Tim Cook: For iPhones, The Experience Is Key, Not Just a Larger Screen

[Hell0W0rld]

Er... as a app dev. this make no sense. Happy to Dev to any iOS screen size..it's 1/2 days work.. compared to the FUBAR world of Droid.

1/2 days what are you developing, junk apps? If you use only standard UI-Apps than yes that is true but for any game, you can forget your time frame.

Let's say a few days for a very simple game, two or three weeks for an average game and if you have to redesign the game completely about a month or so.

Resizing all pngs is a lot of work man, don't play it down, you are hurting your fellow developers with your bragging.

 

[samcraig]

Short memory or hypocrisy as Apple talks about specs. They also talk about experience. But they talk and hype specs as well.

Also - the two aren't mutually exclusive. For some - having a bigger screen IS key to a better experience.

But like Steve, Tim has good people in marketing and PR that are able to give him great soundbites to work off of to either dodge, deflect or divert attention to something else.

 

[dBeats]

As long as I can use the phone with one hand, or more correctly, as long as I don't need two hands to reasonably navigate my phone's features, then I could care less what the size of the screen is. But it better fit in my pocket too, and I don't mean my phatboy jeans rear pocket. While everyone is making phablets, Apple is no doubt working on the solution to the phablet that will make everyone have an "aha" moment once again. Then it will be summarily copied and the Apple cycle repeats: Apple innovation, others copy, others pump up specs and drop price in a "we're better than Apple" campaign, they take that to a stupid place (i.e. 6" phones), then Apple comes along and reinvents the next need in a way no one ever did.

I'm glad Tim spoke at this and I think he did a fantastic job. I'm more confident in Apple as a result of it. Amazingly enough, I think Tim did this better than Steve would have. Probably Steve wouldn't have participated in this since Goldman probably had a role in the big dump of Apple during the earnings report. But Tim, smooth and cool and willing to talk to the beast themselves to prove they don't know Apple.

 

[Rogifan]

Another meaningless truism from Apple.

I can't believe they're that naïve to think that people are moving away from the iPhone only because of the screen size.

When did Cook say that?

What is true though is a fair number of Wall Street "analysts" thinking Apple's problems will be solved by basically copying Samsung.

 

[Dr McKay]

A 5-6 INCH SCREEN DOES NOT IMPROVE EXPERIENCE

Having a 4.65 inch screen improves my web browsing and video viewing experience immensely.

Apple innovation, others copy, others pump up specs and drop price in a "we're better than Apple" campaign.

I'd say the latest version of Android has innovated far more than the latest version of iOS has. IOS updates seem to be just playing catch up with competition recently.

 

[JerseyMike73]

I have been an Apple loyalist for more than 20 years. I started talking about how they needed to get into the smartphone business back in 2004, and when the iPhone finally arrived in 2007, I was overjoyed and jumped onboard. I upgraded with the release of the iPhone 4. I was due for an upgrade when the 5 was introduced... I was excited about the rumors of a larger screen (web browsing on 3.5" is cumbersome and watching video is downright squinty) and new features. But the size increase was minimal, and the new features of iOS 6 were a yawn. Apple's current phone is a gorgeous looking device, but for me it was far from a must-have product. Last week I jumped ship and bought the Samsung Galaxy Note II. It is tough to switch ecosystems (all those iOS apps I collected over the last 5+years!), but Android has matured into a highly flexible and stable OS (much more like a Mac desktop experience than iOS), and Samsung offers what I've desired since the smartphone revolution: a phone/mini tablet hybrid. I doubt I'll ever abandon my Mac, as OS X is still the ruler of the desktop experience, but Apple has a lot of catching up to do in the smartphone/tablet/iOS department. I'll be due for my next upgrade in 20 months....

 

[T4R06]

larger iPhone like 4.8" is fine but please dont do 5.5" i have a note 2 for like 3days and my hands got tired.

 

[0098386]

I picked up an iPhone because I loved the usability. But now it seems other devices are improving on that (more active lock screens, better moving the "cursor" when editing text). I like how intuitive other devices are getting, it does seem like Apple are falling behind, which is something they don't usually do.

I'm happy to move on when my phone contract expires and the next iPhone isn't up to scratch.

 

[tom53092]

Tim Cook failed. People just want a larger screen. Smaller screen = poor experience, larger screen = good experience.

I don't get why this is a big deal. Apple's iPhone line is pretty sparse. Apple can add a bigger screen to their product mix without having a product mix that is crowded or confusing. It's time for a little spaghetti marketing. Throw it against the wall and see if it sticks.

The bigger screen will come some day, but Apple doesn't want to disclose that and hurt current sales, which is smart.

 

[Mr-Kerrse]

i cant even remember the last time i actually used my iPhone to make a call

No one to call

----------

it's fine if they bring a bigger screen out but i don't want it so i hope they offer smaller screens too. I personally don't want to hold a small ipad to my ear for phone calls, I also don't want to feel like i have an ipad in my pocket.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Experience becomes important with falling market share.

 

[a0me]

The fact that the specs increase, doesn't mean you should use them all the time.
That's why iOS is so fast, because it's as simple as 6 years ago, with 10 times faster devices.

I switched from an iPhone 3gs (quite old technology) to an asus padfone, which has a dual-core S4 processor with 1gb of ram, and it doesn't even feel faster.

Android is full of bloatware and is a ram&cpu-eating OS which slows down your blazing fast device.

