iPhone 5 Concept Features

The New York Times has apparently confirmed that Apple is working on a cheaper iPhone, aimed to broaden the devices appeal in the face of an increasingly competitive mobile landscape. The NYT also disputes some of the past claims regarding new iPhones from WSJ and Bloomberg, specifically that the cheaper device won’t be smaller than the existing iPhone 4.

Another person who is in direct contact with Apple also said that the company would not make a smaller iPhone at this time, in part because a smaller device would not necessarily be much cheaper to manufacture and because it would be more difficult to operate.

More important, a phone with a smaller screen would force many developers to rewrite their apps, which Apple wants to avoid, the person said.

This is interesting because the language specifically addresses the disadvantages of a smaller screen, to me this continues to suggest the new cheaper iPhone will use the same screen as the existing iPhone 4. Maybe this is a controlled leak to alleviate some of the concerns voiced in the developer community about working with another iOS screen resolution?

The New York Times also specifies that the new iPhone will be ready this summer, perhaps at the rumored date of WWDC 2011 and iPhone 5 launch.

Wireless Syncing via Free MobileMe
Finally, backing up prior reports, a new free version of MobileMe will also be released that allows for wireless syncing, according to the NYT:

“The goal is that your photos and other media content will eventually just sync across all your Apple devices without people having to do anything,”

Wireless syncing and easily accessible cloud storage have long been desired by the Apple community. The New York Times did not specify a timeline for the relaunch of MobileMe, but we assume it would be made available along with the new cheaper iPhone, iPhone 5, and a new version of iOS.