8GB iPhone 3GS rumored to be replacing lower model

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Alleged internal information from Rogers Wireless in Canada suggest that an 8GB model of the iPhone 3GS will launch soon, perhaps replacing the current $99 iPhone 3G offering.



In pictures sent to The Boy Genius Report,, it appears that the new 8GB iPhone 3GS will be sold in place of the existing iPhone 3G model. The alleged document says that Rogers has "launched" the new model, and is "aiming to reduce" inventory of the existing stock.



"It seems that Rogers in Canada is in the process of shipping iPhone 3GS 8GB flavor handsets to stores," the report states. "Again, unconfirmed, no idea on pricing (we have no clue where to start on that) but we felt it was newsworthy to at least let you guys know what we’re hearing."



It is possible that Apple priced the 8GB iPhone 3G at $99 only to sell the remaining inventory, with the intention of replacing it with a speedier iPhone 3GS model.



At WWDC in June, when Apple unveiled the new iPhone 3GS, the handset maker dropped the price of the iPhone 3G to $99. The 16GB iPhone 3GS sells for $199 while the 32GB model retails for $299.



The announcement of a $99 iPhone was met positively on Wall Street, though Apple has not revealed its sales numbers. However, the successful launch of the iPhone 3GS suggests the less expensive model has not detracted from overall sales.







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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 41
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    8GB? Sorry, I don't get out of bed for less than a terabyte.
  • Reply 2 of 41
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    8GB? Sorry, I don't get out of bed for less than a terabyte.



    All joking aside, it is amazing that in such a short time the norm for smartphone included storage has gone from being measured in the low hundreds or even dozens of MB, to being measured in GB due to the iPhone. Most people felt the initial 4GB offering was too low so that model was quickly dropped (with some suing Apple for feeling forced to buy the 4GB when the 8GB was out of stock. Asshats!). Now we have 16 and 32GB yet 8GB still seems to be plenty for many folks. I think they will nix the 3G in favour of an 8GB 3GS as the cost of producing the 3G will rise while the 3GS will fall, though the price may still not be $99 as I don?t think the RAM cost is nearly worth $99 for 8 additional GB.
  • Reply 3 of 41
    WHAT?? So Rogers denies 3G owners the ability to upgrade to the 3GS after having the 3G for a year, and now they are offering the 3GS for $99??



    This has got to be a mistake. Either that or Rogers is incredibly stupid for denying all those people who wanted to upgrade unless they paid a huge upgrade fee.
  • Reply 4 of 41
    intenseintense Posts: 106member
    I was sold a 3yrs fido contract approx two months before the first iphone came out with fido ... imagine my frustration ... and I am allowed to upgrade in 2011 or so ... I blame myself for not spending a few hours online researching before signing with fido
  • Reply 5 of 41
    jpellinojpellino Posts: 697member
    Current tech at $99? With AT&T monthly down to $69 incl data? Sure. Finally. Where do I sign? Toronto you say? Ooooh...
  • Reply 6 of 41
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Intense View Post


    I was sold a 3yrs fido contract approx two months before the first iphone came out with fido ... imagine my frustration ... and I am allowed to upgrade in 2011 or so ... I blame myself for not spending a few hours online researching before signing with fido



    It's absolute highway robbery to demand someone sign that kind of contract for any service. I paid the full $200 for my basic Motorola phone instead of signing up for a contract so I could have it for $0, so that I can cancel anytime Telus does anything to irritate me. Rogers/Fido attempting to *force* me to sign up for a 3 year contract without even *giving me the option* of a shorter contract or buying the phone outright is just absolutely contemptible. This is despite the fact that as a Mac user and having bought 3 different kinds of iPods, I should be a natural customer for the iPhone with its seemless integration with Addressbook and other OS X services.



    Goes to show how greedy some cell phone service providers are that they'll alienate what would otherwise be natural customers.
  • Reply 7 of 41
    originalgoriginalg Posts: 383member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Trajectory View Post


    WHAT?? So Rogers denies 3G owners the ability to upgrade to the 3GS after having the 3G for a year, and now they are offering the 3GS for $99??



    This has got to be a mistake. Either that or Rogers is incredibly stupid for denying all those people who wanted to upgrade unless they paid a huge upgrade fee.







    Rogers let those that bought the 3G upgrade if you met certain conditions, like having a data plan, etc. They probably will let you upgrade to an 8GB 3GS as well as a new option but it probably won't be near the $99 for new subscribers.



    I hate Rogers as much as the next guy, but they do have those options. New subscribers don't get the same packages as people that have been with them for a while, so they end up paying more over the term of their contract vs. someone with a retention plan
  • Reply 8 of 41
    originalgoriginalg Posts: 383member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JavaCowboy View Post


    Rogers/Fido attempting to *force* me to sign up for a 3 year contract without even *giving me the option* of a shorter contract or buying the phone outright is just absolutely contemptible.



    I'm not sure about allowing you to get it for a shorter contract, but you CAN buy the iPhone from Rogers off-contract. However, it is still very pricey at $600 or $700 for a 16GB I think. It would be better to get one new but from a private sale off Craigslist/Kijiji/RFD instead
  • Reply 9 of 41
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Trajectory View Post


    WHAT?? So Rogers denies 3G owners the ability to upgrade to the 3GS after having the 3G for a year, and now they are offering the 3GS for $99??



    This has got to be a mistake. Either that or Rogers is incredibly stupid for denying all those people who wanted to upgrade unless they paid a huge upgrade fee.



