“AT&T Wireless, Apple’s exclusive iPhone provider in the United States, is now listing a second model of the iPhone in its device database called ‘iPhone Black,'” Katie Marsal reports for AppleInsider.
“The finding, discovered by a reader on Sunday and confirmed by AppleInsider on Monday, is interesting if nothing else in that it may add a bit of support to ongoing rumors that Apple’s second-generation 3G iPhone would sport a black plastic shell as opposed to an aluminum one,” Marsal reports.
Marsal reports, “The option to select an ‘iPhone Black’ model is visible alongside the traditional ‘iPhone’ for existing AT&T Wireless customers who are logged into their account on the carrier’s website, and who choose to select or update their handset model.”
Full article, with screenshots, here.
[UPDATE: 5:04pm EDT: An AT&T spokesperson told MacNN that the heading was merely a placeholder for internal use, and that the issue is being corrected. “The reference to ‘iPhone Black’ was simply a temporary placeholder used over the weekend for a scheduled catalog update,” wrote the representative. “It was meant to temporarily distinguish the various iPhone models-4GB, 8GB and 16GB-but was never reassigned. We’re correcting the site now.”]
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Judge Bork” for the heads up.]
c’mon 3G that would be great… or even a beefed up edge would be great.
I would like to have a 3G but my small town of 150,000 is not in the coverage area. I don’t get it. The coverage for 3G sucks big time. It will be a long time before we get wall to wall 3G or maybe water to water.
Now here’s the deal.
1. The online Apple store can’t be “unavailable” with iPhones all business day today. (Ok. Maybe until Tuesday, but that’s where I’d draw the line).
2. It’s barely 8:45 am on the West coast. Who here thinks some announcement will be made today, say “I”.
P.S. BTW – What the availability situation is at Applestores around the country? Report back y’all.
3G coverage is big in the rest of the world, so bring it on. (at least in the rest that I wander around in!!)
To macoverdose:
I think that by now it is pretty much safe to say that we’ll see 3G in, at most, six weeks, and possibly as early as tomorrow (Apple’s “new product Tuesdays”). I have a feeling it will be somewhere between the two, since the new phone could use all the PR it could get from a proper announcement (not that it would really need it, since even the existing one kept selling like crazy).
If i could pick one feature it would be true GPS. That would just be amazing.
A Commenter on AppleInsider says this is an AT&T;website problem — that all of the models on att.com come up showing a second option for “Black” including the BlackJack Black, etc.
So maybe this is something and maybe it’s not.
Can anyone confirm this?
I also like this story:
“3G iPhone in May, Another Device at WWDC?”
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=482642
“iPhone [sic] Black” is Microsoft’s code name for the ZunePhone and I can’t wait to see it. The name was chosen because it will most certainly be a black day for the I-Phone when mighty Microsoft unleashes this Windows Mobile powerhouse on soon-to-be grateful smartphone users. Tired of Apple’s proprietary lock-in? Go with Windows. Buh-bye, Apple.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Looking at the 3G coverage map here in the United States, it’s pretty pathetic. Looks decent where I live though, most of the places I go seem to be covered. However, 3G alone isn’t enough reason to buy the new one. I really hope it does have the real GPS, maybe dual cameras. I believe that these things will be included, as I can’t see bringing a new one out with ‘only’ 3G added.
Interesting. The screen shot suggests that a discount is available, perhaps lending support to previous rumors, and also that the phone can be unlocked.
@Reader – wrong.
Not all models at all. Only a couple other models show this, and that’s because they’re legit – ie. they actually have black versions available.
Conclusion: AT&T;jumped the gun. Apple will announce a new phone today or tomorrow.
@bjh – agreed. A discount will the best of all worlds for everyone. You and I win. Apple wins. ATT wins. Everybody wins.
Well, if the ATT site shows an iPhone Black model, they should select it and see what their data plan options are, just to check if the 3G plans cost the same.
It’s legit.
iPhone (black!) release is imminent. Repeat imminent.
Boston Boylston street Apple store, the largest in the world, opens this Thursday. Coincidence? I think not. 2000 customers anticipated to pass through every hour, on avg.
Steve Jobs just farted
I predict that the new Black iPhone will be GSM, Edge and G3, EVDO/HSDPN with 802.11n Draft, GPS and 16GB and 32GB models.
Apple will not announce it till the WWDC. iPhones until then will is hard to get and will stay sold-out a lot with a few popping up here and there as Apple shifts stock and cleans the channel with the Exclusive partners getting what stock that’s left.
Zune Tang – I’m with you buddy. Let’s agree that “iPhone Black” is a code word for a “classified”, next generation phone. Similiar to how black refers to all the classifed programs the government runs.
Let’s wish our darnest that the “Black iPhone” is really a putrid, brownish-greenish colored phone. (Hey if those crazy kids think the God-Awful 70’s style is cool – a brown phone is going to sell like hot cakes.) Let’s also hope for some alvocado green ear pieces too.
Looking forward to squirting soon.
is there a 3G coverage map that can be viewed?
