Is this the same as the "leaked" new icons, you know the ones that looked nothing like what actually was in iOS7?
This is why I laugh at all these "leaked" things. Wait for the official word, then discuss. I really wish we are told what we get for "leaking"/guessing correctly... cause WAY too many people come up with way too many things that are wrong.
My guess is that they want to make the lower-cost iphone feel "less premium" than the iphone5s, to avoid cannibalising its sales. Thicker could be because of different brand of parts which are not as small? For example, there are rumours that Apple might not use their A-series of processors, but instead utilise snapdragon processors.
Well, its much more likely related to design and engineering. Cheaper components could be consuming more power than newer. If they want to achieve the same battery life and functionnaly at the cheaper price, it makes sense the device will be bigger and heavier.
imo its more important to ditch form factors over functionnaly when making a lower cost phone. The interesting component will be the screen, will it be retina? My guess is maybe, if they changed the iphone 5s screen to IGZO, they will have the current iphone 5 screen capacity for the cheaper phone. The current screen production issues are solved so price per unit should come down next year.
2 things I don't get: why a lower cost iPhone has to be plastic and why it has to be thicker. Unless Apple would do that to keep it from stealing flagship device sales. But they didn't do that with the iPad mini. Most likely the next full size iPad will take its design cues from the mini.
Yeah, me too. That's why I'm thinking here that the only reason for thicker is if it has some ridiculous 24 hour battery life or something.
The very worst "iPhone cheapo" could be (IMO of course) is last years internals in a cheap case, and last years internals are not significantly larger than this years. They don't need a giant thick case like that.
The nice thing about selling the past years phones is that Apple didn't have to do the extra engineering to do another design. They just sold the older model as-is which, presumably, was going down in cost each year as the components got cheaper.
The downside of that is that the cases of these devices-- the metal band in the 4 series, for instance-- are really expensive to manufacture.
I think Apple will have a standard phone, which they'll call "iPhone" and a higher end model which might be called iPhone+ or Pro. The standard design will be made with cheaper materials, like plastic, and but will likely still be mostly last years phone.
EG: A6 processor in the pro, and A5 in the standard, then next year, A7 in the pro, and A6 in the standard.
It's just the market has gotten big enough that it's worth the cost to maintain two designs, and more efficient to sell a seperate design out of plastic than to keep making last years model.
You may be on to something, but I still personally would rather Apple not make the cheaper iPhone out of plastic.
It would be nice if the design aesthetic and materials were more on par with the iPod Touch line for the cheaper iPhone. Plastic seems out of place at Apple considering they've discontinued all of their other plastic products in favor of metal and glass designs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Yeah, me too. That's why I'm thinking here that the only reason for thicker is if it has some ridiculous 24 hour battery life or something.
The very worst "iPhone cheapo" could be (IMO of course) is last years internals in a cheap case, and last years internals are not significantly larger than this years. They don't need a giant thick case like that.
Maybe Apple is using these plastic shells to hide the real design of the cheaper iPhone, hence why it's thicker?
it's very likely that he thicker iPhone 'light" is going to have older/slower parts in it to save money. The article does say something to that effect regarding the camera. Perhaps Apple will be using some parts from the iPhone 5/4s in this low-cost option, hence the need to make it thicker.
Yeah, but we are talking twice as thick if these drawings are accurate. That makes no sense because of parts, because last years parts, or even the years before that, were only slightly smaller than the current ones. The only way it could be that thick due to parts, is if it has three or four year old parts inside like the old 3G iPhones.
If that's the case, then this is truly a phone for Africa or India and will be something that only a desperately poor person would even consider. I'm still thinking it makes more sense for Apple to target the middle of the market rather than the very bottom of it.
I think moving forward, Apple will have two iPhone lines moving forward: Premium and Standard (instead of light or low cost). This way, they don't keep selling iPhones from three years ago. The "standard" line may also get a cheaper data plan as well. Pure speculation on my part.
Yeah, I've thought this for a while now too. That's why I like to call the new one "iPhone cheapo" because there is really no way to name it that doesn't make it sound like a lesser product. Even the "iPhone light" suggested here, just sounds like it's missing something that the regular iPhone has. How do you market a "cheaper" Mercedes or a "budget" Rolex?
