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Analyst Speculation on $99 iPhone and Higher Resolution iPhone 3G

ntrigue said:
There is no way the resolution is changing. What's all this talk about Resolution Independence? That is a HUGE switch to a Cocoa SDK that is in use for over 20,000 Apps.
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Its easy enough to fake, lcd's can pretend there have a lower resolution. Also, 3D is resolution independent, images can be upscaled and pre-made buttons only need an update from Apple. There was a reason Apple wants the developers to use the buttons from the SDK with automatic alignment.

There is no way on earth that Apple would never release a higher resolution iPhone, this has to be anticipated from the start and is most probably already implemented in the core software.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Not this worthlessness again...

Different screen resolution = no App Store.
No App Store = no point in sales
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Nonsense. Backwards compatibility is easy. They just have to scale up all software compiled for < 3.0. And starting from 3.0 it's the developer's responsibility to start locating stuff in per-cent, not in absolute pixels. It's not a big deal.

christian_k said:
I don't think that makes sense.

Here in Germany you can get the 3G from T-Mobile for as little as 1€.
Its not the price you pay to get the device, it is the monthly bill that makes an iPhone expensive!
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It's not the monthly bill that makes it expensive, it's the subsidy. That's why the iPhone with half the price is listed with half the subsidy. Ergo, you pay half for the iphone, and the same to the carrier.

surferfromuk said:
2MP camera ? Are you kidding - 2007 was two years ago...
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It's not the megapixels. The photo sensor size is limited. More megapixels would just mean (even) more noise indoors. If anything would help, it's a bigger sensor, and better optics. The zoom you mentioned would be nice, too. However, all these aren't a matter of price, they're a matter of space. Apple isn't going to make the iPhone any thicker, and I'm not sure anybody would want them to. When it comes down to it, a bigger battery is more important than a better camera, though. It's a phone, after all, not a camera. You can't have it all.
 
3247 said:
To keep up with other phones, it should be at least 5 MP with Xenon flash.
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Knowing Apple, 3.2 Megapixel with AF is way too optimistic :D

The iPhone really needs a better camera with the current one being too anaemic. If Apple insists on keeping in line with its current iPhone philosophy, it wouldn't need to bolt on an 8 Megapixel monster of any sort. Example, the Xperia X1; not camera-oriented like the N82 yet packs a decent an adequate 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera. Even a Sony Ericsson K750i had a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus and that was years back!

To everyone that says the iPhone doesn't need a better camera, you're all talking jibberish.
 
I like the inferred specs on the potentially new iPhone 3G. Higher res screen? Check. More space? Check. Video? Check. All excellent and welcomed upgrades, however unless I was able to get the upgrade for $299 there's now way I'd go for it. Even at $299, I've have to think about it as I already have the iPhone 3G and while the new feature are great, it may not justify spending $299 unless I can sell my current device for at least $200. :)
 
MacRumors said:
Meanwhile, the 720x480 resolution has been said to be planned for Apple's long-rumored mini-Tablet/PDA project.
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Now if they could get that resolution and make the tablet the size of 4 iPhone screens, it's getting healthy. 1440x960.

Yeah... not going to happen. But, I still have an original iBook and that 800x600 screen was TOO SMALL. For a tablet you want a little more than 720x480.
 
I don't buy into this whole "$100" iPhone thing.

Look across the Apple board a 2 gig iPod Shuffle costs $70, while an 8 gig iPod Nano costs $150.

The iPhone is the most mobile technology Apple has to offer, so it will naturally be the most expensive.

Being realistic, a $100 iPhone just doesn't make sense compared to prices of other Apple products.

A $200 iPhone would be more realistic.
 
Cheaper iPhone would be good, but a cheaper data plan would be better!

I would buy the current iPhone if I did not have to pay $20/ month for an unlimited text messaging plan. The reason I do not own an iPhone is because of the extreme cost of owning the phone. Most of my friends have phone bills in the $100 range and I'm not gonna bite. Sorry Apple and ATT!

Give us a cheaper data plan or let us choose a la carte and iPhone adoption will go through the roof! I for one would prefer a plan with 1500 texts and a limited data plan. Then and only then will I and others whom I talk to buy.
 
Hyde244 said:
I don't buy into this whole "$100" iPhone thing.

Look across the Apple board a 2 gig iPod Shuffle costs $70, while an 8 gig iPod Nano costs $150.

The iPhone is the most mobile technology Apple has to offer, so it will naturally be the most expensive.

Being realistic, a $100 iPhone just doesn't make sense compared to prices of other Apple products.

A $200 iPhone would be more realistic.
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I don't believe too much in a $99/£99 iPhone either - but those iPods you mention don't come with any monthly plan which will add a few hundred dollars onto the final price - customers aren't stupid and will be aware of that.

