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Is Apple doomed if the company doesnt release a larger iPhone this year?
- Thread starter rMBP13
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I sincerely doubt it.
If anything other companies are in trouble. All of these huge screens are keeping me away (and others) from Android, I just don't want a phone as big as the S4 or HTC One. If the One was the size of the iPhone, or a just a little larger, I would be all over it. But it's not, and no companies flagship is reasonably sized. So i'll stick to Apples 4 inch offering and jailbreak to get the extra features. Apple will soon be getting everybody who wants smaller screens and sure its a smaller crowd of people, but because they only have one product to buy it'll be much more impressive than if it was a massive group that was buying a ton of different products.
It's like:
10 People buy iPhone for its smaller size
5 People buy the S4 for its size
5 People buy the Htc One for its size
5 People but the Sony Xperia Z for its size
More people bought larger screens, but Apple got the most amount of sales.
If anything other companies are in trouble. All of these huge screens are keeping me away (and others) from Android, I just don't want a phone as big as the S4 or HTC One. If the One was the size of the iPhone, or a just a little larger, I would be all over it. But it's not, and no companies flagship is reasonably sized. So i'll stick to Apples 4 inch offering and jailbreak to get the extra features. Apple will soon be getting everybody who wants smaller screens and sure its a smaller crowd of people, but because they only have one product to buy it'll be much more impressive than if it was a massive group that was buying a ton of different products.
It's like:
10 People buy iPhone for its smaller size
5 People buy the S4 for its size
5 People buy the Htc One for its size
5 People but the Sony Xperia Z for its size
More people bought larger screens, but Apple got the most amount of sales.
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Apple also get the users for whom screen size is not a major factor in their purchase decision. Some people have other priorities.
This is silly. You just discard the needs of a multitude of users as "ridiculous". By what right? Maybe I think it's "ridiculous" to want to browse the web on a postage-stamp sized screen - at least that's how I feel using my antiquated 4S. And please, "the bigger the screen, the more expensive the product"? When has THAT ever stopped Apple? When the iPad got its retina display last year I'll bet it was the most expensive tablet screen on the market. So what? It offered and continues to offer huge benefits over the crappy low-res screen that came before. The same would be true for a quality five inch screen with double the resolution of the current iPhone.
I'd agree that a significant portion of the "innovation" everyone is clamoring for lies in the software, but you seem to place an awful lot of trust in Apple in this regard. iOS 6 was thoroughly disappointing, so I'm rather skeptical as far as my expectations for iOS 7 are concerned. Meanwhile, Android offers a much more intuitive and information-centric home screen concept that, frankly, makes my 4S with its static grid of icons look like something out of the stone age.
The comparison to the laptop market does not compute, by the way. Most of those "big" Wintel laptops had horrible displays, while Apple traditionally used high quality display panels. This is not the case in the smartphone market; the 1080p display in a phone like the HTC One is probably at least as good as the iPhone's in terms of color accuracy and viewing angles, with the added benefit of, you know, offering a SIGNIFICANTLY higher PPI. Same goes for the Xperia Z (apart from the viewing angles) and the LG Optimus G Pro. Even my Nexus 4, which only has a 720p screen, looks a lot better than my 4S.
The flaw in your argument is in assuming, like almost everyone else in this forum, that everything is a matter of "Apple vs Samsung" - which is basically what you state when you claim that the fact "no one is getting his cash anyway" matters at all. The real issue here isn't that Apple isn't getting that person's cash but Samsung isn't too, so it's ok; rather, the issue is, what could Apple do to get that person's cash? What could they do to catter to those who have bought an iPhone but have not been enamored with the small evolutionary upgrades from the 3G to the iPhone 5?
Answer: innovate. Increase the utility of smartphones as much as smartphones increased the utility of common phones. This is something that won't be achieved by releasing sligthly faster, sligthly thinner devices every year. Rather, it's something that will require a second revolution; and THE second revolution, since everything after the first iPhone has been evolutionary at best (and a downgrade at worst).
(And before someone asks, "What do you expect them to do?": if I knew that, I would be telling Apple, not you
I doubt anyone here said "I want a device like the iPhone" before the iPhone was announced. I expect Apple to do the same.)
