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

[Max(IT)]

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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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.

There is no one stick with the iPhone. People freely choose to buy an iPhone.
And your simplistic assumption of 1 mm = half a day has no technical basis.

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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.

We were speaking about a supposed HARDWARE DEFECT (Lack of ram).Using another browser (actually my daily browser) doesn't change facts.
It's not an hardware issue, so your comment is pointless.

Safari definitely isn't my favorite browser on the iPad. I said that since the beginning.
Btw read the video title, genius: iPad doesn't reload tabs.
IPad, not Safari.

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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.

Same test executed with safari......

http://youtu.be/ezdhdKSeweI

Still no reloads, I'd like to add "report my ___"

 

[mazz0]

I for one want lighter iPads and thinner iPhones, and it so happens the two are often related.
Agreed, makes no sense for the iMac though.

 

[SteveJobs2.0]

My sister is a very casual user, moved to iPhone 6 from iPhone 4. She loves her new phone but has twiced complained about the battery life. The issue is not that thiness is bad; it's the sacrifice in battery life (and somewhat structural integrity) that is the issue. You can't position iPhones as "do it all" devices if they cannot do that role through at least a full day of heavy usage.

 

[nouveau-apple]

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.

I had to up this because Apple needs to get the message that iPhones are being criticized because of their weak batteries.

 

[mikethebigo]

I had to up this because Apple needs to get the message that iPhones are being criticized because of their weak batteries.

If you actually look at the tests, the 6 and 6 Plus score very high when compared to all android rivals at this point. Calling the battery life weak is inaccurate. Saying it could be better is accurate.

But, thing is Apple seems to have targeted a full day of moderate use and I don't think that is inappropriate. Let them do more impressive and creative things with the design as long as all I have to do is plug it in at night. I mean, is that really so hard?

 

[Max(IT)]

I had to up this because Apple needs to get the message that iPhones are being criticized because of their weak batteries.

You should check iPhone 6 and 6+ review better....

 

[MacTCE]

I honestly would prefer a slightly thicker device with better battery. I haven't pulled the trigger on an Air 2 for this exact reason. I really want one for the upgraded RAM, but I'm worried about the smaller battery.

 

[samiznaetekto]

I think one of the reasons they don't increase battery life by keeping the same thickness is the upcoming aWatch. Most likely, the battery life on it will be "barely a day... a short winter day". LOL. So, they don't want a huge disparity between aWatch and other iDevices. It would suck if your phone goes two solid days without charging but you have to recharge your watch 4 times in the same period. When they improve battery life on aWatch in its next iterations, they'll start increasing battery life across their whole lineup.

 

[Oridus]

As a person who carries an iPad around all day every day I work (40 hours a week), thinner and lighter are always welcome. Portability is key.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I think one of the reasons they don't increase battery life by keeping the same thickness is the upcoming aWatch. Most likely, the battery life on it will be "barely a day... a short winter day". LOL. So, they don't want a huge disparity between aWatch and other iDevices. It would suck if your phone goes two solid days without charging but you have to recharge your watch 4 times in the same period. When they improve battery life on aWatch in its next iterations, they'll start increasing battery life across their whole lineup.

Not buying that theory at all.

 

[WaveGawd]

They are out of touch, luckily for them 90 percent of its customers don't know what MAh means and are already used to horrible battery life.

 

[Surf Monkey]

They are out of touch, luckily for them 90 percent of its customers don't know what MAh means and are already used to horrible battery life.

I don't see how that's evidence that they're out of touch with the customer base. Care to show some figures on how the current iPhones compare to their direct competition in terms of battery life? I'm getting between 9 and 14 hours active use on a charge out of my Plus. Seems outstanding to me.

 

[WaveGawd]

I don't see how that's evidence that they're out of touch with the customer base. Care to show some figures on how the current iPhones compare to their direct competition in terms of battery life? I'm getting between 9 and 14 hours active use on a charge out of my Plus. Seems outstanding to me.

I'm getting between 7 and 11 hours.. Which is acceptable IMO. Personally I think 4000 mah would have been just right.

And keep in mind the plus is not going to account for the majority of 6s sold. The 4.7 offers less time in between charges. Ask 10 iPhone users if they wouldn't sacrifice thinness for additional batt life. The majority is going to chose batt life. And apples agenda is pushing thinness over everything. Over structural integrity, battery. They are extremely out of touch to me, it's late 2014 and we are JUST now getting screen options above 4 inches. If that doesn't say out of touch to you then I don't know what does.

Luckily for them their OS is so sticky that people like me who are tired of them underdelivering in the hardware dept wil buy another iphone for iMessage and other proprietary os features

 

[kepler20b]

Apple is playing catch up with android.


Battery life has only seen incremental improvements on each iterative release of the iPhone while android has been pushing the envelope of battery life, battery charging, and battery replacement. Samsung is hardened to always have a removable battery, moto and qualcomm have technology that let's you go from 0-50% in 30m, and all of android can be retrofitted for qi charging.

The issue here with apple is that the battery life right now is "just" good enough. Not poor that it demands fixing, not great that it gets lauded for. Its just there.

Perhaps the biggest issue going forward is the precedence set with the iPad mini and air releases. Reviews state unequivocally that battery life is either worse, slightly worse, or the same. This break in continuity of consistently increasing battery life incrementally with each release should concern those who hold battery life as a top priority. Next thing you know, iphone6s/7 could be the next targets. Same or slightly less battery life at the expense of design, profit margin, or thinness.

