Phil Schiller Talks 16 GB iPhones and Thinness vs Battery Life Tradeoffs

[Omek]

I agree with him completely about the macbook. If you don't like it, buy the macbook pro.

Yes, indeed. Buy the glued-together machine instead with overpriced internals that I could buy for half the price. The retina models are basically forcing me to build a hackintosh. The current Mac lineup is horrible, and prices have skyrocketed since the retina addition. I don't trust the iMacs at all, due to all the screen issues they've been having for running hot hardware right next to the screen, which I'm sure will only get worse with the addition of a retina display of that size. Additionally, they are also glued-together now. I've been an avid Mac user for several years since the LC and have supported the slightly overpriced hardware, but this is just too much. Now they're not going to ever allow me to upgrade my own hard drive to an SSD or even upgrade my RAM when I so choose. I hate the Windows UI with a passion, so I'll never go there. But I will end up building a hackintosh, since Apple seems set on making their products this way now.

 

[kamalds]

Apple is being greedy. 32gb should be standard on all base models. Seriously they make large profits and jumping the storage is going to be a minimal impact. The thing is they want to make sure people always go to that $100 more to get the next model that has an acceptable storage so they can even make more profit.

Try again Phil.

True. Even Samsung has started offered 32GB as base storage on Note 3, Note 4 and new Galaxy S6.

 

[StyxMaker]

Try about $0.50-$3 per phone at the MOST. Going from a 16 to 32 USB 3.0 flash drive on amazon is $5. Now buy those in hundreds of millions wholesale and it's DIRT cheap.

If you are engaged in retail marketing, like Apple, it's not the cost of the chip that concerns you, it's how many $100+ upgrades, to more profitable phones, you will loose.

 

[manu chao]

Ugh no. An iPhone 6+ takes 2 hours using an iPad charger.

That's the 6+ which has a noticeably larger battery and also a longer battery life. My iPhone 6 usually charges in 1 to 2 hours via its iPhone charger. But then it usually is starting off at 50%.

 

[Psyfuzz]

I'm not sure why people get upset with the 16GB iPhone. Apples current pricing is genius, it's like a voluntary price increase of the iPhone. It would be criminal IMO if Apple purposely made a decision that would reduce it's profits. As long as people are willing to buy iPhones like they did with the 6/6P this will continue to happen.

If you truly think it's dishonest to sell a 16 GB phone for 650$, do what I did and buy a different brand of phone. No point in complaining if you are still going to buy the phone.

"Im not sure why consumers are upset with consumers getting extorted for more money. We should be happy for the company we give money too"

 

[StyxMaker]

i had to uninstall so many games and photos just to keep everything in limit of 16gb space. 16gb is not enough.

Then pay the $100 and get 64 gigs.

 

[samcraig]

Well Phil - not everyone wants to store everything in the cloud. Especially when your cloud services are spotty.

 

[StyxMaker]

Aka deceptive marketing b*llocks

Every line of products, sold by every retail sales organization, has an OPP (Opening Price Point). The OPP is the lowest priced, and lowest profit, model in that line. No retail sales organization really wants to sell their OPP, they want to up sell their customers to more expensive, and more profitable, models. There is no 'deceptive marketing' involved.

 

[bawbac]

Of course Apple is doing it for business purposes, they are a business. Basic marketing.

And you should look up the definition of 'Nazi'.

May be you should stop being a follower and research...
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nazi

 

[ChrisCW11]

Oh come on. I have a One Plus One phone that charges in under 1 hour and has a bigger battery then the iPhone 6.

I am tired of Apple copping out about these form vs function questions because they are just trying to spin the idea that they arrived at the perfect thinness vs battery ratio by choice, but the reality is that they made the iPhone thinner out of sheer hubris and the internals of the iPhone 6 got efficient enough to last the same relative time with a smaller battery.

