Apple's iPhone: the rumor resurrected

We're hoping on hope that Apple launches the iPhone at their event next week -- why? So we can stop reporting all this radio chatter about the damned thing and put it behind us already; it's been more than a year since the rumors really started flying, and as with just about every Apple event, now they're starting in again. Today Shaw Wu, the oft quoted Apple lovin' analyst from American Technology Research, says it's to be believed that Apple's "near completion" of the production unit (which will take form as a candybar), and that the launch will go down next week, assuming the Jobs seal of approval. Now, truth be told, we've heard from some reliable sources that Apple's not waiting on the hardware, but on Cingular's HSDPA infrastructure, but whatever the case may be, we hope you'll be merciful on us for our reportage, we're trying to spare all but the most important stuff, ok?

[z @ Sep 5th 2006 5:29PM]

I'd prefer a new iPod video than an ersatz of my sony/ericsson...

[bob @ Sep 5th 2006 5:37PM]

and its not even us fanboys or the rumor sites, its always the analysts playing the market! blame them, cause it wont come next week i garantee it! its new ipod and itunes movies, which is obvious from the invite and time of year

[pos @ Sep 5th 2006 5:43PM]

All that I really want to see is a hand held running some kind of OS X. Why, why, why can't they do it? An iPhone would certainly be nice though.. or the touch screen iPod... or like, something else.. just as fascinating?

-Pos

[Ron H @ Sep 5th 2006 5:44PM]

I doubt it. Steve J. isn't likely to play in the phone hardware area where the providers call all the marketing shots. You can't buy and activate an iphone in an Apple store. Apple won't agree to be beholden to Cingulars:

1. Coverage area
2. Insistence on selling Cingular phone add on junk.
3. Having Apple phones sold on retailer shelves that Steve Jobs has blasted before.

I think its more likely to be a wi fi ipod on a nano platform.

[Adam @ Jul 29th 2008 7:57AM]

I was just looking back on some of these old stories and man were you ever WRONG!!!!

[Marc @ Sep 5th 2006 5:49PM]

No news here -- Shaw Wu is a tard. He is the guy who once said the "forthcoming ipod will or will not include bluetooth". That's brilliant research

[tofu713 @ Sep 5th 2006 6:02PM]

I don't think i really want to see an Apple Phone.... i like my Nokia N-Series phone... i don't want to see if turn into garbage.

[Jeffrey @ Sep 5th 2006 6:03PM]

Steve Jobs will never let the cell networks push him around. He will either start an MVNO or find a network that will let him use his phone his way, which would allow him to sell the phones in Apple Stores and with his own features and interface. He would never allow the really crappy Verizon interface on one of his iPhone devices.

Keep in mind all he has to do is mention how successful the phone would be and he should be able to make the networks do whatever he wants (or if they were smart they should do anything possible to get the phone on their network, especially with an exclusivity deal).

[Rcadden @ Sep 5th 2006 6:03PM]

Here's my thoughts:

1. There's "something else" being announced on the 12th.
2. iTunes Movie Store is apparently loaded with Disney crap
3. Steve Jobs wants to control any aspect of his stuff that he can
4. One investor report stated that if they only capture 1% of the US market, that's still $2 BILLION in new revenue

That being said:

I believe this will be announced on the 12th, next to the iTunes Movie Store, and will be a CDMA phone, available on Disney's MVNO.

The MVNO gives Jobs the control he wants, as does the CDMA chipset. Also more deeply delves Apple into the family/home environment.

Just my opinion, I think GSM is too free for Jobs' blood.

[ronnie @ Sep 5th 2006 6:06PM]

Just what I need, A cellphone that shuts off radomly to go with my Macbook that shuts off randomly that they won't replace or fix properly.

[Elvis @ Sep 5th 2006 6:07PM]

Gosh, hope that wasn't the phone. it's sho'ugly . . mmmm. . you sho'ugly!

(for those who don't understand the reference, watch the movie "Color Purple")

[Nick @ Sep 5th 2006 6:08PM]

Forgive me if I say "WHO CARES???"

With nearly every other not-the-free-phone-that-came-with-your-cell-phone-plan cell phone able to play music on some level, the issue of whether or not there will ever be an ipod branded cell phone is almost moot. Samsung already produced a dedicated music phone with a built in hard drive....and it did horribly. Battery life was lousy, the drive made the whole phone vibrate like a lonely woman's best friend, and it was just a larger than average phone....and to top it off, it only had 4gb of memory capacity on the drive, a feat easily matched by lower power consuming SD cards today.

My point is, only the ipod fan boys are wanting this....and almost purely just because it says IPOD on it.

I for one welcome are new white-easily-scratched-plastic-with-bad-battery-life-DRM'd-music-player overlords.

[Elias @ Sep 5th 2006 6:15PM]

If Apple can sell an unlocked GSM handset, then it can be sold at the store. Anyone with Cingular or T-Mobile can buy it and the person at the Apple store can help them swap SIM cards, or even use iSync to copy-over their calendar/addresses (if they're using a compatible device, like the ubiquitous RAZR).

[morty salt @ Sep 5th 2006 6:16PM]

http://www.applele.com/pict_06iphone_060801.html


Nice Phone

[Evan K @ Sep 5th 2006 6:51PM]

Comon guys, just stop it with the iPhone "news" already.

Ryan... do it for the children!!

[OPTICAL OUT PLEASE @ Sep 5th 2006 7:01PM]

Nope, there would have been FCC leaks by now...not even Apple can cover those up.

[PEZ @ Sep 5th 2006 7:38PM]

The Apple iPhone willl not be a cellphone, but another sort of Skyple-type phone. It will probably have WiFi, along with a 3G technology, build in iSite camera, and the usual crap to dress it up on the screen. It will connect to other voice enabled iSite users for voice chat, and texting, of course, if you arent cool enough to have a microphone. Hear what I say in the land of the fruit!

