The material will reportedly make it stronger, thinner and lighter

Mar 15, 2013 15:12 GMT  ·  By

Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, a well-known analyst with connections to Apple’s suppliers, says he strongly believes the rumored “budget” iPhone is happening this year, and he has some specs to dish out.

First of all, Kuo clarifies in his Friday research note that Apple won’t increase the screen size simply because the market is shifting to 5 inches. He suggests the company will do so when the time is right, and that time isn’t here yet.

This less expensive iPhone predicted by Kuo and numerous other analysts is said to have “super-thin plastic casing mixed with glass fiber,” according to the research note.

The material will reportedly make it stronger, thinner and lighter than traditional smartphones. Kuo provides some figures too.

He expects the case to be no thicker than 0.6 millimeters, or even as thin as 0.4 mm. On average, smartphone cases are between 0.7 and 1 millimeters thick, AppleInsider reports.

The “cheap” iPhone will come with four to six color options, the analyst added.