I have both. . And I love the iphone and felt sorta like omg I'm leaving my iphone. .. so yes long long term iphone users are switching.
I got the note 2 at steal. .I could look at Craiglist and I see post after post of people wanting to switch the 5 for the note 2.
I go back to my iphone. .. love a certain app that is more polished with the iphone and can't help but think wow... this is cramped.
If you play with the note 2.. yes that's how it feels.
Now. . If iphone started making just 5 inch phones. .. they will do amazing.
They already are doing amazing. . Everyone has an iphone. Everyone.
I just switched around a week ago and am having a blast iphone is great for ease of use and is very uncomplicated and a great reliable phone. I love the***find my iphone app** etc.
I'm not saying one phone is better than the other. .. I'm just saying that I'm one who just made the switch and I'm not alone. ... many are switching fit the larger screens
I never ever thought I would switch. .Is about what you prefer. I feel a sense of regret cause I love apple products.
I got the note 2 at steal. .I could look at Craiglist and I see post after post of people wanting to switch the 5 for the note 2.
I go back to my iphone. .. love a certain app that is more polished with the iphone and can't help but think wow... this is cramped.
If you play with the note 2.. yes that's how it feels.
Now. . If iphone started making just 5 inch phones. .. they will do amazing.
They already are doing amazing. . Everyone has an iphone. Everyone.
I just switched around a week ago and am having a blast
iphone is great for ease of use and is very uncomplicated and a great reliable phone. I love the***find my iphone app** etc. I'm not saying one phone is better than the other. .. I'm just saying that I'm one who just made the switch and I'm not alone. ... many are switching fit the larger screens
I never ever thought I would switch. .Is about what you prefer. I feel a sense of regret cause I love apple products.
You still don't understand what I am saying, and you argue with the arguments of other people.
You can marvellously browse the web with the 4S (and even the very first iPhone btw). The problem is, that most websites are designed for large computer screens. Those websites won't look much better on a 5" display, because the text will still be very small. You can increase the ppi by x-times, it won't make the text bigger, only a little sharper.
The reasons you argue with we had before with the famous Windows vs. Macintosh debates. Most features you like on your Android phone are just redundant. Those things are really bad designed and complicated to use, because they miss clear user guidelines. iOS could be improved as well in this regard, but still has a more clean and logical interface than Android. The only thing the iOS lock screen should have is something like "Lock Calendar" with more options, available through Cydia when jailbroken, for example.
The Apple displays were sub-optimal most of the time and still are (except the new Retina displays). Just look at the MacBook and iBook displays a few years ago. The TN-panel of the MBA is still much of a controversy. The only thing with Windows-laptops were that most of them had even worse displays. However, some expensive Windows-laptops had better screens. However, this has nothing to do with design. It just proofs that you didn't got the message. A faster processor with 16 cores doesn't necessarily mean that the user interface is faster, clean programming and design are more important than processing power alone.
There is no real world difference between 400 ppi or 320 ppi, except you look at these displays in 2cm distance or you test both numbers statistically. The displays of the iPhone were better rated in terms such as color rendition by some serious websites like Anandtech. Don't believe every myth you read here and there. But what has this to do with design? Nothing. You are studying spec sheets. Better technology doesn't make a better product. User experience and design does. It is important what's on the screen rather that how much. Windows 8 provides a very clean and intuitive interface on smartphones. Nobody really cares because it's no hype and because Windows is not cool anymore.
I'm no Apple-fangirl. The only thing that differentiates me from most people is, that I'm reading between the lines and do not listen to silly marketing arguments made up by the industry (such as the Retina display
) or some "Zeitgeist" hypes.Honest question, why bigger?
Android phones are well suited for the larger screens due to the customizable home screens and large widgets. With the iPhone i just question the looks and feel of either bumping the icon size up, or dramatically increasing the number of icons on screen.
Yes I realize bigger screens are better for reading, browsing, etc. but apple has always been obsessed with the appearance of their iOS, and has limited our ability to customize because of it.
Android phones are well suited for the larger screens due to the customizable home screens and large widgets. With the iPhone i just question the looks and feel of either bumping the icon size up, or dramatically increasing the number of icons on screen.
