kdarling
Contributor
Why not?
Heck, right after the first model came out, people were already talking abou the next iPhone. A year goes by very quickly in phone model time.
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Timeframe for the iPhone 4G???
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Why not?
Heck, right after the first model came out, people were already talking abou the next iPhone. A year goes by very quickly in phone model time.
People might not have such a negative reaction to the discussion if there weren't 50+ threads on this and very much related topics already (can we say 32GB iPhone 3G). Having so many threads just results in the same rehash time and time again. But whatever. It does lead to some humorous posts.
kdarling
Contributor
I'd agree if it was a reply pointing out that "Hey there's 50 posts on this already".
But that's very different from someone uselessly asking, "Why would you want to talk about X topic?"
There are so many people here who give kneejerk negative responses along the line of "Well, I don't want to (talk about it / get that option / use that feature)" as if they were the only people on the planet.
If they're not interested in a topic, they should just move along 🙂
I understand. Unfortunately those "Hey there's 50 posts on this already" posts usually get a similar reaction, that was the only reason I said what I did.
Cynicalone
macrumors 68040
Holy sh*t... my Time Machine must have malfunctioned. 😱 How else could I be reading this thread already?
FYI, there was no memo on this one (at least not that I know about) so don't worry about missing out on the punch and pie.
Oh for god sake, I only named it iPhone 4g as it seemed a logical idea being 4 is after 3. TBH this is not a stupid question, and you are a stupid person. If you don't like the question bugger off and go annoy someone else!
TEG
macrumors 604
The next iPhone will likely just be a cosmetic change, maybe better battery life, camera, memory (RAM and NAND).
The iPhone 4G on the other hand (being LTE) will likely come between 2 years and 4 years from now when LTE starts to become available.
TEG
Mikey B
macrumors 65816
no way. there's no way for the iPhone market to be sustainable let alone grow if they come out with a new rev every year. sales of the 3G are absolutely through the roof and will keep climbing through the holiday season. coming out with a new iPhone every year will leave millions of customers shut out because they are stuck in the middle of a contract. unless at&t has structured their subsidy to be paid off in the first year of the contract instead of over the full two (which i highly doubt), they would loose millions of dollars by letting people upgrade. they just won't let that happen. so i just don't see how they can possibly continue releasing a new iPhone yearly, when the vast majority of iPhone consumers will be locked in a contract and unable to upgrade without paying full price. and i know we're all nuts for Apple on the 'Rumors, but the average iPhone customer definitely is not.
i think you missed his point. you're saying the same thing. the only reason 1st gen iPhone customers were allowed the subsidized price is because they weren't paying off a subsidy already.
Eso
macrumors 68020
Yes, they will.
The portion of their target consumers who are locked into a subsidized 3G contract AND who will not be eligible for an upgrade next summer AND will not be willing to pay full price for the upgraded model represent a small portion of the market Apples wants. This means that it will be worth it to them to release another model (or two - not counting different memory) to reach everyone else, especially customers who don't have an iPhone. In order to reach these customers they are going to need to catch up to other smartphones on the market in a hurry. Don't forget that plenty of people paid the full price for the first generation, some of them even paying $175 early termination fees on top of that.
Also remember that AT&T allows upgrades every 12 months for any contract that is $99.99 or more per month for a single line - not that far-fetched when the data itself is $30 per month. The target customer is really the new customers. You don't have to win over current customers, just keep them satisfied enough to stay. Do you really think there will be that many 3G users that will be upset enough over a not being eligible for a $200 subsidy that they will stop using the iPhone? Far fewer, if any than those that have already ditched the 3G due to the numerous problems.
3 years product life is very long in mobile phone industry. Probably anyone would buy iPhone 3G in 2010. And since Apple workes are smarter than me 🙂 they would come up with another models.
In 2010 a smart phone with 2 megapixel camera would be unacceptable. ( even now it is the weak point of iphone ) Only Blackberry and similar style phones ( business oriented ) have less than 3.2 meg cameras.
