Crazy next-gen iPod, iPad, and iPhone rumors
Could Apple be getting ready to release a 7" iPad nano and re-designed iPhone 5 as early as January? Could the iPod shuffle or nano with a 1.7" screen be around the corner in September? Are bumpers going all-silicone?
Our gut says crazy talk, but iLounge has a pretty good track record on leaks so take these for what they're worth, even if it's with an ocean-sized grain of salt.
Here are some details:
New iPods. Apple apparently has three new iPods ready to go as early as this month, or as late as September. One is the new iPod nano, one is the new iPod touch, and the third one is a question mark, but may be a small (1.7”) touchscreen replacement for the iPod shuffle.
New iPad. A seven-inch-screened version of the iPad is substantially finished and will be ready for announcement either later this year or early in 2011.
New iPhone. According to our source—and we have to say that we find this part hard to believe—Apple is pushing up the release date of the fifth-generation iPhone to early 2011 (as soon as January) because of the antenna issues with the iPhone 4.
iPhone 4 Bumpers, Generations 0 and 2. To reduce the cost of the current iPhone 4 Case Program, the company is currently working on a less expensive all-silicone version of the Bumper to give away after September.
Would Apple fragment the iPad market so quickly by introducing a smaller device? They haven't done that with iPhone or iPod touch going on 4 years now. Could a January iPhone be an iPhone 4 variant for Verizon instead?
If you have any insight, shoot us an email. If you have a guess, drop it in the comments!
[iLounge]
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.
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First! Maybe
Anyways, I don't think that Apple would fragment the iPad at this point in time. However I am inclined to believe that a touch iPod shuffle is very possible.
As soon as they fix that antenna among other things I am in! If they release it on Verizon, I may consider going since I am not under contract with ATT currently.
Regarding the iphone rumor...works for me! glad I didn’t get the iPhone 4. 3GS for now. Will wait for iPhone 5.
Why would Apple put out a 7inch ipad when the 9.7inch has been beyond successful and Apple can't make enough units to sell?
Once I read about the silly 7inch ipad, I stop reading the rest and discredited the whole article.
One thing about the 7" ipad. It seems like it would be pretty easy to just make a 7" screen with a 960x640 screen resolution which would really just be an XL sized touch.
An ipod isn't an iOS device so i don't care.
A 7" ipad? All they need is a camera in the current one next spring not that the current isn't selling. This is doubtful.
An iphone 5 in Jan? There's no reason for it. Iphone 4 is selling like hotcakes. We're still waiting for the white one. Besides, apple doesn't do iphone launches without a nice big OS bump to go along with it. That's next summer.
I actually wouldn't be surprised if Apple released a 7 inch iPad. It would be great for people who want to use it primarily for reading books because it would be much lighter and more affordable.
iPhone 5 in January?? No way. My guess is that a Verizon iPhone is coming in January.
I think as long as they keep with the resolution, a 7inch ipad wouldn't fragment the market. A lot of tech sites seem to think that 7inch is the largest you can make a device for onehand holding comfortably, so it wouldn't surprise me if apple made one, but yeah, I think it's a bit early.
If their new ipod touch has facetime, I might consider getting it (unless my next phone has a front facing camera). I have too much music to comfortably fit on a phone.. but I don't really buy many ipod apps since I don't carry it around as often.. ah well.
I'm still hoping they come out with a Macbook Touch (OSX on a tablet), but that could hurt ipad sales.. one can dream.
@ Cardfan: What OS do you think the iPod touch uses? It's only one part of the whole lineup, but it's still an iPod.
I agree with u and AT&T exclusive contract ends in 2012. Verizon customer service sucks I will stay with AT&T!! Sorry but they need to treat customers better Verizon!!!!!??
Personally I believe iPad needs a camera NOT a smaller screen. The iPhone needs a gel coating NOT a redesign. The iPod Nano needs different camera placement and iPod Touch NEEDS TO BE DONE FROM SCRATCH.
At first I was incredulous about this entire set of iLounge rumors. But to some degree I can see the justification for all of the rumors -- not that it makes them true or likely, but it explains why the rumors exist. For instance, the 7" iPad seemed somewhat ridiculous to me at first. But it's true that the current iPad is constantly in short supply, presumably because of screen shortages. So a slightly smaller iPad (or a larger iPod Touch, which is the same thing) would in fact probably sell if it were ever released.