Yes I realize bigger screens are better for reading, browsing, etc. but apple has always been obsessed with the appearance of their iOS, and has limited our ability to customize because of it.
You still don't understand what I am saying, and you argue with the arguments of other people.
You can marvellously browse the web with the 4S (and even the very first iPhone btw). The problem is, that most websites are designed for large computer screens. Those websites won't look much better on a 5" display, because the text will still be very small. You can increase the ppi by x-times, it won't make the text bigger, only a little sharper.
The reasons you argue with we had before with the famous Windows vs. Macintosh debates. Most features you like on your Android phone are just redundant. Those things are really bad designed and complicated to use, because they miss clear user guidelines. iOS could be improved as well in this regard, but still has a more clean and logical interface than Android. The only thing the iOS lock screen should have is something like "Lock Calendar" with more options, available through Cydia when jailbroken, for example.
The Apple displays were sub-optimal most of the time and still are (except the new Retina displays). Just look at the MacBook and iBook displays a few years ago. The TN-panel of the MBA is still much of a controversy. The only thing with Windows-laptops were that most of them had even worse displays. However, some expensive Windows-laptops had better screens. However, this has nothing to do with design. It just proofs that you didn't got the message. A faster processor with 16 cores doesn't necessarily mean that the user interface is faster, clean programming and design are more important than processing power alone.
There is no real world difference between 400 ppi or 320 ppi, except you look at these displays in 2cm distance or you test both numbers statistically. The displays of the iPhone were better rated in terms such as color rendition by some serious websites like Anandtech. Don't believe every myth you read here and there. But what has this to do with design? Nothing. You are studying spec sheets. Better technology doesn't make a better product. User experience and design does. It is important what's on the screen rather that how much. Windows 8 provides a very clean and intuitive interface on smartphones. Nobody really cares because it's no hype and because Windows is not cool anymore.
I'm no Apple-fangirl. The only thing that differentiates me from most people is, that I'm reading between the lines and do not listen to silly marketing arguments made up by the industry (such as the Retina display
This post is meandering and kind of dumb. I really don't know which one of my points you actually take issue with. Three things though:
- Of course a larger screen makes a difference. Browsing the web on the 4.7 inch Nexus is a few orders of magnitude more comfortable than on the 4S, even though the Nexus has a pretty low resolution compared to current flagship phones. A larger screen isn't just a bullet point on a spec sheet, it makes a real, tangible difference in terms of what you call "experience". You may prefer a smaller screen, but that doesn't mean that my needs and my "experience" are negligible. There's nothing keeping Apple from offering a slightly larger iPhone, say 4.7-5.0 inches. THAT would be the experience I'm looking for.
- Who the hell are you to apodictically call features "redundant"? The email, calendar and Twitter widgets on my Nexus' home screen were a lot more useful TO ME than, say, Siri or Passbook. That doesn't give me the right to label Siri and Passbook redundant, but I am worried that there is no functional equivalent for these features on iOS. My iPhone's home screen is just a dead, static grid of icons that doesn't provide me with any useful information at all.
- There certainly is a real world difference between the iPhone's PPI and the PPI you'll find on a current Android flagship. If you don't believe go to the store and look at the iPhone side by side with an Xperia Z or a Droid DNA.
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Which is why we should be able to customize our home screens to be more information-centric. Apple brought Dashboard to OS X many years ago, so why not make it an iOS feature too?
But an iPad Mini with cellular, install a VoIP App – there's your prepaid phablet with inexpensive minutes.
Holding it to your head looks ridiculous anyways, so you'd use a Bluetooth headset or headphones, which the iPad Mini is perfectly capable of.
And you screw the carriers while doing so.
Holding it to your head looks ridiculous anyways, so you'd use a Bluetooth headset or headphones, which the iPad Mini is perfectly capable of.
And you screw the carriers while doing so.
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How do you know? Apple will call it the iPad Nano. While the first generation only has very basic functionality, the second generation will have the commercial: "Now with phone capabilities."
People tried.How do you know? Apple will call it the iPad Nano. While the first generation only has very basic functionality, the second generation will have the commercial: "Now with phone capabilities."
