Contradicting reports that the white iPhone 4 was delayed by almost a year because of problems with light leaking onto the camera sensor, Apple’s Phil Schillar commented during the handset’s eventual release that the delay was necessary to give the handset some much needed “extra UV protection.”
Once he said that, everyone guessed the real issue: yellowing over time, a la some of the earlier and uglier white MacBooks. Now here’s the proof. Nick Bilton over at the New York Times managed to get an original white iPhone 4 from a guy who knew a guy at the factory that made it. Paying $1000 bucks for his prize, he went about comparing models.
The results? The obvious ones, sure, especially regarding the camera and the proximity sensor, but while the new iPhone is pristine white, the year-old one is already looking like it was pulled out of someone’s ashtray. It’s already dirty and yellow.
If Apple’s releasing the white iPhone at this point, they’re doubtlessly reasonably certain that the new model isn’t going to be subject to the same problems. Still, as Wired’s own dirty and yellowing blogger Charlie Sorrel notes, how did this happen in the first place? It’s not like Apple’s never made a white gadget before.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
8 responses to “Almost One Year Later, The Original White iPhone 4 Is Yellowing”
John,
are there any sales numbers out for the white version yet or what are the estimates. People will really have to want one of these considering the refresh is not that far off depending who you listen to.
Actually, they’ve never made a white glass gadget before.
Nick is probably a smoker.. :-)
Supposedly, they’re selling like crazy in Asian countries such as China, Japan and Korea. The white iPhones have sold out but that’s hardly a set number. I’d figure Apple would have produced at least a million white iPhones but that’s just a guess. For an older iPhone that wouldn’t be bad at all.