iPhone 4S ("N94") to Come in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB Sizes?

[za9ra22]

I don't think it's quite as expensive as you imagine for something that just requires a little molding. They have gotten it wrong before:

https://www.macrumors.com/2009/10/0...ouch-cases-with-camera-holes-for-sale-in-u-s/

Tooling and plant costs can be significant. These are recovered incrementally by sales, but while a manufacturer might go out on a limb on speculation about holes in a case that otherwise still fits the form factor, a completely new form factor would normally mean the manufacturer had (at least what they believed to be) good reason to go into large scale production.

I'm yet to be convinced either way, and there's still a possibility that the new case designs represent a prototype that will ultimately not see the light of day, but if these cases are indeed turning up in the AT&T supply chain, this close to a product announcement, if they are a distraction as Arn suggests, they are also an expensive mistake by a close iPhone partner.

 

[aristotle]

One new iPhone. iPhone 4S design model. The cases are a distraction. based on what I've heard.

arn

Really now? What about the cases? Why would AT&T be stocking cases for a non-existent phone?

Sorry but we will have to wait until the 4th to find out what is really going on.

 

[576316]

You can't argue with clear physical copies of the iPhone 4S. That's what's being announced on Tuesday. iPhone 5 is and will be in your imaginations for a long, long time.

----------

Tooling and plant costs can be significant. These are recovered incrementally by sales, but while a manufacturer might go out on a limb on speculation about holes in a case that otherwise still fits the form factor, a completely new form factor would normally mean the manufacturer had (at least what they believed to be) good reason to go into large scale production.

I'm yet to be convinced either way, and there's still a possibility that the new case designs represent a prototype that will ultimately not see the light of day, but if these cases are indeed turning up in the AT&T supply chain, this close to a product announcement, if they are a distraction as Arn suggests, they are also an expensive mistake by a close iPhone partner.

I agree with this. A very expensive mistake.

 

[BlindMellon]

Hear Hear! And anyways, come back when you've legally bought 600GB worth of mp3s/aac's and I might be impressed.

Anyhow, I am definitely for a 64 GB+ iPhone, and I'd be a little bit surprised if we don't see it with this release.

This kind of thing always cracks me up. I've got over 4000 songs on my phone (something in the vicinity of 400 albums @ around 20 gigs. This guy must be a border and own every cd ever released since Moses. (and I use the term owned very loosely).

 

[576316]

It's certainly true that companies pre-produce, and in the business of cellphones it's essential that case and other accessory manufacturers do in order to have merchandise in stores to support new devices as they arrive. However, there's a vast difference between the pre-production of printed materials such as you describe, or even of low-volume commodities such as superbowl champion caps for teams that actually lose (production volume of which is only small given the immediate needs only at the end of the game), and the mass production of cell phone cases requiring large amounts of capital for plant tooling, materials and distribution.

And one would also have to consider the 'fact' that these cases are turning up in AT&T stock rooms..... AT&T would not likely be spending a great deal of money speculating at this stage on what accessories they would need for the next device release. Staff in stores won't yet know, nor would mid-level management, but at a senior level you can be sure that AT&T pretty much know what Apple is going to be shipping to them in the next week or two.

Even if, by some strange cactus of chance, a redesigned iPhone 5 was announced, it wouldn't be RELEASED till much later on. So producing any kind of case now is silly.

 

[utahnguy]

Stop worrying

Websites like this one can't stand the fact that their rumor sources are unable to find anything out about the iPhone 5. Do you really think Apple would make some brand new redesigned phone and allow it to leak? Don't forget about the iPad 2, a device that every "expert" told us wasn't coming. There hadn't been any activity in the production lines about a revised iPad, so everyone took that as evidence that nothing was coming. Then within a few days, invites go out for an iPad event, but the "experts" kept telling us that we were simply getting a slightly revised version of the original iPad. We had evidence from case manufacturers that showed a revised design, but the experts didn't agree because they hadn't seen any other signs of a major change. The day of the event comes, Apple releases a brand new iPad with all new internal parts and external design, and it's made available to buy within 9 days.

The fact is, Apple is the most secretive company on the planet. All of this crap about new model numbers appearing in Apple's inventory are a joke. Do you really think they would be this secretive then blow the whole thing by making semi-public changes to their product database?

 

[Johnnyboy711]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)

Tear drop design doesnt serve any real life purpose, so annoying, it does for airplanes and subs, come on people

 

[Number 41]

Tear drop design doesnt serve any real life purpose, so annoying, it does for airplanes and subs, come on people

Most people thought it was ridiculous to build a phone out of glass, as the denied the iPhone 4 leak last year.

They were right -- it is ridiculous to build a phone out of fragile glass -- but the iPhone 4 ended up being real anyway.

 

[Toccata81]

I wouldn't be surprised if the iPhone 5 looks just like the 4 only because I can't imagine how that design would be improved. It already looks great. Although there was a rendition on here that depicted it in a similar style as the Mac unibody. That was cool. I don't like the idea of thinner either, for ergonomic reasons.

Also, I'm not interested in trading storage capacity for use of iCloud. iCloud is not going to help you when you're taking video with your iPhone. Lets say you get an 8gb model, load with apps and stuff, how much space do you have left for taking video? You want to rely on iCloud that much? The concept of iCloud is kinda creepy to me anyway, but that's for another thread, perhaps another website as well.

