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or its possible the design did leak out, Steve found out and got pissed and had them redesign it all the while letting the people who stole the first one think they had a jump on everyone else.
 
The only thing I was hoping for externally was a slightly bigger screen. Otherwise I think the existing model has a beautiful design, far better than the previous 3G/3GS designs.

In that sense I don't think it's necessary for Apple to change the body just to change the body. There's not as much of a splash when the exterior is the same, but in the long run I think it's going to be Siri that really makes/breaks the new iPhone. The potential for Siri is really great, time will tell if it works well enough to change how people use their phone.
 
iPhone 4S = Much ado about nothing

Don't waste your time people, just wait for the next model.

Makes me laugh comments like that. Like you opinion applies to everybody out there. :rolleyes:
I for one can't wait to buy the 4S, simple because it's time to upgrade from my 3G and I do like the 4 look. Also with new guts and improve performance, why not? Great phone.
Next year we should see a redesign iPhone, but I will wait my AT&T contract run out to get a iPhone 5S. It's all good.

Also the whiners here are a microcosm of the buyers out there looking for the latest. Apple will sell millions of these and they in purpose moved the launch date to October in order to take advantage of the holidays.
 
I have a thought....how about everyone chill out, evaluate your phone situation on a personal basis (ie, do you need a new one, what features are most important to you, pros, cons, Android, iOS, etc...) and make a purchasing decision. If a different/better device comes out that intrigues you, re-evaluate. Ta da.
 
iPhone 4S = Much ado about nothing

Don't waste your time people, just wait for the next model.

oh.... I see AI assitants, twice the memory, 7 times the processing power, completely enhanced operating system, a lot better camera...

what would it take to make it worth buying?

change the case to be a bit thinner?

you guys!
 
"So, there is some hope that we will ultimately see the design in the future."

'Hope' by whom?
Its a stupid concept. Apple would never release an asymmetrical device that felt totally different in each of its 4 possible orientations.
And it would reduce space for the battery. They would do this.... why?

This 'phone as sexual fetish' movement has to end.
 
Siri will be the selling point of the 4s for me. The only reason I don't use the calendar and such is because I find it all very annoying (Maybe I'm just lazy) to enter everything manually. If the 4S can do all that for me using voice commands while I do other things then i'm sold on the device.

I'm pretty high on the on the upgrades in general, but I'm a little skeptical about Siri. I've worked with voice recognition software before and it is generally unpredictable, to say the least. Let's hope Apple took long enough to get it right. I got a kick last night on ABC's Nightline when the reporter asked Siri what was the number one rated late-night show and Siri responded with a list of nearby hardware stores. Remember that the Apple demo was most certainly very well planned and rehearsed. It will take a lot of guts to send that dictated email from Siri to your boss without reading it first.
 
That mockup is bad to begin with. Why Apple would make a gigantic home button is beyond me? If anything, Apple would remove it altogether and do some weird sensitive touch thing.

Like I kept saying every month. 4S, not 5.

I agree - this is a prototype to be introduced next year.

We all stand corrected...

As I've been saying, I know people who always upgrade early and get in line for the latest iPhone, and Apple knows this. (And yes, they will be camping out next week).

Why would Apple leave money on the table by going to the iPhone 5 now?
 
iPhone 4S = Much ado about nothing

Don't waste your time people, just wait for the next model.

And what, pray tell, are these amazing features that will justify not having this great camera, performance, speed for the next year?
4G LTE, which doesn't even exist in 90% of the country?
That's it?
Really?
 
We've heard nothing about when the next generation iPhone will arrive, but if we had to guess, we'd think Apple would stick to a late fall schedule again in 2012.

I think they'll go back to the previous schedule next year with an iPhone 5 in June and new iPods in Sept 2012. I think they only changed it this year because iOS wasn't ready for a June release.
 
I can wait, the screen for the 4S is smaller than what my Droid X current has, but by only half an inch. Not too big of a deal right now. The 4S will definitely keep me happy until October 2012 for the new revamped design. :D
 
It will take a lot of guts to send that dictated email from Siri to your boss without reading it first.

No, it would take stupidity.
I don't even hit send on a typed message without proofing first.
You'd do that with voice... because?
 
Sure, hindsight quarterbacking and all that, but this design, while pretty, never made sense when examined under the design language and use cases that Apple has established in its iOS devices. The problem is when you go landscape, which is a must for many apps. The vertical offset of the screen (larger chin) would violate the symmetry for landscape handling. Similarly, the taper would create an odd feel from one side to the other. The disparate weighting from end to end could potentially be an issue in apps that rely on the accelerometer and gyro for movement tracking.

This "Air" inspired desing looks nice and may make sense on a notebook computer that is only held one way, but I full expect Apple will maintain uniform thickness and weighting on iOS devices for the foreseable future as the devices need to be orientation agnostic (with obvious nods to the phone that often won't work upside down). And that's the thing you have to remember when considering designs from Apple. Led by Ive and the spirit of Rams' work at Braun, their designs won't be pretty "just because". They derive from how the devices are used.

That being said, a larger screen, even in the existing design, would be welcome, but I think we're seeing component economics and the focus of selling to the billions without a smartphone/phone are at work here, to the bemoaning of us geeks.
 
Here is a point I don't think people see.

Most people have the iphone 4 now and many expected a new design. I for one did and I don't have a 4 I have a 3gs.

With everyone now assuming that next year we'll get a fresh iphone 5 with a bigger screen, nfc, LTE, etc....WHY would or will anyone who owns a 4 upgrade just for Siri?

