Joshua Topolsky on the iPhone 4S/5

[blairh]

Josh Topolsky Nailed It

I know someone recently made a thread about what Josh had to say about tomorrow's keynote, but I finally got around to listening to his exact words. If you are interested you can download the podcast from iTunes or listen online here (and FF to where it says on the timeline).

I highly recommend you check it out. I feel his tone and words when discussing the next iPhone is completely on point. The bottom line is that he and his co-hosts feel it would be a huge misstep by Apple if we don't get a redesign tomorrow.

 

[mikethebigo]

Yeah, I think the whole crew was dead-on.

Original discussion here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1237741/

 

[spblat]

"Something doesn't feel right," he says. Agreed. We all want a world-changing new design. We want Apple to extend its lead by making the 3GS free, selling iPhone 4S for $99, and unveiling an impossibly thin teardrop for $200 and $300.

But I think his gut is right: Apple doesn't need a new design to dominate for another year.

 

[jlblodgett]

My guess:

They will announce iPhone 4S for end of october and a iPhone5 for second quarter 2012.

Hit me when I am right.

If they did that, iPhone 4s sales would be complete garbage because everyone would just hold out for iPhone 5.

 

[oshia86]

I hate the thought of a teardrop shape. I don't understand why some people seem to "want" it.

 

[Nachoconqueso]

Of course Apple will sell more phones than Android. That's a given. What they need to be concerned about is how many more phones will be sold than Android. Google is going to continue to creep in. Apple doesn't want the flood gates to suddenly be ripped open by some fancy well marketed droid. 4s will be an easy bashing target for sure. It's already begun and Apple hasn't even officially announced the phone.

 

[Muad'Dib]

If no iPhone 5 shows up, Tim Cook will be starting up his CEO career with the title of "the CEO that couldn't manage internet and investor expectations of Apple"

BS, if there's no iPhone 5 Steve Jobs will be the one everyone looks at. Anybody that matters, investors, analysts, etc realize that all the decisions made in this launch mostly lie with Jobs. Cook's influence on this launch will be marginal.

 

[0x000000]

I hate the thought of a teardrop shape. I don't understand why some people seem to "want" it.

I can't understand the thought of an edgy ice cream sandwich made of glass and metal.

 

[aohus]

I hate the thought of a teardrop shape. I don't understand why some people seem to "want" it.

lol, you prefer an accident ridden design (iPhone 4, all glass front and back) to a lighter, thinner, titanium back?

ok buddy.

i guarantee you 100% that upon release of this teardropped shape iphone 5, you will be one of the first in line to get it.

 

[catalyst6]

How I handle Apple product releases/announcements:

I get super excited about how cool a redesign could be. Thinner case! Black Aluminum Macbooks! Edge-to-Edge screen! Expectations like these are all feasible. They could happen. But Apple doesn't tend to operate that way.

In general, I take two huge jumps forward in my mind with the evolution of a product right before every release, and I tend to feel dissapointed after a product announcement. I have found that Apple only jumps about one "step" forward with each new product. That is, they deliver with something awesome, but it's never as extreme as I expect it to be or that the rumors have speculated about.

I will gladly eat crow tomorrow if I am wrong, but I just feel like that Apple has such a huge prescense in the marketplace that they don't need to blow the doors off with every product release. You can call this complacent and that it will lead to their downfall and I might agree, but for now I believe there concern is grabbing as many people as they can to feed their ecosystem (Sprint, low-end market) before catering to the hardcore tech crowd.

Let this be said that I am 100% speculating. I will probably be wrong tomorrow and I hope so, but I just feel like we need to check our expectations as this hype machine always builds before every release.

 

[b166er]

Apple didn't change the appearance much at all with the 3G or the 3Gs. Three generations that all pretty much looked the same.

If they release a phone that looks just like the 4 but with better guts, it will sell like hot cakes.

We've seen this before, we will see it again.

Whatever design they go with will not make a difference in the end. People will "have" to have it regardless.

 

[Nachoconqueso]

I can't understand the thought of an edgy ice cream sandwich made of glass and metal.

Isnt that the iPhone 4? A sandwich design of glass and metal.

