iPhone 5 Update 'Bigger Than Expected', Coming to Canada October 1st?

[AidenShaw]

And by the time of the next iPhone refresh, 4G/LTE will still not be a reality.

It is for my husband's Thunderbolt - he gets 4 bars for LTE inside the elevators at work.

Today, considering the 4G/LTE rollouts (even the AT&T "fake 4G" stuff), why would anyone buy a new 3G phone on contract?

Same could be said about Apple implementing USB or adopting 802.11n before it was in widespread use.

USB was widely available on PCs even before the original plastic "space egg" Imac was announced - let alone shipped. To say that Apple "implemented USB" is revisionist history.

I had 802.11 in my home before any Apple 802.11 product shipped - it kind of depends on where you draw the line for "widespread use".

 

[komrade008]

just sayin...

If the top & bottom bezels are not the same size I am gonna be a little disappointed. I know they're just mockups but c'mon mockup artists! Landscape use without symmetrical sized bezels is fugly & awkward. Think about it.

 

[Nutes]

Is anyone (like me) really hoping that Apple goes back to the aluminum backing again like the 1st Generation? I really believe Apple should do away with the Glass back for the 5! A design more like the iPad 2 would be nice.

 

[MacTheSpoon]

I just hope its antenna isn't on the outside. And that it's 4G.

 

[Sixtafoua]

Throwing this out there. This year the back to school promo ends on Sept 21, much later than last year (Sept 7 if I recall correctly). Last year Apple launched new iPod touches the day after the promo ended (so people couldn't get new models for free). Perhaps they are going to do the same thing and release new devices (iPhone included) on Sept 22 which is a Thursday (pretty sure launches have happened on Thursdays for Apple).

Just my thoughts.
-matthewvb

Who said apple was giving out free iPods this year?

 

[kironin]

I hope these rumors are true and that the release date isn't pushed too far back....

My old 3GS phone has been 'tarded ever since it took a dip in my hot-tub. My sanity requires a new phone ASAP.

My 3G simply lost the ability to do WiFi in the last few weeks and the Genius trying to seat the connections did nothing.

I'm limping to the finish line.... I hope these rumors are wrong and it's sooner rather than later!

 

[AIP5]

The iPhone 4 was a very big update, so it's not crazy for some to think that this next one would be more along the lines of the 3G->3GS update.

Hmm, I don't know why people just want to assume they know Apple's refresh cycle and claim that the next iPhone will just be a spec bump. I'm taking a different perspective on this.

The way I see it, the 3G to 3GS was an anomaly in Apple's usual refresh cycles for whatever reason (Personally, I think they couldn't get the iPhone 4 design ready in time in 2009, so SJ probably said something like "screw it! we'll release it in 2010!" But that's just me ). Here's my reasoning:

Orig. iPhone -> iPhone 3G = case redesign
iPhone 3G -> iPhone 3GS = spec bump
iPhone 3GS -> iPhone 4 = case redesign

Some claim that type of record shows that it should be a case redesign every other year. But to me, that just shows that there was an anomaly with the 3GS. Who's to say (besides SJ) that the 3G -> 3GS was meant to be a case redesign, but ended up being a spec bump?

Remember, iPad -> iPad 2 was also a case redesign (although less drastic than 3GS to 4 or original iPhone to 3G).

It's looking to be a definite case redesign for the iPhone 5. Only a few people actually know though... and nothing's Apple official until SJ says it is!

 

[apolloa]

In my opinion, not everyone wants their mobile phone to be of miniature tablet proportions. Some of the Android handsets look ridiculous as phones, you know, making phone calls with these giant slabs glued to the side of your face.

Actually, not just in YOUR opinion, or MY opinion, but also in the opinion of the MILLIONS around the globe who have an iPhone

And I just love how 9to5mac have taken the exact same quote from this story and taken it totally out of context to again spin a story showing what an iPhone with a 4.7" screen would look like hahahahahahahahahaha erm yeah, that'll sell I'm sure

 

[rovex]

Surely they will announce the date for the September event any day now?

Thou Apolloa, do I recognise you from AVF?

 

[clibinarius]

I really don't care what the new phone looks like or what options 4G/LTE or anything.

I'm just tired of my 3G with a broken home button and I WILL upgrade to whatever the one is released.

I used three different 3G phones to get one working one. :| (and I still need to fix the home button. :|)

I just solved a friend's problem with this. If you haven't updated past Comex, install his jb and then run activator. Should fix your problems. If you've updated though, jailbreak anyway, to put your phone into recovery mode requires running windows that I know of...

