Steve Jobs 'Worked Closely' on Design of Next-Generation iPhone with Larger Display

[blow45]

No, the idea is sound and most probably correct. Companies that don't plan five years ahead are usually reactionary: they look to see what's happening in the market and look to take advantage.

Apple is fortunate enough to have considerable influence in technological trends, so yes, they will be planning and designing products that will not see the light of day for years. In many cases they will start to design products and wait for the technology to make them viable. The iPhone was on the deck years before it was released, or do you think that the thing was designed, engineered, programmed, approved, sold to the networks and then marketed in the space of a few months? If they weren't working on the iPhone while they were getting ready to release the first iPod then I'd be very surprised.

they weren't, they were not even working on the Ipad. After Steve got a capacitative touch screen he started work on ipad and then put it on hold and quickly switched to a phone for tactical reasons. Iphone itself wasn't in development for more than 2 years. You should listen to Aiden, he knows a thing or two.

Jobs knew (and learned the hard way) that you have to take something to market first as ready as you can have it, hence he rushed to release an iphone, a thin mac, an ipad, even if the first two were not ready for prime time (no third party applications, no email server like blackberry, frequent safari crashes, rudimentary phone software, poor call and voice quality compared to established players - and for the air poor hinge design, poor thermals, poor cpu performance, very compromised storage, poor overall design with a latch), but he did get there first and with apple's clout and marketing defined a category.

Apple doesn't plan ahead as much as they 'd want you to think, no one, as Aiden said can plan for 5 years ahead, this is just part of the apple mythology, because they want you to think they are that foresightful and inventive. They are not. And they can be as reactionary as they can be creative. How is it not reactionary when another device carves a space (kindle fire and android tablets) for a 7.something" tablet to eat up your words about sandpapering user fingers and prepare to launch a 7.something" competitor? How are they not "looking to the market to take advantage"?

 

[notjustjay]

In 2004, Sony shipped a laptop without built-in Ethernet or an ODD drive :

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=1970

Maybe Apple isn't so "ahead" as you think ?

Seriously folks, Apple isn't the sole industry innovator.

OK. My use of "any other company" was not meant to literally mean NO other company. Please don't confuse me for an Apple fanboy. I am well aware that they are not the sole industry innovator.

I think my point still stands though. Sony was in a similar place as Apple -- they could do goofy things and charge a premium for it and people would pay because it's Sony. Most PC manufacturers, certainly including all the no-name clone brands you never remember, had to pretty much stick to the same script in order to stay competitve.

 

[blow45]

Apple just isn't going to the same without someone who could so casually dismiss an idea, with such precision as to not to rule out what they already had in planning for the future.

7.0 inch that's ridiculous we'd have to include finger sandpaper
What about 7.8?
Apple doesn't comment on future products.

Agreed in principle, apple won't be the same without Jobs. It already looks and feels like the greedy obese corporate beast they are. As for design prowess and technological innovation one only need take a look at the new apple tv interface and os x lion to see what "great" work they 're doing without Steve.

Not agreed as to them having planned this, not at all. They didn't even know how well the ipad was going to sell in the long run. They just touted what they had at hand. As soon as others made the 7.something" option viable and started taking a cut out of apple's market share they decided to make one too. There's simply absolutely no indication that a smaller ipad was in the making, apple did think the current size was optimal (with the margins they were aiming for) and was planning to increase the size of the iphone and ipods instead.

 

[Darrin Bell]

Here we go - something tells me this "Steve Job stamp of approval" is going to be coming out for a lot of future apple products well into the future.. Seems like this man continues to change the world even after he has passed on.

He may put out more posthumous hits than Tupac.

 

[student_trap]

No, it wouldn't improve usability. Your problem, just like with every single nerd out there, is that you are thinking from your own point of view. Not the avg. joe who the iPhone or iPad targets. Music shouldn't be thought of as files. Just like your documents shouldn't be thought of as files. If I want to transfer "music" to my iPhone, I don't want to drag anything and don't want to see any files nor deal with "Windows" and "Explorers".

It is amazing how difficult it is for nerds to let go of old metaphors. iOS is doing everything in the way things should have been done 30 years ago. iTunes needs some improvements, yes. But exposing stupid "files", "explorers", and "filesystems" is getting it backwards.

Cant believe you got thumbs down for this. I agree whole heartedly. But you should probably drop the nerd thing. It's unnecessary.