My thoughts: 32GB storage, yes please. 3.2MP+ camera with AF and good quality optics - yes please. Increased resolution, not bothered. Thinner, no thanks... Old school Apple ingenuity introducing features we haven't thought/dreamed about - a huge, yes please. ;)
 
Seems fairly reasonable to me, at least spec-wise. Resolution independence will be needed though.

I wonder if we'll see a high-res iPod touch or will the rumored mini-tablet be the "iPod touch" with 720x480 resolution…
 
electronboy said:
I would buy the current iPhone if I did not have to pay $20/ month for an unlimited text messaging plan. The reason I do not own an iPhone is because of the extreme cost of owning the phone. Most of my friends have phone bills in the $100 range and I'm not gonna bite. Sorry Apple and ATT!
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Yep. Not that it hasn't been said many times before, but if I could keep my current plan I would drop $600+ on an iPhone without even giving it a second thought. The price of the phone itself is not an issue, and Apple gains nothing in my mind for dropping it to $99 or even free.

Regardless of whether I can afford it, $80-100 per month is an obscene price to pay for phone service.
 
What?

Ok, so I don't necessaily believe this analysts predictions, and his complete lack of mention of internal hardware has me question the reliability of his predictions.

But what on earth is with all these people posting that resolution will never increase and the app store will be broke. This is far less insightful than what that analyst said.

First off, resolution dependence is still slated for snow leopard, which the new iPhones will be running. But more importantly, clearly users will want the screen to improve with time, especially by 2011-2012 when at&t finally rolls out 4g and we'll all cry for streaming hd video.

Clearly apple has thought of this and planned for altered resolutions to still function in future revisions of the iPhone.

To sum up, 720x480 may not come in '09 but don't think it's stupid, pointless, impossible and never gonna happen.
 
Whatever the case....

When the iPhone was introduced here in Canada last year, I was first in line to get one.

.....knowing that there would likely be a new one within a year's time, and that I'd upgrade just as soon as it came out.....IF it had extra storage.

'Cause 16 gigs ain't enough for any self-respecting music fanatic.

so I hope this report is true, but won't believe it until Apple makes its announcement.
 
Bigdaddyguido said:
Ok, so I don't necessaily believe this analysts predictions, and his complete lack of mention of internal hardware has me question the reliability of his predictions.

But what on earth is with all these people posting that resolution will never increase and the app store will be broke. This is far less insightful than what that analyst said.

First off, resolution dependence is still slated for snow leopard, which the new iPhones will be running. But more importantly, clearly users will want the screen to improve with time, especially by 2011-2012 when at&t finally rolls out 4g and we'll all cry for streaming hd video.

Clearly apple has thought of this and planned for altered resolutions to still function in future revisions of the iPhone.

To sum up, 720x480 may not come in '09 but don't think it's stupid, pointless, impossible and never gonna happen.
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fwiw, there hasn't been a decent hardware report beyond Seth's go at it a while back. Someone needs to have a good look at the internal chips, and have a summary of it. The resolution will increase at some point. (or at the very least, be able to output at a higher resolution).
 
I would at least expect a faster processor inside the new model coming in june/july , or is that a crazy thought ?
 
Tallest Skil said:
Good luck. Apple can't even do that on their desktop OS.
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Sure they can. You just set you screen to a lower resolution than it's native rate and the hardware takes care of the scaling so that the screen is filled. That is exactly would be necessary here to support 480x320 graphics on a 720x480 screen. Remember, the current iPhone is already 480x320 so there would be no down-converting going on, at least not for existing apps. Instead the new iPhone 3.0 would be up-converting, at least for apps that did not support the new high resolution yet. Yes, new apps that only supported the new 720x480 iPhone would have to be down-converted for the older phones and the suggested newer low-cost lower-resolution iPhone. But it is not even clear that Apple would allow 720x480-only apps.

This is not the same issue as resolution independent GUI which requires all elements to be scaled indepently in software. That feature would be nice too, but is not necessary in this case.
 
There will be no downgraded iphone. The only possible way to offer $99 phone is to offer older generation and new, upgraded version. The same thing we see with current offer of white macbook vs alu macbook.
 
johnsy said:
There will be no downgraded iphone. The only possible way to offer $99 phone is to offer older generation and new, upgraded version. The same thing we see with current offer of white macbook vs alu macbook.
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Actually it is funny that you use that for a basis of comparison since Apple just recently updated the old white MacBook to more modern internals similar to the aluminum MacBooks.

I see no technical reason why I similarly updated last generation iPhone could not come to pass as well.
 
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