Does the iPhone need an accelerated release cycle?

[b166er]

The one year cycle is a big part of what builds the hype (read: sells the phones) without any real advertising.

Plus I don't think a 6 month cycle would yield any real benefits for us.

 

[psykick5]

Do what they did for the rMBP... wait for the hardware. (in the rMBP's case, Ivy Bridge and new NVIDIA chips)

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

The old "X must be like Y to succeed" argument?

Have you seen the 5's sales numbers?

Not to pick on you, but it seems like many of you aren't even reading my OP. I I never said that Apple should release "multiple" iPhones a year, or that they should release one every 6 months, as many of you reference. I mention more along the lines of a 9 month refresh, but ultimately to just release it when ready.

I've seen the iPhone 5's sales numbers, in fact I am contributing to them! But what do you think iPhone 5 sales will be like next Aug/Sept (galaxy s3 has been outselling the iPhone)? Here's the typical trend for iPhone sales. 1st quarter, huge. 2nd quarter, still huge as supply catches up to demand. 3rd quarter, slightly down, 4th quarter, dramatically down. I'm just suggesting apple cut off that last, lagging quarter. Will that result in a few less people buying in the 3rd quarter (in anticipation of the next iPhone)? Sure, but I honestly don't think it would be in any significant amounts.

Also, from iPhone 1 - iPhone 4 Apple was leaps and bounds ahead of the competition in both hardware and software. Over the past year the competition has been creeping up and now reached parity. The difference between iOS 6, Jelly Bean, and WP8 is now strictly personal preference. The difference between the galaxy S3, Nokia 920, and iPhone 5 is now strictly personal preference. Parity has been reached on both fronts. But the difference is HTC, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, etc are all going to be leap frogging each other every couple months over the next year. I don't think Apple will be able to coast the way they have been for much longer. I hope they feel the heat, because it's there.

I like my iPhone and iPad.... but I'm starting to have a wandering eye.

 

[Small White Car]

What does "when it's ready" mean?

iPhone 5!
iPhone 5 with 10 megapixel camera!
iPhone 5 with NFC!
iPhone 5 with 128 GB, and NFC, but not the 10 megapixel camera!

That seems like a godawful mess, but if it's not what you're saying then I'm not sure what you're proposing.

 

[chrisfromalbany]

I too would like to see more frequent iOS upgrades. The hardware's fine, and the yearly cycles seem to please most people.
Would like a new iOS every 6-9 months, though.

reading the iphone 5 one biggest issues is the outdated OS to some degree.. and views that OS6 didn't go far enough. I have to agree..

 

[KPOM]

reading the iphone 5 one biggest issues is the outdated OS to some degree.. and views that OS6 didn't go far enough. I have to agree..

In due time. This year, iTunes gets a much needed slimming down, Siri became useful and was expanded to iPad and iPod Touch, and they replaced Google Maps with their own solution. Trying to tweak the UI might have been a step too far. Hopefully next year they do a little freshening of the UI. In the meantime, it is still very usable.