Phil Schiller Says New iPod Touch 'Too Thin' for Ambient Light Sensor

[TheRainKing]

Next year...


To Phil Schiller

Phil, I can't find the volume buttons on the new iPod touch 6th generation, and I don't hear any sound when playing music. Care to explain why, sir?
Thanks
Raghid from Lebanon


Response from Phil Schiller

Hi Raghid.

Thank you for purchasing the new iPod touch. It's a remarkable device!
The 6th generation does not have any volume buttons or the speaker anymore (it's just too thin!).

PS. We are thinking about removing the battery next year.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[CrAkD]

Classic example of making something thinner for no logical reason

iPhone 5 is thinner then the 4 but if they retained the thickness they could have dramatically improved battery life. I have never met or heard someone say the iPhone 4 was too thick or heavy.

Ya and if they did that the amount of people whining because its not different enough from the 4s would be double.

Btw I'm home with my 5 plugged in because I went from 100% to 4% in 6 and. Half hours cause I turned auto brightness on. That can't be right. I wish we didn't need an ALS in the iPhone cause auto brightness by itself is unnecessary.

 

[iEnvy]

Are you guys really complaining about something so meaningless in the iPod Touch? Look at the main consumer for iPod touches-Tweens and Teens. Why the hell would it matter if it had the ALS?

 

[samcraig]

Next year...


To Phil Schiller

Phil, I can't find the volume buttons on the new iPod touch 6th generation, and I don't hear any sound when playing music. Care to explain why, sir?
Thanks
Raghid from Lebanon


Response from Phil Schiller

Hi Raghid.

Thank you for purchasing the new iPod touch. It's a remarkable device!
The 6th generation does not have any volume buttons or the speaker anymore (it's just too thin!).

PS. We are thinking about removing the battery next year. Imagine how thin the iPod touch will be!

Sent from my iPhone

And the year after


To Phil Schiller

Phil, why do I need to keep my iPod touch 7th Generation plugged in? If I unplug it, it shuts off. Care to explain why, sir?

Thanks
Raghid from Lebanon


Response from Phil Schiller

Hi Raghid.

Thank you for purchasing the new iPod touch. It's a remarkable device!
The 7th generation does not have a battery anymore (it's just too thin!).


Sent from my iPhone

eta: d'oh I didn't see your PS before I typed this!

 

[840quadra]

I wonder why they don't use the Front facing camera as a light sensor, like they currently do on the MacBooks ?

I am sure there has to be a way for them to activate only a couple photo cells to monitor light levels and such.

 

[notjustjay]

I hate it how these days, the high profile Apple employees try to persuade you how good things are (I'm mainly talking about Schiller, Forstall and Cook here).

C'mon, what do you expect them to say?

"Yeah, you're right, it kinda sucks doesn't it."

"Damn, Steve wouldn't have let that happen. I'll look into it."

"Don't buy one then. I'm not!"

 

[samcraig]

I wonder why they don't use the Front facing camera as a light sensor, like they currently do on the MacBooks ?

I am sure there has to be a way for them to activate only a couple photo cells to monitor light levels and such.

It's just too thin. Why can't you understand this. You think if it could be done, Apple would have done it?! What is wrong with you?!

 

[Anuba]

I hate it how these days, the high profile Apple employees try to persuade you how good things are (I'm mainly talking about Schiller, Forstall and Cook here).

"It is a remarkable device!"

"Maps are SO beautiful"

"It's just gorgeous"

"We absolutely love this at Apple, absolutely LOVE it"

It just looks desperate?

Steve would have just gone "here it is, it's so cool", end of.

Dude, they're totally parroting Steve. Your memory must be very selective. I watched a few of his old keynotes last week and he used the words "thin" and "gorgeous" in every other sentence. "Look at that! Isn't that gorgeous? Unbelllliieeeeevably thin! It's amazing. Get the camera closer so they can see. See that? Just gorgeous... sooo thin..."
He talked like that right from the unveiling of the original Mac in 1984 to his very last Keynote.

 

[iGrip]

Lol fail again Apple

No way. Apple will sell just as many despite the light sensor omission. And because the design is less costly to build, they will make increased profits.

Apple genius again is more like it.

 

[JBaker122586]

I hate it how these days, the high profile Apple employees try to persuade you how good things are (I'm mainly talking about Schiller, Forstall and Cook here).

"It is a remarkable device!"

"Maps are SO beautiful"

"It's just gorgeous"

"We absolutely love this at Apple, absolutely LOVE it"

It just looks desperate?

Steve would have just gone "here it is, it's so cool", end of. Then of course, we would have opened our lovely new Apple gadgets and thought "yeah, this is pretty cool!".