Anyway, its true!

[Sam @ Sep 5th 2006 7:43PM]

I really think it is going to be GSM on Apple's own MVNO. It needs to be launched in GSM because this allows for the European market to be penetrated at the same time as the North American. Perhaps later it will be launched in CDMA for Asian countries but honestly, the things is going to be GSM to start out with at least.

[TheWakeUpCall @ Sep 5th 2006 7:45PM]

This is too ugly to be real.

[Chris @ Sep 5th 2006 7:54PM]

I just got off the phone with Steve-o Jobs and he told me that Apple's releasing a new music player device called "IPOD". WOW, I wonder if it's going to be a hit!

[Parry Cadwallader @ Sep 5th 2006 8:14PM]

HSDPA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Speed_Downlink_Packet_Access

In case you were wondering.

[Jason K. @ Sep 5th 2006 8:36PM]

There is so much talk about Apple either starting up an MVNO or partnering with an existing provider. I really don't think that would happen.

I agree with Elias - I think Apple will just release an unlocked handset. That immediately makes it available to most of the major networks. It can be easily sold in any Apple store.

It would essentially just be an ipod with a few extra components installed - microphone, small speaker, SIM card slot, and GSM radio.

Doing it this way, Apple would retain complete control over the hardware and it would allow just about anyone to immediately buy one and start using it with their current phone number.

Does anyone else feel this way?

[Mr.Floppy @ Sep 5th 2006 8:43PM]

I don't want a bar, I want a slider or something like this:
http://video.google.es/videoplay?docid=-3168733759916419298

[Mita @ Sep 5th 2006 8:54PM]

Forget about phone, I want to see a new ipod that better supports videos. Mine is only 3 months old yet the minute I turn on a 4 minute video, the battery drops down to below half.

[crescentdave @ Sep 5th 2006 8:55PM]

Hats off to Mr. Floppy for his reference. That's one seriously sexy promo ... I'd buy that, just cuz. Unfortunately, if there is a phone, it'll probably be that uninspired bar design. Yawn.

[Yann @ Sep 5th 2006 8:56PM]

It would be a killer device if it had Blackberry Connect push e-mail...

[Allen @ Sep 5th 2006 9:02PM]

Maybe I'm just a fanboy but I am really looking forward to the iPhone. I ride a motorcycle and have a cable for my phone and my mp3 player to use both through my autocom system when I am riding and I would really prefer to have both units integrated into one so the pod would cut out when a call comes it.
So, keep the reports coming!

[tf @ Sep 5th 2006 9:07PM]

"and that the launch will go down next week, assuming the Jobs seal of approval."

Wu never says this. He specifically says the hardware design is set and that is it. He points out the FCC approval requirement. And he does not include any cellular phone revenue in his estimates until next year. Where do you guys come up with this crap?

[nikster @ Sep 5th 2006 9:43PM]

The FCC requirements do not prevent Apple from pre-announcing this product.

Apple has done it before. They have pre-announced computers you couldn't buy for months. In this case, they can do that easily because they are not selling any phones so if people hold out for the iPhone it will cut into _others_ sales only, not their own.

As for branding, Nokia has been pretty succsessful in preventing operators from branding their phones. Thankfully. Nokia can afford to do that because the operators need Nokia.
Apple iPhone can do the same. Also the operators know from the very beginning that they won't be able to slap their logo on that pristine white surface...

I will buy it as soon as it comes out, have been looking for a replacement for my trusty 6600 for a while now. The trend at the moment seems to be to specialize phones for camera/mp3/business uses which really doesnt suit me. I want to take good quality pictures, but I have a DSLR for serious photography, I want to be able to play some mp3s but I have an iPod for serious listening, and I want the business functions, all of them ;)

[Jeff Foster @ Sep 5th 2006 11:26PM]

GSM is crap.

[Steve @ Sep 5th 2006 11:27PM]

It's all true...
Phone-pods, iHacks, MacButts and all!

[javaflash @ Sep 6th 2006 1:39AM]

I thought Wu said 1H07. Ever since Steve got back to Apple, he rarely announced anything that's not going to be on shelves within days. According to that "photographer" leak right before WWDC, iPhone debuting @ MacWorld 07 seems about right.

[schale_WDI @ Sep 6th 2006 12:04PM]

If an iPhone is in production it is NOT a cellular phone but more likely a VO-IP phone using skpe or more likely a moble version of iChat. Apple likes to have complete control over there product lines and if an iPhone is released on a carrier or even MVNO network than that control has been yielded to that provider.
This might work well though with a total in home wireless solution, including: streaming music, stream videos(with the new itunes video store) and VOIP. All over an Airport Express network. In this scenario apple would have much more control over their product line and the market is there for this.

[Haga @ Sep 6th 2006 12:47PM]

Great! An Apple mobile. I would buy one, but not if it looks like that. Apple make the best looking stuff, no doubt, but I'm sure that I'm not alone when I say that the MacBook isn't the nicest looking piece of Apple Kit and if the iPhone looks like that then apple may be slipping into a state where their hardware loses its minimalistic quality. I sure hope not!

[Matt @ Sep 8th 2006 3:48PM]

If you want the coolest but ugliest phone that "may" appear on the market.... here it is.

Why phone just because its made by Apple? Again like the iPod, there are far better less deep pocket snazzier alternatives.

[Jordan @ Sep 11th 2006 4:27PM]

How can Cingular setup an MVNO for someone, when they don't even have enough circuits for their own customers?

[Dean @ Jul 28th 2008 8:25PM]

It's fun to read this stuff now, in 2008 =)