New iPhones
Everyone seems to be weighing in with their thoughts on the iPhone event next week. There’s going to be an iPhone 5. There will be a new iPhone 4. OMG! A dirt cheap iPhone 4, called the iPhone 4s!
This should come as no real surprise to us. Yes, there will probably be an all new and improved iPhone dubbed the iPhone 5. I think too much time has passed for there to be simply an incremental update like there was between the iPhone 3G and 3Gs. I could very well be wrong, but that’s what I think. New features? The obvious are faster processors, better cameras, and possibly a slightly different form factor. Other improvements/features have already been revealed to us in the iOS 5 announcement, and I’m sure there will be a few surprises about iOS 5 that we haven’t heard of yet.
The news that motivated me to pen this post is the shock and awe that seems to stem from a cheaper iPhone 4. Duh. Of course there will be a dirt cheap iPhone 4. Every year when Apple announces the new iPhone, guess what inevitably follows? That’s right, last year’s new model then becomes this year’s cheap model. There should be no real surprise there.
That brings me to the supposed iPhone 4s. The iPhone 4 has been out for well over a year now. There is even a newer version of the iPhone 4 for Verizon. That version of the iPhone has some improvements worked into it, such as an improved antenna layout. It would make sense for Apple to redesign the iPhone 4 in order to streamline and economize production for sales to multiple carries. Not to mention the fact that because this iPhone has been out for so long, I’m sure Apple has determined other cost or performance improvements that could be worked into the current iPhone 4 design. And it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple titled this phone the iPhone 4s, the normal progression of the less expensive model iPhone.
That leaves me with the final shock of more memory configuration. Again, no big deal there. The iPad and iPod touch is available in up to 3 different RAM configurations that the market seems to support. Would it be a surprise if Apple tried the same thing with the iPhone? Not to me.
By next Tuesday afternoon all questions will be answered, and my next iPhone will be chosen.