Has The "Cheap iPhone" Made Its First Appearance?

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We’ve been watching pretty much everything that emerges that’s even vaguely related to the iPhone like a hawk, and while we usually get some new tidbit about the iPhone 5′s release date, today we’ve got something a bit different, about the so-called “cheap iPhone”.

You’ll remember that there has been more than a little speculation about a cheaper iPhone, geared more to the pay as you go crowd rather than those who want to lock into a contract for two years. Some photos have emerged from Vietnam, of all places, suggesting that this cheaper iPhone may actually exist after all.

Now, you’ll be needing your standard Apple rumor salt lick for this one, but the current word says that this is the cheaper iPhone. The biggest immediate difference is the removal of the stainless steel paneling and its replacement with matte plastic. Current word further suggests that the prototype performs as well as the current iPhone models do, but due to plastic in the construction, is lighter and cheaper to make, the savings from which can in turn can be passed on to the customer. What’s all the more interesting is that, as you can see in the pic above, the model number has been replaced with a series of X’s, which commonly implies that this is some kind of prototype device.

Idiosyncracies in the device–that it’s reportedly running Cydia, for example, as well as some odd discrepancies in the proximity sensor and others–leave more than a few skeptical as to whether or not we’re really looking at an Apple prototype here, but this does dovetail into those earlier reports of an Apple geared toward lower budgets. Whether or not this is the McCoy will clearly remain to be seen, but it’s a distinct possibility as of now.

So what do you guys think? Are we looking at a lower cost iPhone version that will go to the pay as you go market? Or are we looking at some clever Photoshop work in a bid to prey on those who follow Apple rumors? Either way, we want to hear from you, so head on down to the comments section and fill us in!