Thanks to a previous report, we already have a pretty good idea of what Apple’s up to by September or October. According to that rumor, Apple won’t be junking the 2-year-old iPhone 3GS, but will maintain it – along with the iPhone 4 – as budget and mid-range options for people who don’t want to spend for the all-new iPhone 5. So what’s new? Nothing, really. Just a new source that confirms what we heard from BGR last month.
According to an analyst at RBC Capital that “recently spent time with Apple’s CFO, Peter Oppenheimer and COO, Tim Cook,” Apple is possibly going to launch a budget iPhone. The statement is a bit general on its own, but it does corroborate last month’s report that they’ll be launching a budget iPhone this year that’s set to cost $350 on a contract.
Whether it’s going to be the plain old iPhone 3GS or a slightly modified version is still unknown, but they’re releasing this option for the budget/ pre-paid crowd as a way to dip their toes in iOS (as well as a way for Apple to compete with new waves of budget Android phones).
Plans for the existing iPhone 4 and the upcoming iPhone 5 will follow the annual iPhone status quo: the iPhone 4’s price will be dropped (hopefully, to the same $99-with-a-contract deal that the 3GS went through last year), to make way for the new iPhone 5, which will hopefully be kept at the $199-$299 range when it launches.
[via BGR]
Tags: Apple, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, Leaks and Rumors, Mobile Phones