Again, I still don't think all of these rumors are true, and possibly none of them. The early iPhone release because of the antenna issues seems the least credible. And all of the other rumored devices (except a touchscreen Shuffle) would screw up their entire pricing structure.
iPhone 5 lol, iPhone 4 great with bumper, you would put a case on it anyway!
@ghostface
I was referring to ipod nano or shuffle. We all know there will be a new ipod touch.
For the first time, I actually DO believe the Verizon rumor! Apparently, Verizon's CEO has been added to the 2011 CES Keynote!
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/04/verizon-chief-tapped-for-ces-2011-keynote/
Great now were getting a shuffle touch with a 1.7 inch touch screen and knowing apple it will have 1 icon right in the middle of it to launch everything. It will look like a cyclops when you turn it on.
I don't see it happening. iPhone 4 people would be pissed. 7" iPad is doable. The iPad is very hard to type on. You either have to put it down or stretch your fingers across the screen to reach the letters. And I find myself bumping the screen with my pinky while I'm typing and not noticing the cursor is 3 emails down. Pisses me off.
If an iPhone 5 comes out in January I'll be pissed
I want whatever it is you're smoking if you think a new iPhone is coming out in January.
As if this antenna thing wasn't bad press enough, they're going to slight the early adapters of their product AGAIN in the same 6 month span? That's fanbase suicide.
I know it's a coveted item, and Apple aparrantly has the towers on campus, but I honestly don't believe we will see a Verizon iPhone (at any point in time).
From a business perspective it just doesn't make sense to manufacture one. iPhone sells perfectly well on AT&T, and the Verizon network would limit the full potential of iPhone. Additionally, the United States is the only country left in the world with a truly solid CDMA network. The rest of the world has gone the way of GSM (I may have the cell acronyms flip-flopped). It seems to me making a separate model to appease US customers is foolish, and will only complicate the supply chain (and potentially drag down margins).
Just doesn't seem like a wise choice.
New iPods = likely. Also likely is the death of the iPod classic. New iPad = Plausible, but doubtful New iPhone = No effing way. Also, still no VZW iPhone. Ever, in fact.
Like the Three Bears, I think the iPod is too small, the iPad is too big, the 7in will be just right.
I think that while some of this would be nice, it doesn't sound very Apple-like at all. Apple remains stoically committed to their products and their timeline, except in two instances: When the original iPhone came out in 2007 for $699 (I think), then months later they dropped the price to $599 (I think) and early adopters weren't happy, so Apple issued refunds. This antenna fiasco has been a fiasco, but Apple is already putting themselves out there by issuing a free case to iPhone 4 users.
I really don't see Apple issuing an iPhone 5 in January because of the antenna issue (unless it is the same iPhone 4, just with the antenna feature fixed). If they add any new features or hardware, I believe that early iPhone 4 adopters will be outraged and we'll find ourselves in a 2007-esque situation.
I personally wouldn't count out an iPad "nano" at some point, but I agree that Apple likes their timelines, and introducing a new product into a line while they're still struggling to keep up with the demand for the first product is definitely premature.
Just my 2cents.
Even if just rumors of iP5, might be wise to sell my iP4 right away... let's face it, if/when an iP5 releases, the iP4 will be rendered quite worthless, just from the whole antenna issue... no one would want them at that point... other than for super cheap...
iLounge gets its rumors from case makers. Apple basically shut them down late last year after iLounge spilled the beans on iPhone 3GS, iPod nano and iPod touch. All of them were inferences from case maker leaks.
In 2010, iLounge has gotten nothing right. So, I think they are making stuff up or is simply regurgitating speculation from their case maker sources. They really don't have much. Even the "iPhone 5" rumor isn't much. Maybe it is simply an iPhone 4 on Verizon or T-Mobile or Sprint or some combination of the 3 for January.
The 7" iPad rumour I can believe, they could always use the same resolution to stop any software fragmentation ...
Apple iPhone 4 32GB Unlocked | MainBids » mainbids.com/
I dont think a screen on the iPod Shuffle is something Apple would do because i think the iPod Shuffle would be something small, easy, and music-only, so to not require a screen in the eyes of Apple
and second, an iPhone 5 would be absolutely ridiculous, because Apple just doesnt work like that...
