Freshly leaked images of the metal rear case of the iPhone 6 hint that Apple may finally have given in to the pressure of joining the phablet trend and is planning to launch its next generation smartphone with a bigger screen. The current model has a fairly small display of just 4 inches in keeping with the brand’s policy of sticking to sizes that allow for one-hand operation.
It looks like Apple will be throwing this idea out of the window when the iPhone 6 is released. There are rumors that the company will introduce a 4.7-inch iPhone this September and put a gap of a few weeks or months before letting out a 5.5-inch model. Our gut instincts are making it hard for us to swallow these unconfirmed stories, and we think it’s more likely that the 4.7-inch one will be the biggest iOS handset we’ll see this year.
As for the leaked images which were post on Nowhereelse.fr, they show the inside and outside portion of the iPhone 6’s rear casing as well as side views of the same. Can you spot the major difference? You can see a cutout of the Apple logo on the metal skeleton, something the company has never done for its handsets, though the iPads and the newest iPad mini have been put through this treatment.
Mac Rumors points out that the original iPad had antennas placed in the logo region so as to smooth over signal drops. So Apple may possibly be pulling this move for reasons beyond aesthetics. Another interesting change is the hole for the power button which has apparently been shifted to the side to reduce the difficulty of accessing it with one hand when operating the allegedly larger-screen phone.
The rest of the cutouts on the metal rear shell of the iPhone 6 cover those for the mute botton, longer volume rockers, camera lens, flash, mic and SIM card tray. There’s no way to tell if the leaked photos are genuine or not, though the metal casing does appear nicely finished.