Apple's Polycarbonate iPhone with 4.5-Inch Display Arriving for $330 in 2014?

[Wicked1]

Some people still have trouble grasping the concept of unsubsidized phones. This phone is NOT primarily for the US. It's for countries where people have to pay for their phones up front, they don't have the cost of the phone spread out over 2 years like we do. It's also for countries who can't afford to drop $800 on a phone.

So you can "plastic, yuck" as much as you want but this is a smart move by Apple. This phone is not being made for you. It's being made for the billions of people in the world, including China, who can't afford the up-front cost of a $600+ phone. In the long run Apple would be STUPID to not go after that market now.

I agree with your statement, and also would add that who in their right mind would pay that much for a phone anyway? $800 for a smartphone that will be out of date in 1-2 years at the pace electronics keep moving? If the US was to ever do what other markets do, I would sever the use of my smartphone to basic calls, some texts, and nothing else. I could never justify the cost, especially that other places have Data and Voice Plans that are not cheap. Look at what you get in EU for the cost even if you have your own phone, it is not what you get in the US, so if AT&T ever goes the way T-Mobile is, I will cut my usage and keep my device for 2-3 years if not more if I can.

 

[iGrip]

'Plastic' and 'iPhone' in the same sentence, hoo boy. I can hear the panties twisting a mile away.

No more so than "glue" and "iPad".

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...I have a subsidized iPhone 5 and a coworker got hers unsubsidized and unlocked...I have grandfathered unlimited data, unlimited texts and the 450 min with rollover...she has grandfathered unlimited data, unlimited texts and 450 min with rollover....our bills are the same every month (at least for the last three months they were exact) what advantage does she get for paying full price for her device other than being unlocked? what additional money am I paying towards AT&T? We both like AT&T and will more than likely both keep service with them for two years...I can not see any advantage to buying unsubsidized. It's not like we have another major GSM carrier in the US...don't even mention Tmobile we're in Houston the better service is with AT&T

She has the ability to quit any time and use any competing service.

You would have to pay for your phone via an ETF and then buy a new one in order to switch.

But if you both pay the same for service for the same amount of time and if in that time you complete your contract, then yes, she will have paid more than you.


I did a similar calculation. I could buy a phone and use a prepaid plan. Or I could join Verizon for a couple of years via my room mates friends and family plan, and get a Galaxy S3 for $50. I chose the latter. It was a better deal.

I did not do the calculation for the phone I really wanted, which was the Moto Razr Maxx HD, because it was $350 upfront, subsidized. At that point, getting a Nexus 4 and going prepaid would have been the better deal.

 

[slu]

Well, I would buy it. I would like a larger screen and now that I am unlocked and using pre-paid, I don't think I could ever go back to subsidised phone.

 

[iGrip]

I don't understand how people compare iPhone from other competing products when the prices are all the same from GS3 to HTC One when the product is just released for $199.

I paid $50 upfront for my Galaxy S3. It was a one-day sale at Best Buy during the holiday season.

The mini-screen iPhone 5 was much more expensive and not nearly as good. It was an easy choice.

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but with the mediocre sales numbers of the iPhone 5,

The i5 was the best selling smartphone in the world during recent fiscal quarters.

It is not possible to call that mediocre. Instead, it is stellar.

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Why don't they just release a great phone and take a hit on profits? Don't tell me Apple couldn't do this. They can make an amazing phone with out any sacrifices and sell it for less. This will benefit Apple and the people buying devices. If Apple are losing customers to cheaper Androids, don't stoop to their level, release an amazing phone for cheap and blow everyone out of the water.

Apple estimates that they will achieve larger total profits using their current methods than they would using your suggested methods.

Any time you wonder "why is Apple doing that?" the answer is exactly the same: Apple is doing that in order to make more profits.

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Then Apple are just stupid to wait this long to release a competitive large screen iPhone! they have lost the race already... They think Samsung have overtaken them, a year from now Apple will be a minority!

