Comparison of 'iPhone 4S' Antenna Band to GSM and CDMA iPhone 4

Several MacRumors readers have forwarded us a "member only" email from Ideal-case.com claiming to show the antenna band for what would seem to be the "iPhone 4S" based on the current iPhone 4 design. While the antenna band was partially visible in a casing leak from last week, the new photos show direct comparisons between the new antenna band and both the GSM and CDMA iPhone 4 bands.

iphone 4s antenna band sides
The iPhone 4S antenna band is essentially a hybrid of the two earlier designs, showing the same four breaks as the CDMA iPhone 4 but with a SIM-card slot as in the GSM iPhone 4. In the photos, the GSM iPhone 4 antenna band is on top (labeled "4G"), the iPhone 4S antenna band is in the middle (labeled "5G or 4GS"), and the CDMA iPhone 4 is on the bottom (labeled "CDMA").

iphone 4s antenna band ends
Interestingly, this is not the first time this particular design for the antenna band has surfaced, as a similar part appeared as long ago as early January, before the CDMA iPhone 4 had even been unveiled. That part was the first to show the shift in the antenna breaks that also necessitated a slight shift in the position of the mute switch on the CDMA iPhone 4, but also contained a SIM-card slot.

A number of parts appearing very similar to their iPhone 4 counterparts have surfaced in recent weeks, with the suggestion being that these could for a low-end "iPhone 4S" model being developed by Apple. The company has also been rumored to be developing a more significantly updated iPhone 5 offering a thinner design, although little has been seen of this design beyond third-party cases based on a claimed leaked design document.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...

Top Rated Comments

troop231 Avatar
180 months ago
Psh, confidential my a$$ :p
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bushido Avatar
180 months ago
The current iPhone 4 will handle iOS 5 pretty well, but I do think the voice recognition and new notification system will benefit and preform a lot better with the dual core A5 in the iPhone 4S.
The average customer wont notice any difference tho. Lets face it, the normal guy doesnt care for specs or what on earth "A5" is or what RAM does. All they see is a phone in the same shape of the 4 and ask themself why should i buy that "again" or how is that new, it looks the same. People (im one of those) like design changes more than anything else. Its getting boring having the same thing after a while ^^

U can say whatever u want about samsung but at least every phone looks different + they already got lte (now u can vote me down for saying the "S" word, i dont care)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
d4rkc4sm Avatar
180 months ago
rumors about antennas make me so happy
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Menopause Avatar
180 months ago
wah!!!you complain to much!!!your a crybaby!!! stop complainining!!! you're complaining annoys me!!! i luv apple products and i dont wanna be annoyed with criticism of my company and complaining is for loosers!!!

I'm always entertained by the 'apple is right and no one better complain about them cause i need someone to yell at!' posts. Quit complaining and go comment on something else already.
Your grammar and spelling skills are making my cat cry :eek:
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pink∆Floyd Avatar
180 months ago
At least the pictures aren't blurry...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bushido Avatar
180 months ago
Prediction Time
(1) antenna compatible with CDMA / GSM
(2) better cameras
(3) will have dual GSM/CDMA capabilities
(4) A5 (maybe faster than iPad A5)
(5) more RAM (768MB or 1GB)
(6) US consumers will be able to buy an unlocked version on day 1

I think storage options will stay the same 16GB and 32GB
No redesign no bigger screen. I can already see the headlines of tmrws newspaper "Is Apple Already Sinking Under Its New Leader?"

Boring. Who cares for more ram, the iphone 4 will handle the new ios just fine considering the 3gs is even getting it + unless devs invest in extra apps for the "special" new a5 and ram iphone (which they wont bc the market of other iphones gives them way to much money still) no one will notice any difference
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)