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Iconoclysm

macrumors 68040
May 13, 2010
3,092
2,467
Washington, DC
Quite. The depth of a mobile phone is dictated by the dimensions of a battery that's sufficient to power that phone for an acceptable length of time. Unless Apple have uncovered some magic battery technology that enables them to shave several millimetres off its depth, the iPhone is going to remain as 'fat' as ever.

If super-skinny batteries are feasible at a realistic price then I'm sure there are people who would be willing to pay a $100+ premium for a skinnier phone. What absolutely no-one will want is a skinny phone that's only been made possible by halving the battery life.

With the iPhone 5 newer LTE radios that used a quarter of the power of previous radios came along. That couldn't happen again? Just pointing out that the other way to develop "magic battery technology" is simply to use less power.

I do often wonder what people whose iPhone 5/5S batteries die in less than a day are doing with their phones. I'm pulling off about 2 days right now with a 5S and my other phones don't do any better.
 

rp2011

macrumors 68020
Oct 12, 2010
2,320
2,628
Well it's still early, maybe we are seeing more 4.7 leaks this early because Apple believes there will be higher demand for it than the 5.5, which I think will be the case demand-wise if there is a 5.5.

So, while I think a 5.5 release later next year would be fine, I would not discount it's existence for this year this early in the rumor cycle.
 

Iconoclysm

macrumors 68040
May 13, 2010
3,092
2,467
Washington, DC
Making devices as thin as possible is not innovation.

Macbook Pro is a good example - now we have non replaceable batteries and RAM. A big step backwards.

I know there's a general "war on fat", but seriously, that shouldn't apply to electronics!

Who said it was innovation? That doesn't mean it isn't useful.
 

MarkyMarc43

macrumors newbie
Jun 18, 2012
16
1
It's really quite simple: tomorrow is quarterly reporting. Words like "delays" and "lower guidance" will drive the stock price down. It's really very effective. What would improve things significantly, is if these sites would just stop linking to these stories which are rumors of non-existent products.
 

Danoc

macrumors 6502a
Mar 28, 2011
623
1,220
So in 2015, the iPhone will be thinner than 8mm, won't have wireless charging, won't resist to water, won't have increased battery life, and will cost $100 more?

I'm missing something?
 

Serban

Suspended
Jan 8, 2013
5,159
928
if a 5.5" iphone will be release in spring THEN they will announce it in september or october event, because i dont think they will be making an event just for it
 

mantan

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2009
1,742
1,030
DFW
A hundred and thirty something posts griping about a battery life rumor. And the rumor about $100 price increase doesn't even cause a ripple.

Just the way Apple likes it. Bet the base model will still be 16GB too.
 

JohnPhamlore

macrumors regular
Aug 3, 2011
125
10
There never was a credible 2014 5.5 inch rumor

I am in full agreement with the other posters who are speculating there never was a planned Apple launch of a 5.5 inch screen phone in 2014. If it happens it will happen at the regular time late 2015.

Apple has enough on the plate with the rumored iWatch. Why would they shoot all their bullets in 2014?

Besides, Android phones are headed for their own completely self-induced trainwreck when so-called 64-bit phones will start being sold that only run 32-bit OSes and have no upgrade path to actually use a 64-bit OS. All Apple has to do is wait a year for this to become evident as a giant scam on Android users.
 

LordVic

Cancelled
Sep 7, 2011
5,938
12,458
A hundred and thirty something posts griping about a battery life rumor. And the rumor about $100 price increase doesn't even cause a ripple.

Just the way Apple likes it. Bet the base model will still be 16GB too.

the post about $100 increase currently has 569 responses....
 

XboxMySocks

macrumors 68020
Oct 25, 2009
2,230
198
THIS! ^^^

I don't care how thin it is. Honestly, it makes it awkward to hold when it's too thin. Make it the thickness of the current 4/5 series for all I care, just put a huge honkin battery in it that will actually last an entire day (or gasp, maybe 2!) please!
Lmfao, the current batteries last a day easily.
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
Just make battery life longer!

Don't give us that crap "it maintains it's industry leading battery life"...no! Make a new "industry leading" battery life!

Can't get "thinner" with this kind of thinking. And apparently, "we" all want thinner because the existing iPhones are almost unbearably thick :rolleyes:

Please Apple, "we" want it much thinner than even this rumor- paper thin. Take the battery out altogether like you took the superdrive out of the iMac in the name of thin. The battery takes up most of the internal space, so just get rid of it so we can have a thinner phone. Paraphrasing what the cheerleaders said about the superdrive removal: "you can just buy the amount of battery you want externally and everyone can get exactly the amount of battery they want" (of course, Apple didn't lower the price of the iMac with this change… and shouldn't with this complete battery removal either).

Thin is so much more important than utility. :rolleyes:
 
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samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
Just turn off the stuff you don't use. Only takes 2 minutes and there's no reason not to really. Here's a few things you can try:


1. Disable location and background app refresh for Facebook (FB in particular is a massive drain when that's turned on)

2. Disable background app refresh for apps you don't care about

3. Turn off parallax (Settings/General/Accessibility/Turn Reduce Motion ON)

4. Turn off everything you don't use Spotlight to search for (Settings/General/Spotlight Search/Untick everything you don't use it for)

5. Turn off Documents & Data under iCloud settings for unimportant apps (Settings/iCloud/Documents & Data/Untick all unimportant apps. If there are no important apps here at all turn off the master switch)

6. Delete all apps/games you don't use

7. Delete all music/podcasts you're not going to listen to

8. Keep your screen brightness as low as you can



And then do a hard reset (Hold down power button, switch off iPhone and turn back on again). That will boost your battery life and your phone's performance.

