In the note, Kuo claims that Apple is still working on a refreshed 4-inch iPhone model…
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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) released the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in September this year.
Like the physical Apple TV set, a new 4-inch iPhone could become one of those rumors that’s perennially four months away, but Ming-Chi Kuo does tend to have a better record than many of his fellow analysts. In order to make the current iOS 9 or next-generation iOS 10 run smoothly, Apple may adopt an A9 chip for this new phone. However, Apple is said to be keeping its 3D Touch tech out of the new phone.
It seems Apple will be offering the iPhone 7C (or whatever name the company decides to go with) at a cheaper price point than the flagship range, but the ugly plastic design of the iPhone 5C will be gone. The 4.7-inch iPhone 7 is expected to have 2GB of RAM, while the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus is expected to attain another gigabyte of RAM for enhanced performance. Kuo also states that the company will market the handset as a “budget” smartphone and launch the device in the first half of 2016.
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Kuo believes major winners for the 2016 iPhone cycle include Foxconn, which he expects will be the exclusive supplier for the new 4-inch iPhone, and TSMC, which he expects will be the sole provider of the A9 chip used in that phone as well as the A10 chip used in the iPhone 7. If recent reports are any indication, iPhone 7 could approach existing iPods in thickness. There are also reports that the new iPhones will be waterproof and dustproof, but Kuo makes no mention of these aspects in his note.
