The rumor mill has been working overtime this week. Here’s my thoughts on some of the speculations.
This week photos of a possible prototype 64GB iPhone were posted to the M.I.C gadget. If authentic, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Apple will release such a beast. However, if Apple can maintain price points, a 64GB version would make sense considering all the data types that the iPhone — which is much more than a phone — can store.
Also, there’s a rumor that Apple plans to ditch the glass back design of the iPhone 4 in favor of an aluminum back on the iPhone 5. This would also make sense as aluminum would be lighter and less scratch prone.
German site Macerkopf.de claims that an unnamed source tells them that Apple is planning an early April media event to introduce iOS 5 and a revamped MobileMe services. I’m not convinced that this will happen with iOS 4.3 having just been released. I wouldn’t expect iOS 5 to be previewed until early May.
As for a revamped MobileMe, the “Wall Street Journal” thinks Apple may eliminate internal storage altogether and turn MobileMe — now US$99 per year –a free service that would serve as a “locker” for personal memorabilia such as photos, music and videos, eliminating the need for devices to carry memory.
I don’t think that’s going to happen or that Apple is planning a music streaming service. I think that “Bloomberg Businessweek” is right in conjecturing that Apple is instead planning to offer unlimited downloads to any device linked to the same iTunes account. You could, for example, buy a track on your iPhone and download it again for free to your iPad without having to go back and tether the mobile device to your Mac to sync.
— Dennis Sellers
