John Paczkowski

Recent Posts by John Paczkowski

IPhone Nano a NoGo

So those rumors that have Apple developing a smaller, cheaper iPhone? Bogus–according to The New York Times, anyway. People briefed on the company’s plans say Apple is far too busy finishing up the successor to the iPhone 4 to take on the engineering and manufacturing challenges inherent in a so-called iPhone Nano. Evidently, a smaller iPhone wouldn’t necessarily be cheaper to manufacture, and there are concerns that a reduction in screen size would require developers to rewrite their apps, something Apple wants to avoid.

Though Apple might not be working actively to make the iPhone smaller, it is doing its best to make it cheaper–largely by searching out less pricey components. Said a source who had worked on the device in the past, “Although the innards of the phone, including memory size or camera quality, could change to offer a less expensive model, the size of the device would not vary.”


comments so far. Add yours.

  • http://www.cyber-punk.cz.cc/ ShadowRunner

    WoW someone was on crack for even thinking of this, the trend is going bigger not smaller, was that supposed to be for babies? people are starting to not want an Iphone much less an Iphone minime..

  • Anonymous

    I would only add that the source of the original rumors were the Wall Street Journal and they have a pretty high hit rate on leaking “official” Apple rumors.

    The New York Times? Not so much…

    Time will tell.

    Of course the rumors did the thing they were meant to which was spoil the Androidfest which is MWC.

  • Anonymous

    If the display size is is half the area of the 4, then it will be cheaper. It will require less memory, and a cheaper GPU. It will also require a smaller battery. All of these are major costs and would be significantly cheaper.

    If Apple wants to create a smaller iPhone in parallel with the 5 then I think it has the resources to do so. Other companies make several models at a time.

    Apple may not be making a “nano” phone, but if not it is because they do not want to do so. NOT because they are “too busy right now.”

    IMHO

  • Anonymous

    And fix your picture – the rumors I have heard say no button. :)

  • Anonymous

    It is matter of fact that demand for iPhones continues to go up. Same for other iOS devices. One of Apple’s biggest problems is meeting demand. Sales of iPhone 4 in the US have more than doubled since the Verizon launch, where it is Verizon’s best selling phone ever. Please, no concern trolling for Apple.

  • Anonymous

    I strongly disbelieve Apple will be making a cheaper iPhone that doesn’t do anything better except have a better price for the same reason they were dissing notebooks saying they were “just cheap computers” that have no reason for being.

    but, in the other sides, I do hope Apple would luanched a cheap iphone. If so, I could buy one also. lol. ^.^
    Indeed, I’m a movie lover, so I get most of the movies on my iPhone through ifunia iphone converter. I think other will do the same once they try it and realize it is the perfect phone:-)

  • Anonymous

    The rumors of Apple becoming a virtual carrier with virtual SIM’s are more interesting, and it is the cost of the monthly bill that primarily slows smartphone adoption, not the cost of the phone. If they sold data plans only and put 3G and FaceTime (which is VoIP) in everything, they could sell you a $30 unlimited data plan with no contract and make bucket loads of money.

    An iPod touch is already a low-end iPhone, it just needs 3G and a data plan, like an iPad. Put 3G and FaceTime in an iPod nano and you have an even cheaper phone.

    Plus, the biggest complaints about iPhone are carrier-related. Antennagate was US only, AT&T only, in other words: carrier-related. I think they ultimately want to deal with the carriers as wholesalers, and Apple will be your retail carrier, same as Apple Store, iTunes Store. You will buy an Apple device (any Apple device) and it will ask you if you want to turn on a 3G and if you say yes, $X will be billed to your iTunes account, optionally recurring every month, and an Apple logo will show where the carrier name used to be. As you travel around, you’ll be on AT&T or Verizon or Sprint or Rogers or Orange or whatever is available and bids the lowest for Apple’s business. The fact that carriers essentially double bill smart phone users right now (voice/texts and data) is an opportunity for Apple to turn your $100/month bill into a $50/month bill, and then iPhone becomes cheaper than other smartphones.

  • http://twitter.com/aace234 Aik Lariosa

    itd be pretty neat how they execute this, but will it cause some apps to be really small? like some apps i use from tsheets.

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