I wonder if Apple will officially set in stone how many years a device will receive iOS updates and security updates like Google did and just announce it at the Apple's event in September.
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iPhone 16 Launch Is Just One Month Out – Here's Everything We Know
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No screen intrusions like the Dynamic Island or Notch is really going to be the only HUGE thing to get excited about in future iPhones, that and the mythical significant increase in battery life but that's been an unlikely goal for about 15 years now. Even going from the 11 Pro Max > 15 Pro Max last year felt like a fairly minuscule upgrade for me (a downgrade in physical comfort actually and I swear in well lit situations the 11 main camera took better looking pictures) so I just have no expectations anymore beyond the most incremental of improvements.
People do have the right to express themselves. But insulting people choices is tacky
11 was a great camera
Just like note 8 and s21
Get these rare beasts sometimes and takes them multiple generations of worse cameras before we get another good one
A testament to Tim Cook's cluelessness.
All I want is the apple leather cases back
Not everyone is in the same upgrade cycle. If someone is looking for a new iPhone and Apple can only offer last year’s model, that potential customer might look at other manufacturers, as (s)he doesn’t want to shell out money for “last year’s tech”.
That mindset seems to be especially present in markets, where a yearly upgrade (or at least facelift) cycle for tech (think of e.g. cars or TV’s) is the norm.
Read the other day that new battery tech has been presented by some Chinese company, which would allow for charging with up to 5C without damaging the battery.
IIRC it was related to traction batteries in electric cars, but it was more than just a tech demo that’s far from being usable in actual production processes.
The basic idea and tech could eventually trickle down to mobile phones as well.
Given that there are over a billion active iPhone users, there will always be hundreds of millions of users ready to upgrade every year. It also helps to smooth out the iPhone upgrade cycle, because the alternative is to have overwhelming demand once every 2 years (meaning they need to have a ton of production capacity), and then less demand for the rest of those 2 years (where all that capacity lies unused). It would also mess up Apple's earnings reports and make them extremely volatile.
Once in a while, people really should learn to look beyond their own noses and beyond their own immediate needs and try to view things from a larger perspective. Not everything is about them and them alone.
Which will probably just be a iPhone 16 with minor upgrades.
That seems to be the purpose of the non-pro iPhones. It's there to provide a baseline experience for people who prefer iOS but feel that they don't need all the bells and whistles from the pro iPhone models. But if you want the best that Apple has to offer, better be prepared to pony up for their premium models.
Okay then, please share with the rest of the class what your ingenious design ideas are for a rectangle. There are only so many ways to craft a candy bar made of metal and glass before you stagnate or repeat past designs.
The iPhone slim might fill in the void with its weight and size.
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*laughs in consumerism*
Because 1) while it’s true that most people don’t rush out to get the newest shiny toy every year, millions of others clearly do otherwise Apple and any of these other companies wouldn’t bother putting so much money and resources into doing it. And 2) since there’s a plethora of 0% financing options, trade-in programs and carrier subsidies, it allows for a seamless upgrade experience. An experience made so easy these days that perhaps quite a few of those annual upgrades are customers who aren’t even really all that tech obsessed but it’s only an extra 20 or 40 bucks a month added to their overall phone bill so they figure why not?
I upgrade every year just to be guaranteed the newest phone and get a refreshed battery at 100% health. But I do it because I already have to pay about a hundred bucks or so a month to even get service on my phone so what’s another 30ish on top of that to have the latest and greatest including Apple Care+?
I have more often than not been an annual upgrader so the upside for me would be the convenience and time save of faster charging, I stand more to gain from that than I stand to potentially lose from the possibility of a slightly degraded battery performance. I don’t leave the house with less than 100% and anything they put in my way to keep me further from that is only a nuisance.
Exactly the candy bar design is pretty much obsolete, hence why flip/foldables are the logical solution alongside the candy bar phones.
I’ll be buying for the camera zoom, but agreeing with others here it sounds odd if the phone won’t have something between 1x and 10x. Put a 4th camera on it I don’t care.
I sometimes wonder if Apple really was serious to offer “pro” features they should support the mounting of external lenses. Apple could probably kill off much of the “prosumer” camera space if they wanted to go that direction, if they can combine their excellent software with proper lenses like you see on bigger cameras. And lenses are right in that luxury high-end hardware niche they love so much since lenses are obscenely expensive but we buy ‘em anyway to chase the perfect shot.
Anyway, lets get more zoom zoom!
I sometimes wonder if Apple really was serious to offer “pro” features they should support the mounting of external lenses. Apple could probably kill off much of the “prosumer” camera space if they wanted to go that direction, if they can combine their excellent software with proper lenses like you see on bigger cameras. And lenses are right in that luxury high-end hardware niche they love so much since lenses are obscenely expensive but we buy ‘em anyway to chase the perfect shot.
Anyway, lets get more zoom zoom!
The whole message was great but the last paragraph was gold.
Smartphones are a mature product now. This isn't like the early years when technology was evolving quickly enough for there to be significant changes each model. And phones are better and last longer. Many people wait 2-6 years to upgrade. Releasing a new phone each year is for THOSE customers, not to impress somebody who's a big enough fan to be on a board like this.
Exactly.
At some point, I'll decide to replace my iPhone 11. It really doesn't matter what the difference is between the latest two or three models, I will simply evaluate the state of my 11 vs whatever is current at the time.
It will also come down to price - the differential between a new battery for my existing phone and the best sale price on the newer one. Then I work out the differences between the old and new phones, and decide if the price is worth the upgrade.
iOS 18 is running very well on my base iPhone 11, which probably implies I'm not a "heavy" phone user, so whether I get the 16 or wait a year for the 17 is a decision I'll be making around Oct/Nov this year.
If Apple finally decides to ship the regular iPhones with ProMotion, that would be enough for me to pick them over the Pros. The regular iPhones have gotten very good but those 60Hz screens are the biggest middle finger to Apple users. It's such a blatant handicapping of the regular models and beyond lame at this point in 2024. There are so many other "Pro" features Apple could use to differentiate the lineup. Choosing to gimp the screen, one of the more integral elements that contribute to a positive user experience, iPhone or otherwise, is shortsighted in my opinion.
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Fantastic point about availability, which is also a reason people often miss about why Apple is ‘behind the curve’ with certain tech… it’s easy to get the parts when you’re shipping 50,000 if your flagship… less so 50,000,000.