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Apple might bring back smaller iPhones

gold iPhone
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The 4-inch iPhone could be making a comeback in 2016, according to the ever-reliable KGI Securities analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo via MacRumors.

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According to Kuo's report, the smaller iPhone will have a similar design to the iPhone 5s — the last 4-inch iPhone Apple sold — and the metal casing will have up to three color options.

Since the report specifically states "two or three" color options, it seems like the options will be the usual silver, space gray, and gold (or rose gold) options, rather than the six color options for the iPod Touch.

This could be an inexpensive, extremely powerful iPhone.

If Kuo's report is accurate, the new 4-inch iPhone could run on Apple's A9 processor, which is currently used in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. That would make it both fast and powerful.

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It might also come with NFC for Apple Pay, and the same 8-megapixel camera as the iPhone 5s, putting it in-line with Apple's iPhone 6.

He estimates a price between $400 and $500 in the US — up to $250 cheaper than the 16GB iPhone 6s, and just slightly more expensive than Google's bargain powerhouse, the Nexus 5X. Kuo suggests it could be aimed at "emerging markets and consumers on smaller budgets," a segment of the market Apple's struggled to reach due to the high price of its phones

Apple made a previous attempt at wooing this market segment with the iPhone 5c in 2013, which was $100 cheaper than the iPhone 5s. But that isn't, realistically, enough of a discount to be called a "cheap iPhone."

There's no indication of what this new iPhone could be called, but it might take on the "C" model name in sticking with tradition.

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