Apple Announces iPhone Software Update & SDK Release Date

[Manic Mouse]

When was the argument about the drive being too slow? Surely its the size that stops them from using it. The iPhone would be pretty thick when you factor in the GSM radio, sensors, wifi/bluetooth etc Much thicker than a 5.5 gen iPod.

Some people have said in the past that the iPhone OS requires flash memory because a 4,200rpm HDD is too slow.

I'm honestly not sure how thick the thing would be, but the current iPhone is significantly thinner than my 5.5Gb 80Gb iPod so there's room for growth in my eyes.

 

[diamond.g]

what happens is i use my gmail as a storage of everything. i dont delete anything off it ever. i delete it off my inbox on my computer, and whatever is in my phone gets managed. usually far less than what is in my inbox on the computer.

i archived all my mail in gmail. so its no longer in my inbox on the phone, but now i have all these weird subfolders under my inbox and whatnot on the iphone. it says gmail mail, but it really looks like a duplicate or something

any help anyone?

What you are seeing is normal, the iPhone converted all POP3 gmail settings to IMAP with the 1.1.3 update. If you logged onto gmail you would see the same exact folders. Or if you used IMAP in the Mail.app you would see the same layout.

 

[dr_lha]

Some people have said in the past that the iPhone OS requires flash memory because a 4,200rpm HDD is too slow.

A 4,200rpm HHD is fast enough for the MacBook Air though isn't it? The lack of HDD in the iPhone is about 2 things: 1) Form factor and 2) Apple moving towards the future of 100% solid state storage (a step they also took with the high end MacBook Air).

 

[Project]

Some people have said in the past that the iPhone OS requires flash memory because a 4,200rpm HDD is too slow.

I'm honestly not sure how thick the thing would be, but the current iPhone is significantly thinner than my 5.5Gb 80Gb iPod so there's room for growth in my eyes.

Those people are crazy... as the guy below points out, there are many advantages to solid state, but 4,200 RPM drives will run any OS decently.

The iPhone is thinner for one reason and one reason only. It uses flash.

A 1.8" drive on Flickr.

Compared to this tiny chip for the Flash on the iPhone logicboard (the one with Samsung inscribed on it)

 

[Manic Mouse]

But slap that 1.8" into the current iPhone and it doesn't make it that much thicker. Like I said, it would be about as thick as my 5.5G iPod. I, personally, would be more than happy to put up with a fatter iPhone if I could fit all my music and a decent amount of video on it.

 

[ncsmith4]

Yeah, it would make it a lot thicker. Plus it would have zero battery life.

 

[Manic Mouse]

Yeah, it would make it a lot thicker. Plus it would have zero battery life.

It wouldn't make it "a lot" thicker, the post above shows you just how "massively thick" 1.8" HDDs are. Not very. The 80Gb iPod classic is about the same dimensions as the iPhone if I remember correctly. It may even be slimmer in some dimensions.

It's the screen and processor that takes up most of the power, not the storage. The Classics have better battery life than the iPhone for playing music as well if memory serves.

Apple wouldn't even say how much battery life is saved by using a SSD in the MacBook Air. I'm going to assume that's because it makes minimal difference. The storage is one of the least power consuming components in both the iPhone and the MacBook Air. It's the processor, wireless networking and screens you have to worry about.

 

[Project]

But slap that 1.8" into the current iPhone and it doesn't make it that much thicker. Like I said, it would be about as thick as my 5.5G iPod. I, personally, would be more than happy to put up with a fatter iPhone if I could fit all my music and a decent amount of video on it.

It would, as the current iPhone with the small flash memory is very tightly packed. Its not just about thickness but the length and width too. Look at how much extra volume would need to be put into the iPhone, when you compare the 1.8" drive with the flash.The iPod HDD is bigger than the entire iPhone logic board and communications chip set put together.

You could make compromises, by putting in a smaller/weaker battery in there to accommodate the HDD. But that is not really viable given how much juice it takes at the moment.

I'd say realistically you are looking at something like the 4G iPod in terms of volume for a HDD iPhone. I think it would lose a lot of its lustre as a phone if it was that bulky

 

[Manic Mouse]

It would, as the current iPhone with the small flash memory is very tightly packed. Its not just about thickness but the length and width too. Look at how much extra volume would need to be put into the iPhone, when you compare the 1.8" drive with the flash.The iPod HDD is bigger than the entire iPhone logic board and communications chip set put together.

You could make compromises, by putting in a smaller/weaker battery in there to accommodate the HDD. But that is not really viable given how much juice it takes at the moment.

I'd say realistically you are looking at something like the 4G iPod in terms of volume for a HDD iPhone. I think it would lose a lot of its lustre as a phone if it was that bulky

Actually I wouldn't say the iPhone is that tightly packed. Look how much thinner the iPod Touch is than the iPhone. Even the 80Gb classic is comparable in terms of size. The iPhone is relatively fat for what it has inside it. Like you said, the iPhone/iPod Touch logic board itself is actually very small what's taking up the "thickness" space is the receiver on the bottom.

