Apple could have easily announced this at MacWorld a whole 3-4 weeks ago. This isn't something you just toss together at the last minute.
Something tells me that this was a move-up from something that was supposed to happen later in the year because of Apple's recent stock price fall, and iPhone sales drop off, just to generate press, sell some more iStuff, and get short term bump in stocks.
This is much better timing than announcing it at Macworld. At Macworld, it would have been buried in a sea of reports about the Macbook Air and whatever else Apple announced. Now, they get fresh reporting of what's really a non-story.
Here is a counterintuitive proposition that I think makes some sense for those who (like me) want 32GB:
Now that 16GB is out, the price of the older models (4GB, 8GB) will be coming down on eBay. Assuming you like it as a phone aside from its ability to carry your music, now is a good time to buy a smaller version for a much cheaper price, and simply avoid using it for music. So you'll get the phone features at a great price, without paying for extra capacity which still isn't enough.
It won't really dent the prices on current (or near future) ones on eBay, since many of those will be unlocked or 'easily' able to be unlocked without *SIM. That's the main reason of the price difference.
Besides, the price of the 8GB didn't drop, they just introduced a higher priced model, and Apple's products tend to keep secondary market value really well.
They announced it around this time rather than Macworld because Mobile World Congress, the cellphone industry's biggest convention, begins next week. All the big names will be throwing out their biggest guns, so Apple thought they'd go ahead and get an early jump.
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Eh? Not on Apple.com yet...
Store's back up... it's there!
Something doesn't seem right about this.
Apple could have easily announced this at MacWorld a whole 3-4 weeks ago. This isn't something you just toss together at the last minute.
Something tells me that this was a move-up from something that was supposed to happen later in the year because of Apple's recent stock price fall, and iPhone sales drop off, just to generate press, sell some more iStuff, and get short term bump in stocks.
This is much better timing than announcing it at Macworld. At Macworld, it would have been buried in a sea of reports about the Macbook Air and whatever else Apple announced. Now, they get fresh reporting of what's really a non-story.
*Waits for iPhone to be available in Canada*
Because I said in the previous rumor article that it was a fake, I shall say this:
LIARS!
Here is a counterintuitive proposition that I think makes some sense for those who (like me) want 32GB:
Now that 16GB is out, the price of the older models (4GB, 8GB) will be coming down on eBay. Assuming you like it as a phone aside from its ability to carry your music, now is a good time to buy a smaller version for a much cheaper price, and simply avoid using it for music. So you'll get the phone features at a great price, without paying for extra capacity which still isn't enough.
That's what I'm thinking of doing, anyway.
eliot1785,
It won't really dent the prices on current (or near future) ones on eBay, since many of those will be unlocked or 'easily' able to be unlocked without *SIM. That's the main reason of the price difference.
Besides, the price of the 8GB didn't drop, they just introduced a higher priced model, and Apple's products tend to keep secondary market value really well.
They announced it around this time rather than Macworld because Mobile World Congress, the cellphone industry's biggest convention, begins next week. All the big names will be throwing out their biggest guns, so Apple thought they'd go ahead and get an early jump.