Apple will launch a low-cost plastic iPhone over the course of the year which will include elements of the iPod Touch and iPod Classic, reports suggest.
iLounge claims sources have revealed that the low-cost iPhone will be made of plastic, with a 4-inch display with Retina technology similar to the iPhone 5 and a screen made out of gorilla glass.
The arrangement of buttons and the camera will also mirror that of the iPhone 5, and the device will feature the Lightning interface.
However, the bottom of the plastic iPhone will be more reminiscent of the iPod Touch, with the volume buttons sharing the elongated format as opposed to the more recent rounded shape.
Finally, the overall effect of the handset will be akin to the iPod Classic, featuring flat rather than curved parts.
Other reports seem to corroborate suggestions of a low-cost plastic iPhone being under development. TweakTown draws attention to a recent post on the Apple website which advertises for a Plastics Design Engineer, and mentions new Apple products and high-volume production in the job description.
The Wall Street Journal reported in early January that a low-cost device will be launched later this year, while Bloomberg a day later claimed that a handset to be priced between US$99 and US$149 may be available before the end of the year, Apple having been developing the small low-cost handset since February 2011.
