iPhone 4
4
reported with AT&T and SoftBank, who suspended advance sales of the iPhone 4 as demand threatened to exceed supply. Retail stores were also unable to complete pre-order transactions due to the servers crashing. Apple and its partner carriers received 600,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4 in the first 24 hours, the largest number of pre-orders Apple has received in a single day for any device. Engadget reported that at 20:30 UTC, all iPhone 4 pre-order suppliers had sold out. On June 21, Apple sent an email to their preorder customers, showing a delivery date one day early, on June 23. The iPhone 4 features a redesigned structure, designed by Jonathan Ive. Most notably, the bulges of the back panel as
Design
well as the band between the front and back are gone and have been replaced with flattened surfaces. The redesign reflects the utilitarianism and uniformity of existing Apple products, such as the iPad and the iMac. The only remnant of the previous generations of iPhone is the general layout of the device; the distinctive metal structure of the iPhone 4 is more reminiscent of the 3G and 3GS. The overall dimensions of the iPhone 4 have been reduced from its predecessor. It is 4.5 inches (110 mm) high, 2.31 inches (59 mm) wide, and 0.37 inches (9.4 mm) deep, compared to the 3GS, which is 4.55 inches (116 mm) high, 2.44 inches (62 mm) wide, and 0.48 inches (12 mm) deep; it is 24% thinner than the iPhone 3GS. Steve Jobs claims that it is “the thinnest smartphone on the planet.” The iPhone 4 is structured around a stainless steel frame which both acts as the primary structure for the device, and additionally acts as the iPhone 4's antennae. The stainless steel enclosure features three slits that divide the band into three sections; the left section of band acts as the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS antenna, and the right and lower bands sections act as the antenna for GSM and UMTS connectivity. There is some debate as to whether or not this causes issues with signal strength and availability. The act of touching the antenna with an un-gloved hand while standing on the ground potentially grounds the signal. The internal components are situated between two panels of aluminosilicate glass, described by Apple as being "chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer