iPhone 4S will be 'ancient' within few months

[nuckinfutz]

I want a phone that WORKS, doesn't feel like junk, and doesn't cause me to worry about malware/etc when buying apps. I could care LESS about proc ghz or internal memory. That is about as relevant as "watts" when buying a stereo.

I'll be happily replacing my 3GS this Friday at 12:01 PDT...

3GS user here and honestly I could go another 6 months with my 3GS and it wouldn't kill me. The obsession with specs is a long standing one.

My car stereo is louder than yours
I've got more horsepower
My 65" HDTV crushes your 55"

In the end the rank and file consumer just wants something that will work. So they're not going to just talk about "speeds and feeds" they want to know about compatibility with their current ecosystem and find out how things can be improved (iCloud)

Apple's now about the integration. They've got app stores churning away and other software initiatives. The 4S isn't going to be slow but it also isn't going to try to horsepower the competition. What good is a faster phone ...if it's dead because the battery doesn't last long enough?

 

[dgree03]

The iPhone 4S will be one of the top 3 selling smartphones of 2011, and one of the top 2 selling smartphones of 2012.

I am not sure what world you live in where that is outdated. Android actually sucks and that is the primary OS that Apple is competing with. Combine that with the fact that the device makers have no control over the hardware and there is very little they can do.

As of right now the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market. Come the 14th of October, the 4S will become the new best smartphone and will probably retain that position until the iPhone 5 comes out, whenever that may be.

The reality of the situation is none of the android devices are anywhere close to the iPhone when it comes to usability and user experience. They all pale in comparison and make ridiculous trade offs.

For every android phone that adds some new feature, you can add to it "on a sucky phone."

They added a larger screen + "on a sucky phone."

They added LTE + "on a sucky phone."

None of the Android handset makers take the user experience the least bit seriously and they don't take the behavior and performance of the phone into account when making changes. They just add crap on there regardless of what it might actual do to the phone or the experience.

For those of you who love that experience, enjoy... Apple will continue to roll along with all the top selling smartphones for the next few years.

It is possible in 2012 that the top selling Android handset will be outsold by the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPhone 3freakingGS. In 2012 it is likely the best selling android device will be outsold by the iPhone 3GS.

Android is a cluster right now... Google is trying to figure out how to get out from under this mess they created that is really not making them much money. Microsoft makes more money off android than Google does. Google wants to go in house and integrate a new OS with MM hardware. They know it is the only way they can legitimately compete with Apple on this front because tight hardware integration with the OS is paramount. It allows you to make up for software shortcomings in the hardware and vice versa. It allows you to get most out of all your hardware and software. It is just a massive advantage, one so big that the android handset makers have no way of overcoming it.

That is why they just throw options dujour on their phones, pay big sales whore commissions and hope they can move a few units.


So yeah you are right.. it is the iPhone 4S that is outdated, not the entire Android Ecosystem (which is going to get its butt properly kicked by itself in the form of Kindle).

So if you want to see something outdated look at the entire Android world. It is not working correctly, nobody is making much money doing it and it is a cluster...Perhaps everyone involved needs to spend more time figuring things out and less time adding crappy additions that make their phones perform more poorly.

There is so much wrong in the post, I dont know where to begin?

The OP was that the phone was outdated, not about who sells the most?

The Iphone 4s is outdated before it even goes on sale.... no way around it. Will it sell boatloads? Absolutely... will apple make money hand over fist? ABSOLUTELY!

I just dont believe someone in their right mind would think that the iphone 4shit upgrade was a spectacular one...

 

[daihard]

The hardware specs don't matter. What drives people to the iPhone is the intuitive software. Android can put all the beefy specs they want in their phones but their polish isn't up to the level of the iPhone and that's why a higher amount of current Android users are keen to move off of the platform as opposed to iPhone.

I agree with this. Hard numbers don't necessarily mean great user experience.

 

[grovertdog]

There is so much wrong in the post, I dont know where to begin?

The OP was that the phone was outdated, not about who sells the most?

The Iphone 4s is outdated before it even goes on sale.... no way around it. Will it sell boatloads? Absolutely... will apple make money hand over fist? ABSOLUTELY!

I just dont believe someone in their right mind would think that the iphone 4shit upgrade was a spectacular one...

Who said it was spectacular? I think the consensus here is that you would have to pry our "soon to be ancient" iPhone 4S's from our cold dead hands to exchange for a more spec'd and less, well, everything, 'droid, no offense.

