Apple to Release iPhone 4S with New GPS Features?

[mmzplanet]

What the hell do you have against a bigger screen? what could possibly be a downside to being able to see things better?

Don't you ever use your phone single handedly? It is a reach already to get to the navigation bar with your thumb. Make the screen any larger, and there is no reaching the one top corner or the other with your thumb. Even on the current screen I will sometimes miss when reaching that far with a thumb.

This is one reason I did not like some of the android devices.

 

[SkippyThorson]

I don't think that word means what you think it means.

arn

Best point made in a very long time. People seem to believe we're getting rehashes of things all the time, and taking most of it for granted. If everything were the same as the old stuff, we'd be getting nothing new. There's too much stressing about what will happen to what hasn't happened yet.

 

[av8roc]

This is probably meaningless, but has anyone tried to buy a new iphone (or at least check eligibility) on Apple's website today?

Or maybe it's just my computer.

But there is some strangeness.

Same thing here, they must be updating as we speak.

 

[Sanz315]

Antennagate Issue

What wil Apple do about the antenna gate issue? Was this "fixed"? Will this be a problem with the 4S as well? Will we get free bumpers as well?

 

[marksman]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_4 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8K2 Safari/6533.18.5)

I still can't believe Apple would wait 18 months just for a spec bump. Doesn't make sense, no matter how many rumors I read.

If that is the case it will be a very dull day, and I am sure this will hurt Apple as many folks held out buying a new phone in hopes that Apple has some new full featured phone up their sleeves. I will stick with my iPhone 4, not worth the headache to sell it and buy a new one only for minor changes.

This will be an Epic Fail if Apple only releases an iPhone 4S

You don't think the iPhone 4s will be a full featured phone?

Arn post this as a new rumor!

 

[ppilone]

What the hell do you have against a bigger screen? what could possibly be a downside to being able to see things better?

I don't hate the idea of a bigger screen for those that want it. What I don't want is the physical size of the phone to increase to fit a larger screen. I prefer the current size of the 4. The resolution is just right (for me) and I wouldn't want to lose resolution just to have a physically larger screen.

I guess more than anything I don't want the size of the phone to increase. This isn't true for everyone - I just hope Apple doesn't abandon the 3.5" form.

 

[l.w41sh]

This is probably meaningless, but has anyone tried to buy a new iphone (or at least check eligibility) on Apple's website today?

Or maybe it's just my computer.

But there is some strangeness.

Yeah...
I bet the store goes offline soon. iPod available today and iPhone page updated too?

 

[iChrist]

I still can't believe Apple would wait 18 months just for a spec bump. Doesn't make sense, no matter how many rumors I read.

I agree. But then realize is same for their computers. Except Mac Pro that never gets bump. Others get minor bump with long wait. Bad.

 

[bigandtasty]

Still having a hard time believing they'd transition back to the old "-s" naming scheme. What'll they do for the 2012 iPhone, call it the 6? Who won't be confused then? "But two years ago, we had the 4, so what ever happened to the 5?"

iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6.

Where are you confused? The "s" phones show a pattern of an upgrade while maintaining same case design. More time to make more money before investing in molds for next gen phones.

 

[BeauPaul]

I still can't believe Apple would wait 18 months just for a spec bump. Doesn't make sense, no matter how many rumors I read.

Why not? My 17" MacBook Pro is 2.5 years and the new ones still look exactly the same - just bumped up specs.

 

[Blorzoga]

Meh

I still can't believe Apple would wait 18 months just for a spec bump. Doesn't make sense, no matter how many rumors I read.

I agree. This is very disappointing if true. It's actually good news for my wallet since I won't be buying a new phone. Voice recognition is still a gimmick IMO. GPS improvements? Meh. Faster processor and better camera? I'll wait for a bigger screen and redesign.

 

[Kitschier]

I'm with the others. ALL this time for just a spec bump? I have a non-contract 3GS that's factory unlocked. I just spent $40 refreshing it with almost all new parts so I could sell it, but it runs perfectly now and looks/feels like a new phone! Guess I'll be keeping it for a WHILE longer then...

All hypothetical of course, but...

Going from 3GS to 4S, HUGE UPGRADE

This is probably more than just a simple spec pump, and many times more focused on internal novelties. This is great for people who would have bought an iPhone 4 anyway, and if people who already own this phone complain, well, hold onto it a while longer.

It doesn't always have to be a physical upgrade (and why would it need to be when the iPhone 4 is a solid, beautiful design?), and I wouldn't at all mind a software + internal hardware upgrade.

A bigger screen? Sure, I would like, but it's not the one feature I'm basing my entire purchase on. Others apparently are, and too each their own.

 

[3N16MA]

Perhaps Apple has managed to go old school where they would launch a product without any actual photos/prototypes/parts leaking. Makes these announcements more exciting.

