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Other New design, neutered hardware?

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ian87w

macrumors G3
Original poster
Feb 22, 2020
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Seems like every time Apple does a major redesign of the iPhone, there’s a catch, a drawback, an oversight, that are being rectified with the subsequent release.

iPhone 4: major redesign, but antennagate and only 256MB RAM. 4S double the RAM and fixed antennagate.
iPhone 5: decent release, but 32bit and got dropped earlier than the 64bit 5S.
iPhone 6: bendgate, only 1GB of RAM. 6S dramatically improved everything that it is still supported today with iOS 14.
iPhone X: first FaceID and edge to edge design, but poor battery life. Rectified by the 11 with superior battery life.
iPhone 12: first 5G iPhone, but questionable structural integrity and battery life.

Do you guys think so? It seems that whenever there’s a redesign, too much effort is put on the design part. The rest of the phone like structural integrity, battery life, etc are “fixed” on the subsequent releases.
What do you guys think?
 
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Vegasryn said:
Whats the questionable structure issue? Or is it just speculation on your part?
Click to expand...
The iPad Pro shows the weakness of the design (plenty of YouTube videos showing it). The stainless steel 12 Pro will probable be fine, but we will see how the normal aluminum 12 will fare.

Yes, it’s speculation, kinda a thing in a rumor site. :)
 
ian87w said:
The iPad Pro shows the weakness of the design (plenty of YouTube videos showing it). The stainless steel 12 Pro will probable be fine, but we will see how the normal aluminum 12 will fare.

Yes, it’s speculation, kinda a thing in a rumor site. :)
Click to expand...

Guess we will see - I feel it won't behave like the iPads because the overall chassis is more compact.
 
I mean your reasoning is sound but I think we should wait until it’s in people’s hands before starting rumors like that. People around here will latch on to it and it’ll be a “-gate” on the front page days before we even get our hands on em.
 
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Agreed in terms of battery life. I am highly skeptical of processor improvements making such a substantial positive difference in battery life especially with the addition of 5G.
 
Knowlege Bomb said:
I mean your reasoning is sound but I think we should wait until it’s in people’s hands before starting rumors like that. People around here will latch on to it and it’ll be a “-gate” on the front page days before we even get our hands on em.
Click to expand...
The question was already asked when people saw the mmWave cutout.
Anyway, the thread is not supposed to be focusing on this specifically, but it’s a thought that every major redesign, it seems that there are things being left out, oversight, which later rectified with the next release.
 
johnyyz said:
Try to snap a full sized pencil, and then try to snap one that’s 1/3 the size of a regular pencil and see how easy that is.

That’s how easy the phone will bend I’m comparison to an iPad. This is a ridiculous thread that’s not even suited for a rumour site.
Click to expand...
Like I said, that was not supposed to be the point if the thread, but oh well.
 
Where is the evidence the hardware is neutered? I don’t rule out the possibility of the standard 12s being structurally weaker due to the thinness + aluminium, but until there is actual evidence from hand on impressions no one can claim anything has been “neutered”.
 
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I am irked that, in an effort to shave a couple millimeters here and there, we wound up with smaller batteries. Especially when you take into consideration how much they raved about battery life at last year’s iPhone event. There was zero mention of battery life this year.

Maybe we’ll get close enough to the battery life that was delivered on the 11 Pros, but I would’ve gladly accepted a slightly thicker phone for a larger battery.
 
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ian87w said:
Seems like every time Apple does a major redesign of the iPhone, there’s a catch, a drawback, an oversight, that are being rectified with the subsequent release.

iPhone 4: major redesign, but antennagate and only 256MB RAM. 4S double the RAM and fixed antennagate.
Click to expand...

The iPhone 4 had 512 mb of ram as well. Perhaps you are confusing this with the first gen iPad which had 256 mb ram.

iPhone 5: decent release, but 32bit and got dropped earlier than the 64bit 5S.
Click to expand...

I don’t see this as a flaw. The A6 was the best chip Apple had at the time. But there were issues with the anodising process and this led to the paint feeling off the iPhone 5. Which would be rectified in the 5s.

iPhone 6: bendgate, only 1GB of RAM. 6S dramatically improved everything that it is still supported today with iOS 14.
Click to expand...