Has anyone noticed how all the leaked shots of the supposed new 3G device seem to be from behind? I have been thinking about this recently and it seems to me that the leak may have actually been Apple’s. To satisfy the salivating Apple-watchers, but not to leak anything more significant, such as a front-side VGA camera? IChat on WiFi (and possibly, but unlikely, on 3G) would be the most significant shift for the US market. While the world has been video-conferencing on their cellphones for years, in the US, it is still science fiction. Mostly because of the abysmal 3G coverage, but also because nobody offered a truly intuitive solution. If the new iPhone had it, it would obviously by default operate on WiFi, thereby greatly expanding its availability outside of the few specks on the US map that represent 3G regions.
Let’s hope the announcement comes tomorrow.
Oh, and by the way, the existing iPhone is “Currently unavailable”. You cannot even place an order for it. Apple NEVER had this for any other piece of hardware/software before. If it was out of stock, the web store would usually say “Ships in 2 weeks”, or “6 weeks”, or similar. They aren’t bleeding the channel; they have already done it. They’re prepping the consumers.
And the stock shot up todau to $188 again. Does anyone doubt that it would hit that all-time high by the end of this week? Personally, I would love MDN to dust off that old Laura Goldman quote; it’s been a while since I had last seen it…
———
Does anyone here disagree with the statement that:,
“Steve Jobs knows how to create interest!” ???????
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Just a thought.
en
Obviously, Apple has signed a deal with the Rolling Stones. You’ll see the new ad:
“I see an iPhone and I want it painted black…”
“is there a 3G coverage map that can be viewed?”
AT&T’s Coverage Viewer.. Go in one level and it will show you 3G.
I can’t imagine Apple releasing the v2.0 iPhone without some big media event. It just doesn’t make sense. Especially if it includes the speculated features we’ve all been reading about. That would make for LOADS of free press and we all know how Apple has made milking the press into an art form!
I think PreDrag could be right about the Apple leaked photos. Why no front photos? Maybe it’s a new iPod touch?
I can imagine why no there would be no huge media event. Because, there will be an event, just not as huge as you image it will be. Really, 3G in itself is not such a big deal.
On the other hand, if Macrumors is right, Apple may release another device at WWDC (1.5 the size of the iPhone). Now, what could this device be … ?
MDN: heard ?
If there is a Black phone in the works, and if it is has an all plastic back instead of metal, then I think it will be the new lower cost, thinner 2.5G iPhone. The new 3G will probably be similar in style to the existing one keeping the metal back and maybe keeping the thicker form factor. That way they have 2 new phones to talk about . . . the cheaper price and new look for the 2.5G, and the 3G with a few new features we don’t know for sure about yet like an iChat camera, video capability, and GPS. It would be smart to split the line soon so they get the whole iPod / Nano / Shuffle thing going so they can cover more price points. Apples iPod rollout was IMHO flawless . . . I think we can count on the same here.
Interesting thought …
As Arsenio Hall used to say: Hmmmmmm ….
Has anyone noticed that today’s ‘revelation’ is nothing more than a rehash of an April 25 ‘revelation, made by the same people.
If you repeat something often enough (including repeating yourself) you begin to look like a genius.
Black is black
I want an iPhone Black
It’s gray it’s gray
Waiting everyday oh no….
I found a site, rapidly becoming a favorite of mine, offering the same views as the article above, just hours after it.
http://thecreonguide.blogspot.com/
In less then a month we’ll know exactly what is going on but, until then is all just speculation and guessing.
Building of a hype machine:
1) release some code that indicates one thing
2) release some apparently secret but, nebulous photos
3) start drying the channel of the expected to be updated product
4) have so planted employee leak some contradictory or off the mark obviously bogus information on a new unannounced platform.
5) keep everything a tightly guarded secret.
6) make the product that is speculated to be update off the market with no or virtually no inventory.
7) Let the rumor web sites crank full tilt for months
8) have a partner planet or let slip some real and some bogus information on their website or in some other manner.
9) Watch the muck and feed, cool, or stoke the Press, website and blog hype as needed.
10) When the time comes for the main event do something very big and expected but unexpected.
Or how Apple introduces new and updated products.
No. 3 has never happened; No. 6 has never happened either. At any previous replacement product cycle (iMacs, portables, iPods), Apple continued to sell them and take orders. The closest they came to the current situation (not taking orders, “currently unavailable”) was something like “ships in 2 weeks”. As for the Nos. 1 and 2, these never happened together. Until Jobs showed iPhone in January 2007, nobody ever saw a picture of it (other than the generic multi-touch patent application diagrams). ITunes did receive some code referring to the phone device, but many thought it to be support for the ROKR.
Apple has never done anything like this. Obviously, it has extremely positive effect for the PR – this site, as well as many others, are whipping it up into a frenzy and the mass hysteria will very soon break out. As long as it keeps pushing AAPL north, I have no objection.
They need the hype built for a June 9th/10th announcement at the WWDC.
30 days of no inventory means no returns and no price refunds on iPhone sales during May (little or no stock.)
black model, shlack model.
can’t apple just write software so the user can select the color of their choosing? they can do everything else in software.
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just throw in some of that Cuttlefish technology…
@rasterbater
Actually, Apple has patents on technology for color shifting enclosures
The new phones could also be black anodized aluminium.
@critick:
took me a while to find it (no link pprovided), but here it is.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=qtd6AAAAEBAJ&dq=7,113,196
does not sound like cuttlefish technology to me…