Apple would be better off naming the new "cheapo" iPhone as plain old "iPhone," and giving the new name to the original ("iPhone pro," "iPhone x" etc.).
Yeah, but we are talking twice as thick if these drawings are accurate. That makes no sense because of parts, because last years parts, or even the years before that, were only slightly smaller than the current ones. The only way it could be that thick due to parts, is if it has three or four year old parts inside like the old 3G iPhones.
If that's the case, then this is truly a phone for Africa or India and will be something that only a desperately poor person would even consider. I'm still thinking it makes more sense for Apple to target the middle of the market rather than the very bottom of it.
imo its could design for China and India, those guys have electrical grid problems in some regions and will probably used there phone for everything since they can only affort a single device most of the time. More battery life is more important than form factors. I am pretty confident the cheap iphone internals will be decents resulting in a pretty powerfull device. and maybe the battery will be user replacable, which would make sense for those markets.
and I dont know why you guys are complaining, you wont be the guys buying those phones right?
I think its pretty obvious that device is being mass produce rigth now. We are getting the amount of leaks we normally get just before launch. I think a lot of components leaks are wrongly match with the 5s. I personnaly think everything is link to the cheap phone.
What, predict two phones being released simultaneously? Yes. Just like last year. And this year. And every year until it either happens or they give up, like the idiots who thought the world wanted a 2.5", data-free, app-less iPhone with a physical keyboard. Then they can claim they were 100% accurate for every year in between the 4S' release and then.
looks more like iPhone 5S and new iPod Touch to me.
Possibly. Not a bad suggestion at all. If they update the iPod Touch line, which I'm not convinced they will, because they did just extend it with an entry level model (and I doubt people are clamouring for updated internals, as much as I doubt they've sold enough units to warrant investing more on upgrading the device - is that really the reason people aren't buying more iPod Touches??).
Though, it could also be Apple doing with the iPhone line exactly what they've just done with the iPod Touch line, by introducing a slightly less featured (no dual LED flash, previous gen cameras, and foregoing any other 5S spec updates) iPhone 8GB (or 16GB and start the iPhone main line at 32GB topping out at 128GB) as an entry level model.
What, predict two phones being released simultaneously? Yes. Just like last year. And this year. And every year until it either happens or they give up, like the idiots who thought the world wanted a 2.5", data-free, app-less iPhone with a physical keyboard. Then they can claim they were 100% accurate for every year in between the 4S' release and then.
LOL spot on.
What I would love to know is who this phone is supposedly for. I keep getting told: "Emerging Markets!" Yet, no one has any clue what that means. I keep getting told the U.S. is not the primary focus, which I don't believe at all....meaning, Apple will not put engineering effort into a new iPhone that will be a big seller in the U.S.
Yes, Apple is a U.S. company that makes U.S.-bound products. Their popularity around the world is fragmented, and Apple does little to address that. Not surprising...they are a U.S. company.
As I've posted elsewhere, I believe very strongly that IF Apple is really making this device (and I believe they are), that it's purpose is to be the $99/2 year contract price point. They are not making the fabled, fantasy device that costs $199 off contract and no more than $45 a month to use with pre-paid who-cares plans.
Its NOT happening. That would not be an iPhone, Apple wouldn't make it, so its time to stop the fantasy.
However, making a NEW product to introduce at the $99 price point instead of just continuing to demote last year's phone....makes perfect sense to me. $99/2year is VERY popular for Apple...and if they can make a new product that costs even less to produce, they can make a killing.
Its about making ridiculous amounts of money, and making the best products.
It is NOT a race to bottom...it is NOT about propping up emerging markets. Let other companies find out how much fun that is....and fail at it. :no:
I would argue that Apple does in fact worry about product cannibalisation, just that they would rather lose sales to themselves than to another competitor.
That's why the ipad doesn't get full productivity features, so it doesn't obsolete the Mac. Likewise, if you look at their product line, it seems very carefully crafted to avoid overlaps with one another.
That said, I suspect the cheaper iphone may be available only overseas, and may not be sold in the US at all.