But now it seems that the recent decline in quality of some Apple products (Maps, lack of light sensor on new Touches, no groundbreaking new features in iOS 6 that work properly) has resulted in the top dogs getting desperate, and trying to persuade us that Apple products are really cool rather than just showing us how cool they are. I just think it comes across desperate, and isn't smooth like Steve was.

Just my thoughts...

Steve?
As in, Jobs?

He of the, "It's the most amazing device we've ever built," "Isn't that great?" "It's like magic"?

 

[nofunsir]

Since I got the new iPod touch, I tore apart my iPod touch 2g this weekend. The ambient light sensor from 2008 is so tiny, I seriously doubt they couldn't fit the sensor in the 5g, let alone an updated 2012 ambient light sensor.

P.S. I guess modding iOS to use the camera wasn't in the statement of work, either.

 

[Mactendo]

Phil, I have noticed that there's no display on my new iMac released on October 24. Just a framed square hole. Care to explain, Sir?
Thanks
Raghid from Lebanon

***

Hi Raghid,

Thank you for purchasing the new iMac! It is a remarkable device!
The new iMac doesn't have a display (it's just too thin!)

Phil

 

[Mylok]

Same here. I find that the screen is always dimming precisely when you don't want it to with the auto sensor. I'd rather just dim it myself if it's dark (though it would be nice if the brightness wasn't buried in settings so far).

If you want to dim your brightness, check this app out;

http://at.ominx.eu/qb

 

[ppc_michael]

Maybe they're just making the features list thinner.

 

[asd789789]

"it's just too thin!"

I see some memes coming

 

[Mactendo]

Since I got the new iPod touch, I tore apart my iPod touch 2g this weekend. The ambient light sensor from 2008 is so tiny, I seriously doubt they couldn't fit the sensor in the 5g, let alone an updated 2012 ambient light sensor.

The light sensor will return in the next generation of iPod as a "new feature". One step back, two steps forward, this is how many are doing business these days. And after each step they sell millions of devices either as a novice item (look, it's so thin!) either as a more full featured device (hey, you wanted a light sensor, here it is again!).

 

[komodrone]

"Maps are SO beautiful"

but the new Maps app IS SO BEAUTIFUL. If were comparing visually, I'd take vector Maps over Google's rasterized maps any day.

 

[Anuba]

I don't understand how the thickness of the device is an excuse. Make it thicker then. At what point is dropping features so that it can be thinner going to stop.

It stops when Apple finds their next big sales point. For many years it was speed. The G3 was a "Pentium toaster" and the G5 was a "supercomputer". Keynotes involved long boring explanations about how clock frequency isn't everything, and demonstrations of how fast this or that Mac loaded some huge Pixar movie poster document into Photoshop, etc etc.

When they switched to Intel they obviously couldn't keep going with their rigged speed tests, they had no real or feigned competitive edge in the speed department since the competition used the exact same Intel processors. That's when this whole "thin" and "gorgeous" craziness grew from side dish to main course. Once the "thinner than the last one" pattern had been established, they had painted themselves into a corner. It's taken for granted now and the stock would probably plummet whenever a keynote presentation doesn't feature the mandatory thickness comparison slide.

So all we can do is wait for them to hit a brick wall, or for someone to hit Jony Ive WITH a brick wall.

Edit: By the way that is a flat out lie, the ambient light sensor is a surface mount component no bigger than the capacitors that are already in there.

Schiller is vice president of marketing, not engineering, no point in scrutinizing his ramblings from a technological standpoint.

but the new Maps app IS SO BEAUTIFUL. If were comparing visually, I'd take vector Maps over Google's rasterized maps any day.

Yes, they are indeed beautiful. I sat for hours marveling at the details of Manhattan and Stockholm in glorious 3D. Then I thought, hold on... this has squat to do with the function of a map application, it's for orientation, getting you from A to B, and finding points of interest like restaurants. From that perspective, maps sucks ass. Especially for the 510,000 citizens of Gothenburg, Sweden whose home town didn't even exist according to Maps. It had literally dropped off the map.

 

[TheRainKing]

I hate it how these days, the high profile Apple employees try to persuade you how good things are (I'm mainly talking about Schiller, Forstall and Cook here).

"It is a remarkable device!"

"Maps are SO beautiful"

"It's just gorgeous"

"We absolutely love this at Apple, absolutely LOVE it"

It just looks desperate?

Steve would have just gone "here it is, it's so cool", end of. Then of course, we would have opened our lovely new Apple gadgets and thought "yeah, this is pretty cool!".

But now it seems that the recent decline in quality of some Apple products (Maps, lack of light sensor on new Touches, no groundbreaking new features in iOS 6 that work properly) has resulted in the top dogs getting desperate, and trying to persuade us that Apple products are really cool rather than just showing us how cool they are. I just think it comes across desperate, and isn't smooth like Steve was.