However, I'm sure that a new iPod Touch should be coming out soon, because that is something Apple truly needs to upgrade...
Why are people hopping on the Verizon bandwagon?
You have to remember, Apple creates one phone for all their customers. America is NOT the center of the world.
Verizon and AT&T are the two biggest cell carriers IN AMERICA. However, once you expand to GLOBAL, the footprint of Verizon actually shrinks drastically.
GSM-wise, (America) AT&T, (Euro) O2, Orange, Vodaphone, Rogers, etc. are running the Apple marketplace.
So to create one phone for a very small market, globally, is very cost-inefficient.
Granted, I could be completely wrong, but Apple is not in the business to lose money, and creating a Verizon iPhone would be losing money, when you look at the big, global picture.
The Touch I can see. A 7" screen iPad? No, unless it's the new iPod Touch. New iPhone, white, yes. Totally new device, no. New iPod nano, yes.
@EBSkater "Why are people hopping on the Verizon bandwagon?"
No bandwagon from my perspective. But it's hard to leave money on the table. If Verizon adds 1.5 million units per quarter, that's a $1 billion in revenue per quarter. And, yes, there are likely 1.5 million Verizon customers who want the iPhone, but are unwilling to leave their carrier.
Same deal with T-Mobile and Sprint. Both T-Mobile and Sprint can maybe add 1 million units per quarter. That's a lot of money left on the table that Apple is not taking.
Problem is that Verizon will never give Apple the same subsidy deal that ATT has. Never. So, I don't think it's coming unless Apple makes a similar deal with ATT and other carriers. It will be interesting to see what Moto and HTC get in smartphone ASP from Verizon.
If a CDMA iPhone wasn't created when China asked for one, then it's highly unlikely that they'd do it for a much smaller CDMA market.
Those bumpers literally cost pennies to make, they were making a KILLING, selling them for $30, although they have to pay it all back, they've only allocated $175 million for the bumper program.
Why would apple rob themselves of ~6 extra months of R&D and testing on a new iPhone when it's arguable that they didn't do enough testing on the current gen?
@Shrike
Well, I meant the bandwagon of believing that the iPhone will go to Verizon...
Could Verizon throw up a HSPA overlay with their LTE deployment? If anyone has any internal knowledge of Verizon's LTE plans, I would love to know. From a flexibility perspective, it would certainly give them more flexibility as well as international roaming revenue. Also consider that LTE will be data only for a couple of years. I would much rather see Verizon have to change their standards then Apple having to support a format that most major industrialized nations are having to go away from.
I am not eligible for an upgrade till Feb. New iPhone would be great during this time! Although, I don't think it will be a big update. :/
Absolutely a new iPhone, and as soon as humanly possible.
Nothing is hurting Apple's reputation and driving customer decisions away from Apple more than the current version of the iPhone.
They have a very small window to get a new phone out there and put this behind them. If they leave this festering for a year they will never regain what they have lost.
Why do you think White is delayed? Paint? Really? (You probably believed hormone imbalance if you believe paint is the reason for the white iphone delay.)
White will appear with a new antenna design, a different FCC ID, and other fixes. Black will change at the same time, and maybe Apple will so some sort of buyback, but most likely early adopters will get stuck with a crashing resale value.
You should try Mecanto from the app store. It stores your music in the cloud and you don't need any program running on your PC for it to work. It's a $3 app and there's no limit to how much music you can store on their servers... I've got about 70gb of music at my fingertips at all times as long as I've got a decent 3G connection.
@LCW:
I would think that the iPhone is the last phone one would buy with resale in mind. Other than that, I tend to agree with your assessment.
However assuming they get the sensor problem fixed with software, and you add the free bumper, why would you worry about that. Just use it. Case or bumper solves all major problems.
My comment was directed @menno
I fail.
The only rumor here I can believe is the all-silicone bumper (which would eliminate the metal buttons and the precision cutting required to make them. I also could believe that they are gearing up to release new iPods but I would think they would be trending toward a revamped iPod Touch that has the earpiece and mic like the iPhone to make it a great VoIP phone. I can't see them pouring a lot of R and D into music iPods when that segment of the market is so small in this day of prevalent smart phones and PMPs like the Touch and Zune HD that do so much more than play music.
