Rumors of a budget model of the iPhone, most likely for introduction in the Chinese market, have been zooming through the intertubes for some time now, but iLounge says they’ve been talking with “reliable sources” and know pretty much what the new low-end Apple handset will look like.
Yes, it will be made substantially from plastic. No, it won’t just be a Retina- and Lightning-equipped refresh of the iPhone 3G or 3GS, Apple’s last plastic iPhones, nor will it look just like an all-plastic version of the iPhone 5. This new model is actually a cross between the iPhone 5, fifth-generation iPod touch, and… wait for it… the iPod classic. Yes, really. It will have a 4” screen, like the iPhone 5, a bottom like the latest iPod touch, and a shape that’s most similar to the iPod classic.
The report says that the cheaper iPhone will have raw dimensions barely larger than the iPhone 5. It will be around a half-millimeter taller and a half-millimeter wider, as well as almost a millimeter thicker. Besides a shift from glass and metal to a mostly plastic chassis, the most significant change Apple will make is in the curves.
From the front, the budget model will look almost identical to the 5. Same shape, same sensor, camera, and button layout. The 1136 x 640 screen will be a nice step up in specs for the lowest-cost iPhone. The front glass will stick out a bit, just like the iPhone 5 and iPod touch. iLounges sources believe that Apple will continue to use Gorilla Glass for the screen.
From the side, the differences become more pronounced. The circular volume buttons from the iPHone 4, 4S, and 5 will be elongated to pill-shaped designs, much like the iPod touch and iPhone 3G/3GS.
The budget handset’s housing will most resemble the iPod classic in shape, if not in materials.
The back will have a camera, microphone, and flash unit similar in proportions to the 5th-gen iPod touch, except there will be no protruding rear lens and the microphone hole will be circular in shape. The back will be flat.
The bottom will be a conglomeration of iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5G. A headphone port, Lightning port, bottom microphone, and speaker are in roughly the same positions as the iPhone 5’s, but with far fewer holes. There will be one small hole for a second microphone, next to the headphone port, two screw holes alongside the centered Lightning port, and four holes for the speaker off to the bottom right.
iLounge says the budget iPhone won’t be a bold departure form past Apple designs, but a amalgamation of what sounds like the best all of them.
What do you think readers? Is this the description of the budget iPhone?
