The new iPhone will be thinner and lighter than the first model, the sources said. Have at least one camera on the front of the device functions such as videoconferencing, but the resolution of the screen will be similar to the first iPhone, these people said. It will also have more memory and a powerful graphics processor, they said.
The new iPhone will initially be available through Verizon Wireless and AT & T Inc., but not Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA in the U.S., according to some people familiar A spokeswoman for Apple in Cupertino, California, declined comment.
Production of the new iPhone shows how Apple is moving in the wake of the disclosure Chief Executive Steve Jobs last month that it would take a medical leave for an unspecified illness. The iPad, which debuted last April, has opened a new market and is critical to the success of Apple.
Since the launch of iPhone, Apple has sold 14.8 million units of the device. In the December quarter of Apple, its latest financial results, which reported last month, the tablet contributed $ 4.6 billion in sales, or 17% of total company revenue.
The new iPhone is expected by observers Apple's debut in the next couple of months in a price range similar to the current IPAD, although the exact details can not be learned. Currently, it costs between $ 499 and $ 829.
Piper Jaffray & Co. estimates that Apple will sell 27 million iPads in 2011, and some investors expect about 35 million units in sales. "It will be an important growth factor," said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray.