Chinese Forum Poster Claims Next Generation iPhone Details

[Full of Win]

Here is my recipe for Front Page Soup
- A fist full of fresh diced former rumors
- A healthy amount of screen shots that can be faked
- A dash of something new

Poof, you have got your story on the front page

 

[MikeDTyke]

Definitely sign me up for that one too.

Nike+ uses an FM transmitter.

It certainly does not. Nike + is a proprietary protocol operating in the 2.4GHz range, sort a like what non-bluetooth wireless mice use.

Apple happens to use a chip in the newer ipod touches that provides this capability alongside bluetooth and FM. (Though the FM functionality is not used and i`m unsure of whether it`s receive only).

 

[jnc]

32GB, thinner plus camcorder and I'm sold.

And for the love of... NIKE PLUS WITH GPS, PLEASE!

 

[Consultant]

Fact check FAIL.

iPhone currently has a > 600MHZ cpu downclocked to around 400MHZ. Just that fact alone means the source is completely made of BS.

Carrier is AT&T in "China". LOL

iPhone 2007: 620MHZ processor
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/01/iphone-processor-found-620mhz-arm/

 

[daneoni]

I should clarify for all those jumping on my throat about the camera...yes i am fully aware of the 'megapixel myth' and no i'm not a 'specs whore'...sheesh.

I just honestly expected them to overhaul the camera with a decent lens/flash especially given the rumors of youtube/iMovie support. It's the weakest part of an otherwise great device. Getting a decent lens (i'm not asking for 12 or even 8MP) in there doesn't require N95 bulk like it used to but i shouldn't be surprised. After all its form over function and if it doesn't fit the current form factor with perfection...its game over

Its frustrating to be out in the evening and want to take pictures only to realize 'oh wait my camera pretty much sucks' and see my friends pull out their Samsungs, SEs, Nokias (doesn't have to be an N95) and take great pics with ease and please don't tell me 'well...take a point and shoot cam if you want pics'. The iPhone is an all in one device and is marketed as such

To me 3.2MP is not much of an upgrade from the existing camera bar autofocus...it just isn't...even more so with them still not adding flash and the fact that iPhone OS 3.0 will boost the current camera as well

3.2MP is barebones 'adequate'/'fine' and frankly what it should've been on launch but they could've done better IMHO.

Its a very conservative update which probably makes sense business-wise, boost CPU & RAM to improve the device's main selling point-Apps & boost storage so people can buy/store more stuff from iTunes. The End. I hope as someone said they're only holding out for current contracts to expire before a major update. The big update thus far is the OS.

 

[HiRez]

Couldn't agree more. The trolls here who are not mindless fanboys actually think performance matters. I want a device that is "sexy" , "elegant", "just gorgeous" and whose back looks better than the front of the other guys.

I think you missed the sarcasm of the pictures he posted. He was anything but agreement with you. What the pictures show are two unrealistic devices, the point being you can have everything you desire in something that fits in your pocket. You can have sexy or something with all the high end features, but not both.

 

[fobfob]

Lets hope when apple built the 17 inch MBP battery they learnt something, something they can use for the iphone.

Isn't it more like they learnt how to build the 17" MBP from the iPhone/iPod?

 

[thunderweb]

It would certainly be nice to have that much storage capacity though.

 

[JimAtLaw]

I should clarify for all those jumping on my throat about the camera...yes i am fully aware of the 'megapixel myth' and no i'm not a 'specs whore'...sheesh.

I just honestly expected them to overhaul the camera with a decent lens/flash especially given the rumors of youtube/iMovie support. It's the weakest part of an otherwise great device. <snip>

Uh, no, the weakest parts are (i) constantly dropped calls, (ii) a speakerphone lacking enough volume to hear even in relatively quiet environments, let alone in a moving car, (iii) lack of support for media messaging that has been in most other phones for years, and (iv) a battery that will not make it through a single day with more than light usage.

The iPhone 3G is decent as a pocket internet device (other than the weak battery and lack of Flash support, hobbling a huge number of web sites). But by any objective measure, it's a piece of crap as a phone.

 

[Data]

As long as it will be faster and more responsive i'm in, my 1st gen iPhone is getting a bit slow now a days , the specs sound very plausible to me and also good enough, i would like even better specs but i don't think they will do it even if they could.They have to keep something for next years iphone to when all the current 3G iphone owners are able to upgrade.

I wish it was june, can't wait.

 

[fobfob]

Getting a decent lens (i'm not asking for 12 or even 8MP) in there doesn't require N95 bulk like it used to but i shouldn't be surprised.