 

[chrislaw]

Isnt that the iPhone 4? A sandwich design of glass and metal.

I think that is the point.

 

[nafai23]

Isnt that the iPhone 4? A sandwich design of glass and metal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm

 

[cheesesteak22]

lol, you prefer an accident ridden design (iPhone 4, all glass front and back) to a lighter, thinner, titanium back?

ok buddy.

i guarantee you 100% that upon release of this teardropped shape iphone 5, you will be one of the first in line to get it.

That statement is ridiculous for so many reasons.


More importantly, I agree that Josh nailed everybody's feelings and summed up the whole situation perfectly. I'm afraid that he is correct, and we will just be seeing an iPhone 4S. To all the optimists who are insisting that a redesigned iPhone tomorrow, your insistence is unfounded and goes against all reliable evidence. You may think I am being a pessimist, but I would argue I am being a realist.

I have said it many times in the past few days, I really want to see a redesign just like everybody else. I even passed on the iPhone 4 for Verizon when it came out in the hopes of this redesign and am still stuck with my crummy blackberry curve. Regardless of what iPhone comes out tomorrow, I will be getting it. I think the assistant feature alone would be enough to convince me because it WILL be revolutionary and yet again change the way we interact with the world around us. Assuming it becomes part of the SDK, I can't wait to see what developers do with this kind of technology available to them.

But in all honesty, if the worst thing that happens to any of you tomorrow is that apple does not release a redesigned iPhone, then you should be extremely grateful that the worst part of your day was taken up by something so trivial. I am an apple fanboy for sure, but never forget that this is just a phone, admittedly with a strong culture associated with it, but nothing to lose any sleep over.

 

[b166er]

I prefer a chipwich design on the next iPhone

 

[pazz]

BS, if there's no iPhone 5 Steve Jobs will be the one everyone looks at. Anybody that matters, investors, analysts, etc realize that all the decisions made in this launch mostly lie with Jobs. Cook's influence on this launch will be marginal.

Nobody wants to be the breaker of bad news...

 

[bigsexyy81]

If it's the same design, here's what I would need in order to consider a purchase:

A5
Bigger battery
Better camera
LED status indicator
'4G' (HSPA+ is enough of a bump for me for now since I have AT&T)

Otherwise, it doesn't make sense for me to waste an upgrade on it.

 

[pazz]

The iPhone 4 was flamed for the antennae gate issue. Apple's only comeback is a redesign.

Or is that accepting there was an issue and saying "Sorry"...

 

[jmgregory1]

The iPhone 4 is a fantastic design, in a way that the 3G, or the original iPhone for that matter, would never be considered. Just like the iMac and MBP or MBA, Mac Pro have remained consistent in their design for several generations, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Apple keeping the design aesthetic of the iPhone 4 and making tweaks to internals - because the hardware is just one piece of the puzzle.

I'm not sure people are getting that between iOS 5 and Apple's new iCloud, they are going to change how we (read, all of us Apple ecosystem folk) look at and use our phones/computers.

This is where any of the comments that Apple needs to do this or that because Android is doing this or that is just missing the point. Apple may be following in the implementation of certain features that Android has made available, but Apple has the benefit of looking at each attribute as a piece of the puzzle that includes software and hardware tied together in a way that Android is just never going to get and the hardware manufacturers building Android based hardware can't do because they don't (for now) control all aspects either.

 

[meder87]

Pretty much i'm regurgitating what everyone else said but its a free country right? Well at least in the US. Its been discussed that Android has taken a lead in the market share and as of right now has the most powerful phones. Maybe the extra 6 months to release a new iPhone is for the following reasons.

• A brand new iPhone (iPhone 5 and issues with suppliers)
• A beefed up version of the iPhone 4
• The addition of Sprint (negotiations)

Those 3 things tackle the issue of market share and appeal to the power and look of the iPhones. One more carrier is extremely helpful in Apple gaining ground. Offering 2 or 3 different iPhone models offers more options to the consumer.

Knowing Apple and its past they don't normally do what people want or expect. So like everybody else I say that they'll just release an iPhone 4S and push the voice automation and A5 chip as the big thing. Even though most people don't care about the A5 chip. However, I would be happy if they just made the screen bigger.