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let's talk about the Apple eco-system and possible TouchID on the back of new iPhone

G

Geert76

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 28, 2014
1,837
3,632
the Netherlands
The last few weeks on several tech sites and forums (macrumors/Reddit etc..) you'll find a lot people who are about or actually switched camp, so from iPhone to Samsung S8 (I have the S8 now for 3 weeks after having the iPhone 3GS/4/4S/5/5S/6/6S and my current iPhone & in a drawer) or other brand.

Another group doesn't (or THINK they can't) want to leave the Apple Eco-system and hate the fingerprint scanner on the back of the Samsung S8.
"No way I am gonna get a phone with a fingerprint scanner on the back'' is a well known expression of the real iPhone fan (the ones who yearly upgrade their iPhone)

Now, for the last few weeks there a bunch of mockups/renders/photos of the this new year iPhone 8, where you'll see the TouchID on the back of the iPhone.
There are even some rumors who acknowledge the location of the TouchID on the back of the new iPhone.

So, what would be more important to you; under no circumstances leaving the Apple Eco-system and all of the sudden a TouchID is fine when this will be the location on the back (after first mocking ans laughing at the location of the fingerprint scan of the Samsung S8

Or, suddenly it is just easy and possible (cause that is actually the case) to leave the Apple Eco-system a.k.a. "The Holy Grail'' due to the fact Apple decides to place the TouchID on the back of the new iPhone8

This is what I think will happen;

March/April/May 2017 People are screaming and laughing at the location of the fingerprint scan of the new Samsung S8(+) and seeing all those renders/mockups of the TouchID being on the back of the new OLED iPhone later this year. "hell no, I am gonna buy that!!"

September 2017. Keynote new HQ Apple by Tim Cook. ''We present you the new OLED iPhone 8, its the best iPhone we ever made...its just amazing!" And it has a innovative Touch ID on the back of the phone

just a few days after they Keynote the pre orders start: just after 0.0004 seconds when these pre orders start, the new iPhone will be backorderd for at least 8 to 10 weeks. ;) (and I will bet you the best weed in my home country that first group I mentioned earlier here in this topic, who were laughing and mocking the new location of the new iPhone will be ready with their CC's at the pre orders)
 
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If I leave Apple it will be because I don't care for the design of the new phone.

As to eco-system…I use PowerPC Macs. Apple hasn't allowed syncing and use of the things on my iPhones/iPads with PowerPC since the iPhone 4s and iOS 6. Anything requiring a lightning cable will not sync with my PowerMac G5s or my PowerBook G4 (nor the Snow Leopard only MBP I am typing this on at the moment).

So, I don't use Apple's services (other than iMessage). I use other services. So leaving Apple's eco-system is a non-issue when you don't use it to begin with.
 
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If the FPS is on the back of the new iPhone, I will heartily laugh. I really will. Apple will have bit off more then they can chew in trying to make this phone special.

What they should have done was rolled out OLED on the 4.7" and 5.5" models this year (which would have been a pretty big upgrade by itself) and given themselves another year to figure out how to do the FPS on the front under the glass.

Instead, we will likely have the same old 7s/+ design yet another year and a hobbled ip8/iPhone edition that might or might not sell well.

In any event, my 6s will be at my side.
 
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The more I read stuff like this the more I'm happy with my 6s+ and hope that it lasts me a good long while. No, it wouldn't make me leave Apple but I much prefer the reader on front and have used phones with it on the back.
 
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I said, before the 6+ came out, that I'd never get such a large phone. Now I could not imagine going back to a smaller phone than my 7+.

So, I will say this: I will fiddle around with the new model if the sensor is indeed on the back and will see if I like it or not, then I will decide.
 
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Number-Six said:
I said, before the 6+ came out, that I'd never get such a large phone. Now I could not imagine going back to a smaller phone than my 7+.

So, I will say this: I will fiddle around with the new model if the sensor is indeed on the back and will see if I like it or not, then I will decide.
Click to expand...

Yep, I remember the first time I picked up the 6+! I laughed out loud thinking I would never put up with the size of this thing. Today, you could not pry it from my grip even after death!
 
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BigMcGuire said:
The more I read stuff like this the more I'm happy with my 6s+ and hope that it lasts me a good long while. No, it wouldn't make me leave Apple but I much prefer the reader on front and have used phones with it on the back.
Click to expand...
I have the 6s+. Got it on launch weekend. In about four months it will be two years old. Right now it's the one device out of all the smartphones I've owned since May 2009 that has never needed a repair or to be replaced.