Frankly, I see the competition coming from MS and Mango. I've played with one, and unlike EVERY 'droid copycat I've touched, I really appreciate the design and UI. If Nokia gets its act together with Redmond, everyone will benefit (well, except, perhaps, for Google...) as innovation/competition tides will raise all ships....

 

[wovel]

That can't be right. The Samsung Galaxy S II is wiping the floor with the iPhone in benchmarks.

This is why you are confused. Benchmarks are only good for running benchmarks. Mildly useful for comparing devices running the same software, but even then there are problems.

Specs are even more misleading than benchmarks. The 8mp camera on the S2 is at best equal to the iPhone 4 (if you have the ability to touch up a little), for most people the iPhone 4 will take better pictures. 720p video on the iPhone 4 simply blows S2 video away, regardless of resolution.

 

[lilo777]

This is why you are confused. Benchmarks are only good for running benchmarks. Mildly useful for comparing devices running the same software, but even then there are problems.

Specs are even more misleading than benchmarks. The 8mp camera on the S2 is at best equal to the iPhone 4 (if you have the ability to touch up a little), for most people the iPhone 4 will take better pictures. 720p video on the iPhone 4 simply blows S2 video away, regardless of resolution.

That's just your personal opinion not confirmed by any reviews. The only thing most reviews agree upon is that with iPhone's camera users have much less control and that Apple applies the most corrections to pictures among all smart phones which makes pictures look "prettier" but unreal.

 

[Juan007]

Do you understand why iPhone 4S is missing those "features"? Let me spell it out for you.

1. LTE is not well supported by chipsets. If Apple wanted to put LTE support into 4S, they would have had to use a two-chip baseband design, meaning higher cost and higher power. Given that LTE network buildup is nil right now, it is NOT worth the power cost to support it. I know that some people look for a check box next to "LTE" and assume LTE is better than NO LTE. That is not true! It's a tradeoff! You pay for it in battery life!

2. Screen size is a tradeoff, some prefer big, others small. Also Apple chose 3.5 inch a long time ago, now is not the time to fragment the user base!

Basically Apple's design decisions make perfect sense. They are selling a PLATFORM, not a box full of features for you to compare. A 4 inch screen is NOT better than a 3.5. An LTE phone is NOT better than a non-LTE phone yet. TRADEOFFS. You need to understand that word.

 

[wovel]

There is so much wrong in the post, I dont know where to begin?

The OP was that the phone was outdated, not about who sells the most?

The Iphone 4s is outdated before it even goes on sale.... no way around it. Will it sell boatloads? Absolutely... will apple make money hand over fist? ABSOLUTELY!

I just dont believe someone in their right mind would think that the iphone 4shit upgrade was a spectacular one...

Outdated by what definition? You don't make any sense, either does the ggp post. By some meaningless spec comparison selected to prove a point? Because they kept the case design? Is there even such a thing as dating for screen size?

What other phones have an A5. Check, not outdated. I am not even sure if there is anything remotely competitive to the GPU.

The premier camera in Android land is the S2, it is somewhat competitive with the iPhone 4 but not even close to what we were shown for the 4S.

Battery life, lol.

 

[Reach9]

Sorry guys, but you're all in for another disappointment then. The next generation iPhone will come out 1 year from now, next October. Why?

I spoke with an Apple Store Manager at my local Apple Store (which is the biggest in the city, and i live in a big city). And he said that Apple staggered the release of it's products, because the iPhone was eating into the iPad's sales. So from now until for a little while we can expect..

Spring: iPad event
Summer: OS X and iOS event at WWDC
Fall: iPhone event

So here's hoping for the iPhone 6.

But it's true, the iPhone 4S is already ancient.

 

[Chipg]

I'm going to buy the 4S, It'll be my first iPhone and I'm looking forward to it, I can't wait!

I was a measurebater / spec whore in a previous situation and it cost me big time, seriously, it's not the end of the world, If you don't like it start your own cell phone company that's better with more software and I'll buy it!

 

[miggitymac]

The iPhone 4S will be one of the top 3 selling smartphones of 2011, and one of the top 2 selling smartphones of 2012.

I am not sure what world you live in where that is outdated. Android actually sucks and that is the primary OS that Apple is competing with.

