Lost iPhone Reveals Hardware Improvements
The internet was a-buzz this weekend after Gizmodo got its hands on what seems to be a genuine prototype fourth generation (4G) iPhone. The device was “left in a bar in Redwood City” and acquired by the gadget site for $5,000.

Apple was able to wipe the phone remotely before anyone could test it out, but the site’s editors quickly disassembled it to discover its new hardware components. Their efforts suggest that the 4G iPhone will have several long-asked-for new features.
- Longer battery life: Many of the components inside the phone had been miniaturized to make room for a battery that’s about 16% bigger than the current one.
- A better screen: The screen on the new device is about the same size as the current one (or a little smaller), but it has twice the resolution–960x640 pixels.
- A micro-sim: Like the iPad, the next iPhone will use a smaller type of mobile phone chip called a MicroSIM. The new format has more on-chip storage, requires less physical space and will also make it difficult to run an iPhone on a non-approved network.
- A second camera: Presumably this will be for making mobile video calls via iChat. This makes sense since there are also numerous references to iChat in the latest iPhone OS code.
- A better first camera, and a flash: A common complaint about the iPhone’s camera is the quality of the photographs it takes in low light. A new and improved camera and a flash will address this.
Getting hold of the device is remarkable given Apple’s paranoid attitude towards secrecy. Steve Jobs has reportedly even called to ask for it back.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
Robot vacuum companies say your images are safe, but a sprawling global supply chain for data from our devices creates risk.
A startup says it’s begun releasing particles into the atmosphere, in an effort to tweak the climate
Make Sunsets is already attempting to earn revenue for geoengineering, a move likely to provoke widespread criticism.
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2023
These exclusive satellite images show that Saudi Arabia’s sci-fi megacity is well underway
Weirdly, any recent work on The Line doesn’t show up on Google Maps. But we got the images anyway.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.