KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a record for good accuracy with his Apple predictions, has issued a research note in which he reveals many features he expects in the rumored new 4-inch iPhone.
In predictions reported by MacRumors, Kuo corroborates a recent story that the new iPhone, which could be dubbed the iPhone 6C, will arrive in early 2016 and be encased in metal rather than the iPhone 5C’s plastic. That metal, Kuo adds, will come in at least two to three color options.
However, he also forecasts that the new iPhone will be powered by the A9 chip present in the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. That would be a surprising choice of processor for a lower-end handset, which the note also says will come with an NFC chip for compatibility with Apple Pay.
Kuo predicts the US price bracket for this upcoming iPhone to fall between $400 and $500. This pricing would make the smaller phone up to $249 cheaper than the 16GB iPhone 6S and, the note adds, is intended to assist Apple in “penetrating emerging markets and consumers on smaller budgets”.
