As we are all well aware by now, yesterday saw the launch of the white iPhone 4 in 29 countries around the world. What you may not be aware of, however, is that the white iPhone is ever so slightly thicker than the black model, as discovered by some early adopters of the device.
A MacRumors reader was one of the first to discover the difference, and emailed the site to let them know:
Just picked up the white iPhone 4 and realized it doesn’t fit into my Incase slider case. It appears that Apple has increased the size of the plastic that borders the glass on both sides by about 1mm
Ryan Cash of Marketcircle also discovered the difference, but it didn’t take an ill-fitting case for him to realize: Cash claims to have noticed simply by picking the device up:
A colleague of mine just picked up a 16 GB iPhone 4 in white. I was a bit surprised when I picked it up off his desk (I had my black 32 GB in my other hand at the same time) – it immediately felt thicker. We placed them side-by-side on his desk, and sure enough, the white iPhone was a hair thicker.
Comparison photos taken by Cash demonstrate the slight difference, but it’s not as much as the MacRumors reader had suggested. In fact, the white iPhone 4 is thicker than the black model by just 0.2mm.
After closer inspection, Cash has revealed that the difference is in the iPhone’s stainless steel surround, which is obviously thicker on the white device.
A difference of 0.2mm is never going to cause too many issues, but it’s worth remembering when shopping for a case that some may be a tight fit.