Yet you could design a TPU skin that wraps around top and bottom at the front and puts a speaker beneath the iSight Camera and a microphone next to the Home Button, while plugging into the headphone jack - and boom, iPhone Maxi.
I leave it for other people to figure out how to make it ring through the bottom speakers while having a headphone plugged in.
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iPhone 5 and iPad mini is the perfect combo. For my wife and 2 kids. For me a larger iPhone and full size iPad would e a nice combo. Are they doomed, not likely.
Was out on Friday night and saw quite a few people with huge phones. They just looked less than ideal for lugging about.
The ladies at least have hand bags to put them in. The dudes looked silly trying to stow the things in whichever pocket they could force the device into.
I tend to put my phone in a front pocket and I just don't think the huge format looks at all comfortable.
So, if Apple does make a huge phone I hope they maintain a smaller format for those of us that find the current size appropriate.
The ladies at least have hand bags to put them in. The dudes looked silly trying to stow the things in whichever pocket they could force the device into.
I tend to put my phone in a front pocket and I just don't think the huge format looks at all comfortable.
So, if Apple does make a huge phone I hope they maintain a smaller format for those of us that find the current size appropriate.
Apple isn't doomed, but I can tell you who might be and that's HTC. It takes a lot of resources to pull off devices year after year that can compete at the top. If sales of the One aren't where they need to be, they can go take a seat with Nokia and Blackberry.
Thats how some people make their life decisions. Gotta be in with the "in" crowd and the media points some people that way.
I thought you were still looking to trade your iPhone 5 for an S3 in the thread you created here?
So what 5 inch screen are you referring to?
Honestly bigger isnt better. I had the Note, returned it for the sgs3 and now after a year of use I was messing around with my old iPhone 4 (prepping it for my toddler) I actually miss being able to do everything one handed and not worry about dropping the phone.
And I forgot how well it just worked. Pretty intuitive.
And I forgot how well it just worked. Pretty intuitive.
There are a lot of Apple fans, and smartphone users in general, who are on the fence about larger phones. Personally, having used an iPhone since 3S I can say (for my use) if the next iPhone does not have a wider screen I'll probably get a Galaxy 3 (maybe 4 but I hate the 5" screen).
The iPhone 5 is simply too small of a screen to perform today's tasks, and it's clear people want a slightly larger phone. My wife actually hates the i5 and wants to go back to the i4S because the i5 does not fit in her hands well. The tall length of the i5 is not comfortable and I agree.
I have tons of Apple products at home.
2 iMacs
4 MacBooks/MacBook Air
4 iPods
2 iPhones (including all previous models)
But, if the next iPhone isn't wider I'm done. While I won't buy a 5" phone I don't think it's asking too much for a 4" or 4.25" phone. All Apple needs to do is increase the width of the i5 .25" and it would be perfect.
Also, why is the argument either the small phone or a gigantic 5" phone? There is a middle ground. Everyone saying the current i5 is fine would also say the same thing if Apple launched the i5S with a screen that's .25" wider.
The iPhone 5 is simply too small of a screen to perform today's tasks, and it's clear people want a slightly larger phone. My wife actually hates the i5 and wants to go back to the i4S because the i5 does not fit in her hands well. The tall length of the i5 is not comfortable and I agree.
I have tons of Apple products at home.
2 iMacs
4 MacBooks/MacBook Air
4 iPods
2 iPhones (including all previous models)
But, if the next iPhone isn't wider I'm done. While I won't buy a 5" phone I don't think it's asking too much for a 4" or 4.25" phone. All Apple needs to do is increase the width of the i5 .25" and it would be perfect.
Also, why is the argument either the small phone or a gigantic 5" phone? There is a middle ground. Everyone saying the current i5 is fine would also say the same thing if Apple launched the i5S with a screen that's .25" wider.
I actually find the iPhone 5 to be perfect size wise maybe slightly wider.4 and 4s are find as well. Feel like toys though when you go from bigger screens back to them
S3 is too wide and a tad tall for perfect one handed use. (Been fighting this since release).
S3 is too wide and a tad tall for perfect one handed use. (Been fighting this since release).