In 2010 a smart phone with 2 megapixel camera would be unacceptable. ( even now it is the weak point of iphone ) Only Blackberry and similar style phones ( business oriented ) have less than 3.2 meg cameras.
iphone 4g
Apple has to come out with a new iphone in 12 - 16 months since the launch of its iphone 3g if it wants to stay on top of the market... currently iphone is the 2nd best selling smartphone next to blackberry then coming in 3rd are windows based phones. Its a fast paced business environment and apple has to adapt to the market on annual basis if it wants to continue on its upward climb
Apple has to come out with a new iphone in 12 - 16 months since the launch of its iphone 3g if it wants to stay on top of the market... currently iphone is the 2nd best selling smartphone next to blackberry then coming in 3rd are windows based phones. Its a fast paced business environment and apple has to adapt to the market on annual basis if it wants to continue on its upward climb
1) If you're talking the 4G network, it'll be years. Go check out your coverage maps and see all the dead spots. There's a lot of work to be done on 3G before we start talking 4G. Ask people on here who connect to a clogged 3G network. I also don't think a "4G" standard exists as of now. Apple and AT&T (mostly the latter) will be working like crazy to make 3G connections better and faster (aren't they supposed to top 1 Mbps?).
You also can't forget about what iPhones can't download yet: music and podcasts from iTunes over the cell network. That's because of bandwidth hogging. That might be some sort of Christmas 09 present for all of us.
2) As for hardware revisions, I can't see anything aside from (please!) going back to the much purtier aluminum casing like my phone has. At least give us a choice (I know, it's Apple). I feel better with a phone made of some sort of metal than anything similar to plastic.
Battery technology will probably be the biggest hardware upgrade of 2009 (not including any flash storage bumps). They'll throw out a minor revision in the summer that probably will slightly boost the processor (as developers tax the system more) and coordinate that with better battery life, kinda like they do with iPods.
3) Peripherals may be the next big hardware thing. Game controller attachments, external cameras for videoconferencing, maybe a funky way to add addition memory via an SD card.
You also can't forget about what iPhones can't download yet: music and podcasts from iTunes over the cell network. That's because of bandwidth hogging. That might be some sort of Christmas 09 present for all of us.
2) As for hardware revisions, I can't see anything aside from (please!) going back to the much purtier aluminum casing like my phone has. At least give us a choice (I know, it's Apple). I feel better with a phone made of some sort of metal than anything similar to plastic.
Battery technology will probably be the biggest hardware upgrade of 2009 (not including any flash storage bumps). They'll throw out a minor revision in the summer that probably will slightly boost the processor (as developers tax the system more) and coordinate that with better battery life, kinda like they do with iPods.
3) Peripherals may be the next big hardware thing. Game controller attachments, external cameras for videoconferencing, maybe a funky way to add addition memory via an SD card.
One thing they might consider is charging a small upgrade fee. They know they've got a captive audience as most customer will want to upgrade. What they may do then is write off any costs associated with early air-time cancellation, as they'll effectively by keeping all of their customers for another year as appose to the 6 months left on their contracts. The fee they charge could then cover the remaining cost of the phone.
For example, I bought my 3G for £160 from O2. It sells sim free for around the £400 mark, but you have to assume that O2 get it at considerabley cheaper trade price and because of the volume they must buy. Say £300 per unit.
I'm paying £35 a month line rental. Lets say only £5 a month of that is going towards paying for the handset subsidy. 12 months (what I'll have paid if they let me upgrade early assuming 1 year between iPhone versions) x £5 = £60. Add that to the £160 I paid for the handset = £220 meaning if I were to pay an early upgrade fee of £80 O2 haven't lost anything on the handset and get to keep me as a customer for another year minimum.
Of course the figures are all speculation on my part, but you can see how this would work. For all I know I may be paying £12 a month towards the subsidy in which case they'd have made a profit on the handset by the time I hit 12 months.
I know the networks work differently in the US so not sure how this would translate for you guys, but I guess from AT&T's perspective they'll be thinking along the same lines. So long as you've paid for the hardware by the time you walk away with your new iPhone they haven't lost anything and have tied you into their network for another year.
For example, I bought my 3G for £160 from O2. It sells sim free for around the £400 mark, but you have to assume that O2 get it at considerabley cheaper trade price and because of the volume they must buy. Say £300 per unit.
