Yesterday we told you about a rumor that called for the release of a 4.8″ iPhone named “Math” alongside the release of the 4″ iPhone 5S. But the rumors didn’t stop there, because the same sources continued by saying that a third iPhone with a 12 megapixel camera would be released just before Christmas this year. It sounds quite far-fetched.
Apple is most likely to introduce a cheaper iPhone model in 2013 to attract the Chinese market, but according to a current rumor, Apple will introduce two 4-inch iPhones with in-cell display technology. But what about Math?
“Apple is planning to release two 4-inch iPhones in 2013 with in-cell display technology,” Digitimes reported. “It was previously reported that Apple would release a cheaper, larger-screen iPhone in 2013. But now sources claim that while Apple is indeed working on such an iPhone, it won’t be released this year.”
One of the two models will target the weaker markets and will likely be the cheaper iPhone that The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Digitimes have previously reported.
However, for Apple to release a cheaper model it would only do so if it could manufacture a few thousand at a time, which is not yet clear whether Apple has that capability at this time.
The iPhone 5's in-cell display technology has caused a lot of problems in its production, resulting in all these delays we've seen so far. So deciding to create a cheaper iPhone that uses the same display technology is probably a move that Apple must be very confident it can support. If it believes that it won't be able to meet demand due to the complexity of the display, and that there will be equally long delays for both the cheaper iPhone and the regular model, then it will probably decide to wait until it's ready.
The rest of the iPhone rumors are still a mess. For example, Digitimes doesn't give much information about the 4.8-inch iPhone. It doesn't say what the screen size will be or how many ppi the two new models it mentions will have. And that's important information, because Apple has in the past resisted changing the pixel density of its displays, even when it has made them larger. The reason it keeps the pixel density the same is to make life easier for developers and to be able to more easily predict how their app will look even on a device they don't have, thus preventing platform fragmentation.
As usual, Digitimes has managed to cause chaos once again with its reports. We are not saying that the rumors are a figment of their imagination, they may indeed have a source, but there are many important details missing. In addition, Apple is constantly testing iPhone prototypes, so their source has most likely seen one of them. But that does not mean that we will see it become a reality.
You can expect Apple to release an iPhone this year, as it does every year, and that it will follow the path of the iPhone 4S, meaning it will be a minor upgrade of the 5. Additionally, a cheaper iPhone sounds quite likely, but until there is real evidence and proof, it remains a rumor.
Dimitrios Georgoulas @ GreekAppleNews
