Low-Cost iPhone to Use Plastic or Hybrid Plastic/Metal Design, Due in Late 2013

[jonnysods]

Originally Posted by lazard

$450 for a unlocked 8GB iPhone 4, $549 for unlocked 16GB 4S...hardly low cost.

I meant contract prices.

[luci216]

but... aren't older models free? why make a low-cost phone?
(on contract)

I'm not sure why they'd be looking to make a lower-cost contract-free device since that is not as common here. Maybe abroad?

[yakapo]

Originally Posted by jonnysods

I meant contract prices.

Where's the facepalm emoticon?

[Michael CM1]

I'll still believe this when I see it. I don't think Apple is that concerned about picking off customers in the freebie market.

[a0me]

Originally Posted by KnightWRX

Sure I did. But then again, the iPod Nano, their best selling iPod, is simply a PMP. And Apple sells it today in 2013. Again, just saying what could be a possibility.

OK, someone mentioned the iPod shuffle earlier in the thread, but I wasn't thinking about the iPod nano.
I guess I've always had mixed feelings about the nano; I thought the models with the small screen were great (to use when working out for ex) but the more recent generations don't make sense to me (video playback on a 2" screen?). If it's still Apple best selling iPod, I guess I'm clearly not in the majority and not part of the target demographic for a low-cost iPhone.

[InuNacho]

Originally Posted by fiddlestyx

Why don't they just bring back the 3G or 3Gs? Do some minor upgrades and you have a low-cost iPhone!

I believe the issue with bringing back older phones is the compatibility with newer software. It'd make more sense for Apple to use 4S parts or an under clocked 5 processor and keep the consumers buying apps rather than giving them older phones that cannot handle most apps.

[Nale72]

Originally Posted by luci216

but... aren't older models free? why make a low-cost phone?
(on contract)

I'm not sure why they'd be looking to make a lower-cost contract-free device since that is not as common here. Maybe abroad?

a) Yes, there is actually a world, with people, outside of the US also. Actually, it's a pretty big part of the world market.

b) No, there are no such thing as a free phone. Or please show me the store where I can enter, get a phone for no charge and leave with it. (yes, yes, if you're filthy rich or famous you might get phones as gifts, but that's a different story )

One way or another, you have to pay for the phone. Either upfront or baked into your contract.

At least here in Sweden, if you pay nothing (or a pretty low amount) upfront and tie up for a 24 month contract, you will pay more each month than if you use the same plan from the same operator without getting a phone at the same time (getting that plan with your old or new unlocked phone). Over the 24 months, that extra cost each month will be roughly the same as the price you would pay for the phone without contract. Sometimes this amount can be higher, sometimes just as much or lower if it's subsidized by the phone maker or operator.

If this is drasticly different in the US, like if you have to pay the same monthly amount both if you tie up for 24 months with a plan, with or without getting a phone doing it, then I can understand that you see the phone as "free" or "$100". But it isn't. It would make no sense giving away a phone for free. The operators aren't doing this for charity.

If the above scenario is how it's working, anyone signing up for a plan without getting a phone pay way too much if they pay just as much as the others who are also getting a "free" phone.

In any logical system, if you sign up a 24 month you should get a much lower monthly cost if you get a "cheap phone" compared to if you for example get a iPhone 4 with it if in both cases you get the phone "for free". Alternatively you get to pay the difference in value up front and get the same monthly fee. If this is not how it works now and you get the same monthly cost both for an iPhone 4 or a "cheap phone" I understand why this doesn't make that much sense for some.

[Rocketman]

In order to bypass the up front cost issue which is very user short-sighted on a TCO basis, Apple has taken to financing iPhones in China for 24 months on its own. In my view Apple would be very smart to leverage this experience into a version of Experion for China and become the credit authority of the Far East.

In any case the plastic iPhone is expected to reduce the up front cost from $200 to $0 but in no way changes the monthly service costs. Apple gets a fraction of that on its handsets whether or not it finances the handset through carrier subsidies, self-finances, or the customer pays up front for it ala Italy.

The majority of the TCO is the carrier pricing which users have to pay for at retail and Apple pays for at wholesale, essentially a MVO in exchange for making their handsets compatible with the carrier's network.

The carrier wants that because their other MVO's are much smaller and Apple products substantially increase both customer loyalty and re-subscriptions, but also increase the average data usage, increasing revenue as well.

Rocketman

Here's the article from 6 hours later than my post:

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/16/...hinese-buyers/

[fiddlestyx]

Originally Posted by InuNacho

I believe the issue with bringing back older phones is the compatibility with newer software. It'd make more sense for Apple to use 4S parts or an under clocked 5 processor and keep the consumers buying apps rather than giving them older phones that cannot handle most apps.

I was more referring to the design of the 3G(s) as they were talking about the plastic backing in the article. The minor upgrades would be the parts (ie processor) so that it can handle the apps ...

[tevion5]

Originally Posted by Morshu9001

It's called the iPhone 4
Already got one, and it's better than the 5 because you can jailbreak it.

Clearly nothing to debate here...

[brdeveloper]

Originally Posted by akfgpuppet

My guess, if it will exist, is a 3GS with updated internals that can be compatible with iOS 7.

iPhone 4 8GB with a cheaper case (3GS design) locked into iOS 6.

The current new iPhone 4 8GB will be replaced with a 4S 16GB. So, in the near future (until late 2013):

iPhone 4 8GB "3GS look-and-feel, no retina display" ~$229 unlocked

iPhone 4S 8GB ~$449 unlocked (iPhone 4 8GB replacement)

iPhone 5 16GB "colors" ~$549 unlocked (current iPhone 5, cheaper case)

iPhone 5S 16GB ~$649 unlocked

[brdeveloper]

Originally Posted by (Kerfuffle)

I still don't understand the point of this when you can get an iPhone 4 for free or a 4S for $100. Plus you get fancy glass and aluminum enclosures with those two.

You don't understand the point because you live in the land of subsidized phones. To the rest of the world, the smart way of buying a phone is getting an unlocked one.

[hamkor04]

Originally Posted by mrsir2009

No... Apple sells many different versions of their MacBook line. There's the 11" Air, which starts at $999, and then all the way up the top there's the rMBP, which costs upwards of $1700. Big variation

besides, I know people moan about Dell pricing, but when I use your "formula" they are no too bad, they also have laptops which starts $400(maybe even cheaper) up to over $2-3000