Let’s go ahead and excavate the nearest salt mine for this one: BGR has a source saying that yes, there will be a cheaper iPhone this Australian spring, and that it’ll cost $US350. It’s as good a guess as any for those who don’t have a dart board handy.
What makes us so sceptical? Aside from this feeling like one of those piggyback rumours (there’s maybe a cheaper iPhone coming? Hey, $US350 is cheaper!) the same source speculates that the lower-end device could actually just be the 3GS. Which seems downright silly to us, a silliness compounded by the source’s contention that Apple’s stable this fall will consist of the 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S. iPhones at different price points? Sure, that sounds reasonable. But bringing back a two-year-old model seems incredibly backwards for a company that prides itself on keeping ahead.
We’re entering the dangerous times, the rumour swamps, when iPhone 5 speculation and hearsay gets uncomfortably loud. But here’s your takeaway this time: there’s a decent chance that there will be a more affordable iPhone this fall. There’s a possibility that it will cost $US350 off-contract. And I’m more likely to be on the first Virgin Galactic flight than for it to be the 3GS. [BGR]