iPhone 4S with A5, Sim-less? "Major New" iPhone 5 Due in 2012

[mantan]

My question is who was the big audience for 2011 anyway?

While 2010 sales were largely fueled by a big technological leap, they were also HEAVILY assisted by AT&T extending early upgrade eligibility to a lot of users. Obviously this was done in an effort to lock up as many users as possible before Verizon got the iPhone. Since then they have quietly extended the time it takes to qualify for an upgrade.

Most users won't be eligible for a discounted device until 2012. Heck, many who used to be eligible in 12 months now have to wait an additional 5-6 months.

Sure there are diehards on this site that will sell their device and use the funds to pay the difference, but most casual users are likley happy with their iPhone and will just chug along until they are eligible for an upgrade when the big improvement comes with iPhone 5.

 

[Cougarcat]

There's zero reason to call it the 4S. A rumor doesn't become true just because a lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon.

Zero? No. If it's an internal spec bump without a case redesign, just like the iPhone 3GS, then it would make sense. It's also just as likely it'll be called the iPhone 5, or that they'll finally dropping version monikers and just call it the iPhone. Apple can name it whatever they want.

While 2010 sales were largely fueled by a big technological leap, they were also HEAVILY assisted by AT&T extending early upgrade eligibility to a lot of users. Obviously this was done in an effort to lock up as many users as possible before Verizon got the iPhone. Since then they have quietly extended the time it takes to qualify for an upgrade.

There's no reason Apple couldn't strike a similar deal with AT&T again--say, as long as you're eligible for an upgrade by the end of the year, you're eligible for the upgrade as soon as the new iPhone comes out.

 

[nicky89]

It's a phone, people. Don't you have better things to do than buying new phones every year or whining that new phone is not what you wanted.

Just wanted to say the same, thanks man.

 

[t0mbola]

Instead of rolling your eyes (I did read your post), why don't you answer the second part of my issue - how do you propose I take my e-sim out of my iPhone and put it into the cheap nokia phone I use when I go to the beach, or football training, etc?

My theory is that you will get a normal SIM card, use an iPhone 5 SIM adaptor to transfer SIM data into your phone. When your done you will keep the SIM so you can use it in other phones or when you wipe your iPhone. As I said before, when you put SIM card into different phone, after singing in to mobile network the SIM data in iPhone 5 will be wiped.

Let me know if I make sense now.

 

[parapup]

If I was into betting, I would bet a hundred bucks that Apple will release a significantly redesigned, dual core iPhone before 2012.

If they don't, they will lose market share substantially to the onslaught of number of Android, WP7 and webOS devices.

 

[QuarterSwede]

From a hardware standpoint, 3GS to 4 was a far bigger upgrade than 3G to 3GS. Retina Display? Vastly superior camera with flash?

The iPhone 3GS did not make the iPhone 3G look antiquated. The iPhone 4 made every iPhone before it look 5 years behind.

I agree. Everyone gets hung up on the cpu+gpu combo being very similar that they forget all of the other daily use specs that make the iP4 much better. Honestly, the screen alone is worth the upgrade as it makes anything with a lower DPI look like garbage.

 

[gkpm]

My question is who was the big audience for 2011 anyway?

CDMA networks in China?

The world is not the US and AT&T/Verizon you know, big big market out there.

 

[Echo64]

Why is it that any "Anonymous rumor" is taken seriously these days? We have more than enough evidence to support that this is absolute BS...

The iPhone WILL NOT, (i repeat) WILL NOT get rid of the Sim card. That is absolutely suicide for Apple right now. None of the major wireless companies support it, and the advantages are very slim right now. What is more likely, is that apple will introduce the micro-sim, like we were told about months ago. There is simply no real evidence in the contrary.

Next, These iPhone 4S rumors also need to go. There is no way in hell that apple is going to call their next gen phone the "4S", there are plenty of people that would be confused and it makes no sense to lock themselves out of a logical "iPhone 5" title. As it was said like 100 times already, the 3G and 3GS were named that way because it was the '3G' network that they were emphasizing.

TBH, I don't really believe any of these rumors right now- Apple has stated again and again that supplies have not been affected, so don't you think they would have at least hinted if they were going to make a drastic change to their very strict release schedule ? Also, believe it or not, most people will not just buy the white iPhone 4 just because there is no proper upgrade. Pushing the schedule back risks that many 3G and 3GS users will go to another phone.

