'Dummy' models of the next iPhone are out in the wild - here's what Apple's iPhone 11 will likely look like
Several prominent tech YouTubers, including Marques Brownlee (a.k.a. "MKBHD"), Lewis Hilstenteger of Unbox Therapy, and Dave Lee have all gotten their hands on the iPhone 11 dummy models.
All of these dummy models come from China, although Brownlee was the only one who cited his source: his devices came courtesy of Sonny Dickson, a prolific product leaker based out of Australia. He's been leaking photos of iPhone cases and dummy models for years now.
According to everyone who has the dummy models, it looks like Apple is once again preparing three new iPhones this year: the successors to the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max.
Hopefully Apple drops the confusing Roman-numeral-and-English-letter name combination for its iPhones — lots of people still don't know how to pronounce the iPhone XR and iPhone XS, even though Apple insists it's pronounced "ten-arr" and "ten-ess" — and calls these phones the iPhone 11, iPhone 11R, and iPhone 11 Max.
By most accounts, it sounds like the design of the iPhone will look like last year's phone, which looked like the prior-year phone. People may criticize Apple for essentially milking three different products out of a single design.
The biggest and most obvious change, of course, is the rear-facing camera system. By all accounts, Apple is incorporating a three-lens system — adding a super-wide lens for the first time — to the iPhone. How Apple will use this new hardware to create novel software experiences has yet to be seen.
When you compare the iPhone 11 dummy models to the current iPhone XS, it looks like Apple is simply adding a super-wide camera to the already-existing infrastructure, which consists of a regular wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens for zooming.
Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy had a separate custom-made version of the iPhone 11 built based off a separate set of dimensions and rumors he believes are more accurate, and it looks like that phone design could look somewhat different than the other dummy models.
On Hilsenteger's model, it looks like the rear-camera system is actually more even across the back of the phone, and designed to look more seamless. The other iPhone 11 dummies appear to have a big black rear-camera module, regardless of the rest of the phone's color.
Apple blogger Benjamin Mayo believes Hilsenteger's dummy phone is the same one that's lined up with past rumors and leaks, and is, in fact, the real design of the iPhone 11. Of course, nothing is official until Apple reveals the new design, likely in September.
Source: Twitter
The design of this phone is based on rumors and schematics from Steve Hemmerstoffer, also known as "OnLeaks," who's one of the most prolific smartphone leakers working today.
Hilsenteger's iPhone 11 dummy looks almost identical to a rendering from leaker Ice Universe in January, who created a computer image of the next iPhone based off rumors and leaked schematics.
When you compare Hilsenteger's iPhone 11 dummy with the other models floating around, you can see some other subtle differences. Aside from the rear camera system, the other iPhone 11 has a new circular mute switch, a departure from the tray-like switch.
While this new iPhone design may look slightly different from the past couple of years, here's hoping Apple adopts a more original design for next year's phone, which may support the new 5G wireless standard for the first time.
If you want to see these iPhone 11 dummy models in action, I highly recommend watching these videos. Here's Marques Brownlee's video ...
... here's Dave Lee's video on the iPhone 11 dummy models ...
... and here's Unbox Therapy's video on the same subject. We'll know for sure if any of these dummy models are accurate when Apple unveils its next iPhones in the fall.
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