Cupertino, CA – Just hours before Apple’s long awaited announcement, in which the tech giant is expected to debut its iPhone 6 and other generational refreshes, a leaked spy image has surfaced across the news agencies and social media channels. It is not clear who captured, or initially published the picture, but mobile bloggers suspect the product image was leaked by one of the company’s China-based operators.
Though the image offers only one angle of the unit, it shows a device with what appears to be a string. The unit in the picture also has four wheels and a rotary dial, features that are non-existent in any of the iPhone’s predecessors.
Mark Hammitsch, editor of EyeMobilerReviews says observers should exercise cautious optimism when qualifying the leaked photo.
“The prototype in the picture has four wheels, which clearly lends to the fact that it is a ‘mobile’ device… and it seems to be constantly smiling – which may be a sneak peek into emojis being a feature embedded in the iOS,” said Hammitsch. “Not sure what to think, but my two-year-old is going nuts over it.”
The photo of the alleged new iPhone also shows two eyes, which experts believe expands on Apple’s ‘Retina’ displays. With two eyes, or essentially “retinas,” Apple has doubled its capabilities. The eyes also blink asynchronously when the phone is in motion, in what seems to be some sort of “active-retina” feature.
Huayin Lee, who is also a notable mobile blogger in the Asia-Pacific markets, says that although the image seems authentic because of the iPhone and Apple logos, there are some things missing.
“This round we were expecting to see a bigger display. Clearly there is no display in this photograph. Maybe Apple is reframing the concept of a display? Now that would be pioneer,” says an excited Lee as he studies the picture in greater detail.
Apple’s third-party accessory makers are perplexed over the possibility of designing the new case.
“Where the hell do I even start?” says Sean Edwards, an accessory designer for Speck.
As the internet buzzes around this and other leaked images, it anxiously awaits Apple’s Tuesday announcement.