You're welcome ;)

So you're suggesting someone not use the phone they want to but rather have to jury rig longer battery life.

I would argue - paraphrasing Apple - that if the customer has to concern themselves with how to prolong battery life, then the implementation (device) has failed.

----------

Can't get "thinner" with this kind of thinking. And apparently, "we" all want thinner because the existing iPhones are almost unbearably thick :rolleyes:

Please Apple, "we" want it much thinner than even this rumor- paper thin. Take the batter out altogether like you took the superdrive out of the iMac in the name of thin. Paraphrasing what the cheerleaders said then: "you can just buy the amount of battery you want externally and everyone can get exactly the amount of battery they want"

Thin is so much more important than utility. :rolleyes:

I don't get the obsession with thinness. I don't want a brick - but these days, most phones are far from being "bricks." And as I said earlier - at 5.5" (if the phone is that size) - you don't want it too thin. It will feel brittle. I would trade a MM or two for longer battery life any day. You shouldn't HAVE to turn functions off and/or keep your phone plugged in or carry an external battery to get through a day. That's a sacrifice I wouldn't make for "thinness"
 

pdaholic

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2011
1,835
2,544
For all those people who say the phone is already thin enough: pick up an iPod Touch and tell me you don't think the 5/5S felt like a brick afterwards.

Completely agree here. My 5th gen Touch feels great in the hand. A bigger version of it would be awesome for a phone/reading device.
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
Oh I agree (about the obsession with thinness) but visit any predictions threads and it's like the masses are programmed to write "thinner" as a desirable benefit. I doubt they actually feel that way but write it simply because they know Apple will go there and thus it's a guess they can almost count on.

Personally, I think the drive for thinner at the expense of utility makes no sense. If the iPhone is going to deliver a bigger screen(s), fill the new space with battery rather than shave a few more mm off for marketing spin. I think all this ongoing trend does is makes companies like Mophie happy.
 

Jsameds

Suspended
Apr 22, 2008
3,525
7,987
So you're suggesting someone not use the phone they want to but rather have to jury rig longer battery life.

I would argue - paraphrasing Apple - that if the customer has to concern themselves with how to prolong battery life, then the implementation (device) has failed.

Not really, that's like moaning you're only getting 4 mpg in your vehicle when you travel with soft tyres, the windows down and the air con on and then blaming it on the manufacturer because that's how you want to use it. If you want the battery to last longer then just don't be stupid with it, basically.

Besides, literally the first thing I said was

"Just turn off the stuff you don't use" :cool:
 

Bare

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2008
182
6
Its more convenient not to have to charge your phone's battery every day. I shouldn't have to turn off every setting to get more than one day battery life.
This sounds more like whining than "a very valid complaint."

You don't have to turn off every setting. Just be aware. Why have bluetooth and wifi turned on all the time if you're only using them some of the time? It's a really quick thing to turn on and off. Why have your screen brightness all the way up when you're in a moderately-lit environment? You can change the brightness from the same, easy menu as wifi and bluetooth.

But basically you're saying, "I'm too lazy to swipe up on my phone every now and then, so Apple should change their entire product design." I think that if you're going to jack up the brightness, run location services and push notifications for every single app possible, and otherwise do every other power-sucking thing you can possibly to do your device, you shouldn't expect the battery to last 2-3 days.

Apple's not going to make a phone that's so thin that no battery can fit inside it, so I doubt this particular claim, anyway. In general, the iPhone has always had more than enough battery power for me, even when it wasn't nearly this thin.
 

samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
Not really, that's like moaning you're only getting 4 mpg in your vehicle when you travel with soft tyres, the windows down and the air con on and then blaming it on the manufacturer because that's how you want to use it. If you want it t last longer then just don't be stupid with it, basically.

Besides, literally the first thing I said was

"Just turn off the stuff you don't use" :cool:

Bad analogy.

A car doesn't ship with soft tires, the air condition set to high, etc

Being stupid is relative. You can suffer from battery drain without being stupid.
 

Jsameds

Suspended
Apr 22, 2008
3,525
7,987
Bad analogy.

A car doesn't ship with soft tires, the air condition set to high, etc

Being stupid is relative. You can suffer from battery drain without being stupid.

Hey I'm only trying to help. I give some good advice and get jumped on.


Sigh.. :confused:
 

sixrom

macrumors 6502a
Nov 13, 2013
709
1
I was planning to buy one after enjoying the Note 3 I'm currently using. But it sounds like Apple is going to be way too late to market. I must say Apples looking like quite the laggard, I never thought I'd see the day when they simply could not keep up. Rather pathetic.
 

samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
Hey I'm only trying to help. I give some good advice and get jumped on.


Sigh.. :confused:

Hey - I think your suggestions are great. I'm looking at the conversation from a few steps back though - and my original point. It would be great if a customer didn't have to tweak their phone to get a good amount of usage. And I'd sacrifice a MM or two for better battery life. It's a worthy sacrifice to me. So I don't have to start turning things on and off.
 

2IS

macrumors 68030
Jan 9, 2011
2,938
433
So Apple designed a phone w/o considering the reality of battery technology? This story doesn't seem credible.

You must be new here... Apple's obsession with thin supersedes all other concerns, no matter how little sense it makes. It's more important to them than it is to nearly anyone actually buying the phone.
 
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