Protruding camera...why a big deal?

[Fzang]

No one complained about the last iphone's thickness that I saw. Did you? Be honest. Would you even notice if it was 0.67 centimeters thicker?

That is irrelevant. If a specification has been improved, on paper, it makes the device exponentially better and also the previous device vastly slower. This is all a part of the corporate planned-obsolescence-conspiracy that nearly every electronics manufacturer in the world is in on.

 

[maflynn]

I hate the protruding camera, I think its a fail on apple's part. Apple was about design aesthetics, not how thin can you make a product.

True slapping a case on the phone solves this issue, but I remember reading how Steve Jobs wanted to make sure the logic board's chips were lined up in such a way for the Apple I (and Apple II). Even when something was hidden he wanted to make sure it was done with an eye towards great design.

Now we get something that so thin the lens sticks out a bit.

Perhaps it wouldn't be as big of an issue, if bendgate had not come, but now we see that there were some cases of bending (no matter how rare). I think overall its a rare slip up by Apple.

By the way, I do own a IP6+, I love the phone (aside from the lens sticking out)

 

[Supermallet]

Well, that's a bit much. The camera barely sticks out at all, so using a case to offset that is a personal choice that not everyone is going to make. I certainly see no "need" for one based on the camera nub.

And on the bending "issue," that's largely ephemeral too. Nothing about the structural integrity of the phone suggests that it requires a case. People adopting one with bending as a rationale are being driven by primarily baseless fear IMO.

My point is that the thinness of the phone has compromised it in the eyes of many consumers. Whether or not the concerns are actually valid is another concern, but Apple should know that perception can be as or more important than the facts of a situation.

No one should feel they need to put a case on a phone in order to correct a design issue. If people are doing that, then your design has a problem.

 

[GlenK]

It hasn't bothered me for a second. A big deal over nothing imo. I love the thin phone and feel of the rounded edges!!

 

[freeskier93]

No one complained about the last iphone's thickness that I saw. Did you? Be honest. Would you even notice if it was 0.67 centimeters thicker?

People can't complain if they don't know it can be better or different. It's how any iterative technology works.

Having had my iPhone 6+ for a while now, I wouldn't want it to be thicker. I do think the extra thickness would be noticeable in comparison, would make an already big phone more unweildy and heavy.

 

[SMIDG3T]

It's not a big deal.

 

[CrimsonKnight]

The problem with the camera sticking out, is just like the camera on the galaxy S5. When dropped on its back it cracks the lens or has a high chance of cracking the lines. There is already a YouTube video out there showing this. Also I am glad that it is sapphire and is less prone to scratching, however we have expected Apple to be amazing at their design. The iPhone 6 should've been just a little bit thicker a little bit more sturdy and that way the camera would not stick out so far.

The iPhone six and 6+, basically need a case in order to for the phone to sit level, or if the phone slips and falls it doesn't smash the camera lens on the back or cracked the screen the front.

Watch the video below, when he does a back drop, the lens cracks. The Galaxy s5 and s4 are also prone to this as well because of the protruding camera.

If you do a YouTube search on Galaxy S5 or S4 drop test you will see what I mean. This is why another reason I dislike the galaxy build quality, because the camera lens sticks out so far and when you drop it it's more likely to crack, or be scratched. Thank God the iPhone uses sapphire glass for the camera lens to help again scratches, not so much against the impact. I really wish Apple would have rethought this design and made the phone just a little bit more thicker that way the camera is level with the actual backing of the phone.

http://youtu.be/AELWzQ_IXvk

 

[Apple blogger]

Highly doubtful. Photography is a priority for Apple and as they improve the camera and lens it's only going to get larger.

That's what it's all about .. InovatIon.. They will have to come up with a better camera in a smaller space..

 

[truth1ness]

No one complained about the last iphone's thickness that I saw. Did you? Be honest.

...because it was thinner than the previous model and one of the thinnest at the time...

Would you even notice if it was 0.67 centimeters thicker?

...are you serious? That's bigger than the difference from the iPhone 5s and 6+. Can you seriously not feel the difference? lol

 

[Surf Monkey]

That's what it's all about .. InovatIon.. They will have to come up with a better camera in a smaller space..

No amount of innovation will ever force more light through a small hole. Sorry, but the bottleneck is size. It isn't possible to "come up with a better camera in a smaller space." The optics won't allow it.

 

[BvizioN]

"the samsung Galaxy s5 has a protruding camera as well"

Two wrongs don´t make a right..

And you still managed to miss his point.

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As a photographer I find the furor over the camera nub to be hilarious. Lenses have to be big to gather light. The fact that the tiny lenses in iPhones can produce passable images at all is a minor technological miracle. That the cam on the 6 series sticks out a little surprises me not at all and if Apple is serious about photography going forward we should expect this trend to continue and accelerate. Bigger lenses and sensors will be necessary for better image output. Simple as that. You just can't make a camera that's the size of a pencil eraser make increasingly better pictures. You hit a ceiling that can only be broken through by making it bigger.

This.

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and I support his conjecture - the iphone 5 was thicker and nobody complained that it was thick, .

Thicker then what exactly? Thicker then 9.3mm thick iPhone 4/4s? No, that makes it thinner. Thicker then the non existing iPhone 6 a year ago? Correct. But how could have they complained when the device was thinner then the older version?

The guy you are quoting is right. Just because you may like thicker device with one week or so battery life it doesn't mean everyone or majority does.

 

[AppleWarMachine]

when it's on a table top and i tap on the upper right corner of the screen and the body of the phone rocks and makes an annoying tap sound

also it is not perfectly symmetrical along the backside (I'm surprised Jony approved this)

 

[shaunmed]

there's nothing weird about protruding lenses.

 

[Jayson A]

Although I go caseless all the time, most people are content with covering their brand new phone with a case and don't even think about it.