Apple Kicks off Budget iPhone Manufacturing Process, Release Date Nears

Rumor has it that Apple will launch a budget iPhone later in the fall, in an attempt to fight back the plethora of cheap Android phones that flowed the smartphone market and get back its market share. Well it seems that the rumors saying that the affordable iPhone will be announced synchronized with the next-gen iPhone 5S flagship as reports are indicating that the Cupertino-based company has kicked off the production of its affordable iOS-powered smartphone.

Sources say that the budget iPhone will have a price tag of around $300 – $400. Of course, we are talking about the contract free price, but, even so, it seems it will not be as affordable as initially thought, considering that Google has sold its flagship device, the Nexus 4, starting at $349.

Anyway, if the unlocked budget iPhone price was set to $349, then there would be high chances for it to be available for free when signing a two-year contract with a carrier, basically meaning that it will be a replacement for the iPhone 4, which is currently free on cotract.

We knew for a while that the cheap iPhone will not be as cheap as the rumors were presenting it, we knew that the device will be available at a price higher than what the analysts were expecting, which basically means that Apple is not giving away its statute as premium brand.

In case you don’t already know it, I remind you that the rumor mill speculates that the affordable iPhone will have a plastic body and that it will be available with lots of color options. Some say that there will be six body colors available for the budget iPhone, which will resemble the old logo used by Apple.

It seems that the cheap iPhone will come with a 4-inch display with the same resolution as the one of the iPhone 5, which will help Apple minimize the fragmentation in iOS. Even though we can’t be sure about it, the budget iPhone might be powered by the dual-core Apple A5 chipset that debuted with the iPhone 4S, while others are hinting towards a Qualcomm chipset.

Any thoughts on the budget iPhone? Please let us know in the comments section below.