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'iPhone 4S' to Debut as Only New iPhone Next Month?

Apple isn't waiting 16 months to put out a minor update. After the leak of the iPhone 4 Apple is taking this extremely serious. If there was a chance to bet on this in Vegas I'd scrape together as much as I could to bet on "not just a 4s" this year.

Step away from the ledge people. It'll be okay.... Chicken Little got it wrong. The sky isn't falling.
 
iPhone 5

After waiting over a year and few months to have apple shove the market with iPhone 4 with just an updated OS is unimaginable. All numbers point to 5: iOS 5, A5 Chip and the fifth iPhone in the market. I believe iPhone 3gs was to offset their numbering system as they introduced their 3g as a 2nd generation, then 3gs to fit in queue.. So there you have it.
 
They could very well upgrade the internals, INCREASE the screen size, and keep the same design. I don't necessarily 'need' a tear drop (or whatever else people keep imagining) to be happy. I think my iPhone 4 is very attractive and giving it a slightly bigger screen would be perfect.
 
Yep, My theory still stands. There never ever was going to be a redesigned iPhone 5. It was always going to be a 4S. Following the trend of the previous iPhone, which also went 3G, 3GS. It makes sense. This article also made a point of saying Apple doesn't need three models of iPhone. It will also go in a similar way to last year. The 3GS will be discontinued and the 4 will become the cheaper option. Then 2012 will see the iPhone 5, then the 4 will be discontinued and the 4S will be the cheaper option.


It's only rumour sites like this one that created the bizarre fact that there will be a redesigned iPhone.
 
xgman said:
"How do you explain what Apple’s iPhone hardware team has been doing in the 16 months? :mad::mad::mad::rolleyes::mad::mad::mad:
Click to expand...

Waiting on short supply of some new part or iCloud not ready for prime time yet, or iOS 5 not ready yet. Any of these could have been the delay or all three if not more, really. The delay does NOT mean a totally new form factor. I'm sure a lot of money and time went into the design of the iPhone 4. I don't think they would just dump it on the next go 'round.
The iPhone 4S could very well indeed be the next iPhone 5 with a feature that only the 4S will support like NFC or something.
I'm hoping for a larger screen but I'm not getting my hopes up because I don't think this will be until iPhone6.
 
I think the iPhone 4S is the iPhone 5. They are one and the same; a happy merger of both slight internal upgrades, and slight redesign. But I suppose we'll know soon enough in a few weeks...
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8L1)

MannieSolo said:
Back and forth we go...
If I hear "And this is how it looks!! Same Gorgeous design that we Revolutionized with the iphone 4" I'm going to be hurt. But sadly I believe this will be the case. My iphone 4 is on its last breath so I will be forced to get this anyway. I guess i'll just get a white one to feel like I have something new (physically)
Click to expand...

Haha good idea!
 
I'm not buying it. If all this is going to be is a slightly improved version, they wouldn't even bother having a media event. With all the impressive phones that have come out in the last year from HTC and Samsung, I can't believe they would just tweak the current iPhone. Maybe they release an upgraded version and then announce a totally new iPhone 5 to be released later. That's possible.


applefan289 said:
Whatever it is, it won't be a disappointment.
Click to expand...

If all it is is an iPhone "4S", then it sure as heck will be. It would land with a big "thud" in the current marketplace. Sure they would still sell plenty, but it would be a huge flop by Apple standards and Samsung and HTC would have a field day.

I could be wrong ( I think it happened once) but I don't think so.
 
So many "geeks" here simply do not understand the consumer market.

The consumer simply doesn't care about specs.

On the "poor" end of the spectrum, people care about cost. These are the consumers a company like Apple doesn't want as they rarely provide a repeat revenue stream. This is where Android has made a killing in terms of market share (but not revenue for the reason stated above)

On the other end of the spectrum you have the "rich", who care about user experience. These are the consumers a company like Apple does want as they buy into the ecosystem (apps, music, movies, ect.) and provide Apple with a repeat revenue stream. This is where Apple has made a killing and it has shown on their balance sheet.

