Will the Cheaper iPhone Get a New Screen?

The much-rumored low-cost iPhone will have the iPhone 5’s tall screen and a plastic body slightly thicker than that the latter’s, according to a new report.

Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge wrote on Monday that the cheaper Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) smartphone, rumored to be releasing this year to target growth in developing markets, will feature a four-inch display like the iPhone 5′s, but will include some design elements from the latest iPod touch. In addition, it will be about a millimeter thicker than the latest iPhone.

The screen is expected to slightly stick out from the device, though the camera lens will not jut out from the back. It will also feature side buttons that are more like those on the iPod or the iPhone 3GS.  “The circular volume buttons of the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 will shift to elongated, pill-shaped designs closer to the iPod touch and the iPhone 3G/3GS,” Horwitz wrote. “Apple’s budget housing looks closest to the iPod classic in shape, though not in materials.”

The bottom is likely to be a hybrid of the iPhone 5 and iPod touch, with a headphone port, Lightning port, bottom microphone, and speaker in roughly the same positions as the iPhone 5, but with far fewer holes. “The budget iPhone will look a lot like an iPhone 5 from the front, an iPod classic from the side, and an iPod touch 5G on the bottom — only made from plastic rather than glass or metal,” Horwitz wrote.

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