Thread: iPhone 2012 ;)
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Mugge
Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
 
2011-10-08, 07:05

Eminent opening post for a thread which is likely to roll on for a whole year, Robo.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
But that raises the question: if Apple's not planning on giving the iPhone design anything more than minor tweaks, why "demote" the minor-tweaked iPhone 4S by calling it the 4S? "For Steve" is cute, but that doesn't seem likely. The answer is I don't know. It's not terribly important, but if Apple is getting to the point where they're not going to majorly rethink the iPhone's form factor, they shouldn't train people to expect that from each "true" iPhone n+1.
I think it’s ridiculous to put so much emphasis on the model name. It has exactly squat to do with the phones actual capabilities and I strongly suspect that at some point in the future Apple is simply going to simple call it iPhone like they do with all the Macs. However, before we can get to that the differences in capability between the old and the new models will have to narrow some. As it is now, it is meaningful to distinguish between the various iPhone models because they offer different capabilities, but as the pace of evolution slows and the iPhone matures this will no longer be the issue.

There is also a certain perception of quality in buying a tech product that won’t feel old next year. With a desktop PC my friends would always ask me about the specs, but with my iMac they just fawn at it and accept that it is a superior machine.

Quote:
The rest of this post is responding to Gruber's points about screen size, so if that bores you, move along.
Here’s my take on the whole screen size deal. I might be rehashing some of your arguments, Robo:

There are now three different generations of iPhones on sale with three different levels of computing power and two different screen resolutions, but with only one physical screen size. Add the iPod touch and you get one variation more (A4 plus non-retina resolution). Differing iOS versions does not add any more variations as they tend to match the different hardware variations. This leaves a nice and simple platform for developers to work with and is probably a big part of why iOS is more profitable to work on than Android with it’s plethora of different spec variations. I remember that Epic mentioned that this was the main reason why Infinity Blade wouldn’t be profitable on Android. So there definitively is a value to keeping the same screen size.

Human anatomy, however, does also vary and all peoples hands are not of the same size. Apple has probably deemed 3.5” to be the size the fit’s most, but I accept that it is reasonable to as for more then one size of shoe.

One way to go about this could be to make a 4” iPhone that is simply a scaled up 3.5” iPhone. It would be kind of like the 14” iBook which had the same resolution as the 12” iBook, but apart from that was pretty much the same machine. Battery life and storage would be easy to improve in the case of a 4” iPhone and if the screen resolution was kept the same, then it wouldn’t truly be another hardware variation that the app developers would have to worry about. To me such an iPhone would be just as meh as the 14” iBook, but for people with big hands it might be just perfect.

As far as making a smaller iPhone, you could go the same way and keep the same resolution and compress the screen size to say 3.2”. But I don’t think that is remotely as attractive as keeping the screen the same as the iPhone 4S and simply trimming and slimming the rest of the phone down in size. This would benefit both people with smaller hands and everybody else without adding another SKU to the lineup.

Off-topic (click to toggle):
One other thing that Apple could do to make a smaller iPhone, and which I strongly believe that they will eventually do, is to introduce a wristwatch iPhone Nano. It’s unlikely to happen within the next couple of years, but it seems like the very logical next step, especially now that Siri make the touch screen UI less vital. Of course this would be a somewhat different beast than any other iPhone and most current apps wouldn’t work on it, yet if Apple’s strategy is to enter new categories from existing positions of strength then they will be more capable than anyone else to do this.

The biggest challenge with the wrist form factor is probably going to be getting the audio into the users ear without allowing every body else to listen in on it. It’s quite easy to hold your a wrist mounted microphone to your mouth when you are talking, but the speaker needs to be in it’s own separate earpiece. So using the iPhone Nano would probably include wearing an earpiece all the time. But once that issue has been resolved there are really no more technical or ergonomic obstacles to making such a device happen.

Therefore I believe that just like the watch moved from our pockets to our wrists, so will our phones. And who could be better than Apple at getting the implementation just right?


Quote:
Really? Last week there was two iPhones to choose from. This week, there are three. That doesn't seem like a step away from Android-style diversity to me. (Furthermore: Will the iPhone 3GS get iOS 6? If not, that's another step closer to Android, selling models that won't receive future major software updates. All previous iPhones received at least one after they ceased being sold.)
I’m also a little concerned about keeping the 3Gs in production. Of course it is a much better option than wasting time on developing a low-end model with somewhat the same features and inability to run the latest software when you already have a by all means excellent phone with a well rehearsed production line. It’s just that it doesn’t seem very Steve-like not to ruthlessly press forward and I think many people are looking at this and seeing a clue as to, how the post-Steve Apple is going to conduct their business. On the other hand, Apple is now firmly positioned in the developed world and the next big growth opportunity lies the emerging markets where the 3Gs is probably going to be seen as a sweet deal for many new Apple customers. I say we give Tim a chance to prove himself.

Last edited by Mugge : 2011-10-08 at 10:34. Reason: See chuckers post below.