Photos of alleged manufacturing molds for the iPhone 6 leaked over the weekend, indicating the new device will sport a larger, 4.7-inch display.
While the manufacturing mold photos left it unclear as to the size of the device body it would yield, a new photo shared by Nowhereelse.fr [Google Translate] shows a nearly identical mold with an iPhone 4s placed next to it for comparison. Calculations based on the comparison suggest that the mold could in fact yield a device with a display of roughly 4.7 inches, in line with the rumored size for the smaller of the two iPhone 6 models.
The shape of the mold is tapered, which adds a bit of uncertainty to the authenticity of the molds. However Nowhereelse.fr believes additional pieces are yet to be attached to the mold which would indicated the iPhone’s body would be formed at a wider portion of the mold depression.
“Some of the holes that were drilled into the block in fact serve to fix the inserts which will form a crude which is then machined housing (finishes) using a CNC milling machine. Thus, and assuming that my theory is correct, the dimensions of the box will be determined by the widest part and not the bottom of the mold.
“In this assumption, I started to resize the photo to scale against me in reference to the size of the iPhone 4s. I then measured the dimensions of the widest part of the mold which is approximately 138mm long by 64mm wide.”
As seen below, Nowhereelse.fr superimposed and resized an iPhone 5s image onto the mold and aligned it with the wider part of the depression. By doing so, it determined the device’s screen would be Approximately 4.7-inches diagonally.
The iPhone 6 should launch later this year, with a rumored 4.7-inch model, followed a few months later by a larger 5.5-inch model. Analyst Peter Misek reported today that Apple is pushing carriers for a $100 price increase for the iPhone 6.