 

[KPOM]

Next year we will ALL be firmly locked into our new contracts, and will have to watch all the other people get the newly designed iphone with bigger screen and lte

So WAIT, or get an unlocked iPhone 4 from eBay to tide you over, or buy an unlocked iPhone 4S, which will still command an "unlocked" premium in 9-12 months when the iPhone 5 with LTE comes out.

My guess is that Apple wanted to wait for LTE to be widespread before releasing a radical redesign. Let Google have the Nexus Prime for the 2-3 markets that actually have functioning LTE for now. 97% of their potential customers will be on HSPA+ or worse (many in the US don't even have 3G). Most of Europe doesn't have LTE yet and won't for another year or two.

 

[JRoDDz]

I still have a 3G, so I'll get whatever they put out. But if it's the same design as the 4 I will be extremely disappointed.

 

[Rootus]

It seems real odd they'd call it a 4S. Why deliberately break the naming scheme they worked to correct with the 3GS? And why create a device that advertises itself as a warmed-over iPhone 4 after waiting 50% longer than normal to release it? I'd not want to be a AAPL shareholder if what we see today is an iPhone 4 with a faster CPU and more memory -- it would be rightfully disappointing to see only incremental improvements a year and a half later. Apple does have a record of boom/bust cycles, maybe we're sliding into another bust era for a few years.

 

[Juan007]

Here are some examples of true UPGRADES:

- Better battery life / improved battery technology

- Improved camera optics

- Faster / multi-core CPU that uses same or less power

- New features that didn't exist before

Here are some examples of TRADE-OFFS. These are not UPGRADES:

- Screen size: Not an upgrade, otherwise we'd all be walking around with iPad phones.

- microSD slot: Not an upgrade, requires designing into the phone, increasing size. Also uses more power than NAND storage.

- New form factor: Not an upgrade, it's aesthetics and a personal preference.

So let's see, iPhone 4S looks like it will have a ton of upgrades, but it will decline to take many trade-offs.

Anyone who wants an UPGRADED phone will be happy with the iPhone 4S.

 

[dlowings]

Any idea on when it will be in the data base for pre order ? what's the rumor mill say on that... I just checked the att database and its not yet an option..

 

[lusky]

To anyone saying these spec bumps would be enough, you are forgetting one very important thing. A large large part of any phone's appeal is fashion, a lot of people will see it as the same phone regardless of the internal change, plus a lot of people are valuing the bigger screen over a lot of other things, so I can understand people being unhappy if it is the same design

 

[iBug2]

I agree. This is very disappointing if true. It's actually good news for my wallet since I won't be buying a new phone. Voice recognition is still a gimmick IMO. GPS improvements? Meh. Faster processor and better camera? I'll wait for a bigger screen and redesign.

You are assuming that Apple will actually go for a bigger screen. Why? Apple stopped producing 30" displays and now only offering 27". If anything, they are cutting on screen sizes.

 

[strausd]

Let's get this straight. Just because Apple waited 16 months to introduce the next iPhone without a redesign does not mean they have not been busy.

Let's think of all the things Apple has been working on/improving since the release of the iPhone 4:

iPod touch with cameras
new Apple TV
iPad 2
White iPhone 4 problems
CDMA iPhone 4
OS X Lion
iOS 5
iCloud

On top of all of this, add cramming a dual core A5 chip, an 8MP backlit (?) sensor, and 1GB RAM into the current form factor. Obviously, Apple's designers and software engineers have been extremely busy the past 16 months. Sure, a new design with a bigger screen would be great, but the internals are more important to me.

 

[number9]

There's a Nexus Prime coming out next week that sports a new OS (Ice Cream Sandwich) and supposedly a curved back and 4.7" edge-to-edge screen.

So outside of updating the OS, what here is revolutionary or special? A curved back?! No one has ever had a phone with a curved back before! Why didn't Apple think of that?! A big screen? I'm pretty sure that there are already phones introduced with screens this size. How long before we have 5.5" or 6" screens and you're carrying around a tablet in your pocket?

Again, tell me what is really NEW outside of the Android 4.0?

 

[boomish]

iphone 5 is coming i feel it. 16 months of waiting

Thats seems to be all we ever do, wait! Is Apple slowing down releases or is it me? FCPX took forever, Logic seems like it's never going to be updated and is now more behind every other music software, it would take a huge step up just to catch up in features!

I'd like to say perfection takes time but after seeing FCPx I'm not so sure..I certainly won't be bothering with an iPhone 4s even if the assistant could make a cup of tea! Thats just holding back products and milking us for max cash.

 

[caliguy]

Great. The iPhone 4 BETTER be included for a new maps app with turn by turn. No more five year old Maps application, please. I really hope this isn't one of those "The iPhone 4 just isn't fast enough".

 

[realmike15]

what's the point of buying such a "very sleek looking device" if you have to cover it up with a case in order to protect it from getting destroyed?

Electronic devices are not meant to be dropped. If you want something that can be dropped without regard, then get something like this: http://www.sonimtech.com/innovation.php

The screen is always going to be glass on the iPhone, there's no getting away from it. Until a more durable production material becomes available, at least.