“New photos claim to show a prototype iPhone 4 that has received slight modifications to make it cheaper, lighter and faster, suggesting it could replace the iPhone 3GS to become Apple’s new entry-level handset when a fifth-generation iPhone launches,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider.
“A trio of pictures showing a device that looks very similar to the current iPhone 4 appeared this week on the Vietnamese website Tinhte,” Hughes reports. “The poster who shared the leak, ‘cuhiep,’ said the pictures come from a ‘very reliable source.'”
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Hughes reports, “The same site also got its hands on an iPod touch prototype with a rear-facing camera in May of 2010, months before Apple added two cameras to the iPod touch. And that same month it showed off an updated MacBook, complete with final product packaging, that hadn’t yet been announced… In addition to running at a speed that ‘seems’ faster than the current iPhone 4, the handset is said to have had its front and back glass panels ‘replaced by two plastic sheets.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: A little birdie tells us that this is indeed Apple’s iPhone 4S (it may or may not actually be called the “4S” if it’s released.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Andrew Wolniak” for the heads up.]
What ever was the wind up of the Gawker/ Gizmodo/ Chen/Lam investigation and fiasco?…
Could it be they took volentary vows of silence ???
Don’t be so gullible – that is an early iPhone 4 with a matte screen protector
That’s what I thought!
Looks like a knock off or white box to me. Not Apple.
Why bother? It looks exactly like the iPhone 4. Minimal photoshopping skill required, that’s about it. Bleh. Color me unexcited.
I don’t think Apple will sell the iPhone 4 as the new “$49 special.”
iPhone 3GS is a good phone (even today), but it is significantly inferior to iPhone 4. No FaceTime camera, “old-school” processor, no Retina Display, etc… There were very good reasons to pay $199+ to get the latest iPhone 4.
iPhone 4 is still a “hot” phone that people want. Keeping it around as the $49 option will take away significant sales from the new flagship iPhone (“iPhone 5”).
I think Apple will do something different and “new” for the low cost option.
iPhone 5 should have a much better cpu, bigger display and better camera than a current iPhone 4. If Apple comes out with a “cheaper” iPhone 4, it could share lower cost components with the iPod touch perhaps which has a cheaper camera and screen, for example.
Better CPU – Yes. Bigger display – Doubtful. Better camera – Maybe.
However, functionally, it won’t be that much different. Unless there’s some crazy new feature, I’ll be able to do anything on iPhone 4 that I can do on the new iPhone.
iPhone 4 has a great display and very good cameras. It can do FaceTime. It’s CPU is good enough to run last year’s iPad (with a 10-inch display), and it even has twice the RAM as last year’s iPad. It’s much more than good enough for what most people do with a smart phone.
iPhone 3GS, OTOH… older class of non-Apple CPU, display with half the pixel density, no user-facing camera for FaceTime, no gyroscopes, etc. There are many more things I can do on iPhone 4 that are not possible on iPhone 3GS. It’s clearly (and obviously) functionally inferior.
Apple is NOT going to do anything that significantly reduces sales of its flagship insanely-profitable fully-subsidized iPhone. And Apple is very good a keeping its product choices distinct and separate.
Mark my words, they’ll keep the same resolution and stretch the display to 4″. PPI will drop, but it’ll still be Retina.
That would be the dumbest move ever. The user gains nothing (exactly the same content would be displayed), except for making the iPhone heavier, larger, and more power hungry (and less “Retina”).
Here’s an idea… If you want the screen to be 14% larger and show the exact same content, hold it 14% closer to face.
As I’ve said before, a larger screen is an Android phone maker’s excuse (disguised as a “feature”) for not being able to miniaturize as expertly as Apple.
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This makes more sense to me than:
1. continuation of the very old 3G which barely runs iOS 5
2. continued sales of a current iPhone 4 which is simply too expensive at $649 unlocked
Apple needs a fairly up-to-date unlocked iPhone option that doesn’t cost $600.
Or maybe two case disigns concept is worthy to be continued.
Apple might update iPhone 3Gs and call it something like “iPhone classic” and continue to sell it for the same low price or even lower, while iPhone 5 will be based on iPhone 4 case with the SoC, camera, NFC updates.
However, this MDN’s “bird” might be correct and Apple might push-out roundly classic iPhone and make plastic version of iPhone 4 for “cheaper” category.
Seems unlikely that Apple would use plastic rather than glass on the face of a phone.
I have no problem with eliminating the back glass. But I hope that Apple will think long and hard before using plastic for a touch screen display. Unless Apple is sputtering a diamond coating on that plastic, it will get scratched up very quickly. Unless Apple has access to some very hard plastic or makes that face easily replaceable, my guess is that the display will remain glass.
The glass is critical to Apple’s superior MultiTouch experience which differentiates it from all others. Apple spent huge effort to perfect the layering and bonding technologies implemented in the unique glass process that it uses – there’s no Apple will cut corners here and compromise iPhones performance with the most important component between the user and the phone.
There’s no way Apple will cut corners here…
If the iPhone 4S is 16GB, I might consider it. I regularly run out of space on my 8GB iPhone 3G, and it’s time for me to upgrade. I’m waiting for the iPhone 5, and I’d love to get it, but I’m just as much a fan of saving money. 😉
No No No, They are keeping the 3gs priced where it is, going to drop the price of the 4 to $149 and start the 5 at $249. But what is the 5 going to have over the 4???????? Better cameras, more storage, liquid metal case?????
I doubt they would keep the 3GS. They’ve already dropped support for the first iPhone and the iPhone 3G, so it’s only a matter of time before support drops for the 3GS. The first step to heralding that would be to stop selling the 3GS.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think it would make sense for the 3GS to be discontinued when the iPhone 5 gets introduced.
And meanwhile Android fragments and end users can’t figure out why they don’t work like the iPhone’s they’ve seen and tried with friends.
So they return the Androids over 1 out of 3 times and go back to “The Real Thing”, iPhone.
What is a iPhone 4S? We all know the next one is iPhone 5
The iPhone 4S is a rumored low-cost version of the iPhone 4 that will be released at the same time as the iPhone 5.
We all know nothing and won’t until Jobs hits the stage.
My guess is that 3GS goes away, and once iPhone 5 is announced, they’ll also announce that iPhone 4 becomes available for $150 (with plan). The lure of the newest, fastest and greatest will be enough of a motivator, and $50 will be small enough of a difference to go for the new one, rather than the older one, even if the difference is nothing more than extra megaherz, megapixels and and gigabytes.
I was thinking almost the same thing, but without the iPhone 3GS going away:
3GS = $49
4 = $149
5 (low RAM) = $199
5 (hi RAM) = $299
But there is a case to be made for killing the 3GS in order to keep the current platform relatively consistent (iPhone 4/5 specs) which makes it easier for developers and less confusing for users. Otherwise, at some point the platform would become as fragmented as the Android platform.
Since most folks use a case, having a plastic back is no big deal. I do think the front will be glass, probably the same display found in the iPod touch. An 8 GB version priced at $350 with no contract will sell like crazy, especially in developing economies.
Has anyone else noticed that the gaps in the side-panel frame are inconsistent front to back? The rear shot shows a gap at bottom left, right where iPhone 4 has an assembly screw?
I may be wrong, but looks like it’s cobbled together.
I vote for “field test” case for new iPhone 5 internals.
Rumors are out that new screen and processors are in the field inside of iPhone 4 cases. This looks way too cheap to be an actual Apple product, so I’d guess this is just a dummy body.
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Very good article post.Much thanks again. Cool.
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