Phones are not (in the consumer market) computers. People expect them to "just work" like a TV or DVD player. Specs are more or less irrelevant.
 
Honestly at this point it can't be true. Their stock would get murdered if after all this time they walk on stage with a slightly spec bumped iPhone 4. Wall St analysts would start the "OMG SJ is gone and now Apple is down the toilet" spin.
 
Let's face it. We aren't going to KNOW until Apple announces something.

But think about it... If they do a hardware refresh on something that looks more or less like an iPhone 4, with perhaps a few more toys, that would be more in line with a normal product cycle. This form factor has only been around for a little over a year and it's darn good. I love my iPhone 4. I'm not entirely sure, even if they made the much imagined iPhone 5 with bigger screen, angled back, etc. that I would have been moved to change unless there was something REALLY crazy cool in there besides being bigger and shaped differently.

We can't really expect Apple to have revolutionary change every release. We might WANT that, but it's just not feasible. Look at how AT&T has bent over backwards to let people upgrade iPhones even before they are over their contract limits. Apple (and we) can't expect them and Verizon to continue to do that while the carriers are drowning in exploding bandwidth.

I'm willing to just chill with my iPhone 4 for another year or so. :apple:
 
Didn't read the whole thread so forgive the possible repetition - The obvious flaw in this guy's logic is that the GSM and CDMA iP4 will be replaced by a single platform 4S on the low end, not kept as a 3rd option. There will just be two - iP5 and iP4S.
 
yes!

thats what I have been thinking all along - that there would be a 4S model.. (but I expected that earlier this year) BUT maybe iOS 5 delayed it?

Anyway, iPad 3 and iPhone 5 for next year.
 
joekun said:
Regardless of what they call the phone, the big selling point this year will be iOS 5. We're getting to a point where the hardware won't be making huge leaps anymore, it will be the software and incremental hardware updates that will sell new phones.
Click to expand...

good point
 
Based upon the fact that every apple device for the last several years has been leaked ahead of the announcement this is obviously a very realistic picture. In addition, people will buy it because its apple.

Whats unfortunate, is that it won't be the most advanced phone on the market, it will keep a small screen, and shows that apple is getting lazy
 
So I'm going to end the madness and stick to waiting for the event. No more case nonsense and undercover analysts for me.
 
On October 5,6, or 7 Apple will announce an iPhone 4S AND an iPhone 5, or maybe either a cheap economy iPhone 4S and a high end 5....OR either JUST an iPhone 4S OR iPhone 5 but not both.....it's like an endless recycling of the same story over and over. :rolleyes:
 
Why Does The iPhone "4G" or "5" Need To Look Different?

I couldn't care less if the new iPhone is redesigned or not... Square corners, rounded corners? Is it the need for novelty or a new toy that drives this insane preoccupation with the exterior of the iPhone?

Simply improve reception, faster processor, more RAM and more memory so I can finally stop using my iPod Classic. Oh, and better battery life. I'd give up the faster processor if only my iPhone would last a day with a single charge... :D

It's just a cell phone for Gawd's sake, not a liver transplant that might save your life!
 
joekun said:
Regardless of what they call the phone, the big selling point this year will be iOS 5. We're getting to a point where the hardware won't be making huge leaps anymore, it will be the software and incremental hardware updates that will sell new phones.
Click to expand...

There's tons of things they could and should improve in the hardware department:

- more RAM
- bigger screen, 720p resolution
- A5 SOC, obviously
- better cameras
- better home button (sturdier, maybe elongated / capacitive?)
- LTE, when it's ready
- sturdiness in general (I don't want a phone that literally shatters when I drop it)
- NFC with the appropriate software implementation
- ergonomics (iPhone 4 feels kinda bulky and sharp around the edges)
- battery life, still the biggest weakness in modern smartphones. Yeah, the iPhone 4 is better than the competition, but in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
 
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