We already reported recently about Apple’s plans for a of a smaller, cheaper iPhone, Cult of Mac claims that Apple will cut costs on the smaller iPhone in large part by drastically slashing the on-board memory of the device and relying on cloud-based content delivery.
Apple decided to lose some of the memory, which is by far the most expensive component of the iPhone (up to one-quarter of the devices cost, according to iSuppli estimates).
By “some” of the memory, we mean ALL of the memory. The iPhone nano will have no memory for onboard storage of media, our source says. It will have only enough memory to buffer media streamed from the cloud.
“I’m talking strictly storage memory here,” said our source.
The smaller iPhone would pull essentially all of its media through a revamped MobileMe service, which ends your need for significant on-board storage. The way Apple has able to slash storage on the second-generation Apple TV by shifting to a streaming model.
Question here is, what would the deal be for Apps? as they depend on locally-stored content. Chances are the device will not even support them. Apple may avoid the potential user interface issues of a smaller, lower-resolution screen by simply not allowing third-party apps at all, and opting to use only built-in apps specifically designed for the smaller screen. It would interesting to see what Apple does without it’s Apps.