14 DAY TRIAL // Notorious for its Apple product teardowns, iFixit has weighed in on the prototype iPhone that Gizmodo got hold of for the reported sum of $5,000. During its “stay” with the Gawker Media-owned tech site, the device underwent a much-expected teardown, which revealed some very different inner workings, compared with current-generation devices. The phone also seems to be close to the finished product, IFixit says.
Cult of Mac emailed iFixit CEO, Kyle Wiens, with some questions about Gizmodo’s teardown. He replied saying the following: Eh… the photos are so bad.
Gizmodo emailed me asking the same thing.
I asked them why they didn’t remove the (very removable) EMI shields.
It’s closer to production than I was expecting. I’d say this thing is very very close.
What sucks for Apple is if they have to cut features for some reason. Of course the prototypes would have all the features they’re considering (flash, camera, etc.). But realities force feature removal at the last minute, like they did with the iPod Touch. I’m sure the iPod Touch prototypes had cameras in them.
Softpedia note
To make matters even worse, if Apple itself hasn’t orchestrated all this, the leak will cost it greatly in terms of building up hype for the new-generation gadget. Apple’s prototype iPhone indeed looks production-ready. With an entire world now aware of what’s coming out of Cupertino this summer, the Steve Jobs keynote won’t be half as exciting as it should be. And Apple relies on this greatly.
The Apple keynote address is one of the key ingredients in Apple’s marketing strategy. Apple (Steve Jobs) knows just what to demo about a device on stage to make it look great. The pictures Gizmodo has been showing off are sure to affect that impact on the fanbase, should Apple be forced to drop one of the features seen on this prototype device.