Apple is already "a minority":

Samsung was the clear winner shipping an estimated 63.7 million smartphones, up 76% year over year, vs. Apple at 47.8 million, up 29%.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2013/01/25/samsung-increasing-its-smartphone-market-share-vs-apple-and-the-rest-of-the-pack/

 

[KieranDotW]

Because an iPhone 4 has either been used for 3 years by someone else or it's subsidized by the carriers.

WE don't need it. Other parts of the world, where there are (potentially) billions of people buying cheaper Android phones do.

I don't know about the US but in Canada you can order a brand new iPhone 4 from Apple that's unlocked without a contract. That's what I'm referring to. Knowing it works here they could do the same thing in other countries.

 

[maxosx]

Perhaps Apple is indeed rudderless at the moment.

 

[Premium1]

And that is what I still claim. And that is what ill claim about this cheap iPhone, if it ever comes out. Plastic sucks on high-end smartphones. Pay for a phone that costs hundreds of dollars, and get the same quality of a phone that costs ten dollars.

It's like buying a first class plane ticket, and finding out that the service is exactly the same as economy class. That's how I see it. When I pay hundreds of dollars, it should feel like hundreds if dollars, not some cheap flimsy plastic slab.

Don't even bother with the plastic cases as an argument, because I don't use a plastic case. Even if I did, I still have the option of removing it and getting the exquisite feel

Well seeing as how this is said to be cheaper it is going to perform cheaper so it wouldn't be the same feel. I still fail to see how plastic sucks when over time it lasts longer and is less prone to breaking than glass which was so famous on the iphone.

 

[ncaissie]

$330 !! that can compete with cheap android.

Not really. $330 is still too high. You can get cheap Androids and I know a lot of people who buy them.
It may get a few people but I doubt many. If you are going to spend that then why not get the subsidized iPhone 5? It makes no sense at all.

 

[adildacoolset]

Well seeing as how this is said to be cheaper it is going to perform cheaper so it wouldn't be the same feel. I still fail to see how plastic sucks when over time it lasts longer and is less prone to breaking than glass which was so famous on the iphone.

As I said, it sucks because it has a very cheap feel to it. Just not cool. And if someone looks after their iPhone sufficiently, then the glass will still retain its pristine condition.

 

[Tech198]

Well seeing as how this is said to be cheaper it is going to perform cheaper so it wouldn't be the same feel. I still fail to see how plastic sucks when over time it lasts longer and is less prone to breaking than glass which was so famous on the iphone.

last year it was different.... when glass made its way to the iphone 4, front and back, it was magical.....

then people became to break theirs more often...

Now, Apples deciding "in the infinite wisdom" to go back to plastic as more durable. ...

Wouldn't it have been better to stick with plastic all the way,,, till they could to polycarbonate ? Why go back to something they moved away from ?

Its like saying "ok.... lets bring the write MBA, back coz it will be lighter"

hate to say this, but it seems Apple's flip-flopping here on something.

... or maybe Apple should have tested to "see" which of these would be better "before" going any further ....

 

[Zendokan]

Until 2012 subsidized electronic equiptment (we called it "coupled sales") was illegal in Belgium.

In that time an iPhone 32GB was €749 ($973.70).
This was the case for every new 32GB version when it came out, starting with the 3G, continuing with the 3GS, 4, 4S, 5 and if the 5S will follow the "tradition" (same form factor as the 5, but newer internals), it will also be appliable for that one.

Now coupled sales are legal, but when you have the same abonnement deal (in text, telephone and data) as a non coupled abonnement, you will have paid €799 ($1038,70) over two years for a 32GB iPhone.

This makes that nowadays the majority of sales here are still non-subsidized smartphones, but for iPhones that is still €649 (16GB), €749 (32GB) or €849 (64GB) that has to be paid upfront.


So a "cheaper" iPhone is a good idea from Apple to corner the market in Western Europe. Smartphones are almost everywhere in Europe, more expensive when sold in couple-sales (after two years) than non-subsidized smartphones.

