Report: Apple’s Testing The iPhone 5 In iPhone 4 Enclosures, Retina iPad 2 On The Way

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iphone5concept2

Over the last few months, the rumor mill has just been incapable of agreeing whether or not the next iPhone will be a modest update on the iPhone 4 called the iPhone 4S, or a more revolutionary update called the iPhone 5. We’ve even heard that Apple will release both an iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 in September.

Now ThisIsMyNext is reporting that there is no iPhone 4s at all. Rather, reports of an iPhone 4s have been informed by Apple’s method of testing the iPhone 5 prototype inside of the enclosure of an old iPhone 4.

This Is My Next’s Joshua Topolsky explains:

Simply put, as the iPhone 5 components are built for a smaller and lighter device, they can be easily fit into a casing which for all intents and purposes looks identical to an iPhone 4… and that’s exactly what Apple has been doing. Our sources tell us that the company has been testing the new components in old iPhone cases, for obvious reasons. Some of those reports we’ve heard about a larger screen for the old design would make sense too, as a slight tweak of the size (say, to a 3.7-inch display), would be barely noticeable to the eye, but obvious in internal component design. So if you’ve been wondering why the rumors about the iPhone 4S rose to such a din, now you know.

This isn’t unheard of: Apple famously field tested the iPhone 4 in a case that made it look like the iPhone 3GS.

Why would Apple ditch the iPhone 4 design so quickly? According to Topolsky, the “highest levels” of Apple are ready to move on from the design after the twin debacles of Antennagate and Glassgate.

In the same report, Topolsky confirms that his sources say a high-resolution iPad 2 Plus will be released in September with a display resolution of 2048 x 1536.

Topolsky writes:

he idea behind the product is apparently that it will be a “pro” device aimed at a higher end market — folks who work in video and photo production possibly — and will be introduced alongside something like an iPad version of Final Cut or Aperture. This product is specifically said tonot be the iPad 3, rather a complimentary piece of the iPad 2 line. Think MacBook and MacBook Pro.

We just don’t buy this. Not only has Topolsky been wrong about a Retina Display iPad before — he famously said the iPad 2 would have one — but packing that many pixels into an iPad display is still cost prohibitive. Perhaps Apple could make it work by branding that iPad as an iPad HD and charging more, but I just don’t think it makes sense to split the tablet market between consumers and professionals. What do you think?

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