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Cheaper iPhone Nano?

Here's the reality folks. The iPhone has only 8 gigs maximum storage. Which puts its iPod capacity in the realm of the Nano already.

When the next gen iPhone comes along with 30-80 gigs of storage, then maybe we can start thinking about Apple introducing a Nano iPhone.

That's the way I see it. I won't be replacing my 30 gig iPod with an 8 gig iPhone any day soon.


And just for the record, I don't see Apple having any reason for introducing a phone with minimal (or no) genuine Multitouch, iPod or internet facilities. The iPhone's entire USP would be gone.
 
I love my 8 GB nano. Use the address book on it all the time. Just let me press the center button to call the selected contact and I can ditch my cell phone. For the rare occasions you have to dial a number, the clickwheel is just fine.

The thing might get a little bigger tho to get the mics, speaker and SIM card and vibrator inside :)
 
Kidd38s said:
What does the ipod do that most other mp3 players can't other than have a great design and work seemlessly with itunes? Both of those concepts/features could transfer really well to a less expense phone. ;)
Click to expand...

Apple certainly didn't invent the mp3 player with the iPod, but they still weren't widely used then, and Apple MADE them a househould name/item.

Cell phones, on the other hand, have been around for decades, and almost everyone has one now. In order for Apple to even bother to tap into this market, they REALLY had to do something revolutionary with their iPhone. And they did! But to now go backwards and do something not-so-revolutionary wouldn't make much sense.

The iPhone got so much attention because of the amazing things it could do. You really think Apple would sacrifice all that and put out "just another phone"?

And has anyone REALLY looked at the patent drawings? If Apple really made that device, they would be mocked. This is just another one of Apple's hundreds of patents that are just thrown out there but never get made...
 
guzhogi said:
Agreed. I feel Apple's becoming more of the high-end computer company, which is sad. Mac OS X is awesome, but it seems like all Apple cares about is selling its high-end pro(sumer) stuff rather than making affordable, low-end products. I keep hearing that Apple discontinues the low end stuff either b/c it's either not selling well enough (good low-end stuff that's too expensive) or selling too well and cannibalizing higher end stuff. It seems like Apple wants to make at least a 40% profit on everything. Cool as it may be, it's just too expensive for people who don't make that much $$.
Click to expand...

That is what makes Apple who they are... They have always been higher end. They push design. Good design costs more. Higher costs can allow Apple to keep innovating and keep pushing the design of their products as well as other companies' products.

The LAST thing I want to see is for Apple to become a company with crap design standards like any PC manufacturer out there currently on the market. Selling cheaply made products with poor design to keep costs down means a lot of people will be using cheap products with poor design carrying the Apple brand, and that has never been what Apple is about. Every product Apple has released has always had some form of style power at some point in its life ( ok maybe there are a few exceptions ;) )

I don't think they want to make their products unaffordable by any means, but they definitely want to keep their spot in the high end consumer industry- and I applaud them for that.

I might cry if I saw corrugated cardboard used inside Apple's packaging :D
 
What the Razer should have been

Rojo said:
Argh - the iPhone nano rumor returns!

I still don't get why Apple would make one. If you remove all the cool things that make the current iPhone what it is today, then what's left? A nano that somehow makes phone calls? What's interesting/innovative about that?

rockstarjoe mentions something the size of a current nano, but with a fullscreen touchscreen -- but also points out how internet, a keyboard, etc, wouldn't quite work. Yes... exactly! It makes no sense.
.
Click to expand...


It makes perfect sense for people who want to have a simple phone with simple Nano iPod functionality. The nano doesn't have the same cool things that a 80gig iPod has, but it still sells like hotcakes, due to the price point and form factor.

Persopnally, as a someone who is rather disappointed with the lack of 3rd party apps as well as being more or less joined at the hip with my laptop .... an iPhone Nano might be exactly what I want:

Portable music, a 1/2 decent phone/SMS machine with basic productivity essentials like calendar, to do lists, contacts, etc.
 
Rojo said:
Apple certainly didn't invent the mp3 player with the iPod, but they still weren't widely used then, and Apple MADE them a househould name/item.

Cell phones, on the other hand, have been around for decades, and almost everyone has one now. In order for Apple to even bother to tap into this market, they REALLY had to do something revolutionary with their iPhone. And they did! But to now go backwards and do something not-so-revolutionary wouldn't make much sense.

The iPhone got so much attention because of the amazing things it could do. You really think Apple would sacrifice all that and put out "just another phone"?

And has anyone REALLY looked at the patent drawings? If Apple really made that device, they would be mocked. This is just another one of Apple's hundreds of patents that are just thrown out there but never get made...
Click to expand...
If Apple really wants to get into the cell phone market, they have to offer a simpler, less expensive option than the iPhone. And a nano phone would be a huge hit for one simple reason: most people hate the design of their cell phone. The iPod proved that if you give people something beautiful, usable and elegant, they will buy it over ugly, clunky, cheaper alternatives every time. The average cell phone is ugly. Apple says: "Here, try our pretty one -- it looks like the nano we sold you last year and it does the same things, but it also makes calls." The nano is a fashion accessory for a certain demographic. Some cell phones have tried to do the same thing (pink RAZR), but Apple will make it prettier, cooler, easier and more fun to use, and they'll charge a little more than competitors, which will make it a status symbol. As others have mentioned, the mini/nano, with their colors and price point, are what made the iPod so dominant and enabled Apple to take over the MP3 market, so why wouldn't they follow the same game plan in their efforts to gain a foothold the mobile phone game? This is their third leg -- they're not going to stand pat with a full-featured smart phone that is out of most people's price range.
 