I'm paying £35 a month line rental. Lets say only £5 a month of that is going towards paying for the handset subsidy. 12 months (what I'll have paid if they let me upgrade early assuming 1 year between iPhone versions) x £5 = £60. Add that to the £160 I paid for the handset = £220 meaning if I were to pay an early upgrade fee of £80 O2 haven't lost anything on the handset and get to keep me as a customer for another year minimum.
Of course the figures are all speculation on my part, but you can see how this would work. For all I know I may be paying £12 a month towards the subsidy in which case they'd have made a profit on the handset by the time I hit 12 months.
I know the networks work differently in the US so not sure how this would translate for you guys, but I guess from AT&T's perspective they'll be thinking along the same lines. So long as you've paid for the hardware by the time you walk away with your new iPhone they haven't lost anything and have tied you into their network for another year.
sergiuria
macrumors 6502a
Very poorly named thread
This thread is exceedingly poorly named if it's just about the next device upgrade. The 4G cellular network won't be widely deployed for years.
As for the next device, hopefully better antennas, perhaps better battery life, more memory and more DRM/security, but definitely more fashionable body shapes and color schemes. That would fall in line with iMac history.
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This thread is exceedingly poorly named if it's just about the next device upgrade. The 4G cellular network won't be widely deployed for years.
As for the next device, hopefully better antennas, perhaps better battery life, more memory and more DRM/security, but definitely more fashionable body shapes and color schemes. That would fall in line with iMac history.
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iPhone is a beta device full of problems? I think you should really rent a Windows Mobile or S60 smart phone for a week and leave your iPhone at home. I'm pretty sure that some of the Apple "veteran" users would easily lose their temper and throw the device into the wall when it gets stuck for every single click and goes mental after a couple of days without a reboot. At least I see myself as one of those people who'd probably do that and lose control completely. I think Apple has been doing really well utilising the very limited amount of computation resources compared to the richness of the tasks it's undertaking yet still manages a fairly reasonable battery life.
I think the next revision of iPhone will be out in about 6-month which would most likely be a jump in storage spaces and phasing-out of the 8GB model. Then the real revision would probably take another year to come, which means that probably all early 3G iPhone customers will be nearing the end of their contract anyway. My guess here is that every little bit will be made a little bit better, for instance the battery capacity, screen brightness&resolution, processor speed, camera resolution and possibly a front VGA camera for video phone calls on 3.5G network-btw as I tried out for many times, 3G video chat really sucks, 3.5G sees great improvement. I suppose it's going to have similar development cycle as the initial iPod, which probably means a new "nano" version would be at least 2 years away. Overall, I think there're better things for Apple's core engineers to do, which is to fix the reception issue working with the carriers and release a fully-functioning push notification service in the next major software upgrade. Just wanna say, we're not beta testers, it's just the spiral software development pattern that Apple adopts. Mac OS X has also had 5 major revisions so far with each adding in additional user-desirable features. Imagine Apple aspired to do Leopard's functionalities in one go, probably it'd end up being another Longhorn. Microsoft has far more boffins than Apple has in their campus, still paid its price for being too ambitious, a good lesson to all project managers...
Eso
macrumors 68020
Mikey B
macrumors 65816
Exactly. Releasing a new iPhone when millions upon millions of consumers are one year or less into a contract without the ability to get a subsidy would be a dumb move.
Actually, I would say that there is a good chance that a great number of iPhone3G owners don't have a $99 bill. For 3G customers on the base voice plan plus SMS and data, which I think is quite a large percentage of iPhone customers, they will have to wait 21 months to be eligible. I think that as much as winning new customers is definitely a priority, keeping the millions upon millions upon millions of existing iPhone customers is definitely important to AT&T and Apple.
I definitely can't say that it is impossible for Apple to come out with a completely updated iPhone next summer. I just think it is much more plausible that they will be fairly slow to refresh the iPhone line. This is a much different market than computers and even iPods. The fact that a binding contract comes into play, IMO, changes the playing field quite a bit.
i really dont think theres going to be whole new hardware every year. that would be crazy. maybe little updates here and there like different colors or more storage but a whole new device, it might be announced by the end of 09, but wont come out till 2010 probably