Now I also have a Samsung Galaxy S3 (standard black back) as a company phone and I really can't say that look or feels "cheap".
Neither am I walking around with a "huge television" that I can't fit in my trousers with that 4.8" screen.
It's a decent, solid phonethat is sold here for €649 ($843.70).
The only minus AND that's just my PERSONAL PREFERENCE is that I prefer iOS 6.1.2 over Android 4.1.2

So I expect that a "cheaper" iPhone with a plastic back will not look or feel cheap at all, but will visible be on par with the quality of the Galaxy S3.
Apple Inc will not compromise its reputation by bringing a more budget friendly device on the market that is substandard.

About the size? I really don't know, but I take a guess that it won't be 4.5".
The iPhone 5S will just be a bump in the internal specifications, but keep the form of the 5. So it will have a 4" screen.
The iPhone 6 would have a 5" screen according to the rumours and if it comes out, it will be stationed as a seperate model besides the 5S and not as the replacement.
This will give Apple Inc now two model lines of iPhones.

To be effective in costs and extend their market reach, I suspect that Apple Inc would come out with a 5S'LC' and a 6'LC' (LC = Low Cost a.k.a. the "Plastic" iPhone).

Will that effect the majority of us? No, if you don't like an iPhone, you have the option to "not buy it". The only ones that will be really effected will be the collectors here ;-)

But like I hinted in my text above, with the words "guess", "suspect", "think" is that we won't know anything concrete before Q2 or Q3 of 2013.

 

[Stately]

To me it would be natural, to move in the direction of making the iphone more like the 5th gen ipod as far as thinness, while keeping the aluminum theme as well. They are going back to plastic?? They should be headed toward transparent aluminum.

 

[SAD*FACED*CLOWN]

Lots of people travel internationally and don't want to pay ridiculous rates.

I travel internationally as well, three times last year...I didn't pay any "rates" at all..most people who travel with iPhones use airpalne mode and wifi...even cheaper than buying a sim to use overseas is buying a cheap burner once you land

 

[Tankmaze]

Not really. $330 is still too high. You can get cheap Androids and I know a lot of people who buy them.
It may get a few people but I doubt many. If you are going to spend that then why not get the subsidized iPhone 5? It makes no sense at all.

Yeah that is true, for the the US market. like I said in the other thread, the nexus 4 in US cost $299, but here in singapore it cost $500. $330 in the US, most definitely will be $330 here in singapore (adjusted for currency of course).

The low price iPhone will mostly benefit people in the country where the operators doesn't sell handsets let alone subsidise it. so they have to buy no-contract unlocked handset.

 

[SAD*FACED*CLOWN]

No more so than "glue" and "iPad".

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She has the ability to quit any time and use any competing service.

You would have to pay for your phone via an ETF and then buy a new one in order to switch.

But if you both pay the same for service for the same amount of time and if in that time you complete your contract, then yes, she will have paid more than you.


I did a similar calculation. I could buy a phone and use a prepaid plan. Or I could join Verizon for a couple of years via my room mates friends and family plan, and get a Galaxy S3 for $50. I chose the latter. It was a better deal.

I did not do the calculation for the phone I really wanted, which was the Moto Razr Maxx HD, because it was $350 upfront, subsidized. At that point, getting a Nexus 4 and going prepaid would have been the better deal.

she can quit and go where? to what carrier? T mobile is not that good compared to AT&T...why would I need to switch devices if I paid an ETF? my phone would be unlocked...and yes we'll more than likely both be with AT&T for 2 years...so there's no advantage to buying unlocked

 

[0007776]

How's $330 a cheaper price when you can have a brand new iPhone 5 for $199?

Because that $330 is the total cost and there is no contract whereas the $199 is subsidized and actually costs $649 without a contract so it is about half the price.

 

[33man]

Poor people have bigger hands? I tought after seeing advertisement that 4'' is perfect size (which I don't believe... 4.3 4.5 max)

Anyway, I have iPhone 5 and the only difference that will make me buying another phone will be THE DAMN FCK BATTERY LIFE.... It's fun to have thinner phone of the world if it can't last a day without charging... The battery and iOS renewal should be the major point for Apple to work on an deliver something correct... It will not be an improved plan or an useless pass book that will change something... Need something new....

