New iPhone rumor points to smaller iPhone

Is Apple planning on a smaller variant to its iconic iPhone? According to Taiwan Economic News, sources in the supply chain are indicating that a lighter-weight and smaller variant of the iPhone is in the pipeline. Weighing in at 110-120g, compared to the current iPhone’s 158g weight, the smaller iPhone is said to forgo the aluminum-magnesium casing in favor of a lighter plastic casing. Helping to shave weight, the smaller iPhone is also rumored to sport a 2.8-inch multi-touch display in place of the current iPhone’s 3.5-inch multi-touch display.

The new report comes in contradiction to other rumors that Apple’s next-generation 3G iPhone would add heft and bulk to accommodate a built-in GPS receiver. But, that doesn’t mean both rumors can’t pan out. There are indications that Apple is planning to silence criticism about the company’s one-trick-pony iPhone offering by launching different iPhone variants to suit different needs. The highest-end iPhone would be the 3G iPhone sporting true GPS, with a possibility of the current generation iPhone (or something quite similar) locking down the mid-range, while a pared-down version of the iPhone would offer bare-bones iPhone goodness in the lower-end.

We’ll have to wait and see just how Apple plans to play this one out. Keep in mind, Apple likes to confuse speculators by commissioning purposely misleading hardware prototypes.

For me, I’d rather keep the bulk down by nixing the GPS hardware. If Apple offers 3G iPhone variants with GPS and without, I’ll probably be going for the GPS-less model.

Who am I kidding, it’s going to be hard to stop myself from going with the top-of-the-line model.  Anyone out there actually think that a 3G iPhone with GPS is unnecessary?

[Via: cens]