Did the iPhone reach its ceiling?

surjavarman · Feb 23, 2013

In my opinion the last innovative phone from apple was the iphone 4. The iphone 4s and the iphone 5 are just mere updates of the iphone4. They didn't really bring anything new to the table. I don't see how Apple could innovate the smartphone hardware wise. And I also don't think apple is able to revamp ios in such a way that it will be new and revolutionary.

I think the iphone has reached its ceiling and is at the point were notebooks are for years. Innovation has been stagnating for years in that market. Mountain Lion isn't something totally new compared to SL. Heck I don't even think its an improvement at all. Its just becoming bloated. the MBA and rMBP are going to get minor cpu/gpu/ram/ssd upgrades and they will probably hone the design and thats it but they aren't going to revolutionize the notebook industry anymore. That industry is dead and has reached its ceiling a long time ago. I believe the smartphone market is about to reach saturation pretty soon too.

abz1981 · Feb 23, 2013

surjavarman said:
In my opinion the last innovative phone from apple was the iphone 4. The iphone 4s and the iphone 5 are just mere updates of the iphone4. They didn't really bring anything new to the table. I don't see how Apple could innovate the smartphone hardware wise. And I also don't think apple is able to revamp ios in such a way that it will be new and revolutionary.

I think the iphone has reached its ceiling and is at the point were notebooks are for years. Innovation has been stagnating for years in that market. Mountain Lion isn't something totally new compared to SL. Heck I don't even think its an improvement at all. Its just becoming bloated. the MBA and rMBP are going to get minor cpu/gpu/ram/ssd upgrades and they will probably hone the design and thats it but they aren't going to revolutionize the notebook industry anymore. That industry is dead and has reached its ceiling a long time ago. I believe the smartphone market is about to reach saturation pretty soon too.

So um when you going to get the next droid and windows 8? Good luck with that. See you later.

jayrflow · Feb 23, 2013

abz1981 said:
So um when you going to get the next droid and windows 8? Good luck with that. See you later.

Have you ever tried the Galaxy Note 2? It's a beast phone. Way better than this iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 is my work phone n the Galaxy Note 2 is my personal phone. I'm no Android fanboy (I own an iPad 4, iPad mini, MacBook Pro and an iPhone 5) but damn the Galaxy Note 2 runs laps around the iPhone 5. That's if you can deal with the huge size of the phone

204353 · Feb 23, 2013

I don't know about you, but I've been pretty damn happy with the way notebooks and computer operating systems have advanced in the last ten years or so.

I'm happy with the 'notebook computer' as a concept and I'm also very happy with the 'smartphone' in its current form. I've got no issue with the iPhone continuing to progress as it has to date. It already fulfils everything I want it to do, so every little improvement has so far, and will foreseeably, make me happier.

P.S. I honestly think that the iPhone 4 is no more innovative, as you put it, than the iPhone 5.

walmartmartyr · Feb 23, 2013

inovation in iphone would be double the battery life.... but will they? no. Because its not flashy, its not WOW, but will be the greatest feature they could ad that would be felt by users.

Iphone should have went a little wider with their 4" screen, instead of just stretchign it. If they were worried about making it too unhandy, they could have just stretched the screen to the edge of the phone, instead of the white or black bands on each side of the screen.

Cody21 · Feb 23, 2013

surjavarman said:
In my opinion the last innovative phone from apple was the iphone 4. The iphone 4s and the iphone 5 are just mere updates of the iphone4. They didn't really bring anything new to the table. I don't see how Apple could innovate the smartphone hardware wise. And I also don't think apple is able to revamp ios in such a way that it will be new and revolutionary.

I think the iphone has reached its ceiling and is at the point were notebooks are for years. Innovation has been stagnating for years in that market. Mountain Lion isn't something totally new compared to SL. Heck I don't even think its an improvement at all. Its just becoming bloated. the MBA and rMBP are going to get minor cpu/gpu/ram/ssd upgrades and they will probably hone the design and thats it but they aren't going to revolutionize the notebook industry anymore. That industry is dead and has reached its ceiling a long time ago. I believe the smartphone market is about to reach saturation pretty soon too.

