Just so you know, the white iPhone 4 was supposed to be released back in June 2010. Design and manufacturing complications are what Apple is saying that caused for such a delay. Earlier test models resulted in blurry photos when the flash was used and proximity sensor triggers were disrupted because of the white color.
So what’s the big deal with the new white iPhone 4? Is it because Apple has been promising the new phone since last year? Is it because it looks cooler? Is it because it has more capabilities than the black iPhone? Is everyone just buying it because so much momentum has been built over the last few months?
Just look here:
Hardware
The result of the delays is that the white iPhone 4 hits the market some 10 months after the black iPhone 4. And that means where the iPhone 4 hardware, with its retina display, external stainless steel antenna band, double sided glass were state-of-the-art of smartphones, now faces competition that’s had almost a year to catchup.
Getting white right
The white iPhone 4 looks good. It looks like an iPhone 4 but not exactly like an iPhone 4 rendered white. There’s the noticeable difference with the proximity sensor (we’ll get to that later) but there’s a qualitative difference about the white glass overall as well. Where the black iPhone 4 looks like its made of black glass, the white iPhone 4 looks like its coated in white glass. It’s a subtle difference but it’s noticeable around the edges. It could be something to do with achieving opacity with the white color, a UV coating made necessary to protect the color, or something that’s just more apparent with the white iPhone 4, it’s there.
Proximity sensor
The iPhone 4 proximity sensor has been a challenge for Apple, with iOS 4.1 addressing it with a bug fix but problems persisting for many users. The white iPhone 4 was rumored to have more trouble, the color interfering to the degree Apple initially had a series of perforations over the sensor, an almost silver-looking grid. The release version has switched that for a black patch, presumably to allow even better sensing.
Camera
Another rumor surrounding the white iPhone 4 delay concerned light leakage with the camera and LED flash. If that was the case with prototypes, there’s no evidence of it in the release model. Pictures taken with the 5mp camera look just as good as those taken with the black iPhone 4. Here are some example, the first three with HDR, the second 3 with the LED flash.
Accessory compatibility
ith the exception of iphone 4 cases, all existing iPhone 4 accessories — cables, chargers, headsets, and Bluetooth, should work the same with the new white iPhone 4 as they did with the previously released black iPhone 4.
However, the white iPhone 4 — at least the first batch released so far — seem to be 0.2mm thicker than the black iPhone 4. Because of that ever-so-slight difference in thickness, you’ll need to pay special attention to
iPhone 4 case.
So, some 10 months later, is the white iPhone 4 worth getting?
If you don’t need an iPhone now, or in the next few months, then you can consider waiting on the next-generation iPhone 5, which will likely launch this fall. It will likely have the new Apple A5 processor, like
iPad 2 case, and perhaps other new features as well.
