Could the following images be from the rear shell of Apple’s rumoured low-cost iPhone? NoWhereElse.fr posts the following pictures and says the following soft shell case resembles the shape of the iPhone 5 with the headphone jack on the bottom and Lightning port. The site says the images could be just a Chinese clone so we should not draw any conclusions, but rather observe them for discussion purposes.
The shell looks similar to a previous supposed leak back in April, which showed the same tapered edges and plastic outer shell. Previous rumours have claimed a lower-cost iPhone would debut in an array of various colours. NoWhereElse.fr has posted accurate leaked images before, such as Apple’s Lightning connector before the iPhone 5 debuted, but in this case (no pun intended) take the above images with a grain of salt.
Update: Nowhereelse.fr has posted a few more pictures of these same rear plastic shells, but in yellow, red and green. Take these for what they are, ugly-looking shells.
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The colors are atrocious. I hope these are just prototypes for color testing.
Stop this Gary. No one actually believes apple would make an “low cost iPhone”. This looks like knock off products.
Stop what? A lower cost iPhone is coming…
Yes, the one that was coming for 3 years. If you want a low cost iPhone buy a lower version. Buy the iPhone4. Apple won’t lower it’s value on a “low-cost” iPhone.
My thoughts exactly. A lower-cost iPhone would be a disaster to the Apple brand.
I guess the iPad mini, iPod Shuffle, MB Air, & Mac mini, all of which are lower-cost options to their premium brethren, are disasters to Apple’s brand?
Lower-cost option doesn’t mean cheap or cheaply made. If you’ve followed Apple long enough, you would know that. If anything, adding different pricing tiers, assuming you’re not building junk, expands your customer base.
Not everyone can afford top of the line but doesn’t mean they want to buy crap either.
You’re right. That’s why I only mentioned lower-cost iPhone. All the products you mentioned can have variations of inner parts to meet different price range and needs, but the iPhone is designed to meet a user’s needs as much as possible. When you have that as a goal, you don’t want to have variations. That’s why there’s only 1 version of every generation. The iPhone is the bread and butter. It’s Apple’s pride. It is the first thing people think of when you say “Apple”.
Unfortunately, all rumors so far of a lower-cost iPhone has been said (even with pictures, if you believe them) to be made of plastic. Now, when Apple is taking steps to further build it’s premium brand image by using aluminum, what would the general public think if Apple falls back on using plastic for their best selling product? How would Apple be perceived then? What will the critics publish on their blogs?
“The iPhone feels like a toy now, might as well get a Samsung, it has a bigger screen.”
“Why am I paying all this money for a plastic phone?”
“Apple has succumbed to the pressure, and as predicted, back comes the plastic iPhone.”
“Apple is finally giving in, and is now playing catchup at the lower-end, and taking it from the rear end.”
“Break down of the new Low-cost iPhone: Not so new components. Not so desirable features.”
Obviously these are only my personal opinion. But would this not be a disaster to the Apple brand as a whole?
A lower-cost, but still made with quality iPhone, is already in the market. They are called iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
Choose your words carefully… Your headline says “low-cost”. That implies comparatively “cheap”. There is NO WAY that is happening. “Lower cost” – meaning not quite as expensive… perhaps.
Straight from the WSJ:
http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB10001424127887324391104578230060513922882?mg=reno64-wsj
Relax, it’s healthier for your body.
Dead link.
Relax? Seriously?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323855804578511122734340726.html
“low-cost iPhone”
What now? 🙂
Chinese made toys, like the type you get in a vending machine. They’re really small.
Flipboard won’t allow me to reply to you AL, it just keeps voting you instead.
Yeah dude relax….SERIOUSLY.
Call it what you will. A lower priced iPhone is coming to compete with all the lower priced Android phones and take market share from them.
Wow dude, get out of the house and enjoy some fresh air and leave Gary alone. At least he’s reporting stuff over the long weekend. Stop busting his ball$.
There is no way this is for an iphone. Unless its for a new antenna-less iphone with no cellular,wifi or bluetooth connectivity. I mean that would really lower the costs if you cut all that stuff out. Maybe they will call it the ipod shuffle touch? Nice try but this leak site has lost all credibility.