Innovation might have slowed for Apple, but that doesn't mean they're not gonna innovate some time down the road. Apple doesn't do things based on what everyone else is doing and if you can't tell, it has worked for them. I appreciated the upgrades they brought with the iPhone 5. So did a lot of others. I think we'll see more innovation down the road.

iOS is another place where they have started to fall behind and I'll admit it could use a refresh of some sort. And I believe Apple is well aware of this. Jony Ive is at the front line with iOS now and I believe we're gonna start were gonna notice that when iOS 7 is announced.

The laptop market right now is declining and Apple also knows this. This has been called the post-pc era. This is why Apple has the iPad.

Truth be told, I have an iPad mini, macbook pro and iPhone 5. I'm actually upgrading to a MBPr in April. Theres still use for laptops in todays market, I personally still like them for school. My iPad mini on the other hand is used more than my laptop, though.

abz1981 · Feb 23, 2013

jayrflow said:
Have you ever tried the Galaxy Note 2? It's a beast phone. Way better than this iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 is my work phone n the Galaxy Note 2 is my personal phone. I'm no Android fanboy (I own an iPad 4, iPad mini, MacBook Pro and an iPhone 5) but damn the Galaxy Note 2 runs laps around the iPhone 5. That's if you can deal with the huge size of the phone

I have used it before and find it too big for my comfort to be honest. I like a phone that can fit in my shirt pocket and not cause any discomfort. However I am glad your happy with the note 2.

Cody21 · Feb 23, 2013

jayrflow said:
Have you ever tried the Galaxy Note 2? It's a beast phone. Way better than this iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 is my work phone n the Galaxy Note 2 is my personal phone. I'm no Android fanboy (I own an iPad 4, iPad mini, MacBook Pro and an iPhone 5) but damn the Galaxy Note 2 runs laps around the iPhone 5. That's if you can deal with the huge size of the phone

This is why I love Apple. They don't pump out huge screen phones just because everyone else is doing it. Although it might work for some, I prefer a smaller screen size.

jayrflow · Feb 23, 2013

Cody21 said:
This is why I love Apple. They don't pump out huge screen phones just because everyone else is doing it. Although it might work for some, I prefer a smaller screen size.

I mean its not just about the screen size. It's the operating system as well. I'm not a huge fan of the stock Android OS. What Samsung has done with their skin for Android is genius. There's a reason why Apple and Samsung are dominating the market right now. They know what they're doing n doing it well. The overall smoothness of Touchwiz is fantastic. The features as swipe to screenshot, voice commands to reject/answer calls or basically do anything you want, the usefulness of the S-Pen to write down a quick note at anytime no matter what you are doing (Netflix, on a phone call, during a game, etc). It's just great what they did. The size does get bothersome. Especially with an otterbox defender. Talk about looking funny with that thing in your pocket. Obviously everyone has opinions. Fanboyism in my opinion is the stupidest thing ever. Yea everyone has their preference but to say "oh this OS is better than this OS so this OS needs to die out" is just stupid because that's what's driving companies to revolutionize their next phone. I love both iOS and Android. I never knock someone for liking what they do. If you like the simpleness of iOS and want a regular size screen, go for it. If you want an above average screen, more customization and possibly more features (some which you may not even use like NFC which I only used at WaWa here and there) then go with Android. But I love both Operating Systems and they're driving each other to do bigger and better things. I just think right now the Note 2 is a far better phone than the iPhone 5 but that's my opinion and obviously not everyone will feel the same as I do and that's perfectly fine

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Sorry about the long post lol

