First Pictures Emerge of Supposed Budget iPhone Casing

Maura · Apr 18, 2013

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Cult of Mac today posted a very convincing looking picture of what it says is the outer plastic casing of the new budget iPhone that is rumoured to be released later this year. The picture comes from Tactus, which also posted pictures of new iPad moulds earlier this week, and shows the white polycarbonate plastic casing of the iPhone, which is the same material used for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Cult of Mac says that the budget phone will have a 3.5-inch Retina display (smaller than the iPhone 5s display), and will be taller and wider than the iPhone 4S. As you can see in the picture, the phone has a tapered edge, and very differently shaped cutouts for the rear camera and volume buttons when compared to the current iPhone 5. Tactus says that the phone will have an A5 processor with 32-nanometer manufacturing process, similar to the iPad mini, and a 5-megapixel camera, similar to the iPhone 4. Their sources also tell them that the phone will be available in several different colours other than white, including black, blue, red, and yellow. They even go so far as to pinpoint an exact date for the phone to go on sale of October 15, with a price of $300/£229-£249.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Source:[/FONT] Is This The Budget iPhone?s Plastic Casing? | Cult of Mac Mobile

IphoneMommy · Apr 18, 2013

Makes sense that it would look like plastic. Eh I don't know. Blah LoL

iPhoneMommy

"Be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet them on your way down." - Wilson Mizner

XDRoX · Apr 18, 2013

I'm confused about the screen comments. 3.5" display sounds right but then they also say taller and wider than an iPhone 4S in the same sentence. No way they changing the ratio of the screen. So I assume they meant to say same screen as the 4/4S but the physical size if the phone will be wider and taller which makes sense but is kind of a bummer.

Also what I don't get is how this is going to compete with the 4 and 4S? You can get 4's right now for free with a contract. I also assume this will be free but it's hardly better than a 4.

willerz2 · Apr 19, 2013

XDRoX said:
I'm confused about the screen comments. 3.5" display sounds right but then they also say taller and wider than an iPhone 4S in the same sentence. No way they changing the ratio of the screen. So I assume they meant to say same screen as the 4/4S but the physical size if the phone will be wider and taller which makes sense but is kind of a bummer.

Also what I don't get is how this is going to compete with the 4 and 4S? You can get 4's right now for free with a contract. I also assume this will be free but it's hardly better than a 4.

It's aimed more towards international and developing countries like the Middle East and most of Europe. They see it as a luxury and branded item, and for the most part, they buy it at retail price, and their carriers offer little or no "discount" in price for their devices. At least in Germany. My cousin paid about $300/400 USD for his 4S in Frankfurt.

With this new budget iPhone, they would see a drastic drop in pricing and a larger consumer population internationally. Even if it's just a change in the 4's shell and slight mods in the internal hardware, it's still a larger consumer pool that Apple can work with now that it's cheaper and easily accessible

Pinkpoison · Apr 19, 2013

If that's it then i'm glad i have iPhone 5,that looks cheap and nasty,iphone 5 is sleek and beautiful.

Skimonkey · Apr 19, 2013

Actually, I don't mind the look and it's plastic backing. I like the idea that this product could provide more offerings to those who wouldn't or couldn't touch the previous iPhones because of cost or availability. We have lower end makes on cars to provide a variety, why not have the same for iPhone?

IphoneMommy · Apr 19, 2013

So would this ever be offered discounted at 2 year renewal or only offered at full price?

iPhoneMommy

"Be nice to people on your way up because you'll meet them on your way down." - Wilson Mizner

willerz2 · Apr 19, 2013

I'd say it wouldn't be the best of sellers in the US to be honest, since it most likely will reflect the iPhone 4. But if it does reflect the 4S on the other hand, that could be a different story. If it's the case for the 5, I would say it would easily replace the 4S since it'll be coming out with the 5S. If history repeats itself, the 5S will be $200, the 5 will be $100-150, the 4S will be free with a renewal along with the cheaper 4/4S make, and the more cost-effective 5 will probably ring you about $70? It wouldn't be that big a deal to fork over a little bit more in the US, but in Europe, I would say we could potentially see a drop from $300-400 USD for the 16GB 4S model to something like $150-200, and for the five, down to about $250-300 give or take.

Oscar_D_Grouch · Apr 21, 2013

Who cares if it's plastic or glass or whatever....it should be in a case anyway.

willerz2 · Apr 21, 2013

They're basically routing back to the 3GS idea with the plastic backing. But nonetheless they'll have to give something up in termso f hardware if they want it to be a cheaper more affordable iPhone since there's no sense in just replacing the glass exterior and not the interior, and dropping the price by a fair chunk.

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