Jeremy Horwitz, editor-in-chief at iLounge has unveil new details about Apple’s plan for its rumoured ‘budget’ iPhone 5.
According to the report, the budget iPhone 5 will be a cross between the fifth-generation iPod touch and the iPod classic.
“Rumors of a budget “ready for China” iPhone have been circulating for some time, but apart from a possible price point (“low”) and assumptions about its components (“plastic,” “low-end”), no concrete details as to its look or feel have leaked out… we know pretty much what the new low-end iPhone will look like, thanks to reliable sources. Yes, it will be made substantially from plastic,” Horwitz reports for iLounge. “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.”
According to Horwitz:
[quote] The budget iPhone’s raw dimensions are just barely larger than the iPhone 5’s. It is around a half-millimeter taller and a half-millimeter wider—nearly imperceptible differences—as well as almost a millimeter thicker. Beyond shifting from glass and metal to a substantially plastic chassis, the most significant change Apple will make is in the curves.
From the front, the new iPhone looks almost identical to the iPhone 5—the same exact shape, with the same sensor, camera, and button arrangement. The 1136 x 640 screen isn’t a surprise, but will be a nice step up in specs for the lowest-cost iPhone. Rather than making the display flush with the enclosure, as it was in the plastic iPhone 3G/3GS, the front glass sticks out a little, just as it does with the iPhone 5 and iPod touch. Despite the shift to plastic for the rest of the enclosure, our sources believe that Apple will continue to use Gorilla Glass for this model’s screen.[/quote]