 

[shadrap]

Have y'all seen Verizon's LTE map? They will easily surpass there 175 market goal before the end of this year. I think it will be a mistake to not have LTE on the next iPhone.

Will people still come in droves to buy the iPhone 5 without LTE? Yes of course they will. But will they loose some of the people hungry for LTE? Yes, Verizon's LTE is that good.

I hope they surprise us.

 

[cvaldes]

The problem isn't simply coverage. It's the currently available LTE chips; they're bulky and power-hungry. The second and third-generation LTE chips will have much more integration with other technologies (CDMA/EVDO, GSM/GPRS, UTMS/HSPA/HSPA+). The current LTE chips only do LTE, so you need additional chips to support the dominant cellular networks. Current LTE phones only have great battery life if you turn off LTE.

Also, while most of the world has committed to LTE, only a handful of markets have actually deployed functional LTE networks. Note that about half of Apple's iPhone sales are international. It doesn't make much sense for Apple to market an LTE handset that can't be used in much of the world right now.

That's why Apple has historically marketed handsets based on the predominant networking technology. Heck, we're still waiting for an HSPA+ compatible iPhone, which is the logical step in terms of cellular data technology, not LTE. HSPA+ is now widely deployed around the world and in many, many markets it's actually functionally faster than Verizon's LTE network.

 

[haysoos123]

Fair enough; I got 1141 by multiplying 3.5" x 326 ppi. But either way, my point is the same: to make a bigger screen, either the resolution drops or the number of pixels increases.

Several people have pointed out that a 3.7" screen would have a resolution over 300 ppi (which is what Steve Jobs claimed was the magical "retina" threshold). This is true, but it still represents a drop in the display resolution of the iPhone. I maintain that this is unlikely. The Retina Display has been out for over a year now, and while few if any other manufacturers have caught up with it, you can be sure they're trying. Is Apple going to lend them all a hand by not only not increasing the resolution of the next iPhone but actually decreasing it?

Look, I'd love a bigger iPhone screen too. I just don't see it happening.

I had trouble following you and then I realized you meant "pixel density" when you said "resolution." Display resolution usually refers to number of pixels wide by number of pixels high these days. I think it can mean other things in other contexts, but this is the popular usage.

The "Retina Display" ppi is kind of ridiculously high even to this day, let's face it. You would barely notice the difference if they scale the screen up to 3.7 as others have mentioned. The resolution would be the same, the pixels would be slightly bigger (ppi still higher than 300 which seems to be their magic number). Rest assured, if they do this, you won't see "lower ppi" in any of their marketing materials.

 

[3dking]

It shouldn't be too surprising if this is a bigger update than expected. If it was going to be a 3GS type update why would they need to wait until Sept/Oct to release basically the same phone. They could have done that in June/July like they have before.

because apple wants to wait until iOS5 is ready

 

[apolloa]

Surely they will announce the date for the September event any day now?

Thou Apolloa, do I recognise you from AVF?

Could be...............

 

[ender21]

In YOUR opinion it should be at least 4.

In my opinion, not everyone wants their mobile phone to be of miniature tablet proportions. Some of the Android handsets look ridiculous as phones, you know, making phone calls with these giant slabs glued to the side of your face.

You do realize that Android phones have a 16x9 display rather than the 3x2 of the iphone, right? That means it takes *less* of a width increase to get that diagonal measurement to reach 4" than it would for the iphone with it's 3x2 display.

In my circle there are more Android users than iphone users, and exactly ONE of them has an Android phone that looks like a "giant slab", and yet I'm incredibly jealous at how easy it is to read and enjoy the content on his display versus mine. All the rest of the Android phones I see and have used look about the same size as my iphone. Except with a slightly larger display.

Competition existing only helps us.

 

[fertilized-egg]

You do realize that Android phones have a 16x9 display rather than the 3x2 of the iphone, right? That means it takes *less* of a width increase to get that diagonal measurement to reach 4" than it would for the iphone with it's 3x2 display.
...
yet I'm incredibly jealous at how easy it is to read and enjoy the content on his display versus mine.

That seems contradictory. Without a width increase, it isn't any easier to read most content because the problem with phones is they are just too narrow to fit the content in, and the font size is mostly dictated by the width, not the length of the screen.