And I would argue that the iPad has a different philosophy of use than a Mac. It's productivity features are optimized for the iPad, not intentionally crippled. Also, even lacking "full" features, the iPad has cannibalized Mac and PC sales to a large extent.
I would also argue that their products don't overlap because Apple designs one product to be the best in class, and that's it (read the first part of my argument). Given that, I don't expect these rumors of a cheap iPhone with stripped out features to be true.
only reason for thicker is if it has some ridiculous 24 hour battery life or something.
The iPhone 4S was thicker than this apparent iPhone lite, that didn't have 24 hour battery life
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackbook
hence why it's thicker?
It's still 0.8mm THINNER than the 4 and 4S.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Yeah, but we are talking twice as thick if these drawings are accurate.
Your eyes must be for show only if that's what you can "see". Personally I can see the number 8.5 next to the depth of the iPhone lite.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmz
LOL spot on.
What I would love to know is who this phone is supposedly for. I keep getting told: "Emerging Markets!" Yet, no one has any clue what that means.
Just because you don't doesn't mean we all don't. Emerging markets are low income countries who wouldn't normally need or be able to afford such a device.
However, places such as India and China are starting to bloom economically so it's a good idea to get your foot in the door and get yourself known so they are more likely to upgrade to the full iPhone experience when they can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aBeliefSystem
"If this is real, there is no reason to make "iPhone cheapo" that fat
THAT FAT! Are everyone else's eyes painted on or are they just not seeing the pictures above?
8.5 is 8.5mm, that isn't "that fat", it's 0.8mm thinner than the 4S but only 0.9mm thicker than the iPhone 5.
You really should buy a tape measure and look at it to appreciate what you are saying.
Personally I'm more interested in why the 5S is apparently thicker than the 5.
This "lite" version is stupid. I think they will modify the 4 with lightning and perhaps not use glass and release that off contract when the 5S is released. There is no sense designing a cheap version of the flagship.
This "lite" version is stupid. I think they will modify the 4 with lightning and perhaps not use glass and release that off contract when the 5S is released. There is no sense designing a cheap version of the flagship.
I'd say 4S, if anything at all. No reason to keep around the iPhone 4 another year so that people demand iOS 8 on it, right? Of course they'll use glass; they'll have to, won't they? Plastic can't match the tactile sensitivity, can it? Apple's not about cutting corners on the experience they present, even for the people dumb enough to cut corners on the experience they have.
Comments
looks more like iPhone 5S and new iPod Touch to me.
This is why I laugh at all these "leaked" things. Wait for the official word, then discuss. I really wish we are told what we get for "leaking"/guessing correctly... cause WAY too many people come up with way too many things that are wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by abazigal
My guess is that they want to make the lower-cost iphone feel "less premium" than the iphone5s, to avoid cannibalising its sales. Thicker could be because of different brand of parts which are not as small? For example, there are rumours that Apple might not use their A-series of processors, but instead utilise snapdragon processors.
Well, its much more likely related to design and engineering. Cheaper components could be consuming more power than newer. If they want to achieve the same battery life and functionnaly at the cheaper price, it makes sense the device will be bigger and heavier.
imo its more important to ditch form factors over functionnaly when making a lower cost phone. The interesting component will be the screen, will it be retina? My guess is maybe, if they changed the iphone 5s screen to IGZO, they will have the current iphone 5 screen capacity for the cheaper phone. The current screen production issues are solved so price per unit should come down next year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
2 things I don't get: why a lower cost iPhone has to be plastic and why it has to be thicker. Unless Apple would do that to keep it from stealing flagship device sales. But they didn't do that with the iPad mini. Most likely the next full size iPad will take its design cues from the mini.
Yeah, me too. That's why I'm thinking here that the only reason for thicker is if it has some ridiculous 24 hour battery life or something.
The very worst "iPhone cheapo" could be (IMO of course) is last years internals in a cheap case, and last years internals are not significantly larger than this years. They don't need a giant thick case like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessi
The nice thing about selling the past years phones is that Apple didn't have to do the extra engineering to do another design. They just sold the older model as-is which, presumably, was going down in cost each year as the components got cheaper.
The downside of that is that the cases of these devices-- the metal band in the 4 series, for instance-- are really expensive to manufacture.
