iPhone 2.0 Rumours: Thinner, Capacious, GPSified, and Subsidized

by Eric March on June 2, 2008 at 7:19 pm

Even I thought everyone had gotten tired of throwing the thicker/thinner debate around, but apparently Leander Kahney, a developer who apparently has some significant ties on the inside, claims to have peeped the real details on the iPhone 2.0 — pretty much like everyone else has, actually, so I will let you decide if his position in the field lends his claims any credibility. Here are his claims:

3G
GPS
2 x memory (16GB and 32GB)
22 percent thinner
Better battery life

3G is pretty much a given, and GPS is looking far more like a go, too. A memory boost would be nice, if a little surprising given the boost the first gen already got just this past February. My understanding was that the iPhone was intended to have a smaller capacity than the iPod Touch so as not to muscle in on its action, which is a perfectly valid business position that’s as old as the hills. 22% thinner would bring it just a hair over 9mm, which is just a scant 1mm thicker than the iPod Touch. This combined with the claim of better battery life is what throws the switch on my BS-o-meter here. With the addition of GPS and a 3G radio on top of WiFi and Bluetooth (especially if they’re going to finally get with the times and give up the Bluetooth 2.0+EDR with the A2DP profile like we’ve been waiting for) and what would have to be a smaller battery to cram everything into a thinner shell, I find it extremely difficult to believe we’d be talking better battery life, even with all the wireless bells and whistles turned off.

Further rumours attempt to reinforce the idea that the iPhone will be subsidized down to $200 with a new 3-year contract, which wouldn’t be particularly surprising if true — almost all phones are subsidized to one degree or another.

Just a week away, folks. Then all will be revealed. For now, we’ve got rumours by the truckload.

(via Cult of Mac)