4th-Gen iPhone in Summer 2010?

[Paul Daniel Ash]

Recent hints of an upcoming new iPhone model got a boost today thanks to a terse and enigmatic Tweet from a popular mobile-phone blogger, saying only:

Foxconn received order for next generation iphone

Foxconn is the manufacturer Apple uses for the iPhone, as well as for the Mac mini and the iPod line.

Rumors have been circulating for the past few months about a fourth-generation iPhone being launched in 2010. Just a few weeks ago, an iPhone carrying the hardware designation "3,1" was spotted on the San Francisco Bay Area transit system. An order placed today would result in manufacturing being ramped up on schedule for an early-summer 2010 launch of the device. If this took place, it would fit perfectly into Apple's history of product launches: the original iPhone was released on June 29th of 2007, with the 3G coming on July 11, 2008 and the 3GS on June 19, 2009. References to an "iPhone3,1" were first discovered in iPhone firmware files back in August, and Apple had similarly begun testing the iPhone 3GS (iPhone2,1) in October of 2008, about 8 months ahead of its launch.

The report comes from Mobile-review’s Eldar Murtazin, the Russian blogger who has had a good history of scoops on new mobile devices. He has, however, no track record when it comes to Apple phones, so it's hard to know how much credibility to place in this report. Murtazin followed up his brief Tweet with another, in reply to a follower, that asserted that the new hardware would support multitasking, further bolstering rumors that the 4G iPhone would be based on a PA Semi processor.

Following the report, the rumor mill churned with speculation about the new phone. A front-facing camera (for video calls) was a popular idea, along with a 1GHz processor, LTE support and a higher resolution display, possibly OLED... even a hardware QWERTY keyboard. Obviously, at this point, nothing is known and little can be inferred to this sketchy assertion.

Foxconn is the trade name of the Taiwan based firm Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Ltd.). They are the largest manufacturer of electronics and computer components worldwide, and mainly manufactures on contract to other companies.

image via Gizmodo

[LittleJob]

another $600+ phone...

[brianlg]

whoa if this happens I'm deft updating
I hope it stays exclusive to ATT

[eg6motion]

be sweet if that was the redesign. The current trend is getting a little stale with no major visual changes to the design.

[flrdotcom]

i just got my 3GS! guess ill just have to update AGAIN!

[brianlg]

I just hope that they dont make it impossible to jailbreak.
But somehow these 17 year old kids find a way around what these professionals do.

[ForumSnoBorderRK]

dang if only the iphone actually looked like the image above

[ty22]

I hope it doesn't have a physical keyboard. That would ruin it.

[Home Skillet]

Daewon Song!

[xxfr0stbytexx]

why would you want it to look like that pic? its ugly no phone expecially the iphone would look like that. That pic is what the 3gs would "look" like.. and i really doubt a physical keyboard as ty22 said it would ruin it.

[extremzocker]

i hope it doesnt look like the iphone in the pic. I like my black iphone with the little home button
Altough, a bigger screen would be nice.

Edit: gotta agree with the guy above me ^. it it ugly.

[chemalito]

Maybe thats why we havent seen firmware 3.2 out, new iPhone coming soon, thank God I stay with my 3G, I will be able to upgrade to the new one for less

[klouud]

hopefully Apple will not make MAJOR updates to the phone's ability to run games on an annual basis. Most customers are not able to buy new iterations of the iPhone every year.... Most of us can only afford to upgrade every two years - per AT&T's upgrade/contract renew option.

Forcing a massive gap in hardware performance this soon is probably not a good idea.... for gaming. Then again, Apple is not concerned with gamers. They only care about units sold.

So overall I think that these upgrades...

- except for the qwerty keyboard, those are just stupid now... Every "iPhone killer" that has a QWERTY also has a touch keyboard. And every last one of em are a complete waste of space, except for the Palm Pre's keyboard.

...are going to be good. Apple needs to address all of the options that the current line does not have (the options we jailbreak for). Ironically, all the options the iPhone does not have... everyone else does...

hmm...

Hopefully Apple has wised up due to competition.

tim

[adp]

This picture is OLD! It's from the pre-3GS release. There have been many posts about this in the member-written section. Not sure how it ended up in the front page.

[M4tt Dam0n]

People who are complaining are dumb. If you don't know by now Apple releases a new iPhone and iPod every year. That's why I always upgrade at launch and I get good resell value when I sell my phone like 2 weeks before the next launches.

[boxxa]

Now only if ATT doesn't make us pay per kilobyte I will be buying this on release.

[SaNcTuS]

I hope next year's iPhone is a big improvement. I'm one of the people that stuck with their 3G because they didn't see a the 3GS worth the troubles of upgrading early.

Keeping my fingers crossed for something great.

[bbplayer5]

whoa if this happens I'm deft updating
I hope it stays exclusive to ATT

Why in gods name would you want it to stay exclusive? You like paying more for a crappy network? You benefit in no way shape or form keeping it on AT&T.

[playboii]

I REALLY hope that the next phone has a front facing camera along with iChat so blackberry users can STFU about their little BBM and how is so much better then the iphone just because of STUPID BBM..once we have iChat with video conference they will all be jumping the bandwagon

[j.donald]

wow looks pretty awesome to me , definitely upgrading,

wondering what price it will be? i feel it will be $500+