Cody21 · Feb 23, 2013

jayrflow said:
I mean its not just about the screen size. It's the operating system as well. I'm not a huge fan of the stock Android OS. What Samsung has done with their skin for Android is genius. There's a reason why Apple and Samsung are dominating the market right now. They know what they're doing n doing it well. The overall smoothness of Touchwiz is fantastic. The features as swipe to screenshot, voice commands to reject/answer calls or basically do anything you want, the usefulness of the S-Pen to write down a quick note at anytime no matter what you are doing (Netflix, on a phone call, during a game, etc). It's just great what they did. The size does get bothersome. Especially with an otterbox defender. Talk about looking funny with that thing in your pocket. Obviously everyone has opinions. Fanboyism in my opinion is the stupidest thing ever. Yea everyone has their preference but to say "oh this OS is better than this OS so this OS needs to die out" is just stupid because that's what's driving companies to revolutionize their next phone. I love both iOS and Android. I never knock someone for liking what they do. If you like the simpleness of iOS and want a regular size screen, go for it. If you want an above average screen, more customization and possibly more features (some which you may not even use like NFC which I only used at WaWa here and there) then go with Android. But I love both Operating Systems and they're driving each other to do bigger and better things. I just think right now the Note 2 is a far better phone than the iPhone 5 but that's my opinion and obviously not everyone will feel the same as I do and that's perfectly fine

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Sorry about the long post lol

I agree with you 100%. I wasn't bashing Samsung or anything, it's just Apple hasn't followed the trend of huge screens. And for people that do not like that, it's a welcome thing. However, I have no hate for Android or people who use the OS. I have owned everything from Blackberry to windows phone to Android. It was during that journey, I figured out which one I prefer the most. And that is iOS. And like you said, both Apple and Samsung dominate the market because they know what they're doing and know what people want.

Prime85 · Feb 23, 2013

Do we really need another thread like this? Anyway the iPhone/iOS and OSX are great IMO. If you don't like them then go with win8 and android.

SR45 · Feb 23, 2013

Cody21 said:
This is why I love Apple. They don't pump out huge screen phones just because everyone else is doing it. Although it might work for some, I prefer a smaller screen size.

Agree. Let the others have their wider smartphones. I really like the iphone 4S and 5, but not bigger. Even the iphone 5 is a bit too light, and does not have a solid feeling to it. Business and normal phone activities for me with a mature looking, not a big toy pressed against my ears

This argument on wider phones have been going on for a good while, and Apple (Thank Goodness) does not care about you guys that want bigger/wider/lighter toys to play with. Seen kids text everywhere they go, and seem they can't function without texting on the phone for awhile. Get out more often and see the world, not texting and playing games/music on a phone. Computers can to used for those functions.

jayrflow · Feb 23, 2013

Cody21 said:
I agree with you 100%. I wasn't bashing Samsung or anything, it's just Apple hasn't followed the trend of huge screens. And for people that do not like that, it's a welcome thing. However, I have no hate for Android or people who use the OS. I have owned everything from Blackberry to windows phone to Android. It was during that journey, I figured out which one I prefer the most. And that is iOS. And like you said, both Apple and Samsung dominate the market because they know what they're doing and know what people want.

Oh no I didn't think you were lol I'm just saying every forum obviously has their fanboys. Being on XDA I see it a lot. People saying "Apple needs to go down" etc n I'm always against stuff like that. I love what Apple does. I love their design on things. I also like how Android tries to push new features out there. Like the notification center. Lets be honest. I'm sure a big reason Apple eventually added it was because of the way it was popular on Android. But some features like NFC havent caught on n might not for a while. But both being a dominant factor in the market will only push each other n other companies to do bigger n better things which ends up being a good thing for us, the consumer, at the end.

Twixt · Feb 23, 2013

walmartmartyr said:
inovation in iphone would be double the battery life.... but will they? no. Because its not flashy, its not WOW, but will be the greatest feature they could ad that would be felt by users.

Iphone should have went a little wider with their 4" screen, instead of just stretchign it. If they were worried about making it too unhandy, they could have just stretched the screen to the edge of the phone, instead of the white or black bands on each side of the screen.

Handless interface
Holographic projector
Battery automatic charging based on motions or thermal contact with hand
Folding screen
...

Battery autonomy is not innovation just some specs improvement unless it is drastic increase based on great physics improvement
Iphone is indeed at a ceiling, same for all capacitive screen smartphones...

