Will the budget iPhone be a 'frankenphone'?

Will the long-rumored affordable iPhone from Apple Inc. be made mainly of plastic —and a mishmash of designs?

 

A report on Apple-oriented site iLounge cited "reliable sources" who said the budget iPhone will be a cross among the iPhone 5, iPod touch, and the iPod classic.

 

"In summary, the budget iPhone will look a lot like an iPhone 5 from the front, an iPod classic from the side, and an iPod touch 5G on the bottom—only made from plastic rather than glass or metal. It won’t make any bold departures from past Apple designs, but then, it’s supposed to be an inexpensive iPhone, and achieves that goal pretty much as expected," it said.

 

It said these dimensions would make the budget iPhone "barely larger" than the iPhone 5, even as another distinguishing feature would be the curves and a shift from glass and metal to plastic.

 

In the front, the budget iPhone is likely to have the same shape, same sensor, camera, and button arrangement, and a 1136-x-640 display.

 

But Apple will also likely continue to use Gorilla Glass for the low-priced model’s screen, it added.

 

The differences may be seen at the side, with elongated, pill-shaped volume buttons that look more like those of the iPod touch and iPhone 3G/3GS.

 

As for the similarity with the iPod classic, the budget iPhone will have a housing that looks like it.

 

"The right side has a flat, centered SIM card tray just like the iPhone 5’s, while all of the buttons and ports are on flat rather than curved surfaces. A flat-backed iPhone won’t rock on a flat surface when it vibrates, either," iLounge said.

 

Rear parts

 

At the budget iPhone's back are a camera, microphone, and rear flash similar to those on the fifth-generation iPod touch - minus the protruding rear lens, and with a circular rather than pill-shaped microphone hole.

 

The bottom is a hybrid of the iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5G while a headphone port, Lightning port, bottom microphone, and speaker are in roughly the same positions as the iPhone 5’s. — TJD, GMA News