 

[Darrin Bell]

they weren't, they were not even working on the Ipad. After Steve got a capacitative touch screen he started work on ipad and then put it on hold and quickly switched to a phone for tactical reasons. Iphone itself wasn't in development for more than 2 years. You should listen to Aiden, he knows a thing or two.

Jobs knew (and learned the hard way) that you have to take something to market first as ready as you can have it, hence he rushed to release an iphone, a thin mac, an ipad, even if the first two were not ready for prime time (no third party applications, no email server like blackberry, frequent safari crashes, rudimentary phone software, poor call and voice quality compared to established players - and for the air poor hinge design, poor thermals, poor cpu performance, very compromised storage, poor overall design with a latch), but he did get there first and with apple's clout and marketing defined a category.

Apple doesn't plan ahead as much as they 'd want you to think, no one, as Aiden said can plan for 5 years ahead, this is just part of the apple mythology, because they want you to think they are that foresightful and inventive. They are not. And they can be as reactionary as they can be creative. How is it not reactionary when another device carves a space (kindle fire and android tablets) for a 7.something" tablet to eat up your words about sandpapering user fingers and prepare to launch a 7.something" competitor? How are they not "looking to the market to take advantage"?

I agree they're not as forward-thinking as the hype suggests. I believe they have a lot of different products in development, and if they see consumers respond marginally to something similar, then they rush it to market. The Rio's moderate success probably prompted Apple to launch the iPod. The success of the Blackberry and Palm probably prompted the iPhone (Jobs suggested as much in his speech when he announced it, when he said it was an answer to those waiting for an Apple phone and an Apple PDA).

But here's why I think they have been planning to release an "iPad mini" (if they see the market respond well to small tablets): Steve Jobs said it was a bad idea. He said the same about MP3 players, smart phones, tablets, and TVs and then launched an MP3 player, a smart phone, a tablet, and (presumably soon) a TV. If Steve Jobs went out of his way to dismiss an idea, it was a good bet that he was actively developing it at the time.

 

[koolmagicguy]

...Seems like this man continues to change the world even after he has passed on.

He's forever changed technology, that's for sure.

----------

3.5" is OK for me, and so is 4". I just don't like how 4" is more likely to break.

By that logic the iMac 27" should be one of the most fragile things on the planet.

 

[Strat09]

Most likely bump up the screen size. The phone needs the update, and lte in it would help provide the hd content to the screen. Prolly means thinner ipad like rear design and bigger battery with standard usb 3.0 dock and same 8 megapixel camera but slimmer from sony on the back and 3 megapixel front camera for lte video calling or photobooth app being made. iPod Classic to get retinized and slimmer 80gb models, and iPod Touch to get A5 processor built with 32nm process and come in nanochromatic back colors.

 

[koolmagicguy]

as Steve Ballmer is also involved in Win8 phones

Yes, and from what I hear, Steve Wozniak uses one.

 

[OllyW]

By that logic the iMac 27" should be one of the most fragile things on the planet.

It would be if it was as thin as an iPhone.

 

[blow45]

I agree they're not as forward-thinking as the hype suggests. I believe they have a lot of different products in development, and if they see consumers respond marginally to something similar, then they rush it to market. The Rio's moderate success probably prompted Apple to launch the iPod. The success of the Blackberry and Palm probably prompted the iPhone (Jobs suggested as much in his speech when he announced it, when he said it was an answer to those waiting for an Apple phone and an Apple PDA).

But here's why I think they have been planning to release an "iPad mini" (if they see the market respond well to small tablets): Steve Jobs said it was a bad idea. He said the same about MP3 players, smart phones, tablets, and TVs and then launched an MP3 player, a smart phone, a tablet, and (presumably soon) a TV. If Steve Jobs went out of his way to dismiss an idea, it was a good bet that he was actively developing it at the time.

lol, good point.

 

[koolmagicguy]

One of the best things about new product launches is the price decrease for previous products. I've always wanted an iPhone but I've never been able to afford it. (Don't take that to mean that I'm saying they're overpriced. My income just can't cover it.)

 

[Renzatic]

Cant believe you got thumbs down for this. I agree whole heartedly. But you should probably drop the nerd thing. It's unnecessary.

