The closer we get to the announcement of the next iPhone, the more rumors go swirling around.
During the past weekend, two new rumors showed up: The first coming from an analyst that claims there will be only one iPhone this fall, rather than two; the second, that Apple plans to break tradition and have its iPhone announcement event in its home town of Cupertino.
The first rumor comes by way of Apple Insider, which discusses a note to investors from analyst Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair. According to Blair, Apple will only be bringing one iPhone to market this fall, rather than the two that rumors have been saying we’ll be seeing. Blair says the new iPhone will include the A5 chip Apple first released inside the iPad 2, as well as an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera. That’s information we’ve heard before from multiple sources.
What Blair isn’t expecting is two models of the iPhone – an iPhone 4S and an iPhone 5, one being an incremental update to the current iPhone and the other being a new, redesigned model. Rumors that there would be two iPhones have been going in various degree for some time, the latest coming from an apparent verbal slip from Apple board member and former U.S. vice president Al Gore.
Blair also mentioned that it expects Apple to drop the current iPhone 4 to $99 and doesn’t really need a second new model iPhone. It also sounds like he and Wedge Partners expect only the iPhone 5, without the iPhone 4S, which rumor has stated could be a carrier-free prepaid version.
Unfortunately, most of these rumors just tend to further confuse things, and it seems we’ll just have to wait and see what Apple is planning in the next few weeks.
Apple announcement will take place in Cupertino, report says
Speaking of Apple’s plans, a new report from AllThingsD suggests that the announcement releasing whatever new iPhones are on their way won’t be happening in San Francisco, as per tradition, but in Apple’s hometown of Cupertino, California.
This report follows one from AllThingsD that stated Apple would be giving its iPhone announcement on Oct. 4, according to anonymous sources. These things usually occur in San Francisco. That’s where Apple had its iPad 2 announcement last spring, and where its Worldwide Developers Conference takes place, which is where iPhones have traditionally been announced.
These things generally take place at the Yerba Buena Center in downtown San Francisco. While it’s possible that that venue was just booked and Apple had to find an alternative, another way to read the situation is that with Apple’s new CEO, Tim Cook, making his first big announcement as head of the company, Apple intends to make an even bigger deal of the iPhone launch. That would certainly make sense given the gravity of the situation and seeing as this is a big changing of the guard, at least symbolically, with former CEO Steve Jobs having stepped down. Apple may be hoping that a big announcement close to home will help investors see that Cook is able to pick things up where Jobs put them down.
