Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/02/18/iphone_5_mole_vs_mole/
No small iPhone 5, says mole
Sources spin and counter-spin
Posted in Phones, 18th February 2011 11:08 GMT
Free whitepaper – Hands on with Hyper-V 3.0 and virtual machine movement
Apple isn't working on a smaller iPhone, contrary to previous rumours, but it is trying to make the handset less expensive.
So claim the inevitable unnamed sources "briefed on Apple’s plans" - our assumption would be Apple PR people speaking off the record, but that is just an assumption - who spoke to the New York Times [1].
Why, though, trust one unnamed mole and not another [2]?
The previous whispers from the shadows had it that Apple is not only working on a smaller iPhone [3], to accompany the standard-sized model, but also that it might use software Sim technology to make roaming and network swapping easy.
Apple's problem is not, however, a matter of size, but the scope of the market it can address. Going smaller might help, but not half as much as simply making a less expensive handset. It's largely lower prices that's driving the Android smartphone market, for instance, not technological or design leadership.
Apple has tried this low-cost phone approach. It currently offers the iPhone 3GS as a cut-price alternative to the iPhone 4, but since most iPhone owners want the latest model, a better approach might be to offer parallel versions of a future iPhone, one pared back for buyers on a budget, the other offering more features to punters with cash to flash.
Says the NYT mole: a smaller-screen iPhone would force developers to rewrite apps.
Nonsense, provided Apple retains the 480 x 320 resolution of the original iPhone - more likely with a smaller display than the iPhone 4's 960 x 480. For apps that lack 960 x 480 graphic files, scaling the down would be a doddle for the phone's OS.
Of course, Apple may simply choose not to enter the budget market, preferring to position its offering as a superior, high-end offering. A lower cost offering would still boost its sales.
We should find out the truth in June, the month Apple traditionally announces iPhone updates. ®