I think Apple will have a standard phone, which they'll call "iPhone" and a higher end model which might be called iPhone+ or Pro. The standard design will be made with cheaper materials, like plastic, and but will likely still be mostly last years phone.
EG: A6 processor in the pro, and A5 in the standard, then next year, A7 in the pro, and A6 in the standard.
It's just the market has gotten big enough that it's worth the cost to maintain two designs, and more efficient to sell a seperate design out of plastic than to keep making last years model.
You may be on to something, but I still personally would rather Apple not make the cheaper iPhone out of plastic.
It would be nice if the design aesthetic and materials were more on par with the iPod Touch line for the cheaper iPhone. Plastic seems out of place at Apple considering they've discontinued all of their other plastic products in favor of metal and glass designs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Yeah, me too. That's why I'm thinking here that the only reason for thicker is if it has some ridiculous 24 hour battery life or something.
The very worst "iPhone cheapo" could be (IMO of course) is last years internals in a cheap case, and last years internals are not significantly larger than this years. They don't need a giant thick case like that.
Maybe Apple is using these plastic shells to hide the real design of the cheaper iPhone, hence why it's thicker?
Quote:
Originally Posted by antkm1
it's very likely that he thicker iPhone 'light" is going to have older/slower parts in it to save money. The article does say something to that effect regarding the camera. Perhaps Apple will be using some parts from the iPhone 5/4s in this low-cost option, hence the need to make it thicker.
Yeah, but we are talking twice as thick if these drawings are accurate. That makes no sense because of parts, because last years parts, or even the years before that, were only slightly smaller than the current ones. The only way it could be that thick due to parts, is if it has three or four year old parts inside like the old 3G iPhones.
If that's the case, then this is truly a phone for Africa or India and will be something that only a desperately poor person would even consider. I'm still thinking it makes more sense for Apple to target the middle of the market rather than the very bottom of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by winstein2010
I think moving forward, Apple will have two iPhone lines moving forward: Premium and Standard (instead of light or low cost). This way, they don't keep selling iPhones from three years ago. The "standard" line may also get a cheaper data plan as well. Pure speculation on my part.
Yeah, I've thought this for a while now too. That's why I like to call the new one "iPhone cheapo" because there is really no way to name it that doesn't make it sound like a lesser product. Even the "iPhone light" suggested here, just sounds like it's missing something that the regular iPhone has. How do you market a "cheaper" Mercedes or a "budget" Rolex?
Apple would be better off naming the new "cheapo" iPhone as plain old "iPhone," and giving the new name to the original ("iPhone pro," "iPhone x" etc.).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Yeah, but we are talking twice as thick if these drawings are accurate. That makes no sense because of parts, because last years parts, or even the years before that, were only slightly smaller than the current ones. The only way it could be that thick due to parts, is if it has three or four year old parts inside like the old 3G iPhones.
If that's the case, then this is truly a phone for Africa or India and will be something that only a desperately poor person would even consider. I'm still thinking it makes more sense for Apple to target the middle of the market rather than the very bottom of it.
imo its could design for China and India, those guys have electrical grid problems in some regions and will probably used there phone for everything since they can only affort a single device most of the time. More battery life is more important than form factors. I am pretty confident the cheap iphone internals will be decents resulting in a pretty powerfull device. and maybe the battery will be user replacable, which would make sense for those markets.
and I dont know why you guys are complaining, you wont be the guys buying those phones right?
I think its pretty obvious that device is being mass produce rigth now. We are getting the amount of leaks we normally get just before launch. I think a lot of components leaks are wrongly match with the 5s. I personnaly think everything is link to the cheap phone.
What, predict two phones being released simultaneously? Yes. Just like last year. And this year. And every year until it either happens or they give up, like the idiots who thought the world wanted a 2.5", data-free, app-less iPhone with a physical keyboard. Then they can claim they were 100% accurate for every year in between the 4S' release and then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilgto64
looks more like iPhone 5S and new iPod Touch to me.
Possibly. Not a bad suggestion at all. If they update the iPod Touch line, which I'm not convinced they will, because they did just extend it with an entry level model (and I doubt people are clamouring for updated internals, as much as I doubt they've sold enough units to warrant investing more on upgrading the device - is that really the reason people aren't buying more iPod Touches??).