These iPad releases should concern us all. Apple is not beholden to incrementally increasing performance across the board. They are absolutely willing yo decrease it with a new product release.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I'm getting between 7 and 11 hours.. Which is acceptable IMO. Personally I think 4000 mah would have been just right.

And keep in mind the plus is not going to account for the majority of 6s sold. The 4.7 offers less time in between charges. Ask 10 iPhone users if they wouldn't sacrifice thinness for additional batt life. The majority is going to chose batt life. And apples agenda is pushing thinness over everything. Over structural integrity, battery. They are extremely out of touch to me, it's late 2014 and we are JUST now getting screen options above 4 inches. If that doesn't say out of touch to you then I don't know what does.

Luckily for them their OS is so sticky that people like me who are tired of them underdelivering in the hardware dept wil buy another iphone for iMessage and other proprietary os features

Well, I don't see a comparison of other comparable phones, so I'm not convinced that Apple is under performing in that regard. I'm also unconvinced on the structural integrity front. It's going to take a few more than a couple hundred out of 40 million phones sold to make that case. Finally, Apple is a multi-billion dollar company. The idea that they aren't doing consumer research pretty much 24/7 is pretty suspect. I'd say they're in touch with their customers. To paraphrase: you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

I'm getting between 7 and 11 hours.. Which is acceptable IMO. Personally I think 4000 mah would have been just right.

And keep in mind the plus is not going to account for the majority of 6s sold. The 4.7 offers less time in between charges. Ask 10 iPhone users if they wouldn't sacrifice thinness for additional batt life. The majority is going to chose batt life. And apples agenda is pushing thinness over everything. Over structural integrity, battery. They are extremely out of touch to me, it's late 2014 and we are JUST now getting screen options above 4 inches. If that doesn't say out of touch to you then I don't know what does.

Luckily for them their OS is so sticky that people like me who are tired of them underdelivering in the hardware dept wil buy another iphone for iMessage and other proprietary os features

Tim Cook himself explained that they waited to do the large screen technology when the time was right.

How is that out of touch?

On the other point of view, where do you draw the line? how bulky are we gonna get again? Huge, heavy battery with steel frame?

I think the place you draw the line is where its still within reason within each category. The balance between battery, size, strength and weight is working well enough.

Its like creating a character in an RPG, you spread points out in each category, and in each one you decide at what level is it sufficient, and then you can invest the rest of the points in other areas (which are interrelated in a push/pull relationship). So you give enough to battery life so its all day, then the rest of the points you use for thiner size and lighter weight (more agility). If you put all your points in one, the character will be lopsided. If you put too many points in strength, you also won't be able to dodge attacks as well etc....

So the goal is to make choices based on the balance of interrelated elements.

Look at the Note lol, its battery inefficient due to the OS. Mah just evaporating into thin air wasted.

 

[oddnendz]

For record, iPhone 6 plus fits better in my purse than the iPhone 5S did. And battery life, I haven't had much trouble, but then I always have some sort of charger handy.

 

[Koziakauzu]

I'm happy with the current battery, but who the hell thought it was a good idea to have a camera lens sticking out of a perfectly flat device's back... Ill go for the extra 0.7mm any day

 

[Rcaugh1]

Apple has a form over function mentality, always has. I'll take battery life over size every time. My new 6 has everything turned off. All the bragged about features disabled in order to make it through an evening out, and forget about all day without recharging. I'm so tired of all the Samsung Galaxy users making jokes about my phone and bragging about their frigging battery life on their thick ass phones.

 

[Supermallet]

I've had Samsung phones. The only ones that got awesome battery life were the Notes, which unsurprisingly had massive honking batteries, and the 6 Plus gets battery life comparable to those.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Apple has a form over function mentality, always has.

Not exactly. Apple's philosophy (under Jobs and Cook) has been the unity of form and function. There's a difference. They've always sought to elevate design to equal status with technology, not to have one take precedent over the other. From a design standpoint an example of something that truly takes form over function would be Gene Simons' axe shaped bass or the mini-skyline shaped New York, New York casino in Las Vegas. Apple's designs, iPhones in particular, are aimed at function as much as form and it's the balance Apple achieves that sets their product apart.

 

[crmcm]

The average person who walks into an apple store judges the products (especially the iPhone) by looks, not by studying the tech specs. Apple knows exactly what they are doing. Waaaaay more people are going to purchase the phone because it looks cool than aren't because battery life could have been 1.347575 hours longer had apple been more practical when approaching the design.

 

[Surf Monkey]

The average person who walks into an apple store judges the products (especially the iPhone) by looks, not by studying the tech specs. Apple knows exactly what they are doing. Waaaaay more people are going to purchase the phone because it looks cool than aren't because battery life could have been 1.347575 hours longer had apple been more practical when approaching the design.

They judge by feel and experience too though. There's more to design than looks.

 

[crmcm]

They judge by feel and experience too though. There's more to design than looks.

I agree. Functionality is important as well. Most people aren't going to pay attention to the things that aren't apparent when they're playing with the phone in the apple store though.

 

[maflynn]

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.

I agree, and that's were form is beating out function, Apple chose to make the iPhone 6 thinner yet make the phone less functional (in terms of lasting sufficiently). I don't have the 6 but the plus, so I can only go by what I see here, and there are fair number of posts complaining about the batter life.