My iPhone 5 has been replaced three times already.
[doublepost=1495729761][/doublepost]
Newtons Apple said:
Yep, I remember the first time I picked up the 6+! I laughed out loud thinking I would never put up with the size of this thing. Today, you could not pry it from my grip even after death!
Click to expand...
My wife told me about a year ago that the next time we upgrade iPhones (should there be a next time) she wants the plus size.
 
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I don't see the Touch ID being placed on the back of the phone, but if it were, I would likely still buy based on the other features that come along with it. I wouldn't leave the Apple ecosystem for a Samsung though, really no point in that.
 
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960design said:
I do not have any issues with Samsung... they make some pretty good products. I have issues with Android. Now a top end Samsung with something like Ubuntu Touch in a finished state would definitely tempt me.
Click to expand...

This. That's the difference. It's not necessarily about Samsung, as it is much is Android. Samsung makes an excellent piece of hardware for a Phone. It's Androids OS that takes away from the user experience, especially if someone only has iOS exposure.

As far as touch ID goes, it certainly will take time to adjust if it's relocated. That won't thwart me from purchasing it. I do expect some other significant changes with this 5.8 rumored OLED model. But there will likely be some casualties along the way where others will hold onto their current devices if touch ID is placed on the back.
 
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960design said:
I do not have any issues with Samsung... they make some pretty good products. I have issues with Android. Now a top end Samsung with something like Ubuntu Touch in a finished state would definitely tempt me.
Click to expand...

I have issues with both Samsung and Android, but to each their own.
 
I see a lot of people saying Android/TouchWiz on the Samsung is a mess or unlogical in some way. I fully agree up to the Samsung S7, I had this phone for a few weeks last year, returned after 2 weeks

But with this new S8, there is a massive difference in software/OS. Samsung came from very, very far when it comes to their OS running on the S8. There is huge difference between the S7 and S8 and its running OS, on the S8 the OS is lightyears ahead compared to the S7 and MArshmallow 6.0 from last year.
Samsung is getting really close to iOS (my 2cts)

iOS just works out of the box and you shouldnt expect any more (or special) about it. You can hardly be really productive with iOS, I mean not as productive as with the current Samsung flagship (TouchWiz doesnt exist anymore, nowadays its is called Samsung Experience)

After more then 3 weeks using my S8 I can tell its almost on par with my iPhone 7.

But I agree on the fact that UI-wise iOS is easier to handel then Android.

sorry for going off topic ;)
 
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I think a relocated fingerprint scanner is a silly reason for ditching an entire ecosystem, but then, I'm deeply embedded in the Apple ecosystem. If I switched to an Android phone I'd have a near-useless Watch, my Macs and iPad wouldn't integrate as well with Google's cloud as they do with Apple's, and my Apple TV would still be firmly tied to Apple. Ecosystem features that I really appreciate, including SMS forwarding to my Macs, would disappear. I'd have to learn and maintain fluency in at least one more OS.

Altogether, one of my key reasons for appreciating Apple and its closed systems is that hardware/software integration. I know it seems a nefarious plot to some, but my bottom line isn't ideology, it's practicality.
 
Moving the fingerprint scanner to the back of the phone would only make me use my Apple Watch even more.

(seriously, is there any functional advantage to making the entire front of the phone into a display?)
 
ApfelKuchen said:
I think a relocated fingerprint scanner is a silly reason for ditching an entire ecosystem, but then, I'm deeply embedded in the Apple ecosystem.
Click to expand...
I think it's probably the proverbial 'straw' on top of other reasons.

There were however, some people who left Apple when the 6/6+ launched because they didn't like the size of the phone. Hence we now have the iPhone SE.

ApfelKuchen said:
Altogether, one of my key reasons for appreciating Apple and its closed systems is that hardware/software integration. I know it seems a nefarious plot to some, but my bottom line isn't ideology, it's practicality.
Click to expand...
It's not nefarious to me. But I like to use the services I like to use in the manner I wish to use them. Impose restrictions on me and I seek different ways around those restrictions.

That's pretty much meant that with the exception of iCloud/iMessage I don't use Apple's ecosystem.
 
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ApfelKuchen said:
Altogether, one of my key reasons for appreciating Apple and its closed systems is that hardware/software integration. I know it seems a nefarious plot to some, but my bottom line isn't ideology, it's practicality.
Click to expand...

And it will be practicality at all prices?
Or will you be skipping a future $1000-1200 iPhone (cause I think we will be getting that way in 2 or 3 years) in the future and be satisfied with an older model iPhone? So that you wont get the latest features Apple offers in their latest iPhone.
 
If the FPS is on the back, I'm going love hearing Cook/Ive/whomever explaining that.

Worth the price of admission alone...haha.
 
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