Obsession with thinness: why is Apple so out of touch with its customers?

[Max(IT)]

No one asked Apple to make the iPad Air 2 thinner either.

But since they did, the entire casing and screen resonates when music is played. BADLY. So much so that I'd rather keep my iPad Air and all it's constantly reloading Safari tabs.

You should return it, since if it's constantly reloading tabs it must be defective.
Mine don't: http://youtu.be/XFf9skJTohw

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Is there any correlation though? Would a slightly thicker iPhone sell more units? Would iPhone 6 fail to 'sell like hotcakes' if it wasn't thinner than the 5?

I honestly wonder how many people it really moves the needle for at all? Over the years you've heard a lot more people clamor for better battery life than a thinner phone. But the keynotes inevitably focus on 'how much thinner' it is rather than improved battery life. The iPhone 6+ is the first iPhone released where significant battery life was touted as an improvement.

We don't know, but surely they are fulfilling customer's expectations, and set new sales records as reward.

 

[noobinator]

I love the battery life on the 6 Plus. I'm getting nearly 48 hours out of it.

With that being said, I'm so used to getting 24 hours or less out of my phones that I only expect my phone to get me through most of a day. I have chargers all over the house, my car, and at work.

I want Apple to keep pushing the envelope in terms of design, style, and functionality as long as they can keep giving me enough battery to get through one day.

I think most would agree with this. I for one, cringe when I hold a thick phone now. I might change my mind if additional chargers were $1,000 or you couldn't charge in the car or at work.

 

[Max(IT)]

no one is buying the phone because its tinner.


They are buying the phone because the screen is no longer the size of a postage stamp.

But then again your hero Jobs claimed no one would ever want a large phone. So he must have really been out of touch.

Last year iPhone, with a 4" display set new sales records as well, so your is just a trolling attempt.
Jobs said that in 2007. Today is 2014: different time, different needs.

Millions of people are buying the iPhone because it fulfills their expectation. So you can find complains about its thinness only in tech forums like this (especially the ones infested with haters pretending to be Apple users).

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Until you get to the stage where it affects structural integrity, which I fear has occurred. There's a point of diminishing returns and I felt the iPhone 5 was too thin. Now with the IP6, and the bending issue, its my opinion that they've gone too far with their obsession with thinness.

Yes, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus are wildly popular, and people are clamoring for them, but I do believe its a design flaw to have so thin that the camera protrudes from the rear and you can bend the phone so easily.

Edit:
Don't get me wrong, I have an IP6+, its a fantastic phone, but its possible weakness is a concern.

Prove me about structural integrity flaws and we could go ahead with discussion.
So far the only controlled test done showed a totally different result:

All the phones we tested showed themselves to be pretty tough. The iPhone 6 Plus, the more robust of the new iPhones in our testing, started to deform when we reached 90 pounds of force, and came apart with 110 pounds of force. With those numbers, it slightly outperformed the HTC One (which is largely regarded as a sturdy, solid phone), as well as the smaller iPhone 6, yet underperformed some other smart phones.
...
Below you can see the pictures of the smart phone carnage, but bear in mind that it took significant force to do this kind of damage to all these phones. While nothing is (evidently) indestructible, we expect that any of these phones should stand up to typical use.


The rest is just fud purposely divulged on the web by haters and people with an agenda.

 

[mark34]

The thinness of the this 6 combined with the larger screen is why it works. If they made the larger screen without making it thinner and lighter (relative to size) I would not like the phone at all. They nailed it.

 

[opfreak]

apple paid shills strong on these forums.

 

[Ev0d3vil]

I'm sure people will be complaining if the iPad is thick. You can't please everyone can't you?

 

[koigirl]

I very much agree with the OP. My recent gripe with Apple have been some of the decisions they've made. I work at a reseller and often I'm having to try and push people away from the 13" MacBook Pro because they're not aware of the fact that it's nearly 3-year-old tech that hasn't been updated. And if they bought it, I'd very soon be getting angry calls about how their Mac is slow due to paging/no SSD.

The trouble is that Apple profess -- and not just subtly, but 'in your face' -- about how they only make the best products that they would use, and that they're at the cutting edge of technology.

Then we've got 8GB phones getting sold that pretty much require wiping, just to do an operating system update. We've got ancient tech still selling at 2014 prices. We've got a Mac Mini that stayed in the same shell but now can't have a RAM upgrade or a quad-core option. We've got 'lower cost' products that aren't really lower cost, but just old/poor-performance tech. "We don't ship junk", I recall Jobs once saying. Well the fact that Apple pushing out products with worse hardware to get into a cheaper market is the complete opposite of that.

Apple fans can justify paying a little more for quality -- but by encouraging new people to buy with lowered prices (at the cost of worse hardware performance), they're not going to get the 'Mac experience' that people buy Apple products for. They're not going to get a great product; and let's not forget that the 'low cost' iMac still costs quite a bit. It's ripping off consumers that frankly don't know any better -- and again to quote Steve Jobs, he said that Apple make decisions for their consumers, because consumers trust the products that Apple build. I don't believe that's quite the same now.

