Apple source to NYT: New iPhone won’t be smaller, just cheaper

The Apple rumor mill was in production overdrive this week, on news that a smaller, cheaper iPhone was in the works, to be announced this summer.

A new, smaller set of rumors has emerged courtesy of the New York Times, lending credence to half the original buzz while debunking the other half. According to an anonymous source who has worked on several versions of the iPhone, the impending new version will be roughly the same size as the iPhone 4, but will be a cheaper, more accessible version of the device aimed at capturing even more smartphone market share.

The source says changing up the device’s “innards” could result in a cheaper iPhone:

Apple is also considering changing internal components of the device to bring costs down. “Although the innards of the phone, including memory size or camera quality, could change to offer a less expensive model, the size of the device would not vary,” said the person, who has worked on multiple versions of the device.

Another person who was not identified in the piece suggested cloud storage and device syncing could also be part of the cost-cutting strategy:

“The goal is that your photos and other media content will eventually just sync across all your Apple devices without people having to do anything,” the person said. If more iPhone users stored files online, Apple could make cheaper devices with less storage. Flash storage is one of the iPhone’s most expensive components.

Of course, this logic seems to rely on users owning other Apple devices- but if you’ve dropped over a grand on a desktop, you’re probably more likely to be in the group buying the fully-featured iPhones, right?

Which features could you easily part with for a cheaper iPhone?