Edible Apple

Buckle up folks, we have a slew of new information about some upcoming Apple products from iLounge’s Jeremy Horwitz, someone with an unmatched record of accurate Apple predictions.

First off, Horwitz claims to have gotten his hands on a physical model of the iPad 5, and it seems that Apple is making the bezel as small as humanly possible.

in portrait orientation, picture a 9.7” screen with virtually no left or right bezels, and only enough space above and below the screen to accommodate the mandatory camera and Home Button elements. Beyond that, it’s noticeably thinner, as well, which is to say the the fifth-generation iPad will be smaller in every dimension than its predecessors.

Apple will pull off its slimmer iPad 5 magic trick, Horwitz writes, by completely redesigning the internals.

this iPad 5 design is so much smaller that a full internal redesign—complete with a smaller, less power-hungry sequel to the A6X—can be safely assumed. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the new iPad remain roughly on par with the fourth-generation model in processing capabilities, with the improved screen, dramatically lower size, and reduced weight becoming the key selling points.

While initial reports out of Asia claimed that the fifth-gen iPad would launch sometime in March, Horwitz notes the release may now be pushed back to October.

And how about the iPhone, Apple’s key money maker? Well as one would expect, the iPhone 5S will look like the iPhone 5, albeit with a larger rear flash. One rumored key feature of the iPhone 5S will be a 13 megapixel camera from Sony. Hache mache!

Further, the noise surrounding a more economical iPhone continues to get louder and Horwitz adds to that as well.

Also planned for a 2013 release is Apple’s “low-cost” plastic-bodied iPhone, which is being developed with China Mobile in mind: the government-owned telecom company has over 700 million subscribers. One of our sources claims that Apple’s iPhone prices remain too high for most mainland Chinese customers—the iPhone 5 hardware alone starts at $849 there, versus the iPhone 4 at $500, in a country where the average annual salary is around $3,000 per person). The source has said that mainland Chinese iPhone 5 sales are already tapering off as a result of the pricing, which is higher than in Hong Kong. A budget iPhone model would help sales in populous but underdeveloped countries to grow.

Lastly, remember that iPhone Math rumor that spread around last week? You know, the one with a 4.8-inch screen? Well apparently its legit and is currently in the prototype design stages at Apple. Don’t expect it to launch in 2013, however. Or, perhaps, ever. Apple of course often prototypes designs that never see the light of day. Indeed, the design, Horwitz writes, is a “plan B” of sorts that might only come into play to “hedge against ever-growing Android phone screen sizes.”

via iLounge