Apple.pro reports this afternoon that Apple may be testing three different iPhone protoypes (including the mini iPhone we’ve been hearing about), one of which is a model with a slide out keyboard. The translation to English is very rough:
There are three iPhone5 prototype
one is a sliding cover which
Is the introduction of the keyboard after the side cover
Being a fan of physical keyboards (especially those on the Palm Pre), an iPhone five with a portrait slider might be enough for me to switch to the next-gen iPhone. Rumors aside, would it be wise for Apple to differentiate with an entire iPhone family to compete against Android, HP, and other competitors? We’re skeptical that Apple would actually launch an iPhone with a physical keyboard, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Also in the mix is a rumored upgrade to the camera, getting a bump to 8 megapixels from the iPhone 4’s current 5 megapixel camera. The report also notes that the transition to the next iPhone will be similar to the transition from the 3G to the 3GS: different guts with the same basic hardware design.
Editors note: Image via TechShout