Icebike, you are living in an alternate reality here if you think sales are crashing. It's such a ludacrous premise that it's not worth dealing with. Stores are still seriously backlogged. If Apple can do a mid year rev with better specs and an antenna that is even better, great. Just don't buy into the new media d-baggery that a new rev needs to happen. Clearly, the sales numbers are spitting and laughing in your face.
The iPhone 5 is very likely in January. I was going to upgrade from 3g to iPhone 4 but I decided to wait because I was thinking that a new iphone is due soon; the reason has nothing to do with antenna and everything to do with carriers rolling out 4g wireless network this fall. The iphone 4 is only able to use 3g wireless networks. With competition rolling out phone for the new wireless technologies, do you think Apple will wait until next July to make use of the new technology and give the competition 6 month lead time. Very unlikely.
@ bazmattii - ..."carriers rolling out 4g wireless network this fall"...
Oops. Don't know how to tell you this, but the "real 4G" spec (either LTE Advanced or 802.16m) hasn't even been chosen yet. Some carriers are preparing to roll out LTE next year, and they are calling it "4G" but it's just a buzzword applied to an interim step. LTE is an improved 3G but it's not the all-IP packet-switched 4G: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4g
The real 4G probably won't be available until 2012. And guess what. That's exactly 5 years after the 5 year AT&T / Apple deal was signed. Perfect timing. Apple will be able to build just one worldwide iPhone for all 4G networks. They won't need to build a separate CDMA iPhone a dual-mode GSM/CDMA iPhone just so they can sell through Verizon for 1 year with dead-end technology.
iPod shuffle with a screen? That just seems wrong. I would expect the shuffle to get smaller and smaller, until it's built into one of your earbuds. No display. Just hold down its one and only button, say "skip" or "fast forward" or "volume up" or "Korn greatest hits" and it does what you say.
But maybe the nano will shrink down to just a 1.7" screen with a virtual click wheel. Apple patented an on-screen click wheel years ago. That makes more sense to me, but YMMV.
SockRolid,
Add into that the fact voice over LTE won't be ready for in device implementation until 2012. Maybe Apple would make a device that is LTE with GSM and CDMA fallback and have that be the one model for the world. Really let's not use the Dilger "Apple would only make a CDMA phone logic." That was disproven when Steve let the cat out of the bag that Apple has test sites on campus for both AT&T and Verizon. Now if Apple really had a dog in the CDMA vs. GSM fight, why would they have both?
Apple has at least 2 versions of every product, a premium version and a lesser version. I see no reason why the iPad should be different.
I think LTE will be a poor marketing feature to sell cell phones. There, I said it. It'll be wonderful for USB dongles, WiFi base stations both mobile and residential/office varieties, but as a feature on a cell phone? Don't think so. Uptake on 3G was a slow slog uphill. If it wasn't for the iPhone setting the market for super smart app phones, carriers may still be floundering on how to get consumers to pay an extra $30/month for data.
So, what is the next thing to drive adoption of LTE? We need more bandwidth? I don't think so. iPhone 4 gets 2 to 3 MBit/s down and 1 to 2 MBit/s up on HSDPA/HSUPA. That's better than my broadband connection at home. Those values will increase a little bit more on HSPA+. I don't see the real benefit of getting 5 MBit/s to your phone. What applications will need it? Streaming movies? I don't think so. 2 MBit/s is fine for that. (Expanding the HSDPA network everywhere is the problem there). Facetime? HSUPA takes care of that.
So if iPhone 5 is coming in January - it certainly coming by June/July 2011 - I doubt it's for LTE or WiMax. It'll either be a 64 GB storage option (timing would be right for 64/128 GBit flash NAND) or for T-Mobile HSPA+ bands, or a bigger change to CDMA EV-DO networks.
@EBSkater - sorry for the confusion.
Anyways, really hoping iPod touch gets the Retina Display and A4 SOC! They have to go downmarket with the iPod touch to $150 price point or put a 3" touch screen on the iPod nano. Also, there is room for a 4.5" iPod touch, but obviously, Apple won't go for that.
Hmmmm........ If anything Apple might position the new iPod touch more as a gaming device instead of music device............ 7" iPod touch anyone??
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