Macenstein

Slow news days always tend to set us to speculating and “what if”-ing. So here’s some food for thought…

Above: PC World wasted no time cracking open the FIRST iPhones…

Back when the first gen iPhone was released, there were no shortages of people willing to crack open their expensive gadget and flood the web with sexy pics of the insides. In part much of this was done to verify that, no, Apple had not somehow included UMTS or HSDPA radio in the iPhone, meaning a future 3G firmware unlock was not possible.

However, I have not yet seen anyone do this with the recently announced 16 GB iPhones. Did I simply miss these posts, or have the Apple rumorologists decided to finally take Apple at its word and believe that the only change is an increase in storage?

What if…?

What if Apple has decided to include a firmware-unlockable 3G chip in the latest models, and is only waiting for FCC approval? I know it’s far-fetched, but hear me out. As I mentioned before, odds are Apple would like to minimize the dip in iPhone sales that will occur between the time the news hits that they have applied for 3G clearance from the FCC and the time the devices actually go on sale. By including the ability to unlock current iPhones to run on 3G networks, Apple would be able to maintain sales throughout the approval process, and additionally avoid angering iPhone purchasers that have recently (or not recently) decided to upgrade to the latest and greatest. If there is one thing Apple has hopefully learned, it is that iPhone owners tend to get rather bent out of shape by oddly-timed upgrades/price drops. It’s Apple’s own fault, of course, having created the perception that the iPhone is the pinnacle in technology. Finding out a week later that there is a new model hurts more than a new iPod or speed-bumped laptop seems to.

An expensive gamble?

Of course, including a non-approved chip in a current device would run the risk of an expensive mistake should the FCC decide the chip is not up to snuff. However, the gadget world seemed to think there was a chance Apple did it the first time ’round, so why not now, when we’re likely much closer to 3G roll out?

So, has anyone seen inside the new models?

Or at least weighed them? 🙂