A New, Smaller iPhone Might Be Out Early Next Year

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The iPhone is Apple’s golden goose, and you can’t blame the company for wanting to make even more money by extending the line. Thus, any new rumors indicating a new 4-inch iPhone is on the way are attention-getting, and this one seems particularly credible.

The rumors come from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who’s got a pretty good track record. Essentially it would be a scaled-down, cheaper iPhone 6S; it’d have the same chip and metal case, just a smaller screen. It’d also have NFC capability so consumers could, in theory, use Apple Pay; reinforcing that particular theory, Apple is launching its mobile payments system in China, and this new tiny iPhone would cost between $400 and $500, an ideal price point for “emerging markets,” i.e. China.

Similarly, the iPhone 5C isn’t exactly tearing up the sales charts these days, so the time may be ripe for an iPhone 6C. It would also help Apple fight off Android’s popularity among people who can’t justify spending $600 on an iPhone; don’t be surprised if this gets an aggressive push as a better option. That said, this is Apple, so don’t count on anything before they announce it. If it does arrive, rumor has it as showing up early next year.

(Via the Verge)

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