Also, most people want a simple OS, even if it doesn't have all the customisation like android (which I don't even care about).
Why do you need widgets when you can open up an app in less than a second in iOS?
To check your widgets you need to swipe to another desktop anyway (how many can a desktop hold?), and it's pretty much the same as tapping on the app icon, plus guess what! It doesn't consume your battery the whole time!

So with this logic we should go back to using the Classic Mac OS on our 10 gigaflop MacBook Pro?

 

[c0venant]

There's a reason why Android is slowly taking over.

yes: most of them are low-end cheap phones, and that's what the majority can afford.

 

[Bezetos]

When did Cook say that?

He did not explicitly say that, but he seems to be suggesting that iPhone's experience is superior from larger or different phones, while many people would disagree with that.

 

[c0venant]

No, users like you want a larger screen, for what compensatory purpose I neither know nor care. Users like me want a reliable smartphone phone that fits in our pocket without being the size of a slab.

(...) If they release equipment as absurd as the Galaxy Note, I'm out... and so is anyone else with any need for practicality.

^this

 

[LeoNobilis]

rejuvenate.

Pardon the lapsus calami. It slipped attention, and wasn't aautocorrected.

 

[j3T]

No, users like you want a larger screen, for what compensatory purpose I neither know nor care. Users like me want a reliable smartphone phone that fits in our pocket without being the size of a slab. The iPhone 4S was just a shade small; the 5 is fine. It's possible a new version could be a shade larger and still be reasonable. But if they release equipment as absurd as the Galaxy Note, I'm out... and so is anyone else with any need for practicality.

I completely agree with that. Many people here think they speak for everyone. Which isn't so. I just switched from a Sony Xperia T to a 4S and I couldn't be happier. Sure, Android has some extra tricks up its sleeve but the practical size of my 4s won me over. And it just does whatever you want it to do without hickups or frills. I hope Apple isn't going the Android route, where it's impossible to find a flagship phone with a screen of around 4".

 

[nia820]

If you're "bored" with iOS and Apple in general and you're not getting the aha moment any more - switch to Android. *You'll get that aha moment each time the device does what you want it to, if you can get it to do what you want it to. * Apple doesn't need to add animated icons or active weather lock screens - those kind of things are great if you're so bored you need your device to entertain you, but if you actually use your device these things seem rather pointless. *Apple created such a simple OS that only takes a swipe and a click or two to get to things that can entertain you - and that's just too much work for people? *

* Are you serious? You are a typical sheep. Android works fine. It actually does some task a lot more efficiently than ios. Jelly bean and ice cream sandwich is nothing like the Android of the past. * And yes some of us like to have widgets. Widgets make access certain info easier. Widgets are not useless. The minute ios adds widgets you will back tracking your statements.

Ios is great. So is android.

 

[GuitarDTO]

I don't understand how making pretty themes makes my phone more useful. Even when I JB, I don't do it for theming

Sorry that you don't understand. Glad you are happy with the phone just the way it is though. I like to have choices. Not sure why that would bother you.

 

[nia820]

yes: most of them are low-end cheap phones, and that's what the majority can afford.

Not true. The best selling android phones cost the same as an iphone.

People are so elitist to think the only reason someone would buy an android device because it is cheaper.

 

[TheNextBigThing]

Pardon the lapsus calami. It slipped attention, and wasn't aautocorrected.

I feel guilty for noticing that very simple mistake. I'm so sorry. I really am.

 

[shurcooL]

The width is still the same with the iPhone 5. It is the width that is important for one handed use of the phone.

Height is important too.

With iPhone 5, the distance between the home button and the top of the screen (where many buttons are often located, in the top left and top right corners) is too much to move the thumb comfortably.

On the iPhone 3GS/4/4S, that distance was more acceptable.

With iPhone 5, I had to juggle the phone every time I had to press the home button.

 

[floobie]

Personally I prefer the size of my iPhone 4 to the 5, and don't want a bigger phone, but I think Apple should make an iPhone bigger than the 5 for people who want it, whilst bringing out a newer small model at the same time. They have current models in two sizes for most products, it must work ok for them for those, so maybe it's time to make two distinct sized lines instead of just making last year's model the other, cheaper one... (though they could still do that too).

More generally, I'm still not sure how much the big phone thing is driven by genuine need and demand and how much was created because Google just wanted a bigger amount of space to advertise in. A bit of both I suspect.

The most reasonable comment in the thread and not a single upvote (until now).

Clearly some people want big phones. I'd have nothing against Apple making one for them, provided they still keep producing a smaller version (with the same specs otherwise) for those of us who want them. I'm still very happy with the size of my 4S, but would also be fine with a 5. Any of the current crop of Android flagships, however, are waaaay too big for my liking.

I find it a bit strange that the tech blogosphere is so fixated on "bigger iPhone" rumours right now, though. I'm much more interested to see what they're doing with iOS7.

 

[chadley_chad]

All that money and they can't even 'innovate' something for another year. Apples been living on the Ives ******** for too long - watch that market share tumble in march when the Galaxy S4 is released!!!!!

(and yes, I'm currently an iPhone 4 user!)

 

[Slayter]

I had an "aha" moment many time in the past but with iOS 6.x, I have different "aha" moments now, more like: aha-can`t use maps or aha- still no toggles in notification bar etc.

"aha" moments are great but only if these are the positive ones.