Honza Dvorsky Workers' rights group China Labor Watch (CLW) released a report today commenting on poor working conditions at Pegatron's electronics assembly plants. One of Pegatron's clients is Apple, which cooperates not only with the assembly giant Foxconn, but also tries to divide production between several partners.
The report released by CLW also indirectly confirms the existence of a new iPhone with a plastic back cover, which is in the pre-production phase. The section of this report named “9. July 2013: A Day at Pegatron' includes a paragraph in which a factory worker describes his role in applying a protective layer to plastic iPhone back cover.
However, the first thought that it could be a residual production of the iPhone 3GS for developing markets will be dispelled by the following information that this phone, which has not yet reached the stage of mass production, will soon be launched by Apple. Previous reports also reported on the fact that Pegatron will be Apple's main partner for the production of a new, cheaper iPhone, which could arrive on the market this fall together with the iPhone 5S. This cheaper iPhone could be called the iPhone 5C according to certain reports, where the letter "C" could stand for "Color" for example, as there are speculations about several color variants of the new Apple phone.
Although the latest leaks are very consistent with each other, there is still a certain chance that we are getting photos of products from other companies that are already starting to produce their own copies just by speculating about what the new iPhone will look like. It wouldn't be the first time that a near-certain product was actually a false alarm (eg the rounded iPhone 5 in the fall of 2011, although Apple then released the iPhone 4S with the same "boxy" design as the iPhone 4). So we have to take these messages with a grain of salt. However, the closer we get to autumn, the more likely it is that this is really an upcoming new product from Apple.
Additionally, the fact that CLW is a respected non-profit organization that has been operating for 13 years with headquarters in both the United States and China adds credibility to the report from China Labor Watch. Publications in the style of "A day in ..." are frequent outputs of CLW's work, based on personal interviews with individuals working in said factories. Therefore, the task of "applying a protective filter to the plastic back of an iPhone" sounds believable and likely.
A month ago, Pegatron director TH Tung also added his own, mentioning that Apple's new iPhone will also be "relatively expensive." By this he apparently meant that Apple will not visit the absolute price bottom of today's smartphones, but will stick to somewhere around 60% of the price of a "full" iPhone (about $400).
Stupidity, Tim Cook himself said at the conference that he is not interested in producing a cheaper version of anything and plastic? Even Johny wouldn't be able to sign for that... In addition, it would reduce the prestige of the whole Apple and their "premium" products...
I understand the increased availability due to the plastic, but I sincerely hope that Apple did not resort to this...
Developing markets are attractive for Apple, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple released the iPhone 5C /like China/ just for the Chinese market. And thanks to the price, more people would reach for such a phone.
But who knows, let's leave speculation aside. In any case, I think Ive would easily sign up for such a design and material. In my opinion, it wouldn't even be ordinary plastic, it would ride the wave of polycarbonate unibody design, which is in trend /my speculation/.
I wrote that it could all be a false alarm, but as much as I don't like it, the next version of the iPhone makes sense. Just as it made sense for the iPod, Mac and iPad.
Cook is always careful about what he says, he definitely did not say that he will never make a cheap iPhone. He always said that he didn't want to sacrifice quality for price - but what if they were able to deliver quality for a cheaper price in both versions of the phone (they would save on plastic, maybe even a processor, etc.). It would be an older hw in a cheaper package, but well built. I think this is what he will present in the fall. But I can be mistaken.
Sure, but I'm not sure if these three products also changed the material (or to a cheaper material)... In addition, when presenting the iPad mini, Phil connected to the Nexus that it's made of plastic and so on...
PS: I don't know what material the Mac Pro is made of...
I don't deny that a "plastic iPhone" could not be made, but I just hope that Apple didn't do it :) and otherwise older versions of the iPhone (4/4S) have older hardware, perhaps Cook also noted that...
And as for fall, I'm praying for the iWatch! :)
After all, they said that it will be a "very busy autumn" ;-)
They said that last year too. Anyway, what hasn't been here this year? Revision of the macbook pro, imac, iphone (+possibly minor changes to the ipod), actual announcement of the date and price of the mac pro, slightly improved ipad mini.
In reality, nothing new at all, but that is enough for them to be able to celebrate how much news they have presented.
Don't be afraid they will also make a "huge change" and make an ipad mini with retina. That would make Tim Cook completely melt with pride.
Only now he said autumn 2013/spring 2014 "product of a new category" :)) and it's true that something new (revolutionary) would be needed, but the question is what...
In my opinion... Mac Pro will only be on sale with the new OS and the introduction of a 4K display (monitor); iPhone with new iOS; iMac maybe just some piece of hardware (definitely not with a higher resolution), Macbooks with Haswell and finally iPad (new design of large iPad + Mini upgrade) ... I think iPods and Mac minis won't happen this year, same as iWatch (due to the problems )
It's nice that Apple has as many products as it does, if only it could all be covered in one paragraph :D try it with Samsung for example ;D
*"new category products"