Apple has been working on a cheaper, lighter, and faster version of the iPhone 4 that will be called iPhone 4S, according to Vietnamese website Tinhté. The site published three photos of a prototype of this device that came “from a very reliable source.”
The idea is that Apple is going to use this new version of the iPhone 4 to go after the lower end of the smartphone market, something the company did with previous generation iPhones starting with the iPhone 3G when the 3GS was introduced. Today, the iPhone 3GS is available for US$49 through AT&T, for instance.
If Tinhté and its sources are to be believed, however, Apple has found a way to manufacture the iPhone 4 more cheaply than the version currently on the market. It’s “lighter weight,” and the glass on the front and back of the device, “seem[s] to have been replaced by two plastic sheets [via Google Translate].” It’s also supposedly faster.
The author of the post, cuhiep, acknowledged that it is, “really hard to convince you to believe this because it is exactly like the iPhone 4 white appearance,” but emphasized that his source is “very reliable.”
We should note that Tinhté does have a track record of getting its hands on Apple prototypes. In May of 2010, the site published information about a new MacBook that was eventually released. Later that same month, the site showed the world an iPod touch with a back camera, another product that Apple eventually released.
AppleInsider noted that the “X” letters in the serial number on the bottom of the device in the image below indicate a prototype.
A close up image of the alleged iPhone 4S prototype’s serial number
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The back of the alleged prototype
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The front of the device, suggesting its been jailbroken
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