Though, it could also be Apple doing with the iPhone line exactly what they've just done with the iPod Touch line, by introducing a slightly less featured (no dual LED flash, previous gen cameras, and foregoing any other 5S spec updates) iPhone 8GB (or 16GB and start the iPhone main line at 32GB topping out at 128GB) as an entry level model.
I want translucent plastics and several crazy colors.
LOL spot on.
What I would love to know is who this phone is supposedly for. I keep getting told: "Emerging Markets!" Yet, no one has any clue what that means. I keep getting told the U.S. is not the primary focus, which I don't believe at all....meaning, Apple will not put engineering effort into a new iPhone that will be a big seller in the U.S.
Yes, Apple is a U.S. company that makes U.S.-bound products. Their popularity around the world is fragmented, and Apple does little to address that. Not surprising...they are a U.S. company.
As I've posted elsewhere, I believe very strongly that IF Apple is really making this device (and I believe they are), that it's purpose is to be the $99/2 year contract price point. They are not making the fabled, fantasy device that costs $199 off contract and no more than $45 a month to use with pre-paid who-cares plans.
Its NOT happening. That would not be an iPhone, Apple wouldn't make it, so its time to stop the fantasy.
However, making a NEW product to introduce at the $99 price point instead of just continuing to demote last year's phone....makes perfect sense to me. $99/2year is VERY popular for Apple...and if they can make a new product that costs even less to produce, they can make a killing.
Its about making ridiculous amounts of money, and making the best products.
It is NOT a race to bottom...it is NOT about propping up emerging markets. Let other companies find out how much fun that is....and fail at it. :no:
Quote:
Originally Posted by abazigal
My guess is that it will obviously omit Siri,
Wouldn't they want everyone using siri?
It helps make it a lot less fragle than a Ryvita. Plastic obviously means fatter but compensates well by lowering power requirements for standby.
And I would argue that the iPad has a different philosophy of use than a Mac. It's productivity features are optimized for the iPad, not intentionally crippled. Also, even lacking "full" features, the iPad has cannibalized Mac and PC sales to a large extent.
I would also argue that their products don't overlap because Apple designs one product to be the best in class, and that's it (read the first part of my argument). Given that, I don't expect these rumors of a cheap iPhone with stripped out features to be true.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
only reason for thicker is if it has some ridiculous 24 hour battery life or something.
The iPhone 4S was thicker than this apparent iPhone lite, that didn't have 24 hour battery life
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackbook
hence why it's thicker?
It's still 0.8mm THINNER than the 4 and 4S.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Yeah, but we are talking twice as thick if these drawings are accurate.
Your eyes must be for show only if that's what you can "see". Personally I can see the number 8.5 next to the depth of the iPhone lite.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmz
LOL spot on.
What I would love to know is who this phone is supposedly for. I keep getting told: "Emerging Markets!" Yet, no one has any clue what that means.
Just because you don't doesn't mean we all don't. Emerging markets are low income countries who wouldn't normally need or be able to afford such a device.
However, places such as India and China are starting to bloom economically so it's a good idea to get your foot in the door and get yourself known so they are more likely to upgrade to the full iPhone experience when they can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aBeliefSystem
"If this is real, there is no reason to make "iPhone cheapo" that fat
THAT FAT! Are everyone else's eyes painted on or are they just not seeing the pictures above?
8.5 is 8.5mm, that isn't "that fat", it's 0.8mm thinner than the 4S but only 0.9mm thicker than the iPhone 5.
You really should buy a tape measure and look at it to appreciate what you are saying.
Personally I'm more interested in why the 5S is apparently thicker than the 5.
Miniaturization is expensive. Invest the money to do it on the important model, don't waste your time on the useless one.
I'd say 4S, if anything at all. No reason to keep around the iPhone 4 another year so that people demand iOS 8 on it, right? Of course they'll use glass; they'll have to, won't they? Plastic can't match the tactile sensitivity, can it? Apple's not about cutting corners on the experience they present, even for the people dumb enough to cut corners on the experience they have.