Skip to main content

Report: Apple building cheaper, 8GB iPhone 4; iPhone 5 due late-September

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apple is building a cheaper, 8GB iPhone 4, according to two unnamed sources who spoke with Reuters. The new version of the iPhone 4 is currently in production at a Korean manufacturer, the sources say.

Recommended Videos

The current iPhone 4, which was revealed during the 2010 Worldwide Developers Conference in June, only comes in 16GB and 32GB models.

So, is this the second, less-expensive iPhone we’ve all been hearing so much about since early this year? At least one analyst doesn’t think so.

“Apple may want to push into the emerging market segment where customers want to switch to low- to mid-end smartphones from high-end feature phones, which usually cost $150-200,” said Bonnie Chang, a Yuanta Securities analyst, who spoke with Reuters. “But I think for an 8GB iPhone 4 the price is hard to go below $200, so Apple will still need a completely new phone with low specifications for the emerging markets.”

Still, it seems unlikely — but not impossible, of course — that Apple would have up to three new handsets ready for release this year. And considering the iPhone 3GS — which is estimated to be the second most popular smartphone on the market, after the iPhone 4 — is available for next to nothing these days, there seems little impetus for Apple to design an entirely new device that would essentially serve the same purpose.

In addition to spilling the beans on the 8GB iPhone 4, Reuters’ sources also say the iPhone 5 will arrive in late-September — something we’ve heard repeatedly in the past, and which is only slightly off from the early-October release that’s become popular in the past couple of weeks.

The sources did seem to clear one thing up, however; apparently the “iPhone 4S” name that many have thought Apple would call its next-generation device (or, at least, one of its next devices) is simply what people have been calling the iPhone 5 “because of its largely identical appearance to the existing iPhone 4,” says Reuters. In other words, the iPhone 4S name is just a joke among insiders, but has nothing to do with an official moniker.

Reuters’ sources also backed up claims that the iPhone 5 will have a larger screen, 8-megapixel camera and a better antenna. It’s also possible that the next iPhone will have 4G LTE connectability, as well as dual-mode GSM/CDMA radios.

Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
The iPhone SE 4 might feature the Dynamic Island instead of a notch
The back of the Apple iPhone SE (2022).

Newly-leaked images from tipster Evan Blass suggest the iPhone SE 4 might come with the Dynamic Island after all. Blass also shared code snippets that indicate several more yet-to-be-released Apple products, including the 11-inch iPad Air with M3, the 13-inch iPad Air with M3, the iPad 11th generation, and the iPhone SE 4th generation. Blass followed up his initial post with supposed visual assets for the devices, and notably enough, the iPhone SE 4 shows a Dynamic Island.

The Dynamic Island is faint. If you want to get a better look at it, we suggest making the image full-screen. Blass said he had color-corrected the image to make it more visible. However, Blass specifically stated that he had edited the image to make it more visible, so it's confirmed that, in this image at least, the phone has the island.

Read more
The iPhone SE 4 price just leaked, and it’s better than we expected
iPhone SE

The iPhone SE 4 has been a highly anticipated choice for quite a while now, and we expect it to release sometime in the first quarter of 2025. While we know a lot about the iPhone SE 4, we haven't been able to nail down a solid estimate on its price. Now we have, and it's pretty awesome: the iPhone SE 4 is predicted to come in below $500.

Apple has been hard at work on its own in-house modem, and the iPhone SE 4 will be the first device to include that modem, according to a report from Naver. Since Apple is providing its own modem, it won't need to pay Qualcomm a fee for its 5G chips. The exact amount Apple pays Qualcomm isn't known, but it's a not-insignificant amount of money.

Read more
Some iPhone users report overheating when using Apple Intelligence
The Nomad Magnetic Leather Back on the iPhone 16 Pro Max

After a long wait, iOS 18.2 has finally rolled out to the public at large and unlocked more Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Genmoji, and an upgraded Mail app. It might have also introduced a way to keep your hands warm on these frosty winter days, according to some users.

Reddit user u/dsdxp posted on the iPhone subreddit that they had unlocked a secret feature in the iPhone 16 Pro. The comment was obviously sardonic, but many other users responded with their own stories of troubling temperatures from their iPhones. The common element between all of the stories was the Image Playground app and the excessive heat it creates while in use.

Read more