Apple’s rumored entry into the low priced smartphone market has been widely rumored, and today, Japanese blog Macotakara brings up additional information on Apple’s plans citing “informed sources.”
While most rumors predicted a 2013 launch date for the cheaper, plastic bodied iPhone, Macotakara claims that Apple’s plans have reportedly been delayed by a year, and it now expects the company to release the phone in 2014 at an estimated price of $330.
The cheaper iPhone, it adds, would sport a 4.5 inch screen, larger than the 4 inch and 3.5 inch displays found on currently selling iPhones. While Digitimes did report on the possibility of the cheaper iPhone having a larger display, most other rumors noted that the device would have the same, if not a smaller size than the iPhone 5 or the iPhone 4S. The notion of a larger iPhone being the cheaper one might be counterintuitive at first, but it does make a lot of sense given the extra volume Apple could use to add larger but cheaper components, add a low pixel density display and a battery that doesn’t necessarily have to be high density.
According to Macotakara’s sources, the cheaper iPhone would have a polycarbonate body just like the discontinued base MacBook model. It’s worth noting that Nokia managed to use a polycarbonate body in its Lumia series of phones and still manage to have a premium feel to it. It’s likely that Apple’s industrial design team, headed by Jony Ive, would do the same and not let the iPhone have a “cheap plastic” feel to it.
The cheaper, polycarbonate iPhone is said to be thicker than the current generation iPhone, though it’s not much and would likely measure the same as an iPhone 5 covered with a polycarbonate case.
The implications of a cheaper iPhone for Apple are by now well known to most of you. It’s crucial for the company’s growth in developing markets, and offer a compelling alternative to current $200-$400 Android phones.
Via: Macotakara
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