The Register reports that Apple is considering expanding the iPhone range; not with radically differentiated hardware, but by varying the software features included with various models. Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner, speaking exclusively to Register reporter James Sherwood, recently met with Apple executives in which several hints about future iPhones were dropped. Apple staff are notoriously reluctant to speculate about future products for fear of incurring the Wrath of Jobs, so it is somewhat surprising that an executive would reveal that:

“(iPhone) Segmentation would focus on software.”

Commenter Jerome notes that in adopting software differentiation, Apple is taking a very Microsoft-ian approach. Nevertheless, there is a distinct ring of possibility to this piece of news. Unlike the  various iPod ranges which each have distinct merits and occupy separate consumer spaces, it is hard to see how Apple can release the iPhone in various sizes without seriously compromising its usability and breaking app functionality in the process. The oft-rumored iPhone Nano has yet to see light of day, while the jumbo-sized iPhone will in all likelihood be classified as a tablet PC; and for as long as Steve Jobs is alive, the iPhone Pro will probably remain a pipe dream.

Software differentiation is a relatively easy – not to mention cheap – way to quickly introduce ‘new’ iPhones and further price discriminate. The only question is, if Apple’s cheap ‘n’ easy plan comes to fruition, how long it’ll take the jailbreakers to transplant the brains from the iPhone Maximus to the iPhone “I Can’t Believe It’s Not A Meizu”.

Source: Register Hardware

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