Last-minute WWDC rumor: New iPhones pack 20 percent longer battery life

A new iPhone code-named iPhone 3GS will feature up to one fifth longer battery life. Existing iPhone 3G will be kept on the market, reduced to just $99.

According to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, who has been pretty accurate with Apple predictions in the past, new iPhones expected to be unearthed later today during the WWDC keynote address will pack up to 20 percent longer battery life.

While we haven’t heard this one before, Apple might have managed to keep this a secret to the last moment. While this doesn’t file as a feature per se, it’s still a big deal because battery life has been perceived as one of iPhone’s weakest spots.

Gruber wrote that his sources told him that the handset is code-named iPhone 3GS. He also reaffirmed multiple rumors calling for the feature set that includes a 3.2 megapixel camera and video recording as the killer feature, in addition to a faster CPU, GPU and twice the RAM and storage on the device.

“I expect Apple to announce updated iPhones with significantly faster processors, twice the RAM, and twice the storage. I expect prices to remain the same as the current lineup: $199/299 for 16/32 GB, respectively. The video camera is going to be a major selling point.”

Gruber expects minor design tweaks but otherwise virtually the same form factor and the repeat of the overall iPhone 3G design. Dimensions will remain unchanged so all existing iPhone cases should fit new iPhones as well.

Gruber believes that a cheaper $99 iPhone first reported by the Financial Times is in fact the existing iPhone 3G that Apple will allegedly keep alongside new iPhones, albeit at the reduced price in order to capture the lower end of the market. The author also expects Apple and AT&T to announce terms and price points for the tethering service which is fully supported with the iPhone OS 3.0 and wonders how Apple will sell Snow Leopard for $129 given that the company repeatedly said that Snow Leopard focuses on speed instead of new features which have traditionally defended the $129 price point of all OS X versions to date.