Darryjr · Feb 23, 2013

Note 2 is a huge device for everyday use. Give the lg optimus g a shot, scores better in most tests above i5 s3 note 2 . It's a beast , quad core , 2 gig32gb. Fastest thing I've ever used. You cannot slow it down. Wife and I have iPhone 5, work phone is the optimus, thinking of making it my full time daily driver.

Essenar · Feb 23, 2013

When you have it in your hand, 5.5" seems amazing.

When you have to put it in your pocket or when you're at the gym using it to listen to music, it's a pain in the butt.

Retrosonic · Feb 23, 2013

iphone Screen

Walmart above makes a Great point:

I currently have an iphone4. My problem is that for me the screen is just too small!! I wear glasses, and to use the iphone for texts and surfing (which I use it Alot for), the screen simply is too small.

Walmart is absolutely right when he says Apple should also have made the screen a bit wider as well as streching it. That they did not is a competitive mistake.

When I went to my local store to see the iphone5, it was with the intention to buy it. But...when I compared the 5 to the 4, and saw how the screen on the 5 is barely bigger than the 4, I declined. It wouldnt have helped me much.

I am now eagerly waiting for the Galaxy S4, which has the bigger screen and *may* even have an Eight core processor, altho this has not been confirmed. In every respect the S4 looks to be a killer phone.

takeshi74 · Feb 23, 2013

In my opinion threads like this reached their ceiling long ago. They don't bring anything new to the table and just constantly rehash the same gripes old gripes.

Most products are evolutionary by nature. If you're expecting a constant stream of revolutionary products then the lack of revolutionary products isn't your problem.

surjavarman · Feb 23, 2013

Why are you guys talking about windows 8 and android. I was talking about revolution and innovation in the smartphone market and how apple can not innovate anymore since everything has already been invented and ios is already established (like osx) that they can not revamp it anymore.

Obviously when I said that the notebook industry has been stagnating for the last decade. I didn't mean just OS X and the macbook lineup. I meant windows and their cheap plastic laptops as well. I thought you guys could figure that out.

I am trying to say that the iphone is now at the point where the ipod was 5 years ago and where os x (windows xp/7/8, ubuntu if you will) was 10 years ago

walmartmartyr · Feb 24, 2013

surjavarman said:
Why are you guys talking about windows 8 and android. I was talking about revolution and innovation in the smartphone market and how apple can not innovate anymore since everything has already been invented and ios is already established (like osx) that they can not revamp it anymore.

Obviously when I said that the notebook industry has been stagnating for the last decade. I didn't mean just OS X and the macbook lineup. I meant windows and their cheap plastic laptops as well. I thought you guys could figure that out.

I am trying to say that the iphone is now at the point where the ipod was 5 years ago and where os x (windows xp/7/8, ubuntu if you will) was 10 years ago

WOW, I hope you never get a job where thinking outside the box is required....

Apple can innovate and invent, they just need another steve jobs, which will never happen.

iOS can change ALOT, if apple wanted it to, it needs alot of user ability to customize.

im not an inventor so I cannot predict what the iphone needs to be considered innovative. Wish I could, i may be rich.

People here are saying what they would like to see in the next iphone, how has the iphone 4 been an innovation from iphone 3gs? all changes have been slight hardware changes and spec increases. Same with the 5 from the 4s.

Prime85 · Feb 24, 2013

SR45 said:
Agree. Let the others have their wider smartphones. I really like the iphone 4S and 5, but not bigger. Even the iphone 5 is a bit too light, and does not have a solid feeling to it. Business and normal phone activities for me with a mature looking, not a big toy pressed against my ears This argument on wider phones have been going on for a good while, and Apple (Thank Goodness) does not care about you guys that want bigger/wider/lighter toys to play with. Seen kids text everywhere they go, and seem they can't function without texting on the phone for awhile. Get out more often and see the world, not texting and playing games/music on a phone. Computers can to used for those functions.

