New iPhone announcement in June, leaked info suggests
AT&T takes a bite out of Apple
There’s a constant stream of rumours concerning new iPhone hardware, to the point at which the law of averages suggest some of them will be true. But with the Worldwide Developers Conference coming in June, AT&T has apparently spilled the beans to BoyGeniusReport on what Apple’s iPhone announcement plans are.
The report suggests Apple will announce, among other things, a new iPhone model. This new unit will pack in high speed HSDPA connectivity (up to 7.2Mbps), a faster CPU and ‘capability gaps will be filled’. This last statement presumably refers to video recording, possibly boosting the handset’s memory to 32GB and other functions tied in to the new 3.0 SDK.
References to new models were already uncovered in the developer build of the 3.0 software, and Apple was alleged to have placed a massive order for a batch of OLED screens with Korean electronics manufacturer, LG.
A radically different iPhone isn’t really expected so much as an update that will, in all likelihood, represent cheaper manufacturing methods for Apple itself. To break form with the current model means upsetting the equilibrium of the App Store, and that’s where the iPhone’s fortunes really lie.
There’s also a good chance that the most significant iPhone hardware changes won’t actually be improvements to the technology so much as a re-engineering to create a handset designed specifically for the BRIC markets. Introducing high-end tech like the iPhone to the emerging economies is very difficult, and a stripped back model could well be used to provide Apple with a stepping stone into these growth areas.
Another big question on the lips of the iPhone world is whether Steve Jobs will make an appearance at the Worldwide Developers Conference, with some analysts suggesting he’ll stop by to announce his retirement.
Whatever happens, Pocket Gamer will be watching closely, so get ready for another hot June in the iPhone world.
