What will Apple introduce this year in the way of a new iPhone?
Gunner: It is my belief that Apple will introduce the long awaited iPhone 5 which will be similar to the iPhone 4, but with an edge to edge glass front and some sort of new back. It will also be slightly thinner, wider and taller. It may come in both black and white. I will not be surprised if it includes a barometric pressure sensing device for apps to calculate altitude, not just from GPS -- making it a replacement for an aircraft altimeter.
PART 1: The front of the iPhone 5 will have unibody, aluminum construction (ala Mac mini and MacBooks) with edge to edge 'Gorilla' glass by Corning (very tough and durable) and will retain the same high resolution of the iPhone 4. It will also have the same 'chat' camera for Face Time conferencing. The round 'home' button will become a rounded rectangle, just because Apple is fond of rounded rectangles.
The rear of the iPhone 5 will sport a higher megapixel camera (7mp?) and a flash that is more widely spaced from the lens to provide a better picture.
Internal components will include the A5 processor, more robust wifi and 4G cellular capability, at least for AT&T to begin. It is my hope (and belief) that Apple will also include wireless sync with your Mac and Windows PCs as well as wireless upgrades over wifi, but not cellular.
And of course, iCloud integration is a must as well as all the neat stuf iOS 5 can do.
Price? As previous, new, first edition iPhones, with $200 reduced pricing when combined with a 2-year contract; contract-less after 3-months on market.
PART 2: Apple will introduce a second iPhone that I have dubbed the iPhone 4i, which others call the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 4i will only have 8GB (and 16GB?) storage compared to the iPhone 5 (with 16, 32 & 64GB) will also have 4g cellular capability, and will be promoted as the iCloud iPhone as you will view your media via Apple's streaming servers located in their data centers. iPhone 4i will be heavily dependent on iCloud streaming and syncing, will retain the less powerful A4 processor, but keep the Retina Display. It will drop the glass back and return to the black or white plastic to save on costs. A bonus (ala iOS 5) will be its ability to mirror its display with an Apple TV and other iOS 5 devices having the same Apple ID.
Price? $49 for 8GB; $99 for 16GB; with 2-year contract. $149/$199 contract free.
Let's see how close I am in my predictions.