3G iPhone rumor roundup: Spring break edition
Catching up on the latest Apple (AAPL) iPhone news after spring break isn't easy. The rumors are coming so fast they've started to crash into each other. Here's a summary:
- Price: Two versions, $399 (8GB) and $499 (16GB), but AT&T (T) will knock $200 off the price in return for a 2-year contract (Fortune's Scott Moritz); Apple will charge $599 for unlocked (NYTimes's Saul Hansell); AT&T will raise the price of its unlimited data plan from $20 to $45, to match what it charges customers using the RIM (RIMM) BlackBerry. (Hansell)
- Form: About the same shape and size, but "somewhat fatter" (Engadget's Ryan Block); 2.5 mm "thinner" (TGDaily's Richard Felton); 38 to 48 grams lighter (CENS's Ken Liu);
- Screen: Same size and resolution (Block); screen shrunk from 3.5 inch to 2.8 inch diagonally (Liu)
- Case: Less "plasticky" (Felton); more plastic, replacing aluminum-magnesium casing (Liu)
- Manufacturer: Hon Hai has orders to make 300,000 3G iPhones initially and 3 million in June (Liu) for a total of 24-25 million in its life cycle (Digitimes' Steve Shen). CENS's Ken Liu goes on to claim that the giant Taiwanese manufacturer took the job away from Foxconn, apparently unaware that Foxconn and Hon Hai are the same company. (link)
Quote: If they raise the unlimited data price to $45, then they will need to allow the Iphone to tether to your laptop for internet access.
I agree with you. But just know this. You can do that now with the current Iphone with no extra charge.
If they raise the unlimited data price to $45, then they will need to allow the Iphone to tether to your laptop for internet access.
Am I missing something here. This is supposed to be and upgrade. Instead i'm getting and "plasticky, heavier unit" and papying an additional $25 per month. Raising the data plan to 45$ is crazy. to compete and overtake the RIM user the original $20 price point is much more attractive.
??? Screen: Same size and resolution (Block); screen shrunk from 3.5 inch to 2.8 inch diagonally (Liu) ???
Both could be true.
I was going to buy this unlocked for the GPS & use it as a phone too but not with a smaller physical screen.
If so, I am sure Apple is going to hide in the small print that they are shrinking the physical dimensions of the screen while highlighting the DPI and pixels on the XY.
Lying seems to be SOP of American businesses nowadays.
Not just tech news, but all news … the more articles I read, the more I realize that the authors have not done their homework, or are merely speculating (fake/made-up/plagiarism). Your summary of the articles (which, btw, I have read myself and can confirm that YOU are not making this up) does this homework for the reader. Thank you. Yesterday, Bush said "We are winning the war in Afghanistan." I have no idea what is going on in Afghanistan but I realized that I can no longer trust the accuracy of his statements. What is happening these days? It seems like we can't believe anything in the media anymore! What is going on?
Can we at least have an option (saved in a cookie?) to read comments from oldest to newest?
ex ped: That drives me nuts too. I'll put in a request, but can't make any promises.
Less plastic looking? It's 99% aluminum and glass already.
ex ped: Agreed. From descriptions I've read, the new device seems to be getting more "plasticky" not less.
read the article before you post Gilbert… this is the POINT of his article, showing the contradictory nature of all the different rumors.
second… no one cares about how cheap you guys are… every decent data plan in the country costs that much.
out of all that, people are commenting on the $45 data rumor?? Unbelievable, almost comical… buy a $300-500 piece of equipment that is known by the world to be cutting edge with the SDK and worry about $20 a month…. gotta luv the dumpers trying a different angle… 
Smaller screen? What so that everybody can get iStrain just like from using the Nano? I speak from experience on this.
This isn't news. This is gossip and rumor spreading. While you were out sunning in Ft. Lauderdale with the coeds Apple also posted record revenues and is making a significant semiconductor purchase. Stock is also confidently up. These are all facts and outside the Distortion Field. Let's report on it.
"Yes!" "No!"
"Up!' "Down!"
"Hot!" "Cold!"
No offense, Phillip, but these contradictory rumors are why some of us have so much trouble taking a lot of journalism seriously. Just meeting a deadline. Eventually the rumors coalesce around something like the truth, but right now it's like taking the average of a shotgun blast.
I know Sprint gets crushed around these parts but you simply cannot beat their $99 everything plan. Even before that a full data package was only $15/month. So the statement that a "decent" data plan costs this much (being $45) is terribly uninformed. You may or may not like Sprint's phones or call system, but I can do anything i want to do data-wise on my smartphone with Sprint's data plan, including getting download speeds of 2.4Mbps…yes, you read that right…when using PDANet and having the phone serve as a modem. Saved my tail much more than once.
Oh yes, and I'm buying an iPhone when they put it on the better data system and the Exchange Active Sync is fully enabled.