The iPhone 5 Wishlist/Predictions Thread

[JulianL]

Someone mentioned Steve Job's Keynote for next year's iPhone (perhaps 5, but more likely 4s or something).

When you think about what would be keynote-worthy, and possible in 8 months, it's not going to be an newly redesigned phone. It will have to be limited to software updates, maybe a new processor, 8 megpixel camera and a redesigned external antenna.

If the next iPhone is just fine tuning (and this is my opinion too) then maybe the keynote will have even more of the time devoted to app showcases. If the CPU does get a worthwhile boost then maybe they'll want to showcase that as much as possible.

Also, if the next phone has NFC (Near Field communication) capabilities built in then they could spend some time talking up the sort of capabilities that NFC could bring. Given that I suspect that Apple would like to get a cut of the revenue stream for some possible NFC services then it's in their interests to try and accelerate the uptake of these services.

- Julian

 

[Sedrick]

A bigger screen isn't gonna happen. iOS is all about the user interface, and Apple doesn't think in pixels but in inches (or centimeters if they're really smart ). A button in iOS corresponds to a certain size in the real world, and that's how iOS is designed. The SDK is based on that. Increasing the screen size will result in huge buttons or developers having to rewrite pretty much EVERY app out there.

So how do you explain the iPad?

Trust me, with the Retina display, those little icons, games and apps will look just as crispy 14% larger.

 

[bid2ask77]

An IR light source and updated cam so we could use the camer for night shooting. How great would that be. ( Just a wish i know it would never happen but who knows)

 

[lexvo]

Trust me, with the Retina display, those little icons, games and apps will look just as crispy 14% larger.

Yes, if you are assuming that the number of pixels remains the same.

However, the larger display wouldn't have 'extra space' for text or other things then (everything is the same, just a bit bigger). For 'extra space', extra pixels are needed and then things get more complicated.

 

[nutmac]

Apple releases a new iPhone generation annually, every June/July. If you are right and it's gonna be only an additional color, price drops, iOS tweaks (that the iPhone 4 can upgrade to as well) and CDMA for Verizon support, it'll be the first lame iPhone keynote.

First lame iPhone keynote?

3G: A-GPS, 3G, slightly redesigned case (rounded back), 8 GB low-end, 16 GB high-end
3GS: fingerprint resistant screen, faster processors, 256 MB RAM, 3 MP camera with video, 16 GB low-end, 32 GB high-end

To some, these may be significant, but I find them to be iterative improvements.

My 2011 iPhone predictions were: redesigned antenna, EVDO, 32 GB low-end, 64 GB high-end

There may be one or more small surprises, such as NFC, 5 GHz 802.11n, but I just don't see major update to a platform that was just revised in a big way.

I will stick to my prediction that most of the improvements will be software bound, such as improving home/lock screen, push notification, multitasking, wireless syncing, and possibly additional free MobileMe features.

 

[w00master]

For me, I actually don't have many hardware requests beyond the typical upgrades (i.e. CPU/GPU, Memory, etc.). Most of (if not all) of my "wishlist" requests for iPhone 5 would be entirely software based:

A REAL UNIFIED Notification system - I honestly could care less about custom SMS tones, email tones, etc. However, I'm sick and tired of the pop-up notification system that Apple has employed with iOS. WORST IDEA EVER.

APIs for System Wide applications - IMHO, I'd love to see apps being able to do things system wide. Take Tasker for Android for example, but done with Apple's sensibilities. I'd love this for iOS. (http://tasker.dinglisch.net/tour.html)

No System wide apps? How about taking another idea from Mac OS X, namely Services? How about APIs for iOS for Services?

A real file system - We should not depend upon iTunes to for documents, etc. Lame.

System Wide Gestures - This is especially noticable on the iPad - Doubleclicking on the "home" button to access recent apps is OK, but it would be much better as a gesture.


w00master

 

[ad2435]

bigger screen and better camera/video will be the two deciding factors when we upgrade our family 3gs's next summer.

 

[JASApplications]

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Pretty sure screen size bump is NOT gonna happen. At the keynote, jobs said they expect the iPhone's retina display to set the standard for 3-4 years. The screen won't be changing anytime soon.

yes I remember Jobs mentioning that.