Every generation of iDevice does not have to be thinner, and I think Apple has reached a limit on usability vs thinness. The iPhone 6 is too thin, it bends. Adding 2 mm to it might avoid it from bending, but it also might add an extra day of battery life, and if Apple used Quick Charge technology they could still have it charge in under 1 hour. Also the iPad Air 2 is too thin because it vibrates too much from even low speaker volume. The new Macbook Air is too thin as it bends when you force touch on the trackpad, which seems to be a design flaw to include a heavy force touch feature on something that is thin and flexible, we will see how the new iPhone/iPads fair as they get thinner but include a force touch feature, I think a lot of warranty repairs will be coming that day.

As for device storage, I agree with him on that. 16 gb is more then enough for sane phone users. Look, I don't need to carry around years worth of content. At any given time I am listening to a handful of artists and with Apple or Google cloud services I rarely am aware of how much music is actually stored on my device vs streamed from the cloud. Also as more services like Apple Music and Netflix and HBO Go, etc come out most people will simply stream from the cloud vs having to store every picture, music, video, game, app they have ever touched in their life.

People that feel they need 256+ GB of phone storage are digital hoarders, period. They need an intervention to get help to remove the 240 GB of duck face selfies because nobody will ever want to view that much inane content.

 

[StyxMaker]

I think that we can all agree that. The thing is that many high end Android manufacturers have moved to 32gb, who spend an equal amount on things like advertising and R&D. Yet Apple is still stuck on 16gb just to squeeze as much margins out as possible, just like how they haven't moved on the 8mp camera. Also, remember when they reintroduced the then 4 year old iPhone 4 back into India? http://indiatoday.intoday.in/techno...g-iphone-4-at-rs-15000-in-india/1/336263.html

Apple is #1 here to make money not for users, which can be said about all companies but that can be shown clearly with Apple

Apple is the most successful retail marketing company in, probably, the history of the world (success measured in profit, of course). They do not hide the amount of storage in their phones. Customers know, when they make the purchase, how much memory they are getting. If their OPP phone doesn't have enough memory for you, upgrade or buy elsewhere.

 

[JackANSI]

When Apple determines that they are losing more money (potential customers going to another brand) than they are making (customers upgrading to 64 gig phone) they will change it. Not before.

Spot on.

Despite the flash chips being a few dollars... Only an idiot would give a few dollars to millions of people for nothing when they will pay $90+ dollars or more for what they should've got in the first place.

 

[StyxMaker]

If only life was that simple...

Why isn't it that simple? Do you have an irresistible compulsion to buy Apple products?

 

[StyxMaker]

Cloud storage isn't for everyone...

Right, and a 16 gig phone isn't for everyone. The OPP model of any product is not designed to meet everyone's needs.

 

[StyxMaker]

Who's survey are they taking to know that we want 16gb phones. Some of the heads of this company are just full of it but their BS "solutions" to problems that were never there! They all know we want storage over the cloud because what happens when there's no access to the cloud.... They really need to think over their plans and make 32gb the lowest starting model.

Keep in mind that Apple doesn't want you to buy the 16 gig phone, they want you to spend another $100 and buy the 64 gig phone. That is why they sweetened the move upward instead of sweetening the bottom. They don't want to sell the bottom of the line product. Basic marketing.

 

[StyxMaker]

I "love" how Apple execs are always so sure they're right.

But thanks for execsplaining to us how phones with bigger batteries would weigh more and take longer to charge; I never would've anticipated those fatal trade-offs.

I used to work for a Harvard MBA, he had a sign on his office wall, "Harvard MBAs may be wrong, but they are never uncertain." That probably applies to almost everyone in the upper echelon of any company.

 

[StyxMaker]

Shall we put 32GB chip in there or save $0.50 per device and pocket tens of millions as bonuses? Let me think about that... 16GB is enough! Magic!

Totally wrong question. "Should we put a 32GB chip in and lose the millions we make up selling people to the 64GB phone?" Obviously, when you know what the question is, you know the answer.