Don't forget that it wasn't android that came out with NC center. Jail broken iPhones had that feature first.

quietstormSD · Feb 24, 2013

Hopefully the iPhone 6 will be bigger (wider and longer) and not just longer. And include an NFC chip

avanpelt · Feb 24, 2013

quietstormSD said:
Hopefully the iPhone 6 will be bigger (wider and longer) and not just longer. And include an NFC chip

As it stands now, I don't think NFC is a big deal. How many people have I seen utilizing it in the real world? Zero, and I live in the Atlanta area -- not the middle of nowhere. I'm sure the companies using NFC technology are just scratching the surface of what the technology is capable of, though. The only thing I could envision using it for in terms of its abilities now would be those tappable sensors that you can put on the dashboard of your car to change settings on the phone.

I think NFC in Android phones right now is a lot like Passbook on iOS. People get their new phones, get all excited about having NFC or Passbook for about a week until they realize the use cases for the technology right now are very few and far between. Then, they just go back to doing things the way they've always done them in most cases. Even on the Android tech geek podcasts I listen to, no one is saying anything about the usefulness of NFC in their daily lives.

Now, if the major credit cards and banks start embracing the technology, that changes the game. I could envision a time in 5-10 years where the PIN-input machines we all use now go away and each merchant has an NFC terminal where they can see a unique ID for each device in the vicinity that has an NFC chip. You get up to the clerk, they ask you what your unique ID is (a random four-digit code that changes after each transaction and is visible on your screen). You tell them the code, they push the transaction details to your device, you choose the method of payment from your digital "wallet", complete the transaction, and get an e-receipt on your device. That's what I want to see from NFC; but I think it's still several years into the future.

mattopotamus · Feb 24, 2013

avanpelt said:
As it stands now, I don't think NFC is a big deal. How many people have I seen utilizing it in the real world? Zero, and I live in the Atlanta area -- not the middle of nowhere. I'm sure the companies using NFC technology are just scratching the surface of what the technology is capable of, though. The only thing I could envision using it for in terms of its abilities now would be those tappable sensors that you can put on the dashboard of your car to change settings on the phone.

I think NFC in Android phones right now is a lot like Passbook on iOS. People get their new phones, get all excited about having NFC or Passbook for about a week until they realize the use cases for the technology right now are very few and far between. Then, they just go back to doing things the way they've always done them in most cases. Even on the Android tech geek podcasts I listen to, no one is saying anything about the usefulness of NFC in their daily lives.

Now, if the major credit cards and banks start embracing the technology, that changes the game. I could envision a time in 5-10 years where the PIN-input machines we all use now go away and each merchant has an NFC terminal where they can see a unique ID for each device in the vicinity that has an NFC chip. You get up to the clerk, they ask you what your unique ID is (a random four-digit code that changes after each transaction and is visible on your screen). You tell them the code, they push the transaction details to your device, you choose the method of payment from your digital "wallet", complete the transaction, and get an e-receipt on your device. That's what I want to see from NFC; but I think it's still several years into the future.

Most people don't use nfc as a payment method... That is why you have not seen it. Nfc is most useful with tags. For example tapping an ncf tag will launch apps and settings. That Is where it really shines. I don't think most people understand that.

I tap the nfc tag next to my door.. Alarm sets, door locks, wifi connects, lights turn on.

QCassidy352 · Feb 24, 2013

surjavarman said:
In my opinion the last innovative phone from apple was the iphone 4. The iphone 4s and the iphone 5 are just mere updates of the iphone4. They didn't really bring anything new to the table.

Everything since the original iphone has been incremental. The biggest leap forward since iphone 2G was 3GS --> 4. But the second biggest was iphone 4s --> 5. it's an upgrade over the 4s in practically every possible way: processor, ram, graphics, screen size, rear camera, front camera, better wifi, LTE.

What you have to understand is that iphone 2g was a very good product. Each iphone since then has improved in clear, noticeable ways, but no, they are not "revolutionary" improvements -- that's very hard to do (and often not very advisable) once you have a mature, successful, well-built and well-received product.

Did the iPhone reach its ceiling?

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