iPhone 4th generation

southernguy_2

With the rumoured soon to be released 4th generation iPhone

Will prices be similar as they are for the current 3gs?

Will the 3gs drop in price?

Will the 4th generation be tied to an exclusivety deal with one provider? or are those days over

New to this so not sure what the normal pattern is

Thanks

Chimpofdoom

In short:

You know about as much as we do...

Apple aren't exactly known for giving out the details this early, if there's any news about the phone, you can guarantee it'll be out in June at WWDC.

Until then, you'll need to sit on your hands

Jon_01

Going on previous years they 'may' be an announcement this month or next for a release May/June/July.

As above, Apple don't give info out before official announcing a product.

Network pricing will be anyone's guess.
Unless the 4G is something really new, you'd expect it to replace the 3GS as that price point and the 3GS to replace the 3G. But that's pure speculation. . .

caffinebassman

Jon_01 wrote: »

Going on previous years they 'may' be an announcement this month or next for a release May/June/July.

As above, Apple don't give info out before official announcing a product.

Network pricing will be anyone's guess.
Unless the 4G is something really new, you'd expect it to replace the 3GS as that price point and the 3GS to replace the 3G. But that's pure speculation. . .

My guess would be that the 4G will be priced above the 3GS and the 3GS & 3G might drop a little bit (but probably not lots) and the 3G will become the entry level. For me I expect them to tout the 4G as a premium product no matter what features it has and hence (supposedly) worth the extra.

I'd take another guess that one provider initially (Orange maybe?) in the UK will get stocks of the 4G with other providers coming online as stocks ramp up.

My reasoning is that Apple now have tremendous competition (and lots more coming) in this market space and so I reckon they'll want to spread out their models to cover a range of pricings to try to combat.

As above though all guess work! Wouldn't put money on any off it.

gjchester

My thoughts are the 4g will be the premium level (coming in at close to the 3GS's current price) , the 3GS the entry level (and a price cut to a current 3G price) and the 3G will be withdrawn.

Apple do not have a history of discounting products to clear them, they tend to recall them (although they may appear in Apples own refurb store). Its often rumoured they will do discounts, and they could but the Apple brand is a premium brand and discounting it does not look good in the brand space it lives in.

nsabournemouth

Apple will release it and it will cost quite a bit of money if their previous history is anything to go on. They will also release it and then a few months later add something else to a new version of it and get people to buy it, as they did with the iPhone and iPhone 3gs.

Take the ipad, they are releasing a one with WIFI and then one that will connect to a mobile network thus getting you to fork out more money.

Take Palm with the Pre. They released a very good phone with a great OS on At first it didn't have video capture but unlike Apple they sent out an update which enabled the phone to do it so no need to wait 18 months and buy a new one.

Apple will also have to enable you to replace the battery on the new one but saying that the iPhone isn't that great and as stated above there are lots of phones that are going to compete and Palm will be there in the thick of it. Apple have set a mark and Palm have done one better. Palm need to release the pre or the Pre Plus on all networks and there are talks that palm have something else carrying the their OS in the making.

southernguy_2

I'm quite happy purchasing the 3gs but dont want to pay £330 for it from Tesco to find in a few months time the price has been reduced to somewhere near that of the 3g 8gb (£220ish)

Interesting comments on the Pre i read somewhere the other day that O2 had had loads of them returned and along with the Nokia N97 they were both dead ducks in the mobile waters

nsabournemouth

southernguy wrote: »

I'm quite happy purchasing the 3gs but dont want to pay £330 for it from Tesco to find in a few months time the price has been reduced to somewhere near that of the 3g 8gb (£220ish)

Interesting comments on the Pre i read somewhere the other day that O2 had had loads of them returned and along with the Nokia N97 they were both dead ducks in the mobile waters

Palm have released updates to fix problems, just like Apple have done with the iPhone. The recent OS update has given it a real makeover. It added video capture, something Apple made you buy another handset for at a big cost.

It needs a big marketing campaign to show what it can do. Vodafone in France have taken it on so expect to see Palm work with Vodafone here too who will no doubt do a better job with it. It is a good phone, o2 have done it no justice and i'm sure Palm regret using them.

My reason for getting the Pre is that the iphone is overpriced. The insurance for that is more than my contents insurance for my flat!

With EA Games and Adobe working with Palm i reckon that if Palm and the Pre are a dead duck they would want to stay well away from it.

makavelianz

One things for sure the 3G will get dropped it is garbage compared to the 3gs's performance.

gjchester

nsabournemouth wrote: »

Apple will release it and it will cost quite a bit of money if their previous history is anything to go on. They will also release it and then a few months later add something else to a new version of it and get people to buy it, as they did with the iPhone and iPhone 3gs..

But as you said yourself Palm are doing exactly that with the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus. updating the phone a year on just like apple did.

Should Palm have tried the direct to customer model Google have, maybe, but they didn't and they have lost out.

I thought Vodafone does not operate directly in the french market it's a joint venture with someone else VF may or may not be calling the shots in tems of phone choice. It will be interesting to see if SFR promote the Pre over the iPhone, I suspect not, Apple are rumoured to be able to forcethe mobilce's to do the advertising to support the product. Palm is the underdog and will not be able to force that.

As I said in the other pre thread you have going, Vodafone will probably be heavily pushing the Nexus one next, the Pre is pretty much history now.

belkindlink

gjchester wrote: »

....Vodafone will probably be heavily pushing the Nexus one next...

although, just my luck, the vodafone eforum is unavailable as i write this, the general feeling from the users and mods was; nexus one canned with htc desire in its place. has all that changed now?