Persistent Software Problems With iPhone 8 Wireless Charging and 3D Sensor Causing 'Panic' at Apple

[developer13245]

Remember, Apple is a hardware company.. Software takes a back seat... so just like iOS 9 was a mess due to all the hardware released in 2015 (iPad Pro (meh), Apple TV (ugh)), iOS 11 will also suck. Just skip it, wait for iOS 12.

You've been warned!

 

[Lloydbm41]

Remember, Apple is a hardware company.. Software takes a back seat... so just like iOS 9 was a mess due to all the hardware released in 2015 (iPad Pro (meh), Apple TV (ugh)), iOS 11 will also suck. Just skip it, wait for iOS 12.

You've been warned!

I'm already using ios11 and there are minor bugs, but even the current beta is now reliable as a daily driver. Not sure where you are getting your info?

 

[dampfnudel]

OR…they were all talking nonsense and it was only ever going to be 7S models this year.

Maybe, but with the enormous hype attached to a new design coming this year, just offering the 7S this year would most likely result in dismal sales, dismal enough to put pressure on Apple to release the iPhone 8 ASAP early next year.

 

[bchreng]

They have already done inductive 'well' in the Apple Watch.

Have they now? Seems like, according to these rumors, something's keeping them from getting those same results on the iPhone.

 

[Essaux]

Better to release it later and fully working than to rush it for the September deadline.

 

[Michael Scrip]

In a normal year, yes, I'm thinking there's a chance this may not be a normal year.

The funny thing is... Apple knew this year was coming.

I don't know when exactly Apple decided to stretch the iPhone's normal two-year design cycle to three years.

But the point is... it seems like they've had plenty of time to get this stuff working. Extra time... compared to normal years.

Let's hope Apple was a little too ambitious with this new model... then maybe any slight delay will be understandable.

 

[radus]

As far as i remember the expectations were much higher then then specs of the every year released iPhone.
A new iPhone will be good enough to maintain some kind of marked leadership, do not expect to much.
Some kind of Apple adopted Galaxy S8, comparable design and better CPU/GPU will be good enough to keep us buying the iPhone.

 

[macTW]

Steve is gone so they won't repeat that magic again.

Sarcasm? Because Steve Jobs’ Apple got lucky with every product. He was a good CEO but there was no magic with him. It was perfect timing for certain products. The tech industry is incredibly saturated right now. Samsung and Apple, two giants in tech, won’t ever innovate the same way again not because of someone who’s dead but because there are too many other companies with resources or the means to get resources that all are.

 

[ovo6]

Wtf is goin on

 

[Geurt]

Always good to see when a Fortune 500 company is challenged, the true captains of industry come to the rescue on MacRumors

 

[BruceEBonus]

Two months to go. Not long to wait.

If it's still as is now - excuses and incremental micro changes - then no. The S9 will better it. Again.
If it IS actually new and not the above then they'll get away with it for a few more years on their glory years reputation as they are doing now.

2017. The year things changed. No More Excuses.

 

[antonis]

Fake news ? Maybe, maybe not.
Leaked from Apple ? Definitely not. No high profile company would want such rumours ahead of the launch of a device.

 

[recoil80]

I'm referring to both, because it's my belief—or hope—that the HomePod is intended to be the first short-range RF charging device. 2-5ft charging range. Now, even if that isn't so, I still would much prefer Apple use RF-based contact charging than inductive charging because inductive charging has no where to go. There is no possible distance future there. Whereas RF-based has a chance. If Energous gets FCC approval soon (for the mid-range), I'll be highly confident Apple is using it, and it's in the HomePod.

Look, the HomePod has a launch in December, the very end of the year, and it's been worked on for multiple years. It's a speaker.... why in the world would it take Apple multiple years and have to wait 6 months after announcement to release a speaker? It seems absurd. Moreover, it only launches in 3 countries! The Apple Watch launched in 9 countries, and AirPods launched in more than 100 countries/territories. The HomePod only launches in Australia, the U.K., and the US. Why is a speaker that hard to manufacture? I believe it's a result of them awaiting FCC approval of Energous tech.

That's an interesting point of view and you may be right about HomePod since it will ship in only 3 countries.
Energous is really "wireless" technology and that's the kind of charging I'd like to have on my iPhone if they want to get rid of wires. I have an Apple Watch and inductive charging is ok because I'm putting it on a stand during the night and reaching out for a port to charge it would be inconvenient.
But the iPhone is different, I don't want to buy an inductive mat for my iPhone, one for my wife's and so on. A transmitter able to charge both iPhones and our iPad would be great.
Honestly I'm not craving for wireless charging, so if it isn't ready this year I don't mind, I just hope they'll do it the right way.