He has a point, but one thing that you and quite a few people understand is that there is no such thing as a one size fits all solution when it comes to computers and devices. File managers might be obtuse for mom and dad, but is it for me? No. I can fly through my directory structure and get to anything I need in a matter of seconds. But because mom and dad can't navigate through it nearly as quickly as I can, isn't instantly usable to the lowest common denominator, does that make it fundamentally flawed? Of course not. It's just not as easy. It requires a bit of practice and familiarity to use. And on the flipside of that, an iOS style siloed app solution does make using a computing device easier for mom and dad.

Not everyone uses their computers just to manage their media, and a siloed structure makes it more difficult to move files between applications. The best solution would take all usage scenarios into account, not just the ones that make it easiest for some people.

 

[apolloa]

Why is this a story when this was already announced not long after Steve's death? Apple announced they have about 5 years worth of plans and products in place and that the next iPhone was the last project Steve worked on fully to completion.

 

[RocStarr]

I think you hit the bullseye

This makes perfect sense... I think you hit the bullseye...

16:9 aspect ratio for movies, etc. The actual physical dimensions of the phone will be nearly the same but the screen will be bigger. Combine that with a thinner design, better battery life, and a better camera (12mp or better) we'll have a winner

Apps designed for the retina display are rendered in 960x640. I don't care about the definition of "points" apple uses - the fact of the matter is, if existing apps were scaled to 1440x960, they would look worse than on the iPhone 4/4S. I don't think Apple would consider that acceptable.

On the other hand, an 1152x640 resolution gets you to almost 16:9. When running legacy apps, you would only have a 96 pixel border on each end of the long side. Such a border does not look bad - it would basically look like the black space that's already in our iPhones. And the aspect ratio is more suitable to things like video. It does not break compatibility in any way. 1440x960 would break the rendering.

I personally would prefer a pixel perfect rendering with a small border, than stretching 1 pixel over "1.5" pixels and having everything look like crap.

 

[Strat09]

One of the best things about new product launches is the price decrease for previous products. I've always wanted an iPhone but I've never been able to afford it. (Don't take that to mean that I'm saying they're overpriced. My income just can't cover it.)

Best buy is selling the iphone 4 for 50 dollars now with a 2 year contract. The 3GS is 1 dollar on ATT. Paying the monthly 115 dollar bill is overpriced. Not the phone. But you can get it so you only pay 70 with certain options I think.

 

[ChrisTX]

Steve knew the severity of his illness, and the importance of the iPhone to Apple. There is no way he couldn't have worked on this upcoming iPhone. It takes more than a year to crank out a new phone. People seem to think Apple waited for the release of the iPhone 4S before starting work on it's predecessor. R&D takes months, if not years. A complete redesign that doesn't completely suck isn't something that can be done in a short period of time. I believe those case leaks of the thinner tapered design from last year have some merit to them but ultimately didn't get final approval from Jobs. Either that, or he felt like a redesign wasn't necessary so soon, and we see that design with this next iPhone. Only time will tell.

 

[Tinyluph]

Even if we assume the best and Apple has an exorbitantly long product cycle, the reality is they don't keep products in a freezer eight months prior to their release. A product can change a great deal in that amount of time. People need to stop clinging on to Jobs like he oversaw every detail for years worth of products. It's just not realistic, and it doesn't matter because Steve Jobs was not the end all be all of Apple. The sooner people let go of him the better.

 

[anthony11]

Here we go - something tells me this "Steve Job stamp of approval" is going to be coming out for a lot of future apple products well into the future.. Seems like this man continues to change the world even after he has passed on.

Hey - whatever it takes to get the stock price back up over $600 is just smurfy with me.

What bugs me, though, is the way that these financial types habitually misuse the word "reiterate".

 

[luv2rip]

Ok.... I'm still waiting to be surprised by something in this story....

Second.

 

[gwelmarten]

Just hearing that Steve explicitly worked on the iPhone 5 makes me want it even more

 

[bushido]

i hate how every single apple related news turns into "who did it first/who stole from who" arguments lately ...

 

[williejr]

If they come up with a 4" screen, this will be the best selling IPHONE of all time. They lines are going to be longer with anticipation, unlike the 4S, where you did not have to line up to get one anywhere.

 

[GorgonPhone]

great larger screen confirmed so i am in.. i will also move ti the carrier with the best LTE data deal..

 

[dscuber9000]

If the screen is bigger that's cool, but I hope that they don't increase the size of the phone too much. Android phones are way too big in my opinion. Not comfortable to hold or put in my pocket.