Have you even tried android on a decent phone? If you have, you'd notice that iOS 5 will actually add a lot of features that are already on other platforms (android included). They say say copying is one of the biggest forms of flattery no?

There are also a lot of people out there who jailbreak their iPhones so that they can have some of the features that come standard on android. So, instead of saying something sucks just because it sets off your fanboy alarm, why don't you use your brain and figure out an argument as to why it sucks compared to iOS...otherwise, you'll wind up with "no it doesn't...you suck!" as a response.

Combine that with the fact that the device makers have no control over the hardware and there is very little they can do.

makes no sense....

As of right now the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market. Come the 14th of October, the 4S will become the new best smartphone and will probably retain that position until the iPhone 5 comes out, whenever that may be.

My friend, you mistake "best" for "highest selling". Completely brain-washed....

 

[wovel]

That's just your personal opinion not confirmed by any reviews. The only thing most reviews agree upon is that with iPhone's camera users have much less control and that Apple applies the most corrections to pictures among all smart phones which makes pictures look "prettier" but unreal.

And almost every one of those reviews point out exactly what I said. For people who are not capable photo editors, the 4 results in better pictures. Not really my opinion at all.

You can start here: http://cincaitalk.blogspot.com/2011/06/samsung-galaxy-s2-vs-iphone-4-camera.html. He is clearly an S2 fan and comes to that conclusion. The same story is repeated in every comparison.

It really is the difference. Apple designs for consumer usability, not specs. Not nerds.

 

[dccorona]

aside from screen size, which is really down to personal preference, can you name a phone the iPhone 4S is "lagging behind" already? Because there isn't one.

Who knows what the future holds for the phone market, but right now, the iPhone 4S is top of the line

 

[AIP5]

Spring: iPad event
Summer: OS X and iOS event at WWDC
Fall: iPhone event

So here's hoping for the iPhone 6.

But it's true, the iPhone 4S is already ancient.

I'm really hoping that they realize their mistake and come out with the iPhone 5 or 6 in summer now instead of Fall. Honestly, they'll lose a lot of customers if they keep the cycle at Fall now. (That is not to say that they won't remain highly profitable, but they will bleed customers).

 

[wovel]

Have you even tried android on a decent phone? If you have, you'd notice that iOS 5 will actually add a lot of features that are already on other platforms (android included). They say say copying is one of the biggest forms of flattery no?

There are also a lot of people out there who jailbreak their iPhones so that they can have some of the features that come standard on android. So, instead of saying something sucks just because it sets off your fanboy alarm, why don't you use your brain and figure out an argument as to why it sucks compared to iOS...otherwise, you'll wind up with "no it doesn't...you suck!" as a response.



makes no sense....



My friend, you mistake "best" for "highest selling". Completely brain-washed....

You confuse features and specs with usability and performance.

Highest selling is a much better indication of best than meaningless spec charts. When you combine it with highest customer satisfaction rating, it is the definition of best. What good are all those specs if they don't make users happy?

 

[Reach9]

I'm really hoping that they realize their mistake and come out with the iPhone 5 or 6 in summer now instead of Fall. Honestly, they'll lose a lot of customers if they keep the cycle at Fall now. (That is not to say that they won't remain highly profitable, but they will bleed customers).

Nah, I want Apple to lose lots of customers. I want the iPhone 4S to fail, and have average sales (for an Apple product). Maybe then Apple will realize that they need to innovate once again.
But it's pretty set right now, the next gen iPhone will come out around October 5th 2012.

Hey bud, how are you holding up? Send me a PM sometime, wanted to talk to you about the 4S. Since we both share the same opinions

 

[wovel]

I'm really hoping that they realize their mistake and come out with the iPhone 5 or 6 in summer now instead of Fall. Honestly, they'll lose a lot of customers if they keep the cycle at Fall now. (That is not to say that they won't remain highly profitable, but they will bleed customers).

Why? Now it is less than a year to next fall. This is a better quarter to release for them anyway. Who knows what they will do, but there is no reason to expect the fall to be damaging.

 

[rever3nce]

Its amazing how many people are disappointed , 8MP camera with 5 lenses and true 1080P recording with video stabilization ! im a big picture person and there is nothing not to like about this. IOS 5 is simply amazing, been using it for 3 months now and cant see myself without it, its got over 200 new features.