I heard the 1 gb ram was due to Apple not having enough ram to supply for all their iPhones, but I agree it absolutely should have come with 2, like the Apple TV. But bendgate is real.

iPhone X: first FaceID and edge to edge design, but poor battery life. Rectified by the 11 with superior battery life.
Click to expand...

The 11 basically got better battery life by including a larger battery, using a lower-res screen and doing away with force touch. Doesn’t seem so much a design flaw as it is a reprioritising of what mattered to users.

The iPhone 11, being the “budget” option, could afford to compromise in areas a flagship phone like the iPhone X couldn’t.

iPhone 12: first 5G iPhone, but questionable structural integrity and battery life.

Do you guys think so? It seems that whenever there’s a redesign, too much effort is put on the design part. The rest of the phone like structural integrity, battery life, etc are “fixed” on the subsequent releases.
What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

I think the biggest issue will be that 5g simply isn’t mature yet in the US, which means that many customers will be paying for tech they can’t yet use.

In short, it’s a problem beyond Apple’s control.
 
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Abazigal said:
The iPhone 4 had 512 mb of ram as well. Perhaps you are confusing this with the first gen iPad which had 256 mb ram.



I don’t see this as a flaw. The A6 was the best chip Apple had at the time. But there were issues with the anodising process and this led to the paint feeling off the iPhone 5. Which would be rectified in the 5s.



I heard the 1 gb ram was due to Apple not having enough ram to supply for all their iPhones, but I agree it absolutely should have come with 2, like the Apple TV. But bendgate is real.



The 11 basically got better battery life by including a larger battery, using a lower-res screen and doing away with force touch. Doesn’t seem so much a design flaw as it is a reprioritising of what mattered to users.

The iPhone 11, being the “budget” option, could afford to compromise in areas a flagship phone like the iPhone X couldn’t.



I think the biggest issue will be that 5g simply isn’t mature yet in the US, which means that many customers will be paying for tech they can’t yet use.

In short, it’s a problem beyond Apple’s control.
Click to expand...
M
My memory is fuzzy then, you're right. :) It was the first Gen iPad that was hobbled with 256MB RAM.

Ah yes, thanks for pointing out the anodizing issues on the 5. Totally forgot about that.

With the price increase, downclocked A14 GPU, and smaller batteries, it feels like 5G is dampening what the iPhone 12 could've been. But at least now the whole lineup is OLED.
 
freeagent said:
That’s what the S model is for. Don’t buy the first gen, you buy the S.
Click to expand...
Seems like the mantra remains true. But with Apple not doing S naming anymore, it's a bit trickier. We'll see what happen next year, whether we will have 12S or 13.
 
Yeah maybe, but I’ll always take the new design over the boring S model that has “updated internal” or whatever
 
Caliber26 said:
I am irked that, in an effort to shave a couple millimeters here and there, we wound up with smaller batteries. Especially when you take into consideration how much they raved about battery life at last year’s iPhone event. There was zero mention of battery life this year.

Maybe we’ll get close enough to the battery life that was delivered on the 11 Pros, but I would’ve gladly accepted a slightly thicker phone for a larger battery.
Click to expand...
It’s called innovation in iPhone 13 lol. Jk I couldn’t resist.
 
ian87w said:
The iPad Pro shows the weakness of the design (plenty of YouTube videos showing it). The stainless steel 12 Pro will probable be fine, but we will see how the normal aluminum 12 will fare.

Yes, it’s speculation, kinda a thing in a rumor site. :)
Click to expand...
Normal aluminium in comparison to what aluminium? It’s 7000 series which is a very strong and durable alloy. When you think 6000 series is used in the building industry I think the grade used on these phones is of a very high standard.

I get a lot of parts 3D printed in my job for prototyping and most won’t realise that a grade like 6082 T6 costs much more to source and produce than 316L stainless steel. The latter is used on the iPhone Pro and the aluminium iPhone is an even better grade of aluminium again. They are not lying when they claim it is aerospace grade.
 
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