 

[Psyfuzz]

Damn, Styxmaker taking over the thread. I'll see everyone by the exit.

No way to spin it really, 16GB as entry level doesn't work in 2015 given current app and photo sizes and how they've grown - the market's changed since the 3GS and Apple should've adapted - yes we as consumers could pay more but it should be in Apple's interest to stay competitive regarding storage and pricing.

I love iOS and won't shift because I love the operating system, but that doesn't mean I would complain about this type of nonsense.

I could care less about their margins or how they're 'just being a business' when the one who's ultimately worse off in the situation is myself and my wallet, am I getting a good/competitive deal? Okay then, now I'll start being interested about the product creator's interests.

 

[cocky jeremy]

So it seems like we can abandon any hopes for at least 32 GB baseline storage for the 6s generation. Sigh.

Not really. He's not going to come out and say, "Calm down, it'll be on the new iPhone!" because that could affect people's decisions to buy now.

********. The price difference between 16 and 32gb chips is only a few dollars. They are just trying to keep the margins strong.

They're a company. Their whole purpose it to have strong margins. It's totally smart.

 

[ErikGrim]

I am really starting to see why most Techs hate apple because they have a habit of insulting your intelligence.

Good lord. Having options for people that does not share your needs is not "insulting your intelligence". A statement like that speaks more of your intelligence than anything else.

 

[yaboyac29]

Here's the the problem. You bought the phone right? So how is Apple going to take your criticism seriously if you continue to make them rich?
When the Samsung S5 failed to produce good sales Samsung had to go back to the drawing board with the S6. Companies only listen when the money stops pouring in.

You're right.. But I don't have any other options because I don't want an android.

However, I may have to resort to just that in the future of the phone keeps getting thinner.

 

[phillipduran]

Why not let the consumer decide for themselves if they want it or not?

Personally, I am tempted by the Macbook. As a teacher, I don't really do anything heavy on my laptop (currently using a 2012 11" MBA) so I am not really disturbed by the Core M processor. I always appreciate a thinner, lighter device. I use an Apple TV in my classroom, so that negates the need for an adaptor. I move most of my files via cloud storage. I really like the retina display, but am not prepared to splash on a new laptop yet. At any rate, I just replaced the 64gb SSD in my MBA with a 240 gb one, so that should future proof me for another 2-3 years.

I would be one person for whom the limitations of the Macbook don't really apply to.

Sounds like a great idea. Make 1, 2 or 3 USB port versions of that MacBook and let the consumer decide.

I'd like to see what the sales numbers would be.

 

[phillipduran]

I disagree. I've never seen my mom plug anything into ANY port of her laptop other than the charger since she got it.

It gives her the extended use of a computer (as some things she does she can't do with just a tablet), but at the same time she has something super portable, super beautiful and easy to read, and yet is just as comfortable as if she had an iPad.

Heck, I considered getting one and just buying an adapter, because about 80% of what I do is handled wirelessly, and I do "Pro" work.

. . . and buy an adapter. That's kind of the point. One is not the average number of USB devices that people have. At the end of the day, people still need to charge their devices, so cables aren't going to go away. Why not accommodate the users with multiple USB ports instead of being "bold" for the sake of pratical.

 

[duffman9000]

That's the 6+ which has a noticeably larger battery and also a longer battery life. My iPhone 6 usually charges in 1 to 2 hours via its iPhone charger. But then it usually is starting off at 50%.

Use an iPad charger and experience what should have been included. You could probably charge your phone from dead to full in a little over an hour.

 

[viachicago22]

That's his appeal to me. The ability to be able to say everything without needing to say anything at all. Very often, he just needs to quote a certain part of an article and somehow, I find my brain just filling in the blanks and narrating what I imagine he would be saying anyways.

I think it's a knack to be able to instinctively know what to exclude in your articles, and it's not something everyone can do well.

Yes I would agree with that. He does have an ability to say more with less words.