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High-Quality Video and Photos Reveal What Apple's Plastic iPhone Will Look Like

samcraig said:
You can justify the analogy all you want. A phone is a phone and a car is a car. They simply aren't the same. They aren't used the same. They aren't sold in the same way or using the same sales model. Nor the same sales cycle.

But go ahead - use it if it makes you feel better or leads you to believe you have a "premium" device.

ETA: Not going to respond further. Why? Because none of this is germane to the original thread topic. And I still believe that regardless of whether this design is accurate or not - or low end or high end - it's a nice design.
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Watch this video like a car a smartphone is now a daily necessity. Its one of the few things we use everyday. Design, customer service, longevity, and usability are just as important. There is no designers in any android oem. Nokia and Apple are the only companies that use design elements as a basis for their products. Watch this video. The designer talks about how he uses apple products for design inspiration when drawing BMW's. 28:10 in the video is where it happens. Nobody goes to a best buy looks at the laptop PC's and says man thats art or looks at an android and says wow look how beautiful that plastic is. There is more design and inspiration in the silent switch on the iPhone 5 than there is in the entire android industry.

 
Could it be a '3G' only phone to differentiate it?

Apple is very good at product differentiation. What if the new phone is a '3G' phone (no LTE) and plastic. Good for phone calls and basic data services and emphasizes using WiFi for data services.

It would cut a huge cost out of the device since 3G bands are much more uniform worldwide than the LTE bands.

Remove the Al to get costs down. Use the core from the iPhone 5 (modern processor but not the latest).

Seems like a good differentiation between the iPhone and the iPhone Pro!
 
cwoloszynski said:
Apple is very good at product differentiation. What if the new phone is a '3G' phone (no LTE) and plastic. Good for phone calls and basic data services and emphasizes using WiFi for data services.

It would cut a huge cost out of the device since 3G bands are much more uniform worldwide than the LTE bands.

Remove the Al to get costs down. Use the core from the iPhone 5 (modern processor but not the latest).

Seems like a good differentiation between the iPhone and the iPhone Pro!
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Now this is the type of discussion I've been wanting!

You're someone who gets that the phone will have to be different in a significant way (as Apple *always* does with their product families).

The other I've seen suggested (and you might have already read this from me or him) that I think is worthy of discussion as well as yours (and is similar) is that the new phone will not have cellular capabilities, but will accept a data-only SIM, sort of like an iPod Touch but with speaker and microphone so you can hold it like a phone, utilising FaceTime, iMessage and Skype-type services, but not use SMS or traditional cellular phone services.

I like your idea, it makes much more sense than merely suggesting, "it's got a plastic case and last year's internals and you can buy it off contract for less money than current iPhone" argument put forth by myriad analysts, bloggers and their minions alike.
 
peterdevries said:
Why do you think Apple exists? Of course they want to make money.

It's not a dirty trick by a long shot. They will certainly provide a product that will work and will be updated regularly. Compare this to lower tier Android phones from major manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC or LG and you will see obsolete Android versions (that will not be updated) and bad hardware on which the OS runs with lag.

Just because it looks stupid in your limited view, does not mean that it IS stupid.
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limited view? only stupid people will think that this device IS not STUPID!. when people criticize s4 for using plastic, do you think they will go for this thing. s4 could not meet analysts' expectations, samsung's shares has hit a nine month low and you think that this plasticy device is great, wow!
 
Moonjumper said:
I some ways this looks better than the iPhone 5. The continuous rear shell looks better than the glass signal windows on the 5. This design is more minimalist.
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everyones taste is different. I happen to really like the way the back of my iphone 5 looks. I think this (possible) new iphone looks like cheap generic plastic. I have to agree with you that it's 'minimalist", much like you would expect a white piece of cheap plastic would look compared to glass and metal.

Since I'm not in the market for a cheap iphone constructed of plastic that will certainly yellow and crack over time, I'll wait for the iphone 5.5 or 6
 
I like the plastic phone better than the current iPhone 5.

Plastic = Cheap to replace if it breaks or scratches.