Well I can't even type on the regular iPhone with my fingers, I don't see how this would work in a Nano form factor. You'd lose most of what makes the iPhone the iPhone. In my mind it would simply be the functionality of a Razor that syncs with iTunes - a minor improvement over existing phones by having an easy to use audio player.
 
Troyte83 said:
it will be probably be 1 gig with some some sort of touch screen.
Click to expand...

Do you think they would make it that small? I couldn't see them making it on par with a shuffle and having all the the other nano larger and cheaper. But I guess you never know.
 
Maybe an iphone maxi

I don't know - maybe i just lack imagination but I can't imagine the iphone being much smaller. that patent app looked silly to me but i guess you could take a nano and add a little bit of a phone to it. Or take a phone and add a shuffle to it. oh wait - they all ready tried that with Motorala. I don't think apple would go smaller and cheaper tho. they want ppl to buy their full size iphone. I could see them making a bigger iphone. then they could provide a bigger keyboard, GPS, video, 3G, larger storage, more juice, etc.
 
I've been assuming something like this would happen from day one like many others.

If Apple are serious about taking any significant slice of the mobile market (cell market for you americans) they need a cheaper phone.
Beyond my immediate circle of geeky friends the iPhone is far to complex and expensive and they really just want a simple phone for calls and texts to save carrying 2 devices.

They love their iPods and would be more than happy to get a phone that has the same ease of use. Some phone software is awful. The current iPhone is a smartphone, people don't need these on the whole.

I would guess a smaller, much simpler version will be out soon and just before christmas sounds a good guess. The only thing I wonder is if it will keep the camera. How many phones nowadays don't have one?

Meanwhile I'm still waiting for Apple to get the ***** first model out here (UK). Very jealous.
 
My dream....

Nano size.
Glass touch screen.
Phone, address book, calendar and to-do list.
4 gig ipod functionality......tunes, photos etc......
Bluetooth

No Camera.
No internet.
No clam shell

Bring it on :D
 
I might actually buy a nano iPhone. All it needs to do is hold more then my current 5 year old iPod (10 gigs), make calls, take pictures, AIM, and SMS messaging. Add a calculator, alarm, and stick it in a $250 box, and I'll buy one.

Doesn't really matter what form factor, just make a phone that's not a smart-phone, and that's better then anything that's come out in the past 2 years already!
 
p0intblank said:
There's no way the iPhone nano is coming out this year. Quote me on that.
Click to expand...


And you can quote me on that too. Not a chance in hell Apple releases a new model until they milk Rev. A (worldwide) for all its worth.
 
way to increase market part?

I find it's an awesome idea to get higher market parts!!!

Most people find iPhone too expensive (as I do), so it might be the perfect way for appple to sell a lot of iPhone -even non full-size.
 
You know, Apple said the iPhone was an AT&T exclusive, he never said anything about variants of the iPhone. ;) I KID! I KID! NO FLAMING!
 
Just an idea:

I don't like the size of the iPhone. Too big. I like a phone in my pocket, not on my hip. My palm can talk to my phone with BlueTooth. So why not let Apple sell me the phoneless iPhone (next-gen video iPod), and if I'm not in WiFi country, it can use 3G for surfing via the Baby Jesus Phone in my pocket? And maybe the video iPod could have all the cool phone and voicemail capabilities when paired with the Baby Jesus Phone.
 
Actually, they'll be producing a cross between the shuffle and the nano.

No keyboard... the iPhone Nano will simply dial people at random from your contacts list. :D

(Because, Steve Jobs knows who you want to call)
 
For my needs, I would prefer this to the current iPhone.

Small!!! Thin!!!! Light!!!!!

Full Nano-sized touchscreen. Touch keyboard for SMS.

Perfect.
 
Nano-Phone Before Long? Not a chance!!

Regardless of what Kevin Chang and JP Morgan think, there will NOT be a slim nano-sized/styled iPhone anytime soon. There are about a hundred good reasons for this, including....

1. Too small a form factor for a touch-screen based smartphone - Not enough room for all the components and a decent battery. Heat would also be a real killer.

2. It would cost about 85% of what it costs to build the current model (about $230, rather than $263), so it could not sell for much less than the current iPhone. Maybe $429? What idiot would buy it to save $50 or even $150 over the full iPhone model? You're going to spend over $1,400 for the plan over a two-year contract, so you needn't scrimp on a smaller, harder to use iPhone model.

3. Apple NEVER intros a 'Model B' of anything before selling the bolts out of 'Model A'. Read: at least a year before a new iPhone model, likely with the same form factor as the current one but more storage (20GB flash, probably), 3G option, improved business connectivity, better camera, and possibly GPS and removeable battery. Probably still on AT&T in the US, at a $450 or $500 price point.

Somebody has obviously confused this with the REAL product coming up -- a line of multi-touch-screen Nano-sized iPods coming later this year (likely 6GB and 20GB Flash-memory-based models). Not to mention a wacky multi-touch mouse on next month's two new iMac models.

In the meantime, we can look forward to several firmware updates to the current iPhone from late August onward, real chat/SMS, Adobe Flash Lite and some sort of a service deal for Microsoft Exchange support. (Don't bet on a 3G firmware activation for this model.)

- BA
 
rdowns said:
And you can quote me on that too. Not a chance in hell Apple releases a new model until they milk Rev. A (worldwide) for all its worth.
Click to expand...

Agreed. No chance until the iPhone is in all markets...which won't be at least until the end of the year. Maybe February next year for the iPhone Nano.
 
12-20 year-old iphone nano "target market" already has $150 sidekicks that do more than the regular iphone does, nevermind a "stripped down" iphone nano.
 
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