Apple to Only Launch the 'iPhone 4S' This Year?

Apple will reportedly unveil several new devices at next month's event but only one of those will be an iPhone.

BGR relays an investor note from Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair who predicts Apple will only launch an incremental update to the iPhone this year.

"We expect the focus of the new iPhone will be iOS 5, a speedier A5 processor and a higher resolution 8 MP camera with a small possibility of a larger 4 inch screen," Blair wrote. "We believe the casing will be largely similar to the iPhone with some particular modifications to the antennae [sic]. We don't expect a second, dramatically different iPhone to accompany this as we don't think Apple needs to have 3 models in the market to address the high end, mid-tier and low end since the iPhone 4 (with memory lowered to 8 GB) will drop to $99 and effectively attack those markets."


"Why would Apple bump up only the processor specs of the iPhone 4 in addition to a newly designed iPhone 5 if the goal is to sell it into the pre-paid market at a lower cost?" Blair wondered in his note. "A 4S would simply cost more and a 4S itself wouldn't create a mid-tier market unless it was priced at $99 and the iPhone 4 went to $49 with the new iPhone at $199. We see this scenario as unlikely."

Blair also predicts a 3G enabled iPod touch will debut at the event which is reportedly set for October 4th.

This isn't the first time we've heard this. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said he has seen no evidence of the rumored redesigned 'iPhone 5' in the supply chain.

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