Rumor: feature-free iPhone shuffle due in June

Cupertino, CA — Time to make room for baby. Looks like the iPhone family is about to expand.

A Chinese parts manufacturer for Apple claims to have seen a working version of a new, microscopic iPhone with a form factor identical to the bestselling iPod shuffle. Dubbed iPhone shuffle, this model significantly scales back on the feature set of the bigger iPhone.

“It has no features whatsoever,” says our source, clearly smitten by Apple’s prowess. “It’s breathtaking how little it can do. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks and have still yet to discover a single feature. They’ve streamlined it down to a home button and earphone port.”

iPhone shuffle is designed first and foremost as a phone. It syncs automatically with your computer contact list. With its single button, iPhone shuffle provides two ways of making calls. In Sequential mode, it calls the numbers in your contact list in order, from A to Z. In Shuffle mode, it calls contacts randomly.

Maximizing the use of its earphone port, iPhone shuffle will offer a scaled-back version of Safari (audio only), a scaled-back DVD player (audio only) and a scaled-back version of iPhone OS 4.0 (startup chime only).

iPhone shuffle will launch on June 22 and retail for only $59. Earphones are optional.