After nearly a year of waiting for the white iPhone 4, which went on sale Thursday, it seems the phone is -- and take your choice here of words — fatter, chunkier, thicker — than the black version.
Those who bought the much-desired white iPhone, which became available Thursday, compared the thickness of the phone next to its black version, and find it to be about 0.2mm thicker than the black iPhone 4.
On Apple's website, the technical specs for the iPhone 4 show it to be the same, although a photo of the black iPhone is used for the tech specs, which lists the depth of the phone at 9.3 mm, or .37 inch.
"I noticed it when my trusty Case Mate Barely There case barely fit on my new white iPhone 4," said Rene Ritchie on TiPb's website. "In fact, it fit like my old black iPhone 4 id back when it had BodyGuardz front and back. It still went in, but it was a much closer, almost too close fit compared to the black iPhone 4. Whether the extra thickness has to do with opacity, a layer of UV protection, or something else is unknown."
Ryan Cash, who handles marketing for a company that makes business apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, also saw the difference after comparing a colleague's newly purchased white iPhone to his own black iPhone.
"I was a bit surprised when I picked it up off his desk (I had my black 32 GB in my other hand at the same time) — it immediately felt thicker," he said on his blog. "We placed them side-by-side on his desk, and sure enough, the white iPhone was a hair thicker."
Over at DVICE, there was this to say: "First, Apple makes its customers wait 10 months for a white iPhone because it needed a special UV coating and second, it's now fatter than the black one and might not fit in your old case? Forget it."
We've asked Apple about the size difference, but have not heard back yet. The white iPhone has been problematic since it was first announced last summer.
"It was challenging,” Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller told Ina Fried in an interview this week for All Things Digital. "It’s not as simple as making something white. There’s a lot more that goes into both the material science of it — how it holds up over time…but also in how it all works with the sensors."
Schiller, Fried wrote, "said that it turned out there were a lot of unexpected interactions between the color of the device and various internal components. Also, like fair-skinned humans, white iPhones need a little more UV protection from the sun."
And, perhaps a little help in the diet department, too.
Related stories:
- White iPhone may sell up to 1.5 million
- White iPhone 4 officially hitting stores Thursday
- Thar she blows! White iPhone 4 spotted in New York
Check out Technolog on Facebook , and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.
