White iPhone 4 Thickness Issues Caused By Quality Control?

There are new reports coming in about the while thickness issue with the white iPhone 4 compared to the black iPhone 4. Consumer Reports have confirmed both the white and black iPhone 4 to have the same exact thickness when precisely measured using a caliper tool. On the other hand, Engadget reported that their white iPhone 4 was 0.2mm thicker than the black version in the image below.

This whole scandal is turning out to be what looks like a problem with Apple's quality control making the white iPhone 4. Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller has confirmed that both the white and black iPhone 4 are exactly alike in terms of thickness. In the meantime, case companies like Otterbox have quickly put up fitment notes regarding incompatibility with their current iPhone 4 cases and the just released white iPhone 4.

Otterbox Acknowledges White iPhone 4 Form Factor Changes

If you were following the news around Apple's newly released white iPhone 4, you would already know that the white iPhone 4 is slightly thicker than it's older black brother, 0.2mm ticker to be precise. Now that's not such a big deal, however very tight fitting hard plastic cases would most likely not fit the new white iPhone 4 as of right now. Otterbox has already put up a message on each of the iPhone 4 case product pages acknowledging the difference in the from factors and saying that their Defender Series, Commuter Series and Impact Series of cases will not work with the white iPhone 4. 

Otterbox's Impact Series case is made out of 100% silicone unlike Otterbox's more tougher cases which employ both hard plastic and silicone. It's not clear why Otterbox deemed their silicone Impact Series case for the iPhone 4 to be incompatible with the white iPhone 4 at this time. The slight change in thickness of just 0.2mm in the white iPhone 4 shouldn't hinder silicone cases incompatible so if you're really in need of a tough silicone case for your brand new white iPhone 4, you should not need to worry about silicone cases.

White iPhone 4 Slightly Thicker Than Black iPhone 4

Oh no, here we go again. After Apple released the Verizon iPhone 4 with a slight silent switch repositioning, case manufacturers had to accommodate the new design change by updating and releasing Verizon iPhone 4 compatible cases. Now that Apple has released the white iPhone 4, there are reports of users who say that their white iPhone 4 is slightly thicker than the black iPhone 4 by roughly 1mm. This translates to current cases that are very tight fitting like hard plastic sliding cases may in fact cause trouble and will not fit the new white iPhone 4.

What does this mean for you? If you just purchased the white iPhone 4 you may want to be careful with your case selection at this time. Avoid purchasing slider and tight fitting plastic cases until we get more info on the matter. Play it safe and get Apple's Bumper case if you need some protection.