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Low-Cost iPhone and iPad 5 to Ship in Early September with iPhone 5S Coming Later, No Retina iPad mini in 2013?
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What the heck is this?
So many people believing what this 'analyst' is saying! He has no inside information, he is looking from the outside to the in, like all of us.
Heck, we could all be analysts. We had a statement from LG (At least that's what DigiTimes says) saying that they are shipping Retina iPad Mini screens for a device launched in October. And this analyst comes along and changes everything, despite a statement from LG? Seriously guys?
Plus, why would Apple miss an opportunity to release the iPad Mini Retina before Christmas and release in the second quarter of next year?
So many people believing what this 'analyst' is saying! He has no inside information, he is looking from the outside to the in, like all of us.
Heck, we could all be analysts. We had a statement from LG (At least that's what DigiTimes says) saying that they are shipping Retina iPad Mini screens for a device launched in October. And this analyst comes along and changes everything, despite a statement from LG? Seriously guys?
Plus, why would Apple miss an opportunity to release the iPad Mini Retina before Christmas and release in the second quarter of next year?
The August date for the iMac's doesn't sound right. I remember Apple introducing new products only _after_ the back to school promotion ends, which is usually in early September. I don't think they'll introduce something in the middle of the promotion, sounds too weird.
The 4 and the 4s do represent there lower cost alternatives up to this point yet those phones with there all glass bodies are still expensive to manufacture. Also they use the old 30pin connector that Apple no longer supports.
Basically by building a cheaper version of the 5 they wouldn't have to mill aluminum big cost savings, and they can move the entire line over to lightning. This combined with the polycarbonate shell will make the phone easier to manufacture and bring it in line with there existing standards.
They will probably only make the cheaper iPhone in 16g thus allowing the 5s to offer a 128g option also giving it an premium device feel. Instead of making older cheaper versions all iPhones would have Lte and all produced iPhones will be dual core saving money while meeting there strict margins on the equipment.
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I'm just going to take a guess that Apple has lots of engineers involved in every step of the process. Heck, some of their designers have engineering degrees. They push the boundaries in terms of manufacturing. I think that's what makes Apple unique. If it was up to the engineers, the iPad mini probably wouldn't be as thin and light as it is. And that's one of its biggest selling features, IMO.
I still think in the end, the shipment schedule will be like this:
iPhone 5S and new low cost iPhone -- third Friday in September 2013.
iPad 5 and new Haswell-chipset iMac and Mac Mini -- mid-October 2013.
iPad mini with Retina display -- February 2014.
iPhone 5S and new low cost iPhone -- third Friday in September 2013.
iPad 5 and new Haswell-chipset iMac and Mac Mini -- mid-October 2013.
iPad mini with Retina display -- February 2014.
but i was eagerly waiting for the retina ipad mini after reading the news which told that LG can provide retina displays by October.
The faster Apple can stop selling the 4 and 4S the better. By replacing the 4S with the plastic iPhone, Apple accomplishes 4 things.
1. Get the entire iPhone line off of the 30-pin and onto Lightning. Maybe then, we'd stop hearing about electrocutions due to crappy 3rd-party chargers.
2. Get rid of the 3.5 inch (3:2) screen from the line-up. So devs only need to support 2 screen ratios, 16:9 and 4:3.
3. Presumably, margins would be higher with the plastic iPhone over the 4S, due to lower material costs. NOTE - I'm pulling this outta my butt.
4. The 4 and 4S probably has a lot higher cost to Apple with regards to warranty claims. I'd expect the plastic iPhone to have much lower rate of cracked/shattered backs.
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Two reasons. First, some iPhone markets do not subsidize phones. So the user pays the full price out of pocket. Apple is not as popular in those markets. For instance, Russia was just got dropped by three Russian carriers. Second, pay as you go and unsubsidized carriers like T-Mobile are popular enough in the US for Apple to want to bring the out of pocket cost down. Without discounts, and unlimited voice and texting plan with 3 GB of data on AT&T costs about $130. This includes a phone subsidy. On T-Mobile unlimited voice, texting, and data (with a 2.5 GB cap on 4G data) costs $60 without a phone subsidy. Add $20 more enough and T-Mobile will front you the money for an iPhone. That $20 will be less if the price of the iPhone is less. You can save a lot of money by brining your own phone to a carrier like T-Mobile.
Low-cost iphone should be around iPad mini price point.
Thing is, how will they make it 'low cost'? What will they take out? One of the cameras? Put in a Slower processor? Sure, but I thought buying an older model was what you did if wanted a 'low cost' iphone. Surely, it's going to be an iPhone mini? Otherwise it will undermine sales of the other current products. Otherwise, they will have to discontinue iPhone 4, perhaps even the 4S too - or even rebrand the 4S as the iPhone mini with a slightly different case.
