Apple ‘aims for mass-market with budget iPhone’

Apple is one day away from announcing a cheaper, basic edition of its trailblazing smartphone, mounting evidence suggests.

An alleged snapshot of the new iPhone was said to be taken at a Foxconn factory in Brazil – which is claimed to be manufacturing the devices.

The rumour, which was sparked by news site Gizmodo, has not been verified by Apple. The company traditionally manufactures its phones in Asia, though Gizmodo has a reputation for publishing rumours that turn out to be accurate. The website famously exposed iPhone 4 weeks before the device was officially announced.

Apple is scheduled to host an iPhone press on Tuesday October 4th.

The latest round of speculation suggests the group will not be launching an entirely new iPhone, but an update to its current model. The so-called ‘iPhone 4S’ is said will have the same memory and processing power as the iPad 2 – a feat which, if true, will expand the iPhone’s RAM capacity to 1GB.

The cut-price iPhone 4 could, in theory, open up iOS devices to a new demographic. Providing the device plays games, it could extend the target market for studios and developers.