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How much could the iPhone 5 really revolutionize things at all?

b166er said:
In my opinion, the next "revolution" will be battery life. I would expect within five years time we may have batteries on our smartphones that can go on for days. I also expect we will see truly wireless/dockless charging when within a certain proximity to a base station. These things are coming for sure, it's just a matter of when. The tech is there but it's a matter of making it small and being able to mass produce it.
Click to expand...

There's no point in that. As nice as it would be to not have to worry about battery life again (I certainly miss the 1-2x a week charging of my last non-smartphone), almost anyone with a smartphone is used to charging it nightly.

Batteries will need to vastly improve just to operate future phones for the same operation time we're now used to.

They may improve battery life a tad, so those getting only a few hours on heavy usage can get a full day, but I don't see it improving much more than that. Anything more would require a larger battery - which would take up space better suited for something else.
 
Blakjack said:
I don't know anything about cameras other than pixels alone don't make the camera. I was only hoping and wishing. But I do assume the camera in the phone can only get better each year. Right?
Click to expand...

Probably. But unless there is some amazing breakthrough in lens tech, they have just about reached the apex for phone cameras.
 
skidbubble said:
When Apple issues a 1 TB (yes, terabyte) iPhone I would consider that pretty groundbreaking as that is more than just a little spec-bump. I am tired of having to pick and choose small portions of my media (movies, pictures, music, games) to put on my phone. The 128 gb Galaxy S3 has the right idea.
Click to expand...

That is some good stuff you are smoking.
 
If the upgrade from Lion to Mountain Lion is anything to go by, the iP5 may be a little, meh :p
 
LaunchpadBS said:
I say this only because I think when it comes to mobile phones we've hit the ceiling, how much more, other than a slightly bigger screen and better battery life, could the iPhone 4S hardware actually be improved upon? It's more down to software now more than anything...

The next step would be eliminating the need for a chunky brick and replace it with something that handles the processing and some sort of display, be it projected or in glasses etc and the ability to talk to the devices and it executes your command and dictates flawlessly. This would open up a whole new world of possibilities to those with poor eyesight or people with limited accessibility etc.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
How much more? I will tell you.

1) New iPhone design
- Liquid metal
- Smaller bezels
- Gorilla Glass 2

2) A bigger display
- Stretch the current display to about 4 inches at 960 * 640 > pixel density of 288 ppi
- Add some pixels on top (as Apple is rumoured to do) to make it widescreen.
-- 1136*640
-- 288 ppi
-- Results in a 4.52" display (which Apple could theoretically put in the design of the iPhone 4S)

Additionally, Apple could make this display even better by doing the following:
- 'Retina+'
-- 4x the number of pixels (like they did before)
-- 2272 x 1280 resolution, higher than Full HD
-- definitely over-kill
-- 577 pixels per inch

- Up to 120 frames per second (currently there's a max. of 60 fps)
- Apple in-house developed OLED technology
-- True blacks
-- Extremely high brightness (higher than LCD)
-- Colour accuracy near 100%
-- Good visibility in the sun
-- Low-power

- Privacy Mode
-- Limit viewing angles (for privacy) (can be turned on or off by user)
-- Automatically limit viewing angles when typing a password

3) Waterproof
- Make this thing waterproof
- If you fall in a swimming pool, nothing to worry about

4) Next-generation touchscreen
- Reduce input lag (especially notable on the iPad when writing) to 1 ms (currently 50 ms)
- Make the touchscreen more accurate
- Reduce response time

5) Tactical feedback
- Feel what do you do
- Senseg technology, so no mechanical parts
- Pressure sensitive
- Useful for blind people
- Awesome new possibilities in apps

6) NFC technology
- Possibilities are endless
- Payments
- Profiles (so when you're at work it goes into silent mode, when you're in the car it turns on bluetooth for your wireless headset, etc.)
- Include five free configurable stickers

7) Drastically improved speakers
- Louder
- Facing toward you (not downwards)
- At least stereo
- (Simulated) surround sound
- QUALITY!

8) FM radio
- No headphones required
- Works on all continents
- Offer limited broadcasting on free channels

9) Worldwide 4G LTE
- Next-generation Wireless, LTE up to 73 Mbps
- Australia, Europe, Northern-America, Asia supported
- Also HSPA+ up to 21 Mbps (not sure if 4S already does this, iPad 3 does)
- DC-HSDPA up to 42 Mbps

10) Apple's own wireless chip, let's call it "A1 Wireless"
- Apple in-house developed chip for wireless technologies
- Replaces all separate chips (like for Wi-Fi, 3G, bluetooth, etc.) with one single chip
- Supports:
-- Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
-- Bluetooth 4.0
-- American GPS, Russian GLONASS, European GALILEO
-- FM radio
-- GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
-- CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 Mhz)
-- UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA(850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)
-- LTE (700, 800, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2600 MHz)
- Low-power, produced at 20nm production line
- Extremely good reception
- Two of these "A1 Wireless" chips in every single iPhone
-- One in bottom left, other in top right corner
-- Settles with the one for the best signal or;
-- Uses both chips for a boost in reception