I have a 4" Android phone and it's not any easier to read things on it than it is on my iPod Touch because it's not really wider so the font sizes end up the same. Yes it can fit more content up and down, but that doesn't really make things more readable, just that I don't have to scroll as much which isn't usually the problem anyway.

On a related note, the same applies for the on screen keyboard. Usually the problem with on screen keyboard in the portrait mode is that keys are too small width wise. And the keyboard on a 4" Android doesn't have any advantage because the screen isn't any wider. In fact I can tell you the iOS keyboard is considerably more pleasant to type because of the more accurate touch detection. Usability lies in the width and if it's not wider, it's not going to be that much more usable, just looks bigger which is a nice visual effect but doesn't help the usability.

On the other hand, longer screens do help for movies and Angry Birds.

 

[ender21]

That seems contradictory. Without a width increase, it isn't any easier to read most content because the problem with phones is they are just too narrow to fit the content in, and the font size is mostly dictated by the width, not the length of the screen.

Ha. It's not, or I wasn't trying to be. The "giant slab" HTC EVO one of my buddy's has is the screen to which I was referring that is easier to read and view content. The other Android's I've used are just as you suggest. Greater screen real-estate because it's longer, but imperceptibly wider.

However, to follow up on your video/Angry Birds comment, an exception to that is when viewing 16x9 content. Any 16x9 native screen is easier to view 16x9 content versus the iphone's 3x2 screen. Even if the width of the display doesn't change, in order to display all 16x9 content, the iphone's display needs to letterbox the image, effectively making its display even *smaller* than a native 16x9 display with comparable width. The solution on the iphone is, of course, tap-to-zoom. But I like watching my 16x9 content as intended (I work in post-production and am a stickler that way), or with content that has graphics that would be cut off if I tapped-to-zoom, so it is a real annoyance. Not a big enough one to make me jump ship, but a larger screen would be appreciated nonetheless (or a switch to 16x9!).

 

[fertilized-egg]

However, to follow up on your video/Angry Birds comment, an exception to that is when viewing 16x9 content. Any 16x9 native screen is easier to view 16x9 content versus the iphone's 3x2 screen.

True but I personally really dislike the widescreen form factor because it's awkward for pretty much everything else other than watching 16x9 content.

 

[JediZenMaster]

The major metro's have pretty good coverage though and LTE is expanding everyday. I understand why Apple thinks it shouldn't however for the consumers is it really fair to expect them to continue to pay a premium for products that aren't on par with the competition (and then sue the competition for copying you!)

Sure there is LTE on one carrier in the US. Apple isn't going to release something that only verizon users would only be able to use and not to mention that there are lots of places worldwide where there is not LTE either.

I can see apple adopting LTE into the iPhone when AT&T finally gets a LTE footprint.

 

[Sedrick]

True but I personally really dislike the widescreen form factor because it's awkward for pretty much everything else other than watching 16x9 content.

This is true. Great for movies, but piss poor for web browsing.

 

[GorgonPhone]

i love that look... if it looks like that im in.. yup

 

[twoodcc]

well i hope it has a bigger screen at least. without 4G, i might just wait for the next iPhone

 

[Jmwh]

Holiday season is the only reason

I had to sign-up due to the frustration listening to all the different reasons why the iPhone is delayed for one functionality or another. It is all irrelevant.

There is only one reason why the iPhone 5 is coming later and that is because you want the biggest buzz possible coming into the holiday season; not just for the product you are releasing but for the halo effect for all your other products. The last two months of the year create hugely disproportionate technology sales. You want everyone talking Apple.

The iPod no longer provides that buzz as sales are in decline (due to multifunctional products like the iPhone). It is only basic marketing common sense that you would move your biggest market leading product to the old iPod time slot.

In a similar vein, to ramp up and maximize buzz for the holiday season you have to move early. The announcement will be at the same time as the iPod announcement usually is. I.e. all signs point to September with the most obvious choice just after the end of the 'back to school' promotion. (They will likely still be somewhat supply constrained by the holidays and you only have to look at kids toys to know what that does in terms of free publicity and making your competitors products seem second rate! - Nobody wants the next best product under the tree!)

This is the same reason why there wont be any other product announcements in November / December (When was the last time Apple released a new product in this time-frame? - Like never!). This would be suicide and is why (unless they announce it in September / early October which I highly doubt) you wont see a new iPad until 2012.

 

[vvebsta]

There's no way that the home button will be ob-long like that. Never gonna happen. Either they do away with it all together or they keep it a circle.