Apple intends to crash into the entry-level market but its debut will likely come next year via an iPhone built on polycarbonate material and priced $US330.

Citing reports from Japanese blog site Macotakara, Apple Insider pointed to an upcoming Apple smartphone that is geared for the mass-market, supporting earlier claims by numerous analysts that the tech giant is revamping its business model to encroach into new market territories.

The best way to do that is to make its flagship smartphone more attractive and reachable to wider audience.

While mock-ups have sprouted previously, Macotakara's take seems to differ a bit. The blog site claims that Apple is building a 4.5-inch handset, which runs counter to an earlier projection by KGI Securities that the budget iPhone will maintain the 4-inch screen size.

Yet the two agree that Apple is opting for cheaper but solid material for its budget phone - polycarbonate. Plastic is no stranger to the tech titan as Mac notebooks used to be wrapped on it before they acquired aluminium covers.

Now it seems that Apple is recalling polycarbonate to hit anew its production lines and by the time the new iPhone is unveiled, the world will see a bulkier and bigger handset that largely sustains the features of its predecessors, the reports said.

The added heft, according to Apple Insider, will ensure that the cheaper iPhone model is durable enough to withstand all sorts of neglect and abuse.

Macotakara provided no specifics for the actual launch except for the 2014 target, again veering away from analysts' predictions that Apple is pushing out a bevy of new products by the second half of 2013, including what news reports termed as the iPhone Mini.

However, the blog seemed to support earlier assertions that Apple is refreshing the iPhone 5 this year, which will be morphed into iPhone 5S.

A particular upgrade mentioned in the upcoming smartphone is the addition of twin LED flash for its rear camera shooter.

"The two flash exposures are rumoured to be stacked on top of one another to the right of the camera lens," Apple Insider said.