Huh? Time for some digital photography 101. What really drives perceived picture quality is having a clean image. By that I mean one with good dynamic range, and most importantly, low noise. Noise is that grainy rubbish that distinguishes phone and other cheapo small cameras from prosumer or better DSLR or better kit. (Not that these don't have noise, but the threshold at which it becomes a problem is MUCH higher). My main camera is "only" 8MP but it can easily show the difference between a $100, $500 and $10000 lens. The iPhone wouldn't know if it had a coke bottle in front of it. Why? Because its sensor is so tiny that it is starved of light. Less light means lower signal to noise ratio, or in other words, more noise. And why is the sensor so tiny? Because that way they can put a 2c piece of plastic in front of it and it doesn't affect focus, due to an extremely high depth of field. The smaller the aperture, the simpler the "lens" in front can be (to the extreme of a pinhole camera that needs no lens at all).

So while a 5MP sensor might be able to be squeezed into the iPhone, what you really want is a bigger sensor (physically) to capture more light. Now, you can compensate a little for noise by using more sensors (higher MP) and then sacrificing some in the name of noise reduction (ie, make the picture smaller). That's why that tiny classroom shot someone posted looks so clean. Let's see the full size (unfiltered). But most people would never think of that. They just use whatever comes out of the camera. And anyway, it will never compensate for size!!

All this makes me wonder what "autofocus" means in the rumor. Currently, there is no focus. The depth of field and low res makes up for that. If the sensor were made bigger, you would need more elaborate optics and DOF will become an issue. But I can't see any sort of physical focus mechanism being incorporated into the iPhone.

No, Apple are better off concentrating on speeding up the video pipeline to allow full speed video, and maybe adding a front facing camera.

 

[fobfob]

Uh, no, the weakest parts are (i) constantly dropped calls, (ii) a speakerphone lacking enough volume to hear even in relatively quiet environments...
..by any objective measure, it's a piece of crap as a phone.

A bit harsh. My GF's newish Nokia drops more calls than my iPhone. But I TOTALLY agree about the speaker phone volume. Pathetic. (Edit: I'm on 1st gen)

 

[daneoni]

Uh, no, the weakest parts are (i) constantly dropped calls, (ii) a speakerphone lacking enough volume to hear even in relatively quiet environments, let alone in a moving car, (iii) lack of support for media messaging that has been in most other phones for years, and (iv) a battery that will not make it through a single day with more than light usage.

The iPhone 3G is decent as a pocket internet device (other than the weak battery and lack of Flash support, hobbling a huge number of web sites). But by any objective measure, it's a piece of crap as a phone.

No that probably just means you have a weak carrier. I have NEVER experienced any drop calls and call quality has been great for me....ditto for 3G signal/speed. Speakerphone has also been fine...better than 1st gen model for sure. Media messaging is coming in 3.0.

However i will give you that battery could definitely be better like the E71

 

[tradervic]

If Apple had a new form factor for the next iPhone, do you really think they would give it to a Foxconn or ATT engineer in China to run around with?

Doubt it.

I'm not saying there is a new form factor, just saying if there was, this guy wouldn't know.

 

[daneoni]

...So while a 5MP sensor might be able to be squeezed into the iPhone, what you really want is a bigger sensor (physically) to capture more light. Now, you can compensate a little for noise by using more sensors (higher MP) and then sacrificing some in the name of noise reduction (ie, make the picture smaller). That's why that tiny classroom shot someone posted looks so clean. Let's see the full size (unfiltered). But most people would never think of that. They just use whatever comes out of the camera. And anyway, it will never compensate for size!!

All this makes me wonder what "autofocus" means in the rumor. Currently, there is no focus. The depth of field and low res makes up for that. If the sensor were made bigger, you would need more elaborate optics and DOF will become an issue. But I can't see any sort of physical focus mechanism being incorporated into the iPhone.

No, Apple are better off concentrating on speeding up the video pipeline to allow full speed video, and maybe adding a front facing camera.

I get the size/sensor thing which is why i said if the decent lens doesn't fit into that tiny slot it won't be adopted. I'm hoping they consider a redesign with a decent camera slot in mind in future

Front facing camera is unlikely to happen both in the upcoming phone and the one after that

 

[antic]

Not Necessarily so. All games produced for a pc can be run on different PC's with different graphic settings. All a game producer has to do is change the GFX effects depending on which iphone/ipod touch is being used

If true, it'll be interesting to see what effect this has on App Store games. If the new iPhone is quicker*, developers will want to bleed every last drip of performance out of the new device, which then either wouldn't work well, or would need a different version for the old iPhones - it would segment the market.

I know Apple have never been a very games-friendly company, but with games sales dominating the App Store, that might force their hand a little. Instead of frequent, minor updates; they may opt for larger upgrades, every 3-4 years; more in line with how consoles are introduced.

(* I didn't notice any mention of upgrades to the graphics architecture, but a CPU and RAM upgrade is bound to give some boost to just about any game).

