X

More iPhone 5 part leaks compare thickness to 4S

Apple's next iPhone appears to be noticeably thinner than its predecessor based on newly-leaked photos.

Josh Lowensohn Former Senior Writer
Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
Josh Lowensohn
2 min read
A purportedly assembled version of Apple's next iPhone (left) next to the iPhone 4S (right).
A purportedly assembled version of Apple's next iPhone (left) next to the iPhone 4S (right). iResq

If leaks are true, a feature Apple is sure to tout on its next smartphone is thickness. But just how will Apple's latest compare with iPhones of yore?

We got some idea of that from French blog Nowhereelse.fr, which stacked it up against an iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS in photos last week. Today online repair site iResQ, which has provided numerous photos of what it says are pre-release components, has a fully assembled iPhone 5 (minus a few pieces) right next to an iPhone 4S.

Three of the four side-by-side shots show a definitive difference in thickness, while a fourth shows the taller design on the sixth-generation model. All told the difference ends up being about the thickness of one entire side of glass from the iPhone 4S, iResQ claims.

"Here is an easy way to imagine the thickness of the iPhone 5: remove the glass backplate from your iPhone 4/4S and there you go!" the site says (pro tip: you could also use your imagination or look at the above photo).

Diminishing thickness continues to be one of the many specs that smartphone makers thump in an increasingly competitive market. Apple's iPhone 4 held the title of slimmest smartphone but was knocked off by Huawei's Ascend P1S, then the Oppo Finder, and the ZTE Athena.

The photos are just the latest in a series that show off the next iPhone inside and out. More recently there was a video of what was said to be a fully-assembled prototype being turned on but not loading up to the iPhone's home screen, followed up by a separate video earlier todaythat got just one step beyond that.

Apple is largely expected to debut the hardware at its news event next week. The company sent out invites yesterday.

Watch this: Apple sends out invites for likely iPhone 5 event