Thing is, how will they make it 'low cost'? What will they take out? One of the cameras? Put in a Slower processor? Sure, but I thought buying an older model was what you did if wanted a 'low cost' iphone. Surely, it's going to be an iPhone mini? Otherwise it will undermine sales of the other current products. Otherwise, they will have to discontinue iPhone 4, perhaps even the 4S too - or even rebrand the 4S as the iPhone mini with a slightly different case.
I agree regarding the iPad Mini, but does the boundaries of thinness really have to pushed with the iMac, which is a desktop computer not meant for travel? Utility was sacrificed for the sake of beauty.
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Agreed. The promotion is to clear out inventory for the fall updates.
september? is it really good for apple to release their slightly improved iphone at a time when all other companies are also releasing their flagship phones.
For the loss of the nice feel of the 5 to a plastic shell I don't know if that's enough of a discount, it's not for me. It's also supposed to have a spec drop right? Specs are supposed to be similar to a 4s from I thought I read some time ago, not sure.
I'm probably just a tech whore like you guys, but I think I'd just find the extra $200 for the 5s.
To answer some of your questions:
1) "Low Cost" iPhone is a media moniker. If it become a real product it's going to be a "lower cost" iPhone, not low cost. Lower cost as compared to the MSRP of the iPhone 5/5S, not the subsidized price of any iPhone to-day.
2) Yes, the older models (4, 4S) are Apple current "lower cost" models. Unlocked, unsubsidized versions of each are $450 and $549, respectively. Put a plastic shell around the 4S, eat some margin in exchange for iOS marketshare, and yes, Apple can put out an unlocked, unsubsidized "lower cost" model at $399. They'll make up the difference in the iTunes stores.
3) Apple has said it's not concerned about cannibalization as long as people are buying some Apple product. The 4 and 4S will be discontinued as there won't be a need for them in the lineup. The "lower cost" model will be inexpensive enough for CellCos to offer a subsidized version for Free to $99.
4) A distinct "lower cost" iPhone model will have it's own caché rather than what is now seen as "last years model" with a lower price.
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Clearly you never owned a 3G or 3GS. It was plastic. I didn't have any problem with it. I have a metal iPhone 5 now. Guess what... it's in a plastic case. Oh well. The case material of the iPhone isn't as important as the quality of the case material. Plastic can be made to feel luxurious and sleek like in a BMW or icky and tawdry like a disposable Hefty container.
i have a sinking feeling that the 5(plastic) will only come in 16gigs which will ruin my plans to pick up one of these sweet phones.
That's a different conversation. Still we have no evidence the optical drive was removed from the iMac for purely aesthetic reasons. The idea that Jony Ive came into an iMac product meeting and said "right, optical drive has to go because the design calls for a 5mm edge as that looks nicer" and Bob Mansfield says, "whatever you want Jony, you're the boss" is ridiculous. I'm sure Apple does plenty of consumer research on how their products are used, and also knows how they want to move technology forward. To Apple, optical drive is equivalent to the floppy drive back in '98. And they figure if someone really needs to use one they can go external (optical drives are pretty cheap).
Inofficial Lightning cables are already available - crappy 3rd-party chargers won't take long to appear on the market.
That will take a couple of years to come into effect though, as devs will have to continue to support existing devices.
Cracked/shattered backs usually don't fall under warranty. Apart from that imho the problem is not the back, which you can easily swap yourself with a cheap e**y replacement. Problem is the front with digitizer and all. That probably won't change with a plastic back.
Had a 3GS myself, did an experiment: Forego the external casing, as the plastic seems sturdy. One year later it looked pretty battered, so when i drop-crashed the display, the substitution device got a (plastic) case nevertheless (loved that 3GS Otterbox Defender case).
I can't completely share your optimism there...
In what way does shrinking the thickness on a desktop to a questionable minimum (and using special welding techniques to accomplish it), move technology forward (except "because we can" or for dust-/waterproof scenarios)?
I understand your point and Apple's motivation, though i question the validity of this argument. Apple did not make use of the gains (shorter BOM, more space inside the housing) in order to provide real use to the customer, like e.g. HDD/SSD hot swap slot, 2nd internal harddrive, more powerful graphics or better cooling.
The used it solely for aesthetical changes - which besides is ridiculous in itself, as additional external (cabled) devices destroy the desired optics and contradict the all-in-one approach.
That might be it. With Steve Jobs the Nerd Whisperer gone, no one in Apple is able to bring Ive under control and they are too afraid to hurt their golden boy.
Happen from time to time when football team managers don't dare to bench or negotiate wages of their star players. This could be another one; they are afraid of Jony leaving and will not be able to find replacement.
This. There's a couple motivators for deprecating the iPhone 4S: 4" screen and lightning connector. Reduces fragmentation and retains some homogeny.