Is This Apple’s Low-Cost iPhone? [IMAGES]

The notion of Apple bringing out a low-cost iPhone has always been suggested. With such a popular brand at a sky-high price, perhaps it was always going to be an idea teased by the masses. But this year, there’s a really strong consensus that there will indeed be a cheaper model to help corner markets like India and China, as well as allowing those with less disposable cash to still rock an iPhone. Today, images purporting to depict the device have been discovered on Weibo, the ‘Chinese Twitter,’ and although the bumper case, lack of a snap of the front of the device and a lot of blurriness make for a rather suspect leak, we have to check out all possible avenues in our quest to discover this elusive budget iPhone.

Tim Cook has already stepped out and said that such a device is completely off the agenda, but with the company also having made similar comments in the past about a smaller iPad, we’re certainly not taking the CEO’s words as gospel at this point in time.

The images aren’t as revealing as they ought to be, but from what we can see, the device has a very iPhone 3G(S) look and feel to it. I have no idea why, considering this is supposed to be a big exclusive, the taker of the images couldn’t give us some better coverage, and although the Lightning cable connected does offer a slight air of authenticity, the shadiness of how these shots have been taken lead us to believe this is little more than an elaborate bit of fakery.

It seems pretty certain that, if a budget iPhone is in the works, it’s very likely to be made of plastic, with multiple colors options akin to the iPod touch range also having been suggested. Until we get a better look than these rear snaps, there’s no real way of ascertaining the kind of design we can begin to expect, but if Apple can hit the mid-market pricing of some of its competitors, the budget iPhone could really take the world by storm.

What do you think – the real deal – or just a bit of Photoshopping? Do share your thoughts below!

(Source: Weibo 1, 2)

You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.