Why is this risky you ask? Well according to the rumors there will be no mention of a new iphone a WWDC (in about a week), When WWDC comes and goes the vast majority of people are not gonna be like "Oh that's ok I'm sure apple is gonna release it in September, although i have no word from them, I'll just wait on good faith in hopes that the phone doesn't suck..."- NO, IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT. WWDC has always been centered around the iPhone reveal. Even if they push back the release, I cannot see them ignoring one of their main selling points.

 

[anonymous guy]

Are people really are assuming carriers will be quick to adopt an e-SIM standard? Despite how "simple" an e-SIM standard could potentially be, getting competing telecoms, both domestically and internationally, will be a tough task. Most would rather want you to stay with them and pay inflated international rates.

Many people use calling only pre-paid sims (intended for dumbphones) to get by when using an international carrier. Carriers would likely force you to get an expensive voice + data plan, knowing your e-SIM is attached to a smartphone.

By the way, how's that space saving Micro SIM adoption rate doing (outside of tablets)?

 

[Certinfy]

No sim = No thanks.
No dual core on this year's model = No thanks.
Both = ****! Should have got a SGS2 when it was released!

 

[outlawarth]

Why is it that any "Anonymous rumor" is taken seriously these days? We have more than enough evidence to support that this is absolute BS...

The iPhone WILL NOT, (i repeat) WILL NOT get rid of the Sim card. That is absolutely suicide for Apple right now. None of the major wireless companies support it, and the advantages are very slim right now. What is more likely, is that apple will introduce the micro-sim, like we were told about months ago. There is simply no real evidence in the contrary.

Next, These iPhone 4S rumors also need to go. There is no way in hell that apple is going to call their next gen phone the "4S", there are plenty of people that would be confused and it makes no sense to lock themselves out of a logical "iPhone 5" title. As it was said like 100 times already, the 3G and 3GS were named that way because it was the '3G' network that they were emphasizing.

TBH, I don't really believe any of these rumors right now- Apple has stated again and again that supplies have not been affected, so don't you think they would have at least hinted if they were going to make a drastic change to their very strict release schedule ? Also, believe it or not, most people will not just buy the white iPhone 4 just because there is no proper upgrade. Pushing the schedule back risks that many 3G and 3GS users will go to another phone.

Why is this risky you ask? Well according to the rumors there will be no mention of a new iphone a WWDC (in about a week), When WWDC comes and goes the vast majority of people are not gonna be like "Oh that's ok I'm sure apple is gonna release it in September, although i have no word from them, I'll just wait on good faith in hopes that the phone doesn't suck..."- NO, IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT. WWDC has always been centered around the iPhone reveal. Even if they push back the release, I cannot see them ignoring one of their main selling points.

Finally some intelligent commentary. Very well said.

 

[Adidas Addict]

Built in sim card is a big NO-NO, what about all of us that buy sim-free unlocked iPhones direct from Apple for the simple reason we use multiple sim-cards on multiple networks?

They can get that idea right out of their heads!

 

[Kariya]

No sim = No thanks.
No dual core on this year's model = No thanks.
Both = ****! Should have got a SGS2 when it was released!

Its only just come out this month?

There's zero reason to call it the 4S. A rumor doesn't become true just because a lot of people have jumped on the bandwagon.

I honestly couldn't care less what it is called. I was just teasing him because he takes the whole 4S thing too seriously. The 4S is just a reference to the style of upgrade i.e. spec bump not major overhaul. Maybe i missed it but I don't recall anyone ever saying this was an official moniker.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Sim-less or built in Sim = no buy for me.

Sim Sim-in-nay, sim sim-in-nay
Sim sim cher-ee!
A 5 is as lucky, as lucky can be
Sim Sim-in-nay, sim sim-in-nay
Sim sim cher-oo!
Good luck will rub off when all major carriers end up with you

Or you skip 4GS and that's lucky too

a little loosely adapted from ...............

 

[Cougarcat]

Why is this risky you ask? Well according to the rumors there will be no mention of a new iphone a WWDC (in about a week), When WWDC comes and goes the vast majority of people are not gonna be like "Oh that's ok I'm sure apple is gonna release it in September, although i have no word from them, I'll just wait on good faith in hopes that the phone doesn't suck..."- NO, IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT. WWDC has always been centered around the iPhone reveal. Even if they push back the release, I cannot see them ignoring one of their main selling points.

The source of the no hardware rumor at WWDC is Jim Dalrymple, who has very good sources. Count on it being true.

I think Apple is so confident in iOS 5 that they don't see it as risky to move the date of the next iPhone back.

 

[mr.steevo]

I'd love an iPhone but I can't stand the poor customer service of mobile telecommunication companies.

I have never owned a cell phone due to the providers, and based on the negative experience my wife has been recently having with Virgin I can't see me ever getting a cell phone/iPhone.