11) FaceTime HD
- 3.2 megapixel front facing camera
- FaceTime in HD over Wi-Fi and LTE networks (and 3G if speeds are high enough)
- FaceTime in SD over 3G

12) FaceTime touch
- See tactical feedback
- Use tactical feedback to 'touch each other'
- Works over 3G, Wi-Fi and LTE

13) 128 GB model
- Drop the 16 GB model
- $199 32 GB, $299 64 GB and $399 128 GB

14) 16 megapixel camera
- Better lenses
- High quality sensor
- Low-light situations are just fine
- Dual LED flash
- Zero shutter lag
- Video recording stabilisation by both hardware and software
- Photo stabilisation by hardware (because software obviously isn't possible)
- HD video recording
-- 720p HD at 120 fps
-- 1080p HD at 60 fps
-- 4K at 30 fps
-- User can choose
- Rebuild camera app with more options
- After-focus
-- Focus a picture after you've taken one
-- 8 megapixel pictures
-- Still-photo only

15) Apple app: Camera Pro
- Identical interface as the new camera app (see: 16 megapixel camera)
- Same features plus more
- Advanced settings (like you find on Android as well)
- Developer APIs available
- FREE on the App Store

16) Apple app: iSlowmotion
- Use 720p HD 120 fps recordings. See: 16 megapixel camera
- Create high-quality slowmotion videos

17) New GUI for iOS
- Runs latest iOS version with new GUI

18) A6 chip
- If they are going to implement all features list above, it's going to need some power
- Cortex A15 architecture for the CPU
- Next-gen PowerVR Series 6 architecture for GPU
- Quad-Core CPU, each core clocked at 1.8 GHz
- Dual-Core GPU (will still be waaaaayyyyyyyyyy more powerful than the quad-core GPU found in the A5X chip because of the new architecture)
- 2 GB RAM
- Extremely low-power, 10% of what the A5X chip uses

19) Battery life
- Revolutionary battery life
- Use some new technologies
- Fully charged within 30 minutes
- It should have at least 4x better battery life than the iPhone 4S

-------------------------------------------
Don't tell me that there are no innovative features for Apple to put in a next generation iPhone. There's really enough.

I spend minutes on this post, just to prove you that there is enough work left for Apple to put in a next generation iPhone.
 
Apple is making a 'retina' push with many of its devices. I would argue that the iPhone 5 will see a dramatic push in resolution. I suspect we may see a resolution higher than the current 1280x720 on a lot of android phones. Current rumors say that 1136x640 is a possibility...I doubt it, I think apple will do the same thing they did with the iPhone 4 in terms of resolution.
 
PortableLover said:
Apple is making a 'retina' push with many of its devices. I would argue that the iPhone 5 will see a dramatic push in resolution. I suspect we may see a resolution higher than the current 1280x720 on a lot of android phones. Current rumors say that 1136x640 is a possibility...I doubt it, I think apple will do the same thing they did with the iPhone 4 in terms of resolution.
Click to expand...

Doubtful. IPhone was the first to go Retina followed by the iPad and the MacBook. Should it go Retina 2? The trick will be to go bigger while maintaining Retina.
 
R1PPER said:
If the Iphone didnt exist the mobile phone industry would still be in 2007.
Click to expand...

Not true. Touch screen phones were on their way either way. They started spreading because that was when capacitive touch screen had finally became widely available. What to do with those screens was obvious. It would have came out regardless of apple. Contrary to popular belief here. The blackberry like android demo phone they showed prior to the release of the iphone wasn't the only prototype. There was also a slate phone. Theres videos of it but no one here wants to show you that because it would ruin their argument.
 
ThatsMeRight said:
How much more? I will tell you.

1) New iPhone design
- Liquid metal
- Smaller bezels
- Gorilla Glass 2

2) A bigger display
- Stretch the current display to about 4 inches at 960 * 640 > pixel density of 288 ppi
- Add some pixels on top (as Apple is rumoured to do) to make it widescreen.
-- 1136*640
-- 288 ppi
-- Results in a 4.52" display (which Apple could theoretically put in the design of the iPhone 4S)

Additionally, Apple could make this display even better by doing the following:
- 'Retina+'
-- 4x the number of pixels (like they did before)
-- 2272 x 1280 resolution, higher than Full HD
-- definitely over-kill
-- 577 pixels per inch