 

[Tanax]

This phone is gonna have so many first-gen issues >.< So much new tech being pumped into this one

 

[mikecorp]

Bubble about nothing !! No info, shady source, silly comments!

 

[Piggie]

As I have said a number of times, and you see it every year.
Apple will leak, just what they wish to leak to "limit expectations"

Trust me, if the media are expecting Y, Apple follows the media, and know every one is crazy excited about Y and Apple know they can't do Y.
Then they will leak that Y was just a rumour and X will be what's coming instead.

No way Apple will let rumours about something they can't deliver carry on right up until launch day.
We see it every single year, to the point that by launch day, all earlier rumours have been killed off.

 

[WatchFromAfar]

I think this is fake news released by Apple. It creates a sense of awe when they announce the phone and all of the features are enabled.

Yeah right, I'm sure Apple is putting out fake news saying the iPhone may be delayed/ship without features and they're OK panicking investors into selling their Apple stock thus reducing the stock value of Apple as a company just to give fanboys "a sense of awe".
[doublepost=1499844976][/doublepost]

Apple needs to stop trying so hard. Steve is gone so they won't repeat that magic again. Just ship the phone with bezel, slap on the Touch ID 2, a better camera (front and back), and the usual speed improvements and some fresh new colors. People will buy it.

You've just described the 7s/7s+.

 

[t0mat0]

Wonder how much is attempted stock manipulation. We seem the same each year - stories about problems each year. Surely some of these could dip the stock or at least keep it down pre device launch. Or just noise attempting to show analysts know better and investors should follow them?

 

[WatchFromAfar]

You can't force technology. Just wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Give it a month or two to develop what is correct and fitting.

Problem is what if it's not currently solvable? Give it 6 months? 9 months? 18 months? etc.

 

[recoil80]

I wonder if iPhone 8 will ship on time.
They have to host the event in September as usual, and they may announce 7s and 7s+ together with iPhone 8, but pre order for 7s will start immediately and iPhone 8 will ship a few weeks later with iOS 11.1
That could work, customers interested in iPhone 8 could wait a little bit and other could just order iPhone 7s. Apple wouldn't sell millions of iPhones the first week, but they'd sell a lot more during holidays.

 

[Chicane-UK]

The iPhone 8 is starting to sound more and more like it will be a disappointment.

I never understand why people make critical comments about products which haven't even seen the light of day yet. They're not even real leaks - they're just rumours. Nothing more. It's like reviewing a movie off a description of it.

Condemn it when you've had it in your hand and used it for a few hours. Jeez.

 

[borntrouble]

An almost $ 1T company is under pressure because of the imminent release of its all-new flagship product? You call that...news?

By the way, I'm fairly certain that iPhone 8 will surpass all expectations.

 

[Naraxus]

You spelled "Samsung" wrong

I did? Interesting. Since when does Samsung grossly overcharge their customers for incomplete/beta-released-disguised-as-GM software?

 

[mrklaw]

basic inductive charging has been a thing for 5 years or more by now. How can that be a complex problem to solve? They've even got it in the apple watch. That just confuses me.

And the 3D camera scanning - if they don't get touchID under the screen *and* don't get 3D scanning, what do they do - ship without any kind of biometric sensing and therefore no Apple Pay? Unfathomable!

 

[Makosuke]

Who knows, this could actually be true, or partly true, and last-minute software development is a heck of a lot easier to believe than the report yesterday that Apple hadn't settled on hardware yet (which is patently ridiculous for a product shipping in a few months).

That said, it sounds an awful lot like someone wanted to write another "iPhone 8 doom" story, but realized that claiming the hardware wasn't ready yet was absurd, so just adjusted it to software not being ready yet.

Among other things, why would they be in "panic" mode about software that won't ship for at least two months? Unlike hardware, they can be tweaking software until a lot closer to release date, and Apple has been quite willing to release hardware that the software isn't quite ready for yet (like portrait mode), so while I would feel like I was under a heck of a lot of pressure to get the stuff ready in time if I were on that software team, it wouldn't be a "ruin the company moment" if it ran over schedule.

Also, what would the software on short-range inductive charging even be doing that is that complicated? I've had inductively charged toothbrushes since the '90s, and those didn't exactly rely on fancy software.