They sure look purdy though.

 

[in one ear]

I think you people are misunderstanding the whole 'e-sim' thing. It is not like a CDMA phone where you would be locked to the carrier. If an e-sim was in the i-Phone, it would give the user options to change options on the e-sim. So if you were to buy an unlocked phone,

you could set the phone to use AT&T when in the USA, then when you visit Canada you could switch to Bell, and when you go backpacking in Europe you can switch to O2, etc. All this without have to worry about taking out and putting in a new sim card.

Its similar to the dual sim phones they have in some countries, you can pick which 'sim' you want to use and when.

-Rio

only the eSIM's you use have to be approved by apple no ?

 

[Adidas Addict]

I'd love an iPhone but I can't stand the poor customer service of mobile telecommunication companies.

I have never owned a cell phone due to the providers, and based on the negative experience my wife has been recently having with Virgin I can't see me ever getting a cell phone/iPhone.

They sure look purdy though.

Hey mr.steevo, the 80's are calling, they want their pager back

 

[Jimmy James]

Naming scheme fail? There will be no iPhone 5 if there is an iPhone 4S.

iPhone = 1st
iPhone 3G = 2nd
iPhone 3GS = 3rd
iPhone 4 = 4th (Notice how this isn't the iPhone 3)
iPhone 5/4S = 5th
iPhone 6/4G = 6th

Agreed. I believe the 3GS was only so named so that they could get on track with a sequential naming scheme (i.e. iPhone 4/5/6, etc). They could have simply called it the iPhone 3, but that would have given the uneducated the impression it was a downgrade.

I was thrilled when they announced the 3GS, it was a major upgrade from the 3G. Moreso than the iPhone 4 was for the 3GS. Now that was a "meh" update. Just changing the outside look and mostly keeping the same internals.

Agreed, the 3GS was a major upgrade. Possibly the biggest in terms of functionality. However, that doesn't diminish the significance of the 4.

And those who are saying the 3G to 3GS transition wasn't impressive at all ... maybe not when it was running on 3.x but on 4.x, you'll wish you had a 3GS.

Exactly!

 

[Certinfy]

Its only just come out this month?

Yeah, but if the next iPhone really does come out in September it'll be like a 4-5 month wait and then eventually getting the SGS2.

 

[Kentochan]

Coming from an iPhone 3G, I'd be more than glad to get the 4S, even if the upgrades are only internal. As long as the camera is better and comes with the A5, I'm satisfied.

 

[LoganT]

Cool. I'll buy the iPhone 4S and the iPhone after that in 2012.

 

[baryon]

Why are SIMs so freaking important? They're at least 20-year-old technology! Today you could just log in with a username and a password for a virtual account at your carrier. That way you could even use multiple accounts instead of swapping SIMs. I hate SIMs they're annoying, a major pain to swap and cause my phone to forget the date, the time, the time zone and the daylight saving time. That happens about 10 times a year as I travel a lot. So much for relying on your phone to tell the time!

 

[paradox00]

Zero? No. If it's an internal spec bump without a case redesign, just like the iPhone 3GS, then it would make sense. It's also just as likely it'll be called the iPhone 5, or that they'll finally dropping version monikers and just call it the iPhone. Apple can name it whatever they want.

The iPhone 3G was the first iPhone with 3G. The iPhone 3GS was a faster version of the iPhone 3G (and incidentally the 3rd generation iPhone).

The iPhone 4 is the 4th generation iPhone. An iPhone 4S would be a faster version of the 4th generation iPhone, making it a 5th generation phone.

Why would Apple choose to call their 5th generation phone the 4S instead of the 5? Why would Apple choose to name their 6th generation phone the iPhone 5?

When you look at what the '3G' and '4' stand for, it becomes obvious why they'd add an 'S' behind one of those monikers and not the other. '3G' represents a feature, while '4' represents the generation of the the phone. Adding an 'S' to the generation number doesn't make much sense. You're right, they could do it because Apple can call their phones whatever they want, but that's not a reason for why they'd call it the '4S'. Apple could also call it the 'skhgf' but clearly that's not going to happen. I wouldn't mind them dropping the numbering scheme altogether though.

 

[0007776]

No one is removing the SIM, it's just becoming software. When you go abroad you can download a new one.

It's very good that you're all suspicious, but don't ditch it until the details are out. The technology itself is very promising.

And how will I download my SIM when I'm in a country without any official iPhone carriers like I am now? If apple did get rid of the SIM I'd either have to stick with an old iPhone go back to a non smartphone or just switch to android. Either way Apple wouldn't be getting more money from me.