By apple still selling the 3gs for free on contract, it shows the IOS 5 will run on the 3gs, so it will definitely run on the 4. Which to me doesn't really validate someone upgrading to the 4s unless they are on a 3g or tired of the 3gs.

I don't like the 4 or 4S because of glass backed and the 4 had an issue with the antenna (on my iphone 4 I owned for 2 weeks and sent back)

I don't know if I'll get the 4S, but if I do I know that I'll be unhappy if the 4" iphone 4GS, 5, 6 or whatever comes out in a year.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A5313e Safari/7534.48.3)

16 months passed and all they come up is that?

I'm normally a big Apple supporter, but I have to say that I agree with this sentiment. The Siri voice integration is impressive, but it's really kind of gimmicky and will be cool as a parlor trick at a party or to impress your friends, but I just don't see myself using it that much day to day. Also, much of this functionality is already baked into Android, so I just don't see it as that compelling.

Other than that, it's faster and has a better camera, whoop-dee-doo!

I think when the 3GS came out, the mobile phone space was quite different and Apple could get away with a "spec bump". Times are quite different with some really great phones that have come out lately (Galaxy S2 for example). Sure they will still sell lots of them, but I think we will look back on this as a point where Apple shot itself in the foot, in the mobile phone space anyway. Time will tell.
 
Good point.

1 iPhone
2 iPhone 3G
3 iPhone 3GS
4 iPhone 4
5 iPhone 4S
6 iPhone _

EDIT: nevermind. next iPhone will be called iPhone Nano.

According to Apple's official roadmap as of 2011, it's

1 iPhone
2 iPhone 3G
3 iPhone 3GS
4 iPhone 4
5 iPhone 4S
6 iPhone 4G (4G LTE/A6 chip)
 
I think the next phone is gonna get wider, that's the real estate I"m talking about. The A6 chip is gonna be smaller more efficient so that plus a 'wider' battery is gonna be pretty awesome I think.

Well I certainly hope you are wrong. Wider will mean it won't fit in my pocket as comfortably and I don't see any real benefit or need for a larger screen. When I want something bigger, I pull out my iPad or laptop. Hopefully, the decision makers at Apple also carry the phone in their pockets or I am gonna have the 4s for a long time. If anything, I think the form factor will get smaller as tech allows. Thinner & smaller = cooler = that wow factor everyone is whining about.
 
Thinking:

This whole debacle really brings to mind musician Robert Fripp's great quote: "your expectations are a prison". Seriously.

If they took all the innards of the new 4s and put it in a tapered case like this one and called it the 5 these guys would be doing cartwheels.
 
My wife has never had a smartphone but after playing with an iPad decided she wanted one. She wanted an iPhone 4 but I talked her into waiting for the announcement and showed her the videos of the 4S. It took her three seconds to blurt "I want that!" I pointed out that we could save a hundred if she got the 4 instead. She looked at me if I were nuts, "but I want the Siri thing!"

Many may be disappointed but I think Apple was targeting the non smartphone crowd like my wife more than hoping for existing upgrades from 4 users already under contract.

Despite disappointment on the boards and the initial stock reaction, as far as people like my wife are concerned? Apple, +1.
 
Apple clearly feels there is a lot of gas left in the tank of the iPhone 4's design. The design itself is nothing short of brilliant (Antenna, distribution of weight for handling, weight, thickness, it beautiful...) The newest competitor phones still can't match the engineering behind this incredibly compact device. Production efficiencies are maximized, margins have been maximized, a third carrier and they are now gonna pave ground into the lower end of the consumer market. iPhones for everyone! The more phones they put in consumer hands the more traffic gets piped through iTunes and the more that Apple halo effect can go to work, prompting additional sales of iPads and laptops.

For all we know Apple simply could not make the leaps in design they really wanted to because of component sizes, production limitations, tech simply not fully baked to Apples standards.

I understand all that but at the end of the day I was disappointed we did not see a new design. Expect a tsunami of interest and sales when an actual redesign comes around next year.
 
Here is a point I don't think people see.

Most people have the iphone 4 now and many expected a new design. I for one did and I don't have a 4 I have a 3gs.

With everyone now assuming that next year we'll get a fresh iphone 5 with a bigger screen, nfc, LTE, etc....WHY would or will anyone who owns a 4 upgrade just for Siri?

By apple still selling the 3gs for free on contract, it shows the IOS 5 will run on the 3gs, so it will definitely run on the 4. Which to me doesn't really validate someone upgrading to the 4s unless they are on a 3g or tired of the 3gs.

I don't like the 4 or 4S because of glass backed and the 4 had an issue with the antenna (on my iphone 4 I owned for 2 weeks and sent back)

I don't know if I'll get the 4S, but if I do I know that I'll be unhappy if the 4" iphone 4GS, 5, 6 or whatever comes out in a year.

Apple is updating their designs every two years to lure buyers to get their new phones when their normal 2 year contract runs out.
The people who owns the 4 will go crazy to get the 5, Apple is now with the 4S after the owners of the 3GS and 3G that have not upgrade and new users of course.
No wonder this is the strategy. Makes sense. Not many people need to update the iPhone every year. The ones who do are more after status than anything else.
 
A lot of things went weird with the anticipation leading up to this release. Apple should have done a better job setting expectations instead of letting rumors fly off in all directions.

They probably could not of timed it properly but the fact that this was cooks first presentation as CEO one would think they needed to blow this out of the water to reassure the share holders that Steve Jobs exit wasn't going to effect the company.

BTW Apple shares took a bit of a hit on all this news.
 
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