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| Posted: 12 Aug 2011 08:51 AM PDT
It may appear that CNET UK’s lofty June prediction of an iPhone release for September 7th may appear to have been on-target after all, thanks to a new report from MacRumors. But it might also mean that the next iPhone won’t be the revamped iPhone 5. Today, MacRumors is reporting that Apple has a media event planned for September 7th. The news by way of the Japanese site Kodawarisan, September 7th has been slated as Apple’s usual Fall iPod release event, however, it’s be safe to assume that this would be the ideal event to announce the new iPhone as well, if all the predictions are true about a September announcement and/or release. MacRumors comments that this Fall iPod event “has been widely expected to also incorporate the rumored iPhone 5 announcement. We confirmed with Kodawarisan that the date was not the product of guesswork, but came from a source in the know.” You can read their full report here. Should the September 7th media event prove to be the day that the next iPhone gets announced, it will mean that CNET UK was right. Way back in late June, they boldly proclaimed that the iPhone 5 would be released on September 7th. The iPhone 5 News Blog has predicted a “back to school” iPhone 5 release as early as January, but CNET UK’s proclamation of that date seemed either like a shot in the dark or the product some impressive inside sources at Cupertino. But as the Summer has rolled on, continuing rumors have narrowed the announcement date down to occurring between September 6th and 15th. It would now seem that the rumor and leak probably came about from someone at CNET UK and elsewhere getting wind of when the iPod announcement would be made, and deducing that the iPhone would also be announced. September 7th Announcement May Corroborate Our Source’s Rumor of an iPhone 4GS / iPad Pro / iPod Touch White Release If Steve Jobs is planning on walking out with both a new, white iPod and new iPhone, it very well may be that our recent rumor that Apple is planning on releasing an iPhone 4Gs, iPod Touch White, and iPad Pro all in September may in fact be a bit more believable. iPhone 5 News Blog commenter Waiter tipped us off this morning of a new article from Techeye that corroborates our source’s information that the next iPhone will indeed be an iPhone 4 refresh, with the iPhone 5 not arriving until March of 2012. The article states that, according to their sources, “Apple is going to release a cut-down, budget equivalent of the iPhone” in September, and that “In light of a components downturn and other economic factors, the iPhone 5 true is rumoured for a March 2012 release.” You can read the full article here. However, while early September — and perhaps September 7th — seems all but locked in for the iPhone announcement, whether it will be the refreshed iPhone 4GS or revamped iPhone 5 will most likely remain a complete mystery until Mr. Jobs walks out with it and shows us. By Michael Nace If you think your friends on Twitter and Facebook would want to hear about this new iPhone news, please share it with them. It really helps! |
| “iCloud iPhone” Rumor Could Cost $0, But Do The Numbers Really Add Up? Posted: 11 Aug 2011 04:00 PM PDT
An Apple blogger just recently cited several unnamed sources that confirm the “two iPhone theory,” with the iPhone 5 indeed due to be co-released with a lesser-priced iPhone. This is nothing new — we’ve heard it before. But the wrinkle in this rumor is that the lesser priced iPhone will in fact be an “iCloud iPhone” that will utilize cloud storage in lieu of onboard flash memory. Blogger Trevor Sheridan claims that “Over the past few weeks we have chatted with a few people who are familiar with Apple's iPhone plans” and that “The main takeaway is that Apple intends to launch two iPhone models in the fall with a full upgraded iPhone 5 as expected, as well as a cheaper iPhone which will be the iCloud iPhone.” You can read the full story and a host of related stories on the iPhone 5 News Ticker here. Sheridan goes on to explain that the iCloud iPhone will be Apple’s answer to an affordable iPhone, and that after mobile carrier subsidies, it could end up costing the user nothing at all. The explanation for how this can all come about is that Apple intends to drop the flash memory and other high-cost components in order to drive the production price down to nil for the iCloud iPhone. He goes on to explain: “According to our sources, Apple is going to do this by using less on board Flash memory which are also falling in price.” This is where it gets a little odd.
A recent graph from Bloomberg indicates that flash memory on the iPhone 5 will most likely account for 15% of the overall production cost — a number that even Sheridan acknowledges. Flash memory comes out to cost about $18 bucks per iPhone 5. Then, Sheridan says, “Apple is aiming for a $400 final price for the iCloud iPhone as compared to the typical $600 iPhone price, which the iPhone 5 will cost. The carrier subsidization will bring the cost to consumers down to free with a 2 year contract for the iCloud iPhone with the same $199 iPhone cost for the iPhone 5.” If Apple is saving about $18 per iPhone 5 by dropping out the flash memory, how would it achieve a $200 price gap for the consumer? He goes on to explain that another area that Apple could cut price corners on is by deploying cheaper iPhone 4 internal parts: “Apple will use many of the same internal parts from the iPhone 4 since they're readily available in their supply chain already, and have gone down a bit in cost.” Of course, then we’re getting back into the debate of whether or not Apple is looking to make an el cheap-o iPhone for the whole world — not just China. But if you look at the overall cost of the iPhone 4 and prospective costs of the iPhone 5, it just doesn’t seem to add up to me. iSuppli puts the production cost of the iPhone 4 at $187.51, which is $82.49 less than the proposed production cost of the iPhone 5 at $270.10. Even if we factor in the $18 flash memory removal, we’re still not at the point where Apple could justify an iCloud iPhone that’s $200 less for the consumer. (And this would assume that the iCloud iPhone is essentially an iPhone 4, which Sheridan claims it will not.) Add into this the fact that you’d assume a cloud-based iPhone would probably benefit from a beefier processor alla the A5, and the product costs still seem prohibitive for offering an iPhone that far below the base cost of the purported iPhone 5. The only way Apple could get something like this done would be from increased data usage associated with an iCloud iPhone that is constantly pulling data on and off of the cloud. If this was the case, then it becomes more reasonable to understand how and why the mobile carriers could offer this phone to subscribers for $0.00. But the numbers still do not necessarily add up for Apple’s production costs — only if they end up getting a piece of the rock from iCloud usage. What I think this rumor amounts to is a variation of the Chinese el cheap-o iPhone rumor we reported on a while back. One last note about iCloud: There is a prevailing misconception in the tech universe that the main purpose of the iCloud is to save people money. Fat chance. In fact, it is just the opposite; iCloud is designed to suck money on the back-end of owning an iPhone vis a vis data costs. Otherwise, Apple would not be investing in it copiously. What the consumer gains out of iCloud isn’t savings; they gain convenience, organization, and the coveted “Apple ecosphere.” Therefore, I don’t see how the iCloud iPhone would come to save anyone any money in the long run. |
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