Perhaps it's through rose-tinted glasses, but I remember an Apple where you could purchase any of their products with at least some certainty that it's not completely outdated. I'm sure some people will quote this and give me a thousand examples that prove me wrong ... but that's the Apple I remember. And even if it's not true, that's the Apple that they should be, if their words can be taken at face value.

Great post - completely agree.

 

[cynics]

everytime I read one of these threads I wonder how the OP of them knows how much "more" usage of battery you get from 1mm of thickness

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I don't think I ever seen a thread where anyone has claim to know how much more. They just want more then it currently is.

I'd like to see 10+ hours of heavy usage.

I don't think if the iPhone 6 was the same thickness as the 6+ anyone would have cared or noticed. There certainly would not have been an onslaught of threads saying the 6 should have been thinner then the 6+.

 

[maflynn]

Prove me about structural integrity flaws and we could go ahead with discussion.

I don't need to prove anything, its my opinion, I'm not making a statement of fact. My concern of the structural integrity was voiced a number of times here at MR during the rumor stage of the iPhone 6, when news leaked out it was going to be thinner then the iPhone 5. It was firmed up by the numerous threads about people's phone bending and reading other fairly objective articles on the issue. While some of the bending issues were extreme, I will say there's sufficient evidence to confirm that its an issue imo.

The rest is just fud purposely divulged on the web by haters and people with an agenda.

Some of that is probably true, but like anything there are kernels of truth. Plus I think this is and will continue to affect normal consumers.

I'd say similar arguments were made at the early stages of the antennagate. There were people who believed all that was coming out was done by haters and folks wishing to push their anti-apple agenda - up until apple admitted that its an issue. I raise this example only to show that you cannot easily or off handily dismiss the reports as people spreading FUD.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I wouldn't be displeased if the iPhone 6/+ were thick enough to negate the protruding camera lens

Agreed. I think that the phone shouldn't be so thin that the camera won't fit. That is taking the thinness too far.

 

[veedubshafer]

The thickness isn't as important to me as is the weight of the device. My 6+ and iPad 4 could both benefit from a little less weight. But I love both of them and they both have excellent battery life.

 

[maflynn]

The thickness isn't as important to me as is the weight of the device. My 6+ and iPad 4 could both benefit from a little less weight. But I love both of them and they both have excellent battery life.

You know what surprised, the mass, not really just weight but the overall size and heft. I'd say its both an advantage and disadvantage. Advantage because it has a gorgeous display, but disadvantage because its less holdable in one hand (well less then an iPhone 5) and it does take up more pocket space. Still its a great phone, I've not incurred any buyers remorse.

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Agreed. I think that the phone shouldn't be so thin that the camera won't fit. That is taking the thinness too far.

That was one of my pet peeves, and one that I think Jobs would never stand for. Regardless of how thin it is, having the camera protrude like that is very un-apple imo. The iPad Air 2 is just as thin, but its camera doesn't protrude, so I wonder why this does

 

[masonboswell]

Since Apple has shown they are now willing to make a proliferation of models, I think they should make a bigger battery model alongside the thin ones. It could be called the Apple Juice.

 

[lke]

My iphone 6 battery is over 100% better than the iphone 5S

Placing a bigger battery inside the iphone will make it heavier.

The iphone 6 is the best ever.

If you want a better battery and you don't care carrying a heavier and bigger iphone why you don't buy a battery case?

 

[TonyC28]

I get what the OP is saying here, but I don't think it means Apple is out of touch. The only thing left to make smaller on these phones (all smart phones) is to make them thinner. Back before smart phones it was all about making the phones tiny. Well now we all want a large screen to work on so we know it can't be too small. The only thing left to shrink is the thickness. But now there is a trade-off, thinner phone for less battery life. The next big leap in these phones has to be battery technology. Until then, do we want thinner or do we "settle for" thicker but with increased battery life. Personally, I would be happy to have a slightly thicker iPhone 6 that had a bigger battery in it. But that's just me. It's not to say that I don't like the thin design, but if I could choose between the iPhone 6 I have now and one that was 2mm thicker but had a better battery I would probably go with the better battery.
As far as iPads go I think there is a quest to make these things feel like you're holding a piece of paper. Technology, specifically in the area of batteries, has some catching up to do to make that possible.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

Why is Apple so obsessed with making iPhones and iPad thinner at the expense of battery size/life? The incredible advances they make in power sipping processors every year is negated by the barely adequate battery size. Why can't they make the iPhone and iPad 1 mm thicker and put a bigger battery in there? I don't think anybody would complain. Most people use a case with the iPhone and iPad anyway, so the marginal return on thinness that a user gets is much less than the marginal return you get from improved battery life.

I hope Apple sees the light of the day sooner and gives what people really want on their smartphones and tablets - better battery life.

After all this bend-gate, I can almost be certain it won't get any thinner from here on. If anything, it will either remain the same, or increase because of new technology requiring space.

 

[Vertigo50]

When they had the keynote for their new iMac and touted "thinner and lighter" I was legitimately in disbelief, and got quite a kick out of it. Seriously? A desktop? Must a desktop be thinner and lighter?

