Apple Could Go With Aluminum Back for iPhone 5

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Apple might be considering a move from glass to aluminum for the next version of the iPhone, sources say. The original iPhone had an aluminum back, which was subsequently replaced by plastic for the iPhone 3G and 3GS, and then by glass with the iPhone 4.

Taiwan’s Economic Daily News is the source of the new report, which relies on information it received from a Chinese manufacturing source. The aluminum back was originally abandoned to allow for better wireless and cellular connectivity. Advances in antenna design might have helped make that a non-issue.

The report claims the iPhone 5’s antenna will be housed in the Apple logo on the back of the new iPhone, just like Wi-Fi does right now on the iPad. It’s worth noting that even in iPad 2, cellular signals require the Wi-Fi + 3G model iPad to have a plastic section on the back cover to allow for unencumbered transmission, but Apple may have found a way around this limitation for the smaller device. As it showed with the iPhone 4, it’s not shy about experimenting with antenna design.

The reason for the switch in materials, according to the report, is that the glass was difficult to paint (hence the white iPhone’s delay) and that the glass adds considerable weight to the device. Aluminum would allow for a much lighter and slimmer design, much like the iPod touch or the iPad 2.

The move makes sense; Apple would probably like to achieve a greater degree of visual similarity between its iOS devices, since that could help them stay grouped together in the minds of consumers and increase the halo effect, whereby the purchase of one type of device leads to the purchase of another. It could also help Apple distance itself from the steel wraparound antenna design of the iPhone 4, which caused (and continues to cause) signal attenuation problems that have resulted in bad press. A sleeker device could also help Apple keep a hold on its claim of offering “the thinnest smartphone ever” in its advertising campaigns.

What do you think? Does a return to aluminum make sense for the iPhone?

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