BGR reports that Best Buy’s internal sales forecast is expecting an iPhone 5 on Sprint with pre-sales beginning the first week in October. That lines up with our earlier report, though as both we and the Best Buy statement mentioned, launch dates are subject to changes.
We first reported news of a Sprint iPhone 5 back in June which followed clues in April when Apple beefed up its cellular engineering team in Kansas City, which is Sprint’s HQ. Read more
We just posted images that allegedly show the ‘iPhone 4S’ body, an entry-level iPhone that Apple is rumored to release alongside the iPhone 5. Now, MacPost (via MacRumors) has published images of what they describe as the “iPhone 5 EVT prototype (N94) back cover”.
The report notes that we found references to the “N94″ in the iOS 5.0 SDK earlier this year, which we suspect could be an A5-powered next-gen iPhone (whether it’s the iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 is still unclear). While it’s obvious this is an “early development prototype” thanks to the “’07-June-2011″ markings, we can’t help but notice it bears a striking resemblance to the iPhone 4 variant that BGR reported was being tested for T-Mobile.
The leaked images today back up rumors of an A5 processor, antenna redesign, and more than likely support for T-mobile. There is still no way of telling whether we’re looking at an upgraded iPhone 4 that will act as an entry-level model, or perhaps an iPhone 4S variant that will become the iPhone 5. However, the prototype in the image, at least, doesn’t seem to support mocks ups based on evidence from leaked case designs pointing to a more streamlined design for the next-gen iPhone.
Read more
In an exclusive report, Boy Genius Report’s Jonathan Geller says that Apple is about to launch an inexpensive iPhone costing $350 by the end of summer:
According to our source, Apple will indeed be launching a prepaid / lower cost iPhone this year. We are told the handset will retail for no more than $350 without contract. Ready for the really interesting part? It’s entirely possible that the low-cost iPhone will in fact be the iPhone 3GS.
The author theorizes that “there would be an iPhone 4S in addition to the prepaid iPhone 3GS available within the next month to two” in addition to the iPhone 4 which BGR is told Apple will continue to sell…
