Apple Predicted to Launch 4-Inch iPhone in Early 2016

Since the release of the iPhone 6, users and analysts around the world have been predicting an upgraded 4-inch iPhone.

Rumors of an ‘iPhone 6c’ can be traced back to December of 2014. While some predicted that a smaller 6c device would be released with the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, others claimed that the success of the larger iPhones caused Apple to scrap the idea of a 4-inch iPhone. However, according to highly accurate KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, we may see an upgraded phone with a smaller form factor in early 2016, but it may not look like expected.

Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a solid track record when it comes to predicting Apple products, predicted in April that we would likely see a 4-inch iPhone, but that users would be waiting until 2016. In a note to investors obtained by MacRumors, Kuo states that, because “there is still a demand for a 4-inch phone,” he believes Apple has a new 4-inch phone in the works that would “resemble an upgraded iPhone 5s”.

He believes the phone will be powered by an A9 chip – the same chip that powers this year’s iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. The phone, he states, will likely be wrapped in a metal casing, unlike the iPhone 5c that contained a polycarbonate casing.

Unfortunately for fans of the 4-inch form factor, however, Kuo believes that Apple will likely hold back on including 3D Touch technology into the phone, in an effort to “keep it differentiated from the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.”

Kuo’s note also contains some rather safe predictions for the iPhone 7. Slated for another fall launch, Kuo believes that the phone will likely contain an upgraded A10 chip, with the iPhone 7 featuring the same 2GB of RAM featured in the current iPhones, and the iPhone 7 Plus bumping up to 3GB of RAM for increased performance.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]