 

[alexacker]

How can they possibly know?

So, basically any iPhone geek can post their wish list and cobble together a rumor that MacRumors, iphoneblog, etc will all publish. It's not a credible source and the updates are all what we're pretty much expecting anyway. Perhaps I'll do a screen shot with my fantasy specs too.

 

[alexacker]

Thanks!

Huh? Time for some digital photography 101. What really drives perceived picture quality is having a clean image. By that I mean one with good dynamic range, and most importantly, low noise. Noise is that grainy rubbish that distinguishes phone and other cheapo small cameras from prosumer or better DSLR or better kit. (Not that these don't have noise, but the threshold at which it becomes a problem is MUCH higher). My main camera is "only" 8MP but it can easily show the difference between a $100, $500 and $10000 lens. The iPhone wouldn't know if it had a coke bottle in front of it. Why? Because its sensor is so tiny that it is starved of light. Less light means lower signal to noise ratio, or in other words, more noise. And why is the sensor so tiny? Because that way they can put a 2c piece of plastic in front of it and it doesn't affect focus, due to an extremely high depth of field. The smaller the aperture, the simpler the "lens" in front can be (to the extreme of a pinhole camera that needs no lens at all).

So while a 5MP sensor might be able to be squeezed into the iPhone, what you really want is a bigger sensor (physically) to capture more light. Now, you can compensate a little for noise by using more sensors (higher MP) and then sacrificing some in the name of noise reduction (ie, make the picture smaller). That's why that tiny classroom shot someone posted looks so clean. Let's see the full size (unfiltered). But most people would never think of that. They just use whatever comes out of the camera. And anyway, it will never compensate for size!!

All this makes me wonder what "autofocus" means in the rumor. Currently, there is no focus. The depth of field and low res makes up for that. If the sensor were made bigger, you would need more elaborate optics and DOF will become an issue. But I can't see any sort of physical focus mechanism being incorporated into the iPhone.

No, Apple are better off concentrating on speeding up the video pipeline to allow full speed video, and maybe adding a front facing camera.

Excellent. I learned a lot even though it wasn't intended for me -- thanks!

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

Why are people complaining about a 3.2MP camera? Are you going to be making posters out of your iPhone pictures? What I really really want Apple to focus on is the quality of the photographs taken. Until the quality really starts to improve, it is just a waste to have a higher MP. Photographs will take up more room on the phone and won't be high enough in quality to really warrant the exchange...

I don't mind about the casing, though. If I could think of a real problem with the iPhone's casing I'd say something, but it is pretty good just the way it is in my view. No need to change appearance drastically just for the sake of changing appearances.

 

[djdole]

Has anyone mentioned the possibility of the new iphone coming with an OLED screen? If this rumor were to come true, then I would definitely consider upgrading from my current 3G iphone. That would be a major improvement not only to the display quality but also battery life.

Wouldn't happen until oled prices drop SIGNIFICANTLY.
So definitely not this release.

 

[whooleytoo]

Not Necessarily so. All games produced for a pc can be run on different PC's with different graphic settings. All a game producer has to do is change the GFX effects depending on which iphone/ipod touch is being used

True - though that's largely because there isn't any one PC "spec", so PC game developers have to have flexible game engines that can scale for high end or middle-of-the-road PCs.

Low end gaming devices like the iPhone are different, since developers really do have make the most of the limited resources available. It's certainly not unfeasible to write an iPhone gaming engine that'll scale according to the model, but if you're selling games at 99c a pop, you really don't need any extra work.

 

[Povilas]

Such BS and over 200 post. People what is wrong with you? Apple will for sure change the design and i do not believe that 32 GB will the top option, 32/64 GB more likely. This picture is 100% fake.

 

[175170]

Especially college students like me who spend all their extra cash on things like iPhones and women.

Tee-hee!

 

[svndmvn]

if the 3.0 version is not a beta I highly doubt the truthfulness of the story. If it's a testing iPhone he'd probably have a dummy SW, a beta in the best scenario. Why would every new beta hide more stuff in it if it doesn't need testing on some testing iPhones?
Quite believable HW, nonetheless, even though the source probably forgot to talk about speeds but strangely has the "knowledge" to talk about RAM and MHz. We'll see.

 

[QCassidy352]

I dont care what people say... the original metal iphone DID NOT have signal issues.

Depends on what you mean by "issues." It definitely gets a worse signal in the same place as an iphone 3G - I've seen it. That said, the signal strength is fine, and I rarely have problems.

Here's a revelation for you guys - a 6mp camera with good optics will blow away a 3.2mp camera with good optics...

If by "blow away" you mean "be able to be blown up more," then yes. If by "blow away" you mean have superior picture quality at the same size, then no.