This dissection shows what's inside the iPhone. Now if you think of that as one "layer", then what would be the problem adding a 1.8"HDD as a second layer behind this? It would increase the thickness, but not double or tripple it to a 4G iPod size. When a 1.8" HDD is only a few mm thick why assume it'll add cms to the thickness?

Even better, have the iPhone logic and HDD on the first layer with a bigger battery and antenna on the second.

80Gb iPod Classic size:
Height: 4.1 inches (103.5 mm)
Width: 2.4 inches (61.8 mm)
Depth: 0.41 inch (10.5 mm)

iPhone size:
Height: 4.5 inches (115 mm)
Width: 2.4 inches (61 mm)
Depth: 0.46 inch (11.6 mm)

Classic battery life: 30 hours music playback (ie: accessing the HDD)
iPhone battery life: 24 hours music playback (ie: accessing the flash)

The iPod classic is both thinner and has a longer battery life than the iPhone. So no, a 1.8" HDD isn't monstrously big or a power drain.

 

[ncsmith4]

Theres not really a whole lot of empty space inside the iPhone. Adding a HD would probably thicken it by 50-60%. Not to mention, constantly accessing the HD *DOES* eat into battery life.

 

[Project]

Actually I wouldn't say the iPhone is that tightly packed. Look how much thinner the iPod Touch is than the iPhone. Even the 80Gb classic is comparable in terms of size. The iPhone is relatively fat for what it has inside it. Like you said, the iPhone/iPod Touch logic board itself is actually very small what's taking up the "thickness" space is the receiver on the bottom.

This dissection shows what's inside the iPhone. Now if you think of that as one "layer", then what would be the problem adding a 1.8"HDD as a second layer behind this? It would increase the thickness, but not double or tripple it to a 4G iPod size. When a 1.8" HDD is only a few mm thick why assume it'll add cms to the thickness?

Even better, have the iPhone logic and HDD on the first layer with a bigger battery and antenna on the second.

80Gb iPod Classic size:
Height: 4.1 inches (103.5 mm)
Width: 2.4 inches (61.8 mm)
Depth: 0.41 inch (10.5 mm)

iPhone size:
Height: 4.5 inches (115 mm)
Width: 2.4 inches (61 mm)
Depth: 0.46 inch (11.6 mm)

Classic battery life: 30 hours music playback (ie: accessing the HDD)
iPhone battery life: 24 hours music playback (ie: accessing the flash)

The iPod classic is both thinner and has a longer battery life than the iPhone. So no, a 1.8" HDD isn't monstrously big or a power drain.

From said article

"The motherboard in the iPhone is very compact; it is actually composed of two separate PCBs that are sandwiched together." - sounds like they are very conscious of space constraints to hit an attractive form factor.

The point is this. What can you remove from the iPhone to add that hard drive, bearing in mind that the flash memory is about 10% of the volume of the HDD? If we go by your possibility and add it as a second "layer", then you are left with a 4G iPod.

4G iPod dimensions
Height: 4.1"
Width: 2.4"
Depth: 0.57"

So as you can see, I am not talking about doubling or trebling the thickness. The 4G iPod is 0.57" thick. The iPhone is 0.46" thick. The 1.8" drive is about 0.20" thick, or 5mm. You would essentially have to add that to the iPhone, giving around 0.66 thickness as a rough estimate.Lets say Apple perform engineering wonders and get it to 0.6" thick. Still slightly thicker than a 4G iPod and definitely begins to lose its attractiveness, as its around 40% thicker than the iPhone.

The Touch might be a different matter.... Apple could almost certainly get away with putting a hard drive in there and people wouldnt mind. Its when they bring it up to their ear as a phone and it has the weighty and boxy feeling that would put people off. I already have girls telling me the iPhone is big.

 

[McGiord]

There is a price to be paid for the ability to manually manage music.....

iPhone will only sync with one machine, now. No longer can you manage music on your Mac at home and sync with Outlook on your PC at work.

A message comes up stating that the iPhone was sync'd with another computer and do you want to erase or cancel.

I haven't updated my iPhone with 1.1.3 yet, I am still with 1.1.2 and I experience this sync only to one computer message, I have a MacBook at home and a PC at work.

My iPhone is jailbroken and I have used an app called SwapTunes that allows you to sync with 2 computers, is like having "2 iTunes partitions".
________
Honda CB400F specifications

 

[ntrigue]

It wouldn't make it "a lot" thicker, the post above shows you just how "massively thick" 1.8" HDDs are. Not very. The 80Gb iPod classic is about the same dimensions as the iPhone if I remember correctly. It may even be slimmer in some dimensions.

Having opened up iPhones it would be the pictured 1.8" thickness in addition to the current size. The flash is a fraction of that in all dimensions. You still need all the components of a phone to fit inside the casing.