 

[seduced]

Honestly I don't want this crap. I want a bigger screen and more features, like the Samsung GS2. Apple more and more disappoint me!

 

[heisetax]

I am disappointed there is no mention if a bluray player.

That is strange as I saw one with a BlueRay Recorder in it. It's just the playback that causes the licensing problems. But the playbacks will only be handled through your old Apple 1 1st gen computers.

 

[za9ra22]

Even if, by some strange cactus of chance, a redesigned iPhone 5 was announced, it wouldn't be RELEASED till much later on. So producing any kind of case now is silly.

Indications are that Apple and various iPhone partners in the US at least are blacking out mid-October dates, making it a distinct possibility that new models will be available to the public then. In that case, beginning to buy in stock of accessories at this time is not an unreasonable timescale.

It seems very unlikely to me that Apple would delay release of a new model even more than they currently have, particularly since everything else, including the release of iOS5, would point to a more immediate public availability.

 

[albatross83]

One new iPhone. iPhone 4S design model. The cases are a distraction. based on what I've heard.

arn

If so, they're doing it wrong. You don't tease something better than what you have; you either tease what you have, or something inferior, otherwise people (including investors) are going to be disappointed when the ruse is up.

 

[Nachoconqueso]

Websites like this one can't stand the fact that their rumor sources are unable to find anything out about the iPhone 5. Do you really think Apple would make some brand new redesigned phone and allow it to leak? Don't forget about the iPad 2, a device that every "expert" told us wasn't coming. There hadn't been any activity in the production lines about a revised iPad, so everyone took that as evidence that nothing was coming. Then within a few days, invites go out for an iPad event, but the "experts" kept telling us that we were simply getting a slightly revised version of the original iPad. We had evidence from case manufacturers that showed a revised design, but the experts didn't agree because they hadn't seen any other signs of a major change. The day of the event comes, Apple releases a brand new iPad with all new internal parts and external design, and it's made available to buy within 9 days.

The fact is, Apple is the most secretive company on the planet. All of this crap about new model numbers appearing in Apple's inventory are a joke. Do you really think they would be this secretive then blow the whole thing by making semi-public changes to their product database?

I agree with a bunch of this. In regards to this article, I'm going with the exact opposite. That picture is a fake and most of anything about the 4s was fake or analyst bs. The cases were the only info about the iPad 2 anyone had. Here we are with revised cases and people believe cheap pictures and hearsay over previous experience. Kinda strange. Just my opinion though.

 

[iFrodo]

Did every website forgot that the iOS 5 SDK beta 1 did refer not only to N94, but also to a N93. At that time, rumors supposed that it'd be a carrier variant, but it seems now that there won't be any carrier variant and N94 will be compatible with all supported carriers.

So N93 looks like to be a totally different model and not just a variant. Do you have any rumor on this one?

 

[ARM1968]

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arn is wrong - based on what I've heard!!

 

[accessoriesguy]

I don't think the problem is if apple can make a 64 bit version, i am pretty sure they could have done that a long time ago. However the biggest factor would have probably come with the price.

Although hardware gets cheaper over time, when you increase things like memory modules, the newer models cost more than the previous models when they were new simply because of the price per memory module and the whole other stuff that is required.

I would still like to see a 64GB iPhone however.

 

[JMC08]

If so, they're doing it wrong. You don't tease something better than what you have; you either tease what you have, or something inferior, otherwise people (including investors) are going to be disappointed when the ruse is up.

Which is exactly why arn, the owner of a popular iPhone website and forum, was told by Apple to post what he posted. A 'distraction'? What in god's name does that even mean? Notice how he just posts three sentences...meanwhile NOTHING on his own main page comes close to confirming 'Just one phone, iPhone 4S'.

He's able to say this as a post in the forum, because it will get lost in all the posts and it won't be read by nearly as many people as his main page. If he could confirm just a 4S, wouldn't he post an 'exclusive' front page story? Notice that he hasn't, and notice how strange that is....someone quote me so they can't delete this post.

 

[octarine]

Wait, wasn't the image is of a prototype iPhone 4 with 64GB storage that surfaced in Hong Kong?

Must be. It's on a HK network.

 

[twoodcc]

64 GB would be nice, and a 128 GB iPod Touch

 

[rubymooree]

The photo comes from China. The only thing i cares about is the price.

 

[needthephone]

It has to be said that the tone from these "there is no iPhone 5 threads just a 4S" is over whelmingly negative and this is coming from us ( and I admit it) devoted fan boys and girls.

so what will Joe public think if it is perceived there is no new iPhone launched!?

I personally love the 4 and don't particularly want or need a bigger screen. It's big enough as it is. Perhaps apple have stuck to there principles here and won't offer bloated products just because it's fashionable.

Apple have always set the pace, they do what they want in their own good time. Who can argue with them though, there record speaks for itself. So I have faith they know what they are doing.

I love apple but don't expect them to be predictable.

Tuesday will reveal all..

 

[samsandy]

If this is true then Apple will for sure be doing one phone that covers both low and high end. No iPhone 4 as a low end model. They will use this one.

By the way, I think that it will be called an iPhone 5 no matter what. I don't think Apple will say "Here is our new A5 chip, new iOS 5, and new 5th generation iPhone called the iPhone 4S."

Haha well they did