I had a Galaxy S3 last year for about 47 hours and one cool thing I liked was since the phone was already made of plastic. I didn't feel inclined to go out and buy a plastic case to throw over it and keep it mint. Worse case I could get a replacement cover and be done with it.

The only question for me is hardware and screen.
 
OneMike said:
I like the plastic phone better than the current iPhone 5.

Plastic = Cheap to replace if it breaks or scratches.

I had a Galaxy S3 last year for about 47 hours and one cool thing I liked was since the phone was already made of plastic. I didn't feel inclined to go out and buy a plastic case to throw over it and keep it mint. Worse case I could get a replacement cover and be done with it.

The only question for me is hardware and screen.
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That's one nice thing about phones with replaceable battery covers... you can replace them easily.

But with a one-piece body... you'd have to swap out all the guts to put into a new body.

It's do-able... just not very easily.
 
drewface said:
Err how do we know the "cheap" iPhone and the 5S aren't one in the same?
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We don't and there's always the possibility they might be. I for one would have no problem if they were as long as the plastic is well made. The design of this alleged plastic iPhone looks quite nice.
 
WilliamLondon said:
Now this is the type of discussion I've been wanting!

You're someone who gets that the phone will have to be different in a significant way (as Apple *always* does with their product families).

The other I've seen suggested (and you might have already read this from me or him) that I think is worthy of discussion as well as yours (and is similar) is that the new phone will not have cellular capabilities, but will accept a data-only SIM, sort of like an iPod Touch but with speaker and microphone so you can hold it like a phone, utilising FaceTime, iMessage and Skype-type services, but not use SMS or traditional cellular phone services.

I like your idea, it makes much more sense than merely suggesting, "it's got a plastic case and last year's internals and you can buy it off contract for less money than current iPhone" argument put forth by myriad analysts, bloggers and their minions alike.
Click to expand...

I like the idea of no buttons but touch sensitive areas on the outside marked by 'indents' since that would reduce costs and increase reliability. If this case is era, I am still stumped by the lack of a SIM slot. i think Apple agreed to not pursue virtual SIM technology, but perhaps for the markets that they are chasing, a virtual SIM solution is acceptable.

They certainly have sufficient security infrastructure in iOS to support a virtual SIM. Might be a real bonus for emerging markets to not have to buy a SIM. Not sure....

I think that it will still have 3G voice and 3G data services; too many emerging markets don't have WiFi everywhere to support that type of device.

Sounds intriguing (and yes, your comment sparked my thinking on this).
 
Here is the dilemma for Apple: LTE is here and now, and 3G is going out soon 2 years. The phone lineup for Apple is saw-toothed. $S is fast enough but not LTE. The new cheaper iPhone definitely LTE ready, which makes the 4S long in the tooth. Hereis what I think Apple will do.
Apple will ditch 3GS, 4, and 4S. The new lineup will consist of new %S, 5, and plastic phone, with all capable of LTE. Pricing will reflect the old scheme: $650, $550, and $429. The plastic phone may start out with only 8G and tops at 16G, for the sake of penetration into Indian and Chinese market. Of course, all 3 models will wear iOS7 in order to compete with Android 4.3.
iPad mini will inherit 4S engine.
 
How does the service agreement look to all U people? What is a cheap iPhone? Is it the difference between 2200 and 1800?

Let's assume you pay 200 less. OK, now you pay 80 a month or at best 50 a month on a highly capped service. Is it cheap to you?

This entire discussion is retarded IMO. It doesn't matter how much you might pay for a device. It's about how much you pay to use the damn thing.

Rant Over, but really, are you people actually discussing the plastic? The plastic is your head!
 
thedeske said:
How does the service agreement look to all U people? What is a cheap iPhone? Is it the difference between 2200 and 1800?

Let's assume you pay 200 less. OK, now you pay 80 a month or at best 50 a month on a highly capped service. Is it cheap to you?

This entire discussion is retarded IMO. It doesn't matter how much you might pay for a device. It's about how much you pay to use the damn thing.

Rant Over, but really, are you people actually discussing the plastic? The plastic is your head!
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haha! Yes! You got it!
 
If the price is right and the camera is better than in 4S, I would definitely be interested in getting this phone.
 
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