News: White iPhone 4 Delayed, Possibly Canceled?
There was word from Apple that the white version of the iPhone 4 has been delayed until Spring 2011, due to the various “manufacturing issues” that have been holding it up since July. It seems that now, there may never be a white iPhone 4.
Reuters reported on the delay yesterday:
“We’re sorry to disappoint customers waiting for the white iPhone again,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller. She declined to explain the delay.
Apple has never said exactly why the white iPhone has been so troublesome to produce. The company has only said the white model was “more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected.”
Rumors about the white iPhone have been on Apple-focused blogs for months, with explanations ranging from color-matching problems to an issue with the device’s backlight.
Today, Cult of Mac is reporting that the white iPhone 4 is not only delayed, but Apple may have given up on production, due to camera issues, putting it in the same boat as the TV shows Lone Star, Outlaw, My Generation, and The Whole Truth:
The white iPhone 4 can’t take accurate photographs. The handset’s semi-translucent glass case leaks light in, ruining pictures taken with the internal camera, especially when the built-in flash is used.
“You don’t get accurate pictures on the white iPhone because of the color of the glass back. It washes out the pictures,” said a source with connections to Apple who asked to remain anonymous.
The source said Apple has been struggling to isolate the camera sensor. The problem may demand a complete redesign, they said, hence the string of delays.
The problem was discovered at a facility where Apple tests iPhone cases, and this was when the issue was first noticed very close to the iPhone 4’s launch. Some are guessing that Apple is going to just give up on the model and instead look at launching a white model of the next-generation iPhone.
Update: Apple has removed images of the white iPhone from the online Apple Store, but they are still in the gallery.