Just my thoughts...

Like others have pointed out, Steve was the master of the very thing your complaining about. During every keynote he ever did he would constantly use phrases like "This is the most amazing product Apple has ever made" "It's so gorgeous" "It is breathtaking" You won't believe it, until you hold it" "It's magical" etc..

I think the difference between Steve saying it, and the others saying it, is that when Steve said it, he actually sounded like he believed what he was saying, whereas when the others say it, you can tell they are just repeating what they have heard Steve say, hoping to create the same effect. Basically it sounds very phoney when the others say it, maybe thats why it bothers you.

 

[APlotdevice]

Don't be ridiculous. Before they did that - they would create a new proprietary connector (like lightening) rendering every single wired headset useless so you had to buy their headphones. Now they might license the tech to a select few - but not for several months.

And oh yeah - the new headsets wouldn't come with the iDevice - it would be sold separately. Also available would be an adapter IF you wanted to use regular headphones

Jokes aside, I actually wouldn't mind a new type of headphone connector. Preferably one that connects magnetically, so that when your headphones get yanked your whole device doesn't go with them.

 

[CindyRed]

Good riddance

Ambient light sensor: a.k.a The first thing I turn off on all my Apple products. This news would only be tragic if the ALS on Apple products worked well and wasn't sensitive to EVERY change in light levels, including a cloud partially blocking the sun for a nanosecond.

 

[jrswizzle]

Don't be ridiculous. Before they did that - they would create a new proprietary connector (like lightening) rendering every single wired headset useless so you had to buy their headphones. Now they might license the tech to a select few - but not for several months.

And oh yeah - the new headsets wouldn't come with the iDevice - it would be sold separately. Also available would be an adapter IF you wanted to use regular headphones

wah wah wah....give me a break. How many micro/mini/other USB cables have there been over the last decade? How many Apple 30 pin connectors? Right...

A company tries to help push people further into the wireless age and all we do is complain they didn't GIVE me some adapter so I can use all my old stuff with my new stuff. Oh by the way - this happened one time in 10 years. And will only happen again in another 10 years.....I'm pretty sure a $30 adapter spread over 10 years so you can use your older outdated stuff shouldn't be too much for those who spent hundreds on a phone...

But we gotta complain don't we

 

[ouimetnick]

I wonder why they don't use the Front facing camera as a light sensor, like they currently do on the MacBooks ?

I am sure there has to be a way for them to activate only a couple photo cells to monitor light levels and such.

They don't use the camera. The MacBooks, iMacs, etc have an ALS sensor. Opposite the camera light.

 

[baryon]

Mine stopped working after some iOS update on my iPod Touch, hasn't worked for 3 years… not a big problem really! When it did work, it took like 5 minutes to adjust to a new light condition, which meant that it was pointless anyway, more annoying than anything…

I hate it how these days, the high profile Apple employees try to persuade you how good things are (I'm mainly talking about Schiller, Forstall and Cook here).

"It is a remarkable device!"

"Maps are SO beautiful"

"It's just gorgeous"

"We absolutely love this at Apple, absolutely LOVE it"

It just looks desperate?

Steve would have just gone "here it is, it's so cool", end of. Then of course, we would have opened our lovely new Apple gadgets and thought "yeah, this is pretty cool!".

But now it seems that the recent decline in quality of some Apple products (Maps, lack of light sensor on new Touches, no groundbreaking new features in iOS 6 that work properly) has resulted in the top dogs getting desperate, and trying to persuade us that Apple products are really cool rather than just showing us how cool they are. I just think it comes across desperate, and isn't smooth like Steve was.

Just my thoughts...

But Apple has always been like this, even Steve. I even remember seeing a video compilation of a few minutes of Steve just saying stuff like "Amazing" "Wonderful" "Gorgeous", etc… It was funny, but that's Apple's style. And iOS updates didn't always have such groundbreaking features, except for maybe multitasking, once.

Come on, the lack of light sensor in the new Touch is not a decline in quality. For one, the new iPod Touch has a flash for the camera, isn't that a good tradeoff?

 

[bigpics]

Classic example of making something thinner for no logical reason

iPhone 5 is thinner then the 4 but if they retained the thickness they could have dramatically improved battery life. I have never met or heard someone say the iPhone 4 was too thick or heavy.

Well, now you have. Whenever I pick one up, it's like this heavy little angular brick that never whispered "buy me" in my ear.

I like the feel and heft of the 5 much better.

That aside, more battery life is always a desiradata in its own right, so looking forward to advances in the tech, and feel the 5 is "thin enough," though knowing Apple over the years, their philosophy is the same as any fashion model's: "You can never be too light or too thin."