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Time to kill the smartphone? iPhone 5 actually smaller iPad?

W

wood0004

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 16, 2010
10
0
This may seem like an iPad related post but it I am focusing more on the future of smartphones.

I strongly considered getting an iPad when launched but I couldn't figure out where it fit into my tech needs. My smartphone essentially does everything the iPad does so why do I need two smartphones? Maybe one to use when I need for making a call and one to use during a call?

The idea of a smaller iPad sounds great to me because I want something that I will be able to easily carry around with me everywhere I go. However, that means that all I will need for a mobile phone is a basic model good for little more than phone calls ... what is the point of having an iPhone?

I like the iPhone 4, the size is comfortable so the idea of making a bigger phone sounds terrible to me unless the iPhone 5 and iPad merge together to create a portable and functional tablet with cellular calling capability.

My 2011 wish is for the iPhone 5 to be mini tablet size (7" screen may be ok, 5" too small), ultraportable, longer battery life ... and most of all for it to come with a radically improved bluetooth headset. What is the point of a smartphone if you can't use all of its features all of the time? You give me a comfortable headset that functions beautifully with IOS so I can leave the "phone" in my pocket unless I need to use a productivity app during a call and I will finally feel that I have 100% tech coverage with little overlap.
 
wood0004 said:
My 2011 wish is for the iPhone 5 to be mini tablet size (7" screen may be ok, 5" too small), ultraportable, longer battery life ... and most of all for it to come with a radically improved bluetooth headset. What is the point of a smartphone if you can't use all of its features all of the time? You give me a comfortable headset that functions beautifully with IOS so I can leave the "phone" in my pocket unless I need to use a productivity app during a call and I will finally feel that I have 100% tech coverage with little overlap.
Click to expand...
This is kind of impractical for the general iPhone audience. The vast majority of users do not use a headset, nor do we wish to. I think it's unbelievably tacky to watch someone walk around with a bluetooth headset permanently attached to their head, and I would never do that. The iPhone size is pushing it as is, so I'm not really seeing how a larger iPhone form factor would really be appropriate.

It's a nice wish for a few "business-type" people, but for most iPhone users, I don't think it would be popular.
 
wood0004 said:
I strongly considered getting an iPad when launched but I couldn't figure out where it fit into my tech needs. My smartphone essentially does everything the iPad does so why do I need two smartphones? Maybe one to use when I need for making a call and one to use during a call?
Click to expand...

You wouldn't need two... you can use your iPhone while on a call.
 
I agree with you on the headsets. I have never found a good reason to have one but I am trying to think of what the next step is. I have my MBP for most tasks and my smartphone for on-the-go productivity. There is a decent size gap in convenience/functionality because I'm not going to carry around my MBP everywhere, iPad I think is too big/heavy to carry around at all times, and smartphone is a little too small for more than basic messages and documents. I think a slightly smaller iPad form factor would give me ultraportable productivity.

The question then is what is the purpose of the iPhone/smartphone? If I have an MBP + 6" or 7" iPad, the smartphone becomes simply a telephone. Unless Apple finds a way to revolutionize the headset then my smaller form factor iPad will put me in the market for a simple cell phone. It seems like there will be demand for a novel solution to avoid this. I'd probably be happier with a basic functionality bluetooth "handset" paired with my iPad (speaker, microphone, dialpad, contact list, notifications).
 
My main concern would be that the iPhone is already huge in your pocket as is. How would you carry around a 7" iPad/Phone?

I don't think this is a very feasible idea. I think Apple may come out with a 7" iPad but it is unlikely to be a replacement for the iPhone.

I also wouldn't walk around with a bluetooth headset on all the time. I do enough nerdy things I wouldn't need to add that to the list.

;)
 
Just like #2 posted, I'm not walking around with a bluetooth headset and a big 7" ipad or other tablet. Talk about looking like a total douche! The only time I use my bluetooth headset is when I am driving and sometimes at home when I remember to take it out of my truck.

Tablets like the ipad will never be as ultra-portable as a phone and will never be as practical to use as a laptop. The form factor and interaction with the device deem this to be so. You can hook a mouse and keyboard via USB(If the ipad had USB) and be more productive, but never as productive as on a powerful laptop with a bigger screen.
 
The iPhone 4 is already a small iPad.

With cell phones, smaller is usually considered better, as people don't want large objects in their pockets or clipped to them. All the popular ones were getting smaller and smaller before smartphones caught on.

With smartphones, the reason they can't keep getting smaller is that fewer and fewer people have the eyesight and/or finger dexterity to see and operate web sites or apps if the phone gets any smaller.

So I expect the kids version of the iPhone to shrink just a bit (small fingers), and the ones for the reading-glasses crowd to maybe get bigger, and maybe some medium purse/handbag sized iPads for women as well

The one you want will be the women's purse version.
 
wood0004 said:
I like the iPhone 4, the size is comfortable so the idea of making a bigger phone sounds terrible to me unless the iPhone 5 and iPad merge together to create a portable and functional tablet with cellular calling capability.
Click to expand...

A device that cannot fit in the consumer pocket will fail as a mobile phone. You acknowledge that the iP4's size is perfect as it is, and Apple knows this as well. Why wold they change the form factor of a device that sells so well?

Small variations of the iPad's size are fine, mostly because there isn't an industry to guide them. Cell phones are different.
 
The OP is right. There is no reason that an iPad couldn't function as a phone coupled with a bluetooth device.

Mobile phones are more portable, but there is something to be said for a tablet which could function as a mobile communication center.

You could literally set up an office on the go anywhere... the bench at the park or a seat at your cousin's boring recital.
 
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