New iPhone will be subsidized, faster and thinner

Posted Tuesday, 29 April 2008, 21:53 HST @245

According to Fortune, AT&T will sell the 2nd generation iPhone with a US$200 subsidy when it goes on sale on or around 27 June 2008. I’ve compiled a list of my billso.com iPhone articles below, as they contain hints or information about iPhone 2.0

It’s an Interesting way to mark the first year of the iPhone, and it’s unlikely that AT&T will lose money, given the costs of data plans for the iPhone. The subsidy may or may not be available at Apple’s retail stores.

Those discounts would make the 8GB model US$199 with a new 2-year contract, and the 16GB model US$299. Those prices make the iPhone more attractive for consumers. Expect to see more iPhones in Starbucks stores around July, as customers use AT&T WiFi access points to download songs and videos from iTunes.

The new model iPhone will be 2.5 mm thinner than the original model, and will also have 3G, GPS and 802.11n chipsets. Current models support the slower EDGE protocol, a simulated GPS system and 802.11 b/g WiFi connections

It will also include version 2.0 firmware, which will support Microsoft Exchange servers. It will be interesting to see what AT&T charges its corporate customers for iPhones.

Many of these items will help some CIOs justify the iPhone as a corporate device. RIM is preparing its own “iPhone killer” model to support its Blackberry line, according to this New York Times article.

The new firmware will also support true applications for the iPhone, instead of web-based apps.

3 responses so far ↓

1 billso // Tuesday, 6 May 2008, 10:06 HST @754

Engadget claims the release date may be 29 June 2008, based on a leaked AT&T memo that asks retail store employees not to take vacation between 15 June and 15 July. A similar memo went out last year, in advance of the 29 June 2007 release of iPhone 1.0
2 billso // Monday, 2 June 2008, 20:34 HST @190

The new iPhone will be thinner. Told ya so!
3 billso // Tuesday, 3 June 2008, 12:53 HST @870

There’s more confirmation in this Reuters article.

“We think that actually Apple could talk about a very disruptive business model, or a change in their business model, embracing subsidies where necessary, multiple carriers to help get the iPhone into more hands,” Lehman Brothers analyst Ben Reitzes told a conference call last week.