NFC, scroll trackpad on the back of the phone, so no need to use your untransparant finger to select text or move cursor... Local LAN, immagine sharing files contacts image video using wifi/Bluetooth/NFC/... Not using all time a wifi router or data carrier connexion... What about the sub screen display that they bought licence, it is to have display that consume less that the main display and can be set currently under the black border iPhone, immagine to use it for notification, alerts or whatever, it will be better than a led blinking... Get rid of home button once for all or change its form factor... So much space used for.. Nothing. Better keyboard... Swipe to type... One gesture disabling wifi/data/Bluetooth/VPN/brightness... Implement a feature to monitor battery and data usage per app... And so on... A lot of to do and for sure working on feature like "I can order burgers from Siri to get more fat as I am today" working only on US... Is for me useless... I feel like the SJ spirit of placing the customer expectation as first priority is lost by Tim where is more focused on Money making...

 

[nepalisherpa]

Because that $330 is the total cost and there is no contract whereas the $199 is subsidized and actually costs $649 without a contract so it is about half the price.

For the love of God, I have already replied about five times after my original post saying that I missed the "unsubsidized" part in the original article.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

And we have a winner, I knew I wouldnt go through a thread where Samsung wouldnt get a mention (they do get alot of free advertising on this site don't they).

on another point, I havent seen any comments or adverts that say you must go out an buy this new vapourware phone, so why are you all moaning about it.

No likey, no buye
Let the Donkey see the Carrot

There's a difference between free advertising and free negative press. There's a difference between ignorance and intellect. That said, there's a difference between me and you.

This is MacRUMORS. The WHOLE ENTIRE SITE is aptly named for the content it provides. Use your head, there's this organ in there called the brain and someone somewhere gave it to you so please use it.

 

[Premium1]

last year it was different.... when glass made its way to the iphone 4, front and back, it was magical.....

then people became to break theirs more often...

Now, Apples deciding "in the infinite wisdom" to go back to plastic as more durable. ...

Wouldn't it have been better to stick with plastic all the way,,, till they could to polycarbonate ? Why go back to something they moved away from ?

Its like saying "ok.... lets bring the write MBA, back coz it will be lighter"

hate to say this, but it seems Apple's flip-flopping here on something.

... or maybe Apple should have tested to "see" which of these would be better "before" going any further ....

Agree 100%, but apple is too arrogant to admit they were wrong and that plastic/polycarbonate/whatever you want to call it is actually better for phones where drops and other things of that nature occur quite often in many cases. Who cares how "elegant" the phone looks if it shatters the first time it gets dropped

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As I said, it sucks because it has a very cheap feel to it. Just not cool. And if someone looks after their iPhone sufficiently, then the glass will still retain its pristine condition.

Typical apple fanboy response. It is a phone, if you honestly need it to be cool you have larger problems in life.

 

[nepalisherpa]

Most people who are commenting on how the build quality might be plasticy/cheap, do you realize that most of you use your phones with a case on? In the end, it does not matter as long as the software delivers.

 

[XboxMySocks]

Translation in English please!!!

The phone costs $699. Not $199.

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Most people who are commenting on how the build quality might be plasticy/cheap, do you realize that most of you use your phones with a case on? In the end, it does not matter as long as the software delivers.

I tentatively agree with your statement but I will say that most people pointing out the design of the phone probably do in fact use it without a case.

 

[nepalisherpa]

The phone costs $699. Not $199.

Yes, I know. I had missed the "unsubsidized" part in the article.

 

[XboxMySocks]

Yes, I know. I had missed the "unsubsidized" part in the article.

Ah, okay. Cheers

 

[Brien]

It means iPhone 6 will also be 4.5" in 2014 when this arrives.

The problem with that is, going with the current trend, by 2014 Android phones will be pushing 7-8".