Edible Apple

Like a rapper on acid, these iPhone rumros are flowing non-stop. Yeah, yeah, I went there, but these rumors have really been coming through the pipeline at a furious clip. The most recent rumor comes via DigiTimes who reports that the iPhone 5 may come with a 4-inch screen to better compete with the slew of Android devices that sport 4+ inch screens.

The component suppliers noted that the production lines for Apple’s next generation iPhone have begun testing, and Apple is interesting in expanding the screen size to 4-inches to support the tablet PC market as the vendor only has a 9.7-inch iPad in the market.

Rumors of a larger screen iPhone come, coincidentally, hot on the heels of reports from respected publications that Apple is also exploring the possibility of releasing an iPhone with a smaller form factor. One source who claims to have seen a prototype of this rumored and smaller iPhone says that the device is about one half the size of the iPhone 4 while subsequent rumors have indicated that this iPhone Nano, as it were, will lack on-board storage and will isntead stream content from the cloud, albeit from a user’s own computer.

And in case that’s not enough to satiate your appetite for iPhone 5 rumors, don’t forget Monday’s report suggesting that Apple is experimenting with 3 varying iPhone 5 prototypes, including one with a slidout keyboard.

So in a matter of two days we’ve heard of Apple working on an iPhone model 1/2 the size of the iPhone 4 and an iPhone model with a 4-inch screen. Underlying each of these reports is the notion that Apple is looking to prevent Android from snatching up more marketshare at its own expense. While device fragmentation is certainly an issue for developers and a random collection of users who inadvertently happen to own an in-congruent device, there’s no denying that an eclectic choice of hardware ultimately functions to attract more consumers. Now that the iPhone is an established success story, maybe it’s time, four years after the original iPhone launch, for Apple to deliver varied form factors much like it did when it came out with iPods like the Mini and the Nano.