I personally think the iPhones and iPads are thin enough. The 6+ is going to be my first phone that I've ever put in a case....which kind of defeats the purpose of thinner, doesn't it?

It doesn't defeat the purpose at all. With most new models, I find that my new iPhone with a thin case is actually the same thickness as my previous iPhone WITHOUT a case. So the extra thinness is very much felt, as I put a thin case on every model.

In fact, with all the complaining about the camera lens protruding, I think Apple reasoned that since the majority of people put a case on the phone, they might as well make it thinner, since the majority will still protect the camera lens with a case.

 

[saintforlife]

Good design doesn't stem from thoughts like this.

When designing the Mac Mini, Steve Jobs and Jony Ive looked at lots of different size cases.

The case size they settled on was only a couple of millimeters too small to fit in the a desktop size HDD (3.5"), which mean't they would have to use more expensive smaller HDD (2.5").

Did they change the design because of this? Make it an extra mm bigger?
Of course not.

The size they chose felt right and looked right.

How is this even relevant to the mobile computing and tablet age where battery life is probably one of the most important features for users? You are stuck in the 90s.

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Who says they are out of touch?
Customers are voting with their wallet, and the thin iPhone 6 is selling like hot cakes, so what's your point?
I'm fine with their design, and I don't have anything to complain about iPad or iPhone battery life.

Sticking with the iPhone because they are already bought into Apple ecosystem is not the same as voting with their wallet. Take a random (SRS) sample of 1000 iPhone users and ask them if they would give up 1 mm of thickness for a half day extra battery life. What you do you think the overwhelming majority of the people will choose - thinness or battery life? Any rational person knows the right answer to this question.

 

[mojolicious]

Good design doesn't stem from thoughts like this.

When designing the Mac Mini, Steve Jobs and Jony Ive looked at lots of different size cases.

The case size they settled on was only a couple of millimeters too small to fit in the a desktop size HDD (3.5"), which mean't they would have to use more expensive smaller HDD (2.5").

Did they change the design because of this? Make it an extra mm bigger?
Of course not.

The size they chose felt right and looked right.

That's the sort of thinking that led to the Philippe Starck juicer, and if it's true then it's very, very sad.

 

[sviato]

It's difficult to get out of a race you started.


Now, do you want them to keep getting thinner? That camera protrusion will just be bigger and bigger unless Apple invents some new camera tech as well.

 

[maflynn]

Now, do you want them to keep getting thinner? That camera protrusion will just be bigger and bigger unless Apple invents some new camera tech as well.

I'd prefer to see some different features or innovation then how much thinner they could make the next iPhone.

 

[saintforlife]

You should return it, since if it's constantly reloading tabs it must be defective.
Mine don't: http://youtu.be/XFf9skJTohw

Great job misleading people by using a 3rd party browser instead of Safari in your video. You just earned yourself a down vote. I also reported the video as misleading to Youtube. I hope it gets taken down.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Personally, I'm not buying into the "thin backlash." I think they can, will and should continue to make these devices as thin and sleek as possible. In my opinion the notion that the compromises would offset the advantages shows a lack of imagination. Consider how different the current iPod Touch is from the original first generation iPod. Now imagine how different an Apple hand-computer might be 8-10 years from now in comparison to the current iPhone 6 series.

 

[vgamedude]

I don't get it either. One of the main things that kept me from the 6 and made me lean towards the plus (probably not getting either though, haven't decided) was battery life. Honestly the battery on the 6 just doesn't seem to be enough for someone like me who uses their phone constantly, I don't carry (or own) a laptop or a tablet so my phone is it.

I would rather have a 8 or even 9 mm thick phone with amazing battery life and no potruding camera than a 6 mm one with meh not good battery and a protruding camera.

 

[Max(IT)]

apple paid shills strong on these forums.

Apple doesn't need to pay for happy customers...

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I don't need to prove anything, its my opinion, I'm not making a statement of fact. My concern of the structural integrity was voiced a number of times here at MR during the rumor stage of the iPhone 6, when news leaked out it was going to be thinner then the iPhone 5. It was firmed up by the numerous threads about people's phone bending and reading other fairly objective articles on the issue. While some of the bending issues were extreme, I will say there's sufficient evidence to confirm that its an issue imo.


Some of that is probably true, but like anything there are kernels of truth. Plus I think this is and will continue to affect normal consumers.

I'd say similar arguments were made at the early stages of the antennagate. There were people who believed all that was coming out was done by haters and folks wishing to push their anti-apple agenda - up until apple admitted that its an issue. I raise this example only to show that you cannot easily or off handily dismiss the reports as people spreading FUD.

Sufficient evidence? I've yet to see any evidence at all...
The only real test I saw said quite the opposite: the iPhone 6 is well made, considering its thinness.

Antenna gate? Apple never admitted that was an issue. Never. Actually they organized a press event to demonstrate it wasn't.
Antenna gate was blowed out of proportion by anti Apple propaganda. The antenna design wasn't their best design, for sure, but it wasn't a big deal and the iPhone 4 sold millions and millions of units until last year.
In the same way surely the iPhone 6 design has a weak spot, but that's very different from a flaw, since you can't ruin it with NORMAL usage.