    The $99 price would be the subsidized price.
  • Reply 10 of 41
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,712member
    I just ordered a 3Gs 16 for my wife today, $199 as an upgrade from or iPhone mark 1 ... all she needs is 8 Gigs so I wish this had leaked a few hours earlier darn it.
  • Reply 11 of 41
    tofinotofino Posts: 697member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    I just ordered a 3Gs 16 for my wife today, $199 as an upgrade from or iPhone mark 1 ... all she needs is 8 Gigs so I wish this had leaked a few hours earlier darn it.



    i think you will find that twice the storage for an additional 100 bucks will be money well spent. maybe check in half a year or so and let us know if she's still under 8gb. it's cheaper to get the higher end model earlier, than to upgrade later.... that obviously doesn't work for everyone, but i was always glad to have coughed up the extra money up front. considering the total amount you are committing to with canada's contract, an extra $100 is only.. what? 20 lattes?
  • Reply 12 of 41
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by OriginalG View Post


    I'm not sure about allowing you to get it for a shorter contract, but you CAN buy the iPhone from Rogers off-contract. However, it is still very pricey at $600 or $700 for a 16GB I think. It would be better to get one new but from a private sale off Craigslist/Kijiji/RFD instead



    Just tried the Rogers site, and it seems to be possible to do this. However, I know for a fact that this wasn't an option before the 3G S came out.



    Not sure what terms are available besides 3 years because the site shows that the iPhone 3G S's are out of stock.
  • Reply 13 of 41
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Logisticaldron View Post


    All joking aside, it is amazing that in such a short time the norm for smartphone included storage has gone from being measured in the low hundreds or even dozens of MB, to being measured in GB due to the iPhone.



    And SSD drives came out of nowhere about the same time...

    There must have been some kind of minor breakthrough in ram manufacture.
  • Reply 14 of 41
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    And SSD drives came out of nowhere about the same time...

    There must have been some kind of minor breakthrough in ram manufacture.



    One of the unique aspects of Apple, and why I love to hold their stock, is that they aren?t usually the first to market. The ones that make first almost always have a product that is too expensive to appeal to the average consumer. Apple seems to have a knack of predicting (or perhaps also having the funds and clout to bring prices down) when a technology will become viable for mass market.
  • Reply 15 of 41
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Logisticaldron View Post


    One of the unique aspects of Apple, and why I love to hold their stock, is that they aren?t usually the first to market. The ones that make first almost always have a product that is too expensive to appeal to the average consumer. Apple seems to have a knack of predicting (or perhaps also having the funds and clout to bring prices down) when a technology will become viable for mass market.



    Yes, their timing was also good on touch screens and the little hard drives in the original iPod.



    Perhaps the same thing that allows them to know the difference between a good GUI and a bad one allows them to know when a new technology is ready for people.
  • Reply 16 of 41
    abster2coreabster2core Posts: 2,501member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Trajectory View Post


    WHAT?? So Rogers denies 3G owners the ability to upgrade to the 3GS after having the 3G for a year, and now they are offering the 3GS for $99??



    This has got to be a mistake. Either that or Rogers is incredibly stupid for denying all those people who wanted to upgrade unless they paid a huge upgrade fee.



    On day one, you could upgrade your 3G to the new 3GS for $199.

    Today, I can cancel my 3G without a penalty and get a new phone for $199. But to do so, I lose my 6GB deal I had with my 3G. Right now I can get a 'family' voice/1 GB data plan for $120. Considering that I only went over 200 MB/month testing out tethering, it is not a bad deal.



    And those prices are in Canadian dollars.
  • Reply 17 of 41
    Ithink that's a fake because of the poor quality of the french title at the end.



    In english it would read something tlike "Transition from Rogers 8GB to the 3GS"



    But maybe people who works at Rogers use google to translate their official email...
  • Reply 18 of 41
    originalgoriginalg Posts: 383member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JavaCowboy View Post


    Just tried the Rogers site, and it seems to be possible to do this. However, I know for a fact that this wasn't an option before the 3G S came out.



    Not sure what terms are available besides 3 years because the site shows that the iPhone 3G S's are out of stock.



    I believe it was possible before, but not from the website or any other straightforward way. You had to call them, tell them you needed a replacement phone since the one you had was broken, and you wanted the iPhone without upgrading or signing onto a new plan, then if you got a good representative, they would offer you an iPhone at the replacement phone cost which was way more than the resale market's price.



    It's like as if you bought the 3G, then 3 months in you ran it over with your car and needed a replacement. They aren't so evil to make you sign a new 3 year contract, but will make you pay full price (and some?) for a replacement.
  • Reply 19 of 41
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    There must have been some kind of minor breakthrough in ram manufacture.



    There have been huge breakthroughs in flash memory (specifically, NAND) manufacturing. If you want to stay on top of what is happening with flash memory, a good site is http://www.digitimes.com/



    FYI - NAND prices fell by 80-90% in 2008.



    Another site is http://www.FlashMemorySummit.com
  • Reply 20 of 41
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by davebarnes View Post


    There have been huge breakthroughs in flash memory (specifically, NAND) manufacturing. If you want to stay on top of what is happening with flash memory, a good site is http://www.digitimes.com/



    FYI - NAND prices fell by 80-90% in 2008.



    Another site is http://www.FlashMemorySummit.com



    And they are way up again in the past 6 months.



    In fact, all memory prices are up, as manufacturers have closed plants to bring supply in line with demand.



    If you go to OWC, you'll notice, for example, that the 16GB 2GB module kits that were selling for $275 a bit over a month ago, are now selling for $369.99. That's a big increase. Meanwhile, the 4GB modules, due to higher production has fallen from $979.99 to $609.99.



    Transinternational is just a bit cheaper.
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