 

[JulianL]

I will stick to my prediction that most of the improvements will be software bound, such as improving home/lock screen, push notification, multitasking, wireless syncing, and possibly additional free MobileMe features.

This (modest tweaks on the hardware front but lots of software enhancements) most definitely wouldn't be the end of the world. If history repeats then the announcement will likely be at the 2011 WWDC, and "D" is for "Developers", so it shouldn't really be a boring keynote for that audience if it's mostly software enhancements as long as they're worthwhile ones. Apple then just needs to join the dots for the non-developer audience with some wizzy software demos that show how the extra iOS capabilities can be translated into real enhancements in the iPhone's functionality.

The one big thing that I'm hoping for is that they publish official APIs for apps to control the on/off status of the radios. With my old Windows Mobile (WM5 I think) there were some great third party apps that enhanced battery life by allowing me to set a schedule to put my phone into airplane mode during the night and could do even cleverer stuff like look at my calendar for keywords and mute my phone in meetings, put it to airplane mode if I was on an airplane, and even tweak settings depending on physical location so that when I left my home it would turn off WiFi (I never used anything except the night scheduling though because I suspected that it would probably hurt battery life).

If Apple exposed some more functionality to developers then things like the above, and probably similar neat stuff in totally different areas, would become possible.

- Julian

 

[applefanDrew]

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I expec a processor/ram bump, 8 mp camera on the back, 1.3 mp camera on the front. Everything else will prob be the same. Maybe 64gb option. I think most enhancements will be focused in iOS 5. Better notifications, a new multitasking API, maybe NFC, and possibly a few ui tweaks.

 

[BobHail]

4G

Summer 2011.

 

[billyjoegibsonx]

iPhone 5 I'd like:

hardware
more ram
more processor
LED indicator (for SMS/email/missed calls etc)
8mp/10mp rear camera.
better facetime camera.
internal antenna.
new gaming hardware.

don't want a bigger screen. retina display is the best screen ive seen, so don't think theres a need for a new screen. not to bothered bout more storage. 16gb is more than enough for me. but if prices come down i'll buy 32gb .


Software
better customising of the OS.
widgets.
quick reply for SMS
new notification system! (customisable tones for sms/email. wouldnt say no to a notification bar/widget, but don't know they'd do it)

can you tell ive been using android? i think apple can learn alot from android phones tbh. but don't get me wrong. i miss my iphone 4. i'd buy one right now, but i know from owning iphone 3g/3gs/4 that there will be a new iphone out june/july 2011. so i'm waiting for that to get rid of my android

 

[juliancs]

Is this thing going to come out soon? I'm getting an ip4 next week : /

 

[santie321]

1. longer lasting battery life. i cannot go one day w/o charging my phone.

2. better reception/antenna - i have horrible reception indoors still.

3. external LED to notify user of txts,emails, etc. i hate having to "wake" my phone to find out if i have any waiting messages, vms, etc. every other phone on planet has has an external LED for notifications.

4. seperate sigs for email accounts. i have 3 email accounts and one email sig. why?

 

[Sedrick]

My 2011 iPhone predictions were: redesigned antenna, EVDO, 32 GB low-end, 64 GB high-end

There may be one or more small surprises, such as NFC, 5 GHz 802.11n, but I just don't see major update to a platform that was just revised in a big way.

I will stick to my prediction that most of the improvements will be software bound, such as improving home/lock screen, push notification, multitasking, wireless syncing, and possibly additional free MobileMe features.

Yeah, and it's won't be called the iPhone 5. It will be iPhone 4s or something.

So anyway, look at these release dates:
iPhone: June 29, 2007
iPhone 3G: July 11, 2008
iPhone 3GS: June 19, 2009
iPhone 4: June 24, 2010

THREE YEARS with, basically, the same form factor, finally changing in 2010. With that kind of development cycle, you're not going to see anything wildly different in 2011 from Apple. Those of us who want a bigger screen ain't gonna see it.

 

[Bodygard]

- Better battery
- Fix damn antenna issues
- Better processor
- Better speaker sound/louder (stereo please, my nokia 5800 has 2 years and it's much better than my iphone 4...)
- 3.8" retina display
- 32/64GB versions
- Redesign in iOS