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Gold rear shell purportedly for Apple's 'iPhone 6s Plus' said to feature stronger construction

New pictures claim to show a rear casing for Apple's next-generation "iPhone 6s Plus" in gold, and a hands-on with the part assert that it features new material for stronger construction than the current iPhone 6 series.

The alleged "iPhone 6s Plus" component was obtained by Future Supplier, who noted that aside from some slightly different screw placements, the casing design is largely identical to the current iPhone 6 Plus. That's to be expected, as this year's new iPhones are expected to be an "s" upgrade cycle with largely the same form factor as last year.

But the source who got their hands on the case indicated that the material used to build the alleged "6s Plus" housing feels "stronger" than the material used on the current iPhone 6 Plus. This new strength may come at a slight cost to the feel of the material, as the person suggested that the iPhone 6 Plus casing is smoother than the alleged leaked "iPhone 6s Plus" part.

The details align with claims made last month by well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. Kuo revealed that the next iPhone will feature the same 7000 Series aluminum currently found on the Apple Watch Sport —  an alloy said to be 60 percent stronger than most aluminum, with just one-third the density of stainless steel.

Photo via Future Supplier.

Kuo also said the new casing will be be slightly wider and taller by about 0.15 millimeters, while it will be thicker by 0.2 millimeters. The ever-so-slightly larger design is believed to allow the device to accommodate for Force Touch input, which AppleInsider exclusively reported in February will be coming to this year's iPhones.

Other than the new screw placement, which may suggest a redesigned speaker module in the next-generation iPhone Plus, the part appears to be largely the same, and even features the same shade of gold currently offered. The new pictures were spotlighted on Friday by Nowhereelse.fr.

Apple is expected to introduce a new color option with this year's iPhone lineup, with reports indicating that the "iPhone 6s" will be available in a new rose or pink gold shade. That would bring it in line with the Apple Watch, which is available in both yellow gold and rose gold. However, the Apple Watch colors are true 18-karat gold, while the rose gold iPhone is expected to be a shade of aluminum.



35 Comments

wood1208 10 Years · 2938 comments

Hey, no issue with 16GB as base as efficient IOS is working fine but read rumor on BGR that iPhone 6s will up the base from 16 to 32 gb ? is it true ?

thewhitefalcon 10 Years · 4444 comments

[quote name="wood1208" url="/t/187253/gold-rear-shell-purportedly-for-apples-iphone-6s-plus-said-to-feature-stronger-construction#post_2749400"]Hey, no issue with 16GB as base as efficient IOS is working fine but read rumor on BGR that iPhone 6s will up the base from 16 to 32 gb ? is it true ?[/quote] Probably not, and iOS 9 so far takes up about 400MB more than iOS 8. That could change with the final release.

cali 10 Years · 3494 comments

I wish I was an analyst so I could predict this was coming. I would be the "worlds most accurate" analyst and "well-connected" for predicting the obvious.

ericthehalfbee 13 Years · 4489 comments

Of course someone has to get in the "stronger material" dig at Apple.

 

How else can they continue to complain that the iPhone 6 is "bendy" and Apple made a mistake with its design? A mistake that they are now "correcting" with a new stronger material.

 

I wonder how someone is able to handle a part and determine the strength of such part based on how it "feels"?

rogifan 13 Years · 10667 comments

Right because Apple is taking the R&D from the Watch and applying it to the phone. Not surprising.