- Up to 120 frames per second (currently there's a max. of 60 fps)
- Apple in-house developed OLED technology
-- True blacks
-- Extremely high brightness (higher than LCD)
-- Colour accuracy near 100%
-- Good visibility in the sun
-- Low-power

- Privacy Mode
-- Limit viewing angles (for privacy) (can be turned on or off by user)
-- Automatically limit viewing angles when typing a password

3) Waterproof
- Make this thing waterproof
- If you fall in a swimming pool, nothing to worry about

4) Next-generation touchscreen
- Reduce input lag (especially notable on the iPad when writing) to 1 ms (currently 50 ms)
- Make the touchscreen more accurate
- Reduce response time

5) Tactical feedback
- Feel what do you do
- Senseg technology, so no mechanical parts
- Pressure sensitive
- Useful for blind people
- Awesome new possibilities in apps

6) NFC technology
- Possibilities are endless
- Payments
- Profiles (so when you're at work it goes into silent mode, when you're in the car it turns on bluetooth for your wireless headset, etc.)
- Include five free configurable stickers

7) Drastically improved speakers
- Louder
- Facing toward you (not downwards)
- At least stereo
- (Simulated) surround sound
- QUALITY!

8) FM radio
- No headphones required
- Works on all continents
- Offer limited broadcasting on free channels

9) Worldwide 4G LTE
- Next-generation Wireless, LTE up to 73 Mbps
- Australia, Europe, Northern-America, Asia supported
- Also HSPA+ up to 21 Mbps (not sure if 4S already does this, iPad 3 does)
- DC-HSDPA up to 42 Mbps

10) Apple's own wireless chip, let's call it "A1 Wireless"
- Apple in-house developed chip for wireless technologies
- Replaces all separate chips (like for Wi-Fi, 3G, bluetooth, etc.) with one single chip
- Supports:
-- Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
-- Bluetooth 4.0
-- American GPS, Russian GLONASS, European GALILEO
-- FM radio
-- GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
-- CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 Mhz)
-- UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA(850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz)
-- LTE (700, 800, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2600 MHz)
- Low-power, produced at 20nm production line
- Extremely good reception
- Two of these "A1 Wireless" chips in every single iPhone
-- One in bottom left, other in top right corner
-- Settles with the one for the best signal or;
-- Uses both chips for a boost in reception

11) FaceTime HD
- 3.2 megapixel front facing camera
- FaceTime in HD over Wi-Fi and LTE networks (and 3G if speeds are high enough)
- FaceTime in SD over 3G

12) FaceTime touch
- See tactical feedback
- Use tactical feedback to 'touch each other'
- Works over 3G, Wi-Fi and LTE

13) 128 GB model
- Drop the 16 GB model
- $199 32 GB, $299 64 GB and $399 128 GB

14) 16 megapixel camera
- Better lenses
- High quality sensor
- Low-light situations are just fine
- Dual LED flash
- Zero shutter lag
- Video recording stabilisation by both hardware and software
- Photo stabilisation by hardware (because software obviously isn't possible)
- HD video recording
-- 720p HD at 120 fps
-- 1080p HD at 60 fps
-- 4K at 30 fps
-- User can choose
- Rebuild camera app with more options
- After-focus
-- Focus a picture after you've taken one
-- 8 megapixel pictures
-- Still-photo only

15) Apple app: Camera Pro
- Identical interface as the new camera app (see: 16 megapixel camera)
- Same features plus more
- Advanced settings (like you find on Android as well)
- Developer APIs available
- FREE on the App Store

16) Apple app: iSlowmotion
- Use 720p HD 120 fps recordings. See: 16 megapixel camera
- Create high-quality slowmotion videos

17) New GUI for iOS
- Runs latest iOS version with new GUI

18) A6 chip
- If they are going to implement all features list above, it's going to need some power
- Cortex A15 architecture for the CPU
- Next-gen PowerVR Series 6 architecture for GPU
- Quad-Core CPU, each core clocked at 1.8 GHz
- Dual-Core GPU (will still be waaaaayyyyyyyyyy more powerful than the quad-core GPU found in the A5X chip because of the new architecture)
- 2 GB RAM
- Extremely low-power, 10% of what the A5X chip uses

19) Battery life
- Revolutionary battery life
- Use some new technologies
- Fully charged within 30 minutes
- It should have at least 4x better battery life than the iPhone 4S

-------------------------------------------
Don't tell me that there are no innovative features for Apple to put in a next generation iPhone. There's really enough.

I spend minutes on this post, just to prove you that there is enough work left for Apple to put in a next generation iPhone.
Click to expand...

Keep dreaming lol

add ALL the things

And really...128GB innovative? FaceTime HD innovative?

Something like FaceTime HD and NFC we'll see, but I LOL'd at the rest of the list.

