneclub, CrunchGear and Engadget.]
I bought a knockoff from china. my dumba$$ thought it was the real thing but there is no way. Is it still possible to get a phone plan with this?
all of you must now that newest mobile phone and computers. come first out in Asia. second in place Europe and rest of world
FAKE!!!! Engadget and Gizmodo already pointed out that the last photo is a fake. Anyone could tell because there is no camera on both sides….only on the back. Thus you can not do video calls like is suggested in the first forward facing photo. FAKE!!!!!
All we need to know is its 3G, but how about 4.5G being rolled out in Asia?
I’ll just keep the bootleg that I bought from china until I see something promissing.
April 3 version look very promising…just the back I already like it. btw, when IPhone1 will officially arrive Asia?
This is not the iPhone 2.0… The new iPhone will do video conference… how will this happen with the camera on the back?
Seriously, this is on the front page of CNN?
And whats the problem? I’m glad they pointed me this way. Do you work for Micro$oft?
Looking forward to seeing the 3G iPhone in action!
Glen, i suggest you wait a year more for the iphone 4.0 ..haha
Seriously, this is on the front page of CNN? A gadget-blog maybe, but common, its a collection of maybe-photos of maybe the iphone 2…the article is a clear example of how news agency are just part of the advertising machine. Where are the maybe-pictures of Paris Hilton’s love child?
All I’m lacking in my iPhone is the ability to record voice memos – it would be perfect with that feature
I want to marry my iPhone.
Seems like most of the ‘hype’ is about “oh, pretty colors” and “oh, rounded corners”.
Useless info.
I’m trying to decide whether to get the iPhone 2.0 or wait a year for iPhone 3.0.
ALTERNATIVE THEORY: Perhaps the reason it is a digital camera pic of a computer screen is because the images were on the manager’s comp screen at an Apple store, and an employee quickly snapped the pics when no one was looking. Maybe the files were protected so no one could copy or download them. The camera was the only option.
To the person who said “i wonder how planes fly”- the antennas are on the outside of the plane.
AT&T outlets are showing current iPhones as ‘Temporarily out of stock’. I wonder why …?
The white May 5th pic looks the most real to me. It matches the iLounge connector diagram and cross-section profile. Also, it would be extremely hard to fake the back curvature with photoshop in the bottom photo. The subtle shading and the straight black out-of-focus line at the top of the picture would make it very hard to re-profile the rounded edges. I think that’s the real deal.
Look at the Crunchgear pic. Does the guy in the video conference REALLY look like the kind of guy Apple would put in an ad?
I am debating whether i should get one now or wait for the new one to come.
I have an iphone, and other than the head phone jack, I love it. The softwear update that enabled google maps to triangulate location was a great upgrade. I would would be interesred to see if the 3G will have the ability to take video shots along with the stills now available.
All the 3G specs and firmware fixes forthcoming anybody know if this thing will actually support stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)?
Hmmmm…aluminum interferes with radio reception? I Wonder how jets fly??
The rumors are it will be $200 – $250 which is hard for me to believe until I see it! I’m definitely picking up one, regardless.
I read somewhere that the aluminum backing on the original iPhone was the number one reason for the extremely bad reception. They chose a ceramic/plastic mix that actually enhances the antenna on the 3G iPhone and it will drastically improve call quality, reception and reduce dropped calls.
Aluminum is one of the main metals that interfere with electronic waves, signals and transmission… what was Apple thinking with the original iPhone’s backside?! That’s where the antenna is!
looks like apple legal got ahold of some of the images. plus apple is known to spread rumors ahead of product releases to confuse the rumor mill. dont believe anything until the last word of the keynote on monday.
In all honesty, if you signed an NDA, and an actual photo of the new iPhone came across your desk, chances are you wouldn’t publish the one. Whats the point of asking peeps to send them, other then to bring up the rumors and increase circulation/increase ad revenue?
let’s hope they fixed the horrible headphone jack.
They all seem nice in pictures. What I want to know is have the specs. changed? Will they be more open in a google androidish way? Will it offer more if possible? And will it still maintain a living wage price? I wouldn’t mind seeing a live video stream option that can be used through WiFi or bluetooth even! But i am a novice and i know little, so i spit on me, bad me bad me.
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Silicon Valley veterans like to joke that Steve Jobs must be surrounded by a reality distortion field; if you get too close to him, you start to believe what he's saying. Thanks to the success of the iPod, the launch of the iPhone and the renewed interest in the Mac, Apple has made believers out of millions of customers - and made a lot of investors rich. But Philip Elmer-DeWitt believes that an ounce of skepticism never hurts when writing about the company. He should know. He's been covering Apple - and watching Steve Jobs operate - since 1982, first for Time Magazine, then for Business 2.0, and now for Fortune.
Uh, the one labeled exo-mask is a genuine picture of a 3G CASE! Which is why there is no logo. But it did come out early and was based on insider info.