Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone Evolution: Now or Later?

C

cmtrekker

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 10, 2007
13
0
Washington, DC
Dear Apple aficionados,

We were told that the iPhone can evolve and gain new functionality with new software upgrades. However, I'm curious what types of new capabilities are dependent on hardware upgrades that would only be applicable to the next gen iPhone? (e.g. 3G and larger hard drive are two obvious examples). What are other potential improvements that would not apply to the current iPhone?

By the way, could a full GPS system be incorporated into current iPhone through new software? And if and when GPS is incorporated, do you expect Apple and/or AT&T to charge a user fee?

Thank you for your advice. You may very well influence whether I should buy a new iPhone now (as in just after Macworld EXPO) or later mid-year when the next iPhone is allegedly coming out (assuming the imminent death of my TREO does not force more immediate action).

Happy Holidays !!!
 
well firstly there will be regular updates fingers crossed of new apps and games and other things we expect,but apple and the iphone are currently behind other mobile phones at the minute as we all have a phone that doesn't do current gen stuff like sending pics,have our own ringtones message tones,copy and paste text (not on phones but this shud have been a feature right from the get go) and loads of apps and games that we shud have all got as apple have made loads of apps and games only for us to have to use the internet to use them (why the hell do this as we wont be around a wifi all the time) hopefully these will all be fixed soon oh and my biggest fix getting itunes and iphone to play nicely with each other on my xp laptop
 
cmtrekker said:
Dear Apple aficionados,
By the way, could a full GPS system be incorporated into current iPhone through new software?
Click to expand...

No. You need a GPS antenna, which the current iPhone doesn't have. It could do pseudo-GPS by cell antenna triangulation, but that's a poor substitute. An add-on dongle (love that word) is possible, and is even planned by at least one company so far.

And if and when GPS is incorporated, do you expect Apple and/or AT&T to charge a user fee?
Click to expand...

Doubtful. There are too many cost-free alternatives in the form of GPS devices nowadays. Few would use it if they charged for it.

Thank you for your advice. You may very well influence whether I should buy a new iPhone now (as in just after Macworld EXPO) or later mid-year when the next iPhone is allegedly coming out (assuming the imminent death of my TREO does not force more immediate action).
Click to expand...

Nobody outside of Apple knows if and when a new version of the iPhone will come out. It could be today. It could be three years from now. It could be never. Buy it now and be happy.
 
GPS is going to have to be a hardware upgrade.. There are devices that can be used in conjunction with the iphone to allow GPS, but if you want it on the phone you're going to have to wait...

BUT, software wise there can be a fake gps based on cell towers...

Another hardware thing that could be added is a fm transmitter (but i think thats stupid)...


everything else CAN be a software upgrade (like mms and video recording), but what will apple allow on this phone? ...
 
Nothing too big on the iPhone horizon?

So in other words, apart from 3G and GPS, the next generation iPhone will not include any new features or capabilities that the current iPhone could not do if Apple should so bless it with the right software upgrades (i.e., video, MMS, Exchange support, etc). Is that really true guys??? If so then there is a compelling reason (for me) to purchase an iPhone sooner than later, especially if the current iPhone gets a bump up in hard drive (16 to 32 GB) in January.

I thought 3G was a must for an iPhone purchase, but the more I think about it, I only use the internet on the phone for very basic functions (email, weather, local listings etc.) and it appears that the Edge is more than adequate for that. A built in GPS antenna would be cool, but I already have a Garmin so it's not the end of the world owning a GPS-less iPhone.

A different form factor might be cause to wait, especially one with a universal headphone jack, but who knows if that would come to pass or not.
 
the ipod touch doesnt have the headphone issue,,, so it seems like they knew what the issue was and fixed it before that came out...

I would bet that the 2nd iphone will have a flush headphone port...
 
cmtrekker said:
So in other words, apart from 3G and GPS, the next generation iPhone will not include any new features or capabilities that the current iPhone could not do if Apple should so bless it with the right software upgrades (i.e., video, MMS, Exchange support, etc). Is that really true guys??? If so then there is a compelling reason (for me) to purchase an iPhone sooner than later, especially if the current iPhone gets a bump up in hard drive (16 to 32 GB) in January.
Click to expand...

There.
 
Drumjim85 said:
ya, he wasn't saying "from 16 to 32" ... he was saying "anywhere between 16 or 32"
Click to expand...

Maybe he was; but it's a extremely remote chance of the iphone getting bumped from 8 to 32. And I can't see them having two top of the line iphones with different capacities again.
 
I think everyone basically summed it up.

Because of the software nature and the OS on the iPhone it will be possible for it to evolve as you stated.

Obviously no one knows what iPhone 2 will bring, but as far as hardware based evolution it's going to happen of course :)
 
Yeah, like Drumjim said, I never said the current iPhone has more than 8GB, but that, according to rumors, Apple might increase the memory to 16GB and possibly even to 32GB as a "minor" update to the current iPhone in January prior to the next full 2nd Gen model (rumored to come out around mid-year). The iPod Touch already has a 16GB drive so seems to me like a no brainer that the iPhone will get at least that much.

Anyway, the main question was trying to speculate just how much more advanced the next iPhone will be over the current one and it seems like if 3G and GPS is not that big a deal, then there aren't any potentially compelling reasons to wait for the next iPhone (assuming there are a nice series of software updates that are coming down the pipe).
 
Who knows?

I mean, if you have a 3G phone, suddenly you want 3G apps.

AT&T for example, has their app where their 3G phones can send video (one-way) at the same time as a phone call. Thus you can pan around and show someone what your location is, or the concert, or the vacation island. Kind of like MMS on steroids.

If a new model also had a camera facing you, like some other phones have, then you could do video calls. Teenagers would eat that up, methinks. Assuming AT&T wouldn't freak over the bandwidth usage.

There are some coming apps that might combine GPS with pics. I've seen demos. Say you're in a city and you're interested in information. Just point the camera at a building, and a remote server looks at that and your GPS-loc to overlay information on the screen about what you're looking at. Kind of a personal tour guide. Or even friend locator.

I'm tired and can't think of others right now, but I'm hoping that the Google Android $$$ software contest might come up with some neat ideas. Basically, the future will be with merged apps combining lots of information about you and where you are.

Or not. Some people are just happy with a phone :rolleyes:
 
cmtrekker said:
Yeah, like Drumjim said, I never said the current iPhone has more than 8GB, but that, according to rumors, Apple might increase the memory to 16GB and possibly even to 32GB as a "minor" update to the current iPhone in January prior to the next full 2nd Gen model (rumored to come out around mid-year). The iPod Touch already has a 16GB drive so seems to me like a no brainer that the iPhone will get at least that much.

Anyway, the main question was trying to speculate just how much more advanced the next iPhone will be over the current one and it seems like if 3G and GPS is not that big a deal, then there aren't any potentially compelling reasons to wait for the next iPhone (assuming there are a nice series of software updates that are coming down the pipe).
Click to expand...

the touch is only 16gb because it has 2 8gb memory chips. But the iPhone only has one memory chip, the other slot is used for the gsm chip. (am I using the word chip too much?)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back