Few days ago the rumor was that Apple might be making a “cheap iPhone”. Later, Apple mentioned that it had no plan to build a cheaper iPhone. But former Apple CEO John Sculley urged that Apple should really make a cheap iPhone as there are many people across the world specially in developing countries like Bangladesh, India and China who want to get their hands on Apple’s iPhone, but can’t afford one due to the price. However, based on a spare patent, it seems that Apple may go forth to make a cheap iPhone in future.
Rumors said that Apple’s cheap iPhone would have a larger screen and modern Snapdragon chipsets from Qualcomm and would come with plastic shell instead of the iPhone 5′s aluminum casing. While the report made many people excited, Apple’s Phil Schiller clearly announced that making cheap phones would put Apple’s profits in peril, so it won’t make any, at least in recent times. But a patent image, awarded to Apple late January, shows something else.
The United States Patent & Trademark Office received the patent application, mark no. 8,364,032, from Apple in February 2012. The patent image shows a phone that has no home button or front-facing camera, but has a rear-facing camera. The most interesting thing mentioned in the patent filing was that the device would be made out of a “clear plastic body”. The U.S. patent office granted that patent in late January of this year.
If Apple really makes cheap iPhone, we expect its price will be in between $100 to $150. Do you think Apple is really going to make one? Share your thoughts with us in the comment box.
Source: Tom’s Hardware
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