I think some of your criticism is unfair.
I mean the current gen iMac looks very similar to the one released in 2004. Macbook pros have changed very little in appearance over the past 5 or so years. I'd say not a bad thing that it looks similar to the original iPhone. I mean, they shouldn't just change the design for the sake of changing design.
Look at the ipod nano for example. People were probably too crying that it needed a design change, and since they have changed it to the smaller touch screen design, I'd say probably most people have said that apple should go back to the old design.
What I'm saying is that apple aren't being 'lazy' or have 'ran out of ideas' with these leaks if they are to be believed, but they are just sticking with what the currently believe to be the best design on the market. I mean personally, and I don't even own one, I think the 4/4S are the best looking phones out there, they just look stunning.
Do you think they should just make it look different for the sake of looking different, even if the new 'different' design looks worse?
Davie,
I think you are missing the point here. With the macbook pro for example, there are CHOICES. You can choose different screen sizes, you can choose different memory, CPU options. OS X itself is customizable to your own preferences.
With iphone this is NOT the case. It's like they are saying, we don't care if you all think a big screen is better, and that all the other phones have larger easier to read and operate displays, we will offer you one with a weird size that offers no real benefit other than to watch movies (with a magnifying glass), and you'll either like it, or buy another brand.
To me that is totally bizarre. Even Steve Jobs said something about needing sandpaper to sand down the tips of your fingers to use a 7" ipad. What about the tiny screen of the iphone???? What are we stupid?
The other problem is that lets just say you'll pan this next release, apple lock you out of some of the features in the iOS upgrade (read SIRI for ip4) which is another kick in the arse.
My iphone 4 has plenty of life in it. I'd also be happy to even PAY $50 for an iOS upgrade that included everything. You can't help but feel you're getting stiffed because you lose features for no apparent reason other than you dont have the newest model.
And on that note, I fear that in the OSX ML upgrade, I wont be able to do airplay mirroring because my MBPro is mid 2010, and doesn't make it. Why? God knows. I guess apple want me to buy a new MBPro for that feature, even though my MB is less that 1.5 years old. Preposterous.
That's my spray. Over and out.
Apple... I hope you're reading this - and I really hope you'll respond. You owe it to me, and to all the people who put your company on the map with our hard earned dollars.