----------
blackhand1001 said:
Not true. Touch screen phones were on their way either way. They started spreading because that was when capacitive touch screen had finally became widely available. What to do with those screens was obvious. It would have came out regardless of apple. Contrary to popular belief here. The blackberry like android demo phone they showed prior to the release of the iphone wasn't the only prototype. There was also a slate phone. Theres videos of it but no one here wants to show you that because it would ruin their argument.
Click to expand...

Maybe in 2008 but defiantly not forever.

The iPhone was revolutionary, but that guy saying the smartphone industry wouldn't exist made me lol.

People seem to forget that there are other makers out there. RIM might be still alive today LOL
 
LaunchpadBS said:
I say this only because I think when it comes to mobile phones we've hit the ceiling, how much more, other than a slightly bigger screen and better battery life, could the iPhone 4S hardware actually be improved upon? It's more down to software now more than anything...

The next step would be eliminating the need for a chunky brick and replace it with something that handles the processing and some sort of display, be it projected or in glasses etc and the ability to talk to the devices and it executes your command and dictates flawlessly. This would open up a whole new world of possibilities to those with poor eyesight or people with limited accessibility etc.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

This is why you are not in the smart phone business, and people with product vision are...
 
I think we should be having this conversation next year. This new iphone will most likely add LTE and NFC along with a bigger screen. Then the iphone will pretty much be perfect. im super happy with the 4S you add the 3 things I listed plus a better camera and faster processor? you have a perfect phone. then I have no idea what else apple will be able to add aside from processor bumps.
 
ChristianJapan said:
A revolution is something we saw last year with a haptic screen allowing you to "feel" textures on the glass. depend on software this would allow a new dimension of user experience.
( not sure, was it this one ?)
Click to expand...

I highly doubt a haptic screen would change anything. Seems cool, but utterly useless.
 
The first iPhone was the revolution, a new paradigm, a new way to look at the mobile phone.

But after that it's only going to be evolutionary changes, the "car" has been invented, now it's going to be new additions to it, new features(NFC for example), software refinements, services, but the foundation, the platform is the same.

Also small differentiations like screen lamination, waterproofing, camera image stabilization, multiple brightness level LEDs and things like that are going to be popular ways to stand out IMO. Android manufacturers focus a lot on the camera and camera features, burst shots, etc...
 
Last edited:
I think the next big revolution is to take the processing off the phone. Move EVERYTHING to the cloud, so no matter what device you're using, all it is is a screen, a window into your technology world.

----------
Dmunjal said:
Doubtful. IPhone was the first to go Retina followed by the iPad and the MacBook. Should it go Retina 2? The trick will be to go bigger while maintaining Retina.
Click to expand...

theres no such thing as "retina 2" or "retina+"...it wouldnt make sense. The human eye wouldn't be able to tell the difference except for up extremely close, at which point you'd struggle with focusing on the screen. So for NO benefit, you get larger assets taking up more space on the phone, and a processing power hit because the device has to drive so many useless pixels
 
nyc999 said:
You dont understand Lte. It is more than just a speed bump. Videos are loaded extremely fast, in case you want to jump forward. Web pages load much faster. Pandora never buffers. I can talk, surf the web, and use voice directed navigation with turn by turn directions at the same time.

I think it is quite ignorant to knock innovations when you dont fully comprehend them.
Click to expand...

All of these cool features are completely kneecapped by carrier caps and data throttling. Sure there is a minority of users still enjoying unlimited data plans but their days are numbered and any new smartphone customers can't share your experience.

And god help us with distracted drivers like you on the road.
 
dccorona said:
I think the next big revolution is to take the processing off the phone. Move EVERYTHING to the cloud, so no matter what device you're using, all it is is a screen, a window into your technology world
Click to expand...
I don't hope so. First of all: you don't have Internet everywhere. Second of all data bundles (if you do have Internet). Third issue is privacy. Right now users have a CHOICE to use the cloud (and thus how much information you want to give away to Apple (and thus the American government)). You'll be taking that choice away if you forcefully move everything to the cloud.

----------
Dmunjal said:
Doubtful. IPhone was the first to go Retina followed by the iPad and the MacBook. Should it go Retina 2? The trick will be to go bigger while maintaining Retina.
Click to expand...
I guess they will only add extra pixels when there are less than 326 pixels per inch (for the iPhone) or less than 264 pixels per inch (iPad).
 
There'll be very little revolutionary about the next iPhone I expect. It'll likely be exquisitely designed physically and exceed the competition in this one respect, the innards bringing it to parity with the best Android phones, with a couple of neat extra features that may or may not get your juices flowing.

This isn't an anti Apple statement, merely being realistic.

That said, give me an astounding 1920x1280 4.3" screen with barely any bezel, then I'll forgo realism and scream huzzah!
 
Last edited:
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