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iResQ is claiming receipt of a 4th generation iPhone screen assembly from one of their suppliers in China. It comes in at .25 inches taller than the 3G or 3GS. It also has a mysterious shiny surface just above the speaker hole in the glass.

We’re honestly calling fake here. iResQ pulled this card:

There are a lot of skeptics out there and rightly so. There have been a lot of “leaked” photos from various Apple products in the past that have turned out to be parts for another product. Here are the things that we know: a) The phone has not been released yet. Until it is, Apple could change the product design or the parts we have acquired could be prototypes. Since we don’t have an actual fourth-generation iPhone in our hands, we have no way to know for sure. b) We obtained this part as a sample from a reputable source. They have been reputable up to this point, and have provided genuine parts for us in the past.

Way to cover yourself, iResQ. Basically, they said this: “Designs change, it may just be a prototype so don’t blame us if it doesn’t look like this when it comes out.” That’s really not anything worthwhile. Designs must be coming to a close, so just ask your supplier.

Anyway, here’s why we think it’s bogus:

  • iResQ says it has a glued screen assembly. The whole point of the 3G design change was to separate the screen parts to make it cheaper to fix. 1st generation iPhone screen assemblies generally cost $150 just for the part depending on the source. The iPhone 3G and 3GS screen assemblies have the glass and digitizer (less than $30) or the LCD (less than $80). Apple wouldn’t go back to a glued assembly because it would cost THEM more to fix it.
  • We’re not impressed with this shiny thing on the top of the glass. It just looks dumb. We can’t see Apple throwing something so blatantly obvious into what should be considered a pretty simplistic design.
  • The height difference. People really liked the fact that they didn’t change the body style between the 3G and 3GS… especially the case manufacturers. If you change it again, we all have to go out and buy a new case and manufacturers have to completely re-design their current offerings. The current size works. We hope to see a size change only if it couldn’t be helped.

It’s anyone’s guess what will happen when we see the 4th generation iPhone come out in June/July. We hope that iResQ’s source is wrong because that looks like a losing situation for a lot of people. Especially how often we see iPhone glass replacements at Rocky Mountain Mac Repair.

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