Apple Weighs a Cheaper iPhone to Broaden Its Appeal
Apple has been exploring ways to broaden the appeal of the iPhone by making the popular device less expensive and allowing users to control it with voice commands.
But contrary to published reports, Apple is not currently developing a smaller iPhone, according to people briefed on Apple’s plans who requested anonymity because the plans are confidential.
Apple’s engineers are currently focused on finishing the next version of the iPhone, which is likely to be similar in size to the current iPhone 4, said one of the people. The person said Apple was not planning to introduce a smaller iPhone any time soon. Analysts expect the new iPhone to be ready this summer.
More unsubstantiated speculation about the latest Apple rumor, the mini-iPhone. Since Steve Jobs has been back at the helm, Apple has streamlined and simplified their product lines. I’m sure that they are exploring ways to make the device better, but I doubt that they are looking into producing a smaller version. How much smaller can you make the screen and still have it be as useful as the current model? This would also make things more difficult for app developers - they would have to ship their apps with support for 3 different screen resolutions. I would imagine that Apple is working hard on finishing up the latest prototypes of the next generation iPhone rather than diversifying the product line at this time.