View Single Post
psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2016-03-18, 10:22

What's everyone's honest, gut and/or reasoned analysis about how/where this 4" iPhone will sit in the lineup? It's all getting a bit convoluted if you look at their current offerings (6s and a year-old 6, along with their Plus variants), and then that smaller 5s (from 2013, no less...to my knowledge, it never got any sort of spec bump since then, correct?)

So where, exactly, is this new 4" going to fit in? Work the scenario based on two likely processors (A8 and A9).

Does Apple go the "it's a 4-inch 6s" route? Or the "4-inch 6?" Or do they position it more as an A8-based 5s?

Do they treat the 5" as a "feature" or an implied drawback/up-sell spur?

I can't imagine them going through the effort to create a new design 4" and just use it to replace the old-style 5s body at the low-end. So if you believe that, then you have to assume that the 6s and/or 6 are going to get a 4" version as well. And if one gets it, why not the other? Which leads me to my scenario a few paragraphs below...

Just not really sure where this winds up sitting without possibly looking weird or "crammed in" somehow.

If I get my wish and it's a full-blown 6s (A9, etc.) in a 4" body, is it going to cost $100 less than the 4.7" 6s? Or will Apple suddenly view the 4" as a "premium" or some desirable thing (again), and inexplicably price it the same as the 6s ($649).

Or will they hobble it in some way, which Apple is fond of doing, and try to position it in some middle-ground between the 6s and the year-old 6 models (even though it's smaller than both)?

My ideal scenario (just so everyone gets what they want, and the grid makes some sort of sense and is easily understood):

This new model adopts the body styling of the 6/6s line (I think that's a given, aside from maybe a couple of small tweaks as needed...sleep button placement may go back on top, etc.), but the 4" model would actually come in three variants(!), occupying a space in all the tiers of the current lineup. Specifically...

- We get a full-blown, no apologies 6s in a 4" body, priced at $549 ($100 less than the 4.7" 6s)

- They also add the 4" to the last year's 6 line, with the A8, older camera, no 3D touch, etc. But a true iPhone 6 in every way, just in 4" form, and priced accordingly

- Replace that entry-level 5s with this new design model for the lowest price option (but also packing 5s-era guts, camera...A7, etc.).

Basically, spec/performance-wise, everything stays like it is within the three distinct year/performance lines (A9, A8 and A7). All they're doing is adding a 4" model to the 6s and 6 lineups, and replacing the entry-level old-style 5s body with the new, rounded one (if keeping the A7-based 5s type phone around is required for them to hit that $0-49 tier). Now all iPhones look the same, and every customer has (at least in the 6-based lineup) three size choices among two performance levels. And folks on a real budget get a nice, newly-designed entry-level model (albeit with older internals and just the 4" screen size, but if all you're doing is surfing and texting, there are gazillion of 5s iPhones in the world, still performing very well).

But I think most people would be making purchases from that 6s and 6 field, each with three good sizes offered.

a) You choose a performance level (latest A9 and all it entails, or last year's A8)
b) You choose a screen size (4", 4.7" or 5.5")
c) You choose a capacity
d) You choose a color

That almost seems to be the only way to do it and keep some sort of understandable, reasonable matrix...you can get the latest and greatest 6s in three sizes, or you can save some money and get last year's 6 models/performance for $100 less. Or get the A7-based, new design for the $0-49 they're currently selling the 5s at.

But who the hell knows what would happen to all that come September and the iPhone 7/7Plus?

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2016-03-18 at 10:36.
  quote