I still hate how people compare this to android stuff. YES i am an apple fanboy if you will but i have used both and its silly how many people hate APPLE . If android people can get excited over something called "ginger bread" and it has very minor updates and can now make your 5 home screens do a carousel and be all excited about it, then im sure iphone users can be VERY happy with IOS 5 , wireless transfers with itunes, new camera, icloud etc.

Yes iphone comes out once a year or so , but when it does you know its flawless and everyone is looking forward to it. Android stuff comes out every 2 weeks! they are all made by so many different company's and so forth ( im not gonna sit here and dog android all day)

Point in case is be happy with what APPLE has designed to do to make a new iphone and i cant wait till it actually releases because just the A5 chip alone and siri will make people change their minds about getting one. I just feel like people are underestimating what new features and hardware are being put into the new iphone 4s

Cant wait to get mine

 

[nuckinfutz]

I'm really hoping that they realize their mistake and come out with the iPhone 5 or 6 in summer now instead of Fall. Honestly, they'll lose a lot of customers if they keep the cycle at Fall now. (That is not to say that they won't remain highly profitable, but they will bleed customers).

Where in the world are you getting this? Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter it doesn't matter when a phone is launched. What matters is the phone, the marketing and how many people are available to upgrade to the phone.

 

[Russiaone]

I'd really consider another phone (REALLY) if it had iOS. I LOVE the uniformity of an Apple device. There's fragmentation, sure, but it's not too bad if you have the top of the line.

And you never know what is truly top of the line with an Android device.

So give me iOS on the newest Android... Aw, never mind, because the newer Nexus or Galaxy or whatever will come out two minutes later and now I have the second best.

Apple forever, I guess.

 

[miggitymac]

You confuse features and specs with usability and performance.

Highest selling is a much better indication of best than meaningless spec charts. When you combine it with highest customer satisfaction rating, it is the definition of best. What good are all those specs if they don't make users happy?

I'm pretty sure McDonald's is one of the top-selling restaurants world-wide, yah? They also have above-average customer service and employee training (according to industry stats). SOO, by your logic, they offer some of the best food in the world. Good one.

And no, I'm not confusing anything. I found the SGS2 very usable, and it performed perfectly with every task I put it to.

EDIT: this may blow your fanboy mind, but Windows outsells every other OS out there, including OS X. Does that make it the best OS?

 

[15danielp]

It seems like the iPhone 5 won't come out until LTE is completely ready in most areas. That includes the inception of lower power LTE chips. Apple was behind in adding 3G for the same reasons. This probably won't happen until next summer/fall.

The 4s is a stepping stone to a major update, I suspect. But we have been disappointed before (read: today).

 

[Chipg]

Seriously, with a $20 BILLION commitment from sprint for the 4S what would you do as a business owner?

 

[lilo777]

Do you understand why iPhone 4S is missing those "features"? Let me spell it out for you.

1. LTE is not well supported by chipsets. If Apple wanted to put LTE support into 4S, they would have had to use a two-chip baseband design, meaning higher cost and higher power. Given that LTE network buildup is nil right now, it is NOT worth the power cost to support it. I know that some people look for a check box next to "LTE" and assume LTE is better than NO LTE. That is not true! It's a tradeoff! You pay for it in battery life!

2. Screen size is a tradeoff, some prefer big, others small. Also Apple chose 3.5 inch a long time ago, now is not the time to fragment the user base!

Basically Apple's design decisions make perfect sense. They are selling a PLATFORM, not a box full of features for you to compare. A 4 inch screen is NOT better than a 3.5. An LTE phone is NOT better than a non-LTE phone yet. TRADEOFFS. You need to understand that word.

I am pretty sure that owners of LTE phones are not aware of any issues with chipsets (and do not care about those either). Verizon's LTE now covers 50% of US population (I am not sure why do you call the "nil"). Screen size is a tradeoff that all other companies have solved long time ago - they offer phones with different screen sizes. That's what they call "innovative". Forget LTE. Apple failed to implement even HSPA+. iPhone 4(S) now is officially the only $100+ phone on the market without LTE, WiMax or HSPA+.

 

[camperdown9]

Maybe it will be out dated but now that Apple will offer a lot of the mobile me features for free in iCloud. I think you will find a lot of people (mainly mac users) using iCloud to sync calendar and contacts between devices.

Yes I know you can do this with Google but mobile me at least for me works so much better.

Once you get used to having everything sync and just working its really hard to go back.

Alex