Aussie Sonny Dickson gets his hands on the 5.5-inch chassis

Jun 16, 2014 12:11 GMT  ·  By

After months of leakage, the 4.7-inch iPhone has finally handed the stage to the 5.5-inch model. For the first time ever, the case of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 model has been leaked in photos. Apple is expected to launch the phablet in September.

A couple of tweets signed Sonny Dickson show comparison shots between the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the larger model, which reportedly boasts a 5.5-inch display. The 5.5-inch model is considerably larger than the 4.7-inch version.

The current-selling models have 4-inch displays. These will look like specks of dust compared to the 5.5-inch phablet.

This leak confirms many of the design discrepancies between the current models and the next-generation iPhones. For example, the volume buttons will switch from round to pill-shaped and the power/sleep button will move from the upper side of the phone to the right side, for easier access with one hand.

The camera module will gain a metal ring around the lens and the True Tone LED flash appears to be gone in the iPhone 6. The overall form factor is much slimmer and much wider and taller, but a few design elements will be ported over almost unchanged.

The face of the phone will look almost identical to the iPhones that are in circulation today. A strange hole appears in Dickson’s photos near the FaceTime camera on the front of the 5.5-inch model. Some say it’s a birth defect, others think Apple wants to have a third mic on the front of the device (something that is actually very unlikely).

One of the leaked photos shows a strange opening near the front-facing FaceTime camera, such as a relocated and / or third microphone
One of the leaked photos shows a strange opening near the front-facing FaceTime camera, such as a relocated and / or third microphone
One more similarity is the antenna cutouts on the back of the two phones. A design feature borrowed from iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s, these two stripes act as windows for the radio waves going in and out of the phone.

Although colored the same as the entire device, those two stripes are actually made from a different material than the rest of the phone (likely plastic or something else that lets radio waves pass through with ease).

Not much else can be made out from these images, but the leak is informative nonetheless. Kudos to Dickson for sharing with the rest of the world on Twitter, and we’ll be waiting anxiously for his next leak, which will arrive without fail in the next days or weeks.

In the meantime, let us know what you think of Apple’s new design direction in the comments section below.

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iPhone 6 leak
One of the leaked photos shows a strange opening near the front-facing FaceTime camera, such as a relocated and / or third microphone
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