#FF00AA

Back then I wrote that it was unpossible Apple would go with this design. Guess I lost that one. I acknowledge the validity of Steve’s explanation for the seams in the metal casing, it’s clever (and more importantly I appreciate his addressing the complaint of how un-Apple-like that thing looks), but I’m still not happy with it.

On the other hand, I’ve got the hots for the high-resolution screen (despite the ridiculous name), the processor and battery life, and the 720p video capture (which we should have expected, but forgot to). Pretty on the inside, and a pretty face as well (as in, the screen), so all in all I’ll forgive the unimaginative body and pre-order mine as soon as I can.

FaceTime: Don’t care, never have, never will. Not surprised that it’s wifi-only “for now,” but wondering why it isn’t called iChat, and doesn’t interface with iChat. Is AT&T really trying to pretend that people aren’t using every possible medium rather than spending money to send SMSes? (Actually, I’m afraid I have to admit it would make a difference if the Apple included an internet-based text messaging system on the iPhone. So it does make sense.)
I’m also really curious as to how they’ve implemented the system: your contact list will apparently know automatically, without any input from either party, which of your contacts have iPhones 4. Are you happy with Apple having (presumably) a secret list of all the phone numbers of iPhone 4 users? More to the point — is that quite legal in every territory where the iPhone is available?

Retina display: So, yeah, that name is only a little less stupid than “FaceTime.” I never dreamed that existing applications would be allowed to take advantage of it, without the developers even needing to recompile and resubmit their apps. I can’t wait to see this thing in real life, through my defective… retinas.
Even without the other additions, this alone would make me drool for the iPhone 4.

720p video recording and 5MP camera: I’m not willing to make any judgment based on the samples posted on Apple’s site; what matters is that you always have your iPhone in your pocket, so it doesn’t matter how much it can or can’t approximate the results of a professional camera (well, it matters if iPhone shots do look like they come from high-end cameras). Now that iMovie is ported to the iPhone (which, wow) comes a burning question: how the hell are you supposed to live with an iPhone limited to 32GB?

iBooks was fully expected, and should indeed go along splendidly with a high-resolution screen. Interesting, by the way, that it’s now a full-fledged PDF reader — I’m not even sure I should still bother with my plans for a fanzine publishing app for iOS (ugh, also) devices.

I can’t imagine for what purpose a gyroscope would ever be necessary. But, hey, Wii Motion Plus has got one, and everybody says Apple is the new Nintendo, so gotta have one too.

I find it pretty interesting that Google remains the default search engine in Safari, despite the introduction of Bing and the praise it just got from Jobs. Or is it contractual? Now that I think about it, maybe the iPhone’s access to Maps et al. is tied with Google being the default search engine.

I hate that there’s a version with a white faceplate, because some apps’ design (case in point, the app I’m working on right now) is based on the idea that the screen is surrounded with black, so you can try and mesh with it. So now you have an app in the center, and a tiny black border around it (the white faceplate can never be quite flush with the contents of the screen), and then white. Ugh. Can’t design for that; I’ll just go on with my life as if the white iPhone didn’t exist at all.

And the upshot is: this thing is damn hot, and I can’t wait to get it. Have to see now what upgrade options my carrier is going to offer.

But where’s everything else? Where’s my trackpad? And Safari 5, and MobileMe for free, and so on? I can see the trackpad being silently introduced soon, and Safari being presented by someone else during WWDC, but MobileMe for free — that would be a major functional upgrade for the iPhone, more than worthy of a keynote mention (especially as a weapon in Apple’s cold war against Google). So, not coming this year yet? But it can’t just be a coincidence that the “Full Member” language appeared on MobileMe accounts just a few days before WWDC.

And my trackpad?

My trackpad!

Come on, I want my trackpad!