What to Expect at Apple's September 2017 Event: Radically Redesigned iPhone, LTE Apple Watch and 4K Apple TV

[5105973]

I'm fine with the looks, though I think it's very annoying that Apple lets the cameras protrude so much when Samsung and LG have done such a great job of making their camera lenses sit almost flush with the back of the phone. But I can live with that.

I've even made my peace with the projected price and the likely loss of Touch ID.

Where Apple may lose me to something like the LG V30 is if they do require an expensive proprietary charger. I already own Qi chargers. I do not look forward to the idea of replacing them or having to find additional space for yet another charging puck when Apple could abide by the open standard and allow me to charge my iPhone on my Samsung charging puck. Or one of the charging pads built into automobiles like my husband's truck. Or built into furniture.

I like and prefer iOS and I love my Apple Watch, but the possibility of being railroaded into more proprietary equipment really could be the last straw. I am only recently over the loss of the headphone jack and the grudging acceptance of having to maintain a set of Bluetooth headphones if I don't want to use a dongle or that lone set of lightning earbuds I own.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

This was good.

iPhone 8: How The Newest iPhone Came To Be.

 

[iEMH]

Macrumor posts are starting to sound like Apple Marketing drafts...

 

[Lill-Q]

Word police here again, I repeat; “gold master”, not “golden master”.

 

[osaga]

Also hoping for an iPhone SE 2, especially if it has iPhone 7 internals. I doubt it, because there's no rumor buzz, but that would make my day.

I agree, ip5 was the best design. Dream phone would be an SE with edge to edge display, solid black color, Touch ID in the the screen. I'm fairly confident I won't care about 3D capabilities, not gonna play poke man go and I own a tape measure. It will however be fun to watch movies where people shoot people and unlock their phones using their dead face.

 

[deany]

Really?

To me the 6/6s was hands down the ugliest iPhone ever with those awful antenna bands and protruding camera.

At least with the 7 the camera protrusion was worked more elegantly into the body and the antenna bands made less noticeable.

I've been very loyal to iPhone for 10 years now, but these prices are just getting silly.
On Monday Xiaomi are launching the Mi Mix 2 100% bazel free.
Then on the 12 October Huawei are releasing Mate 10 again bazel free.
I'm holding out to compare the three for value and spec.
Xiaomi Miui is very like iOS in looks.
Xiaomi Mi Band 2 for silent mode, notification - £12.00 !!!
I tend to only use my apple watch with iPhone on silent and notifications, so a basic band would be fine for me.
Exciting times, not least because the Psion 5 "Gemini" smartphone 2017 Dec '17 launch http://www.planetcom.co.uk/ ..... the market has never been so hot.
ps
12-14 Sept https://www.mwcamericas.com/ "Gemini" - Planet computers will be there.

 

[GadgetBen]

Another Apple Watch release and no radical makeover.

Looks like Apple can't focus on more than one big product change at a time.

 

[Porco]

I wonder if they could have put TouchID in/behind the elongated side button?

 

[asiga]

14 inch rMB please!!

 

[PBRsg]

No matter what they put on the inside, that phone looks hideous. Most certainly the top part looks so astoundingly ugly. Unbelievable if apple pulls that kind of design aesthetics out.

I though I was the only one that felt that way about the top of the iPhone X - ugly!
[doublepost=1504953171][/doublepost]

"Radically redesigned" lol not so much. Try "simply iterative in order to match current standards"

I don't see a radical redesign of smartphones on the horizon from any manufacturer - this class of products is very mature now.

 

[Vivoxie]

Will the unlocked iPhone 8 be released along with the carrier exclusive versions?

 

[EdT]

Ok, I'm not picking on Apple so much as whoever wrote the headline for this article: 'Radically Redesigned'.

If it works, the face scanning security will be an advancement, but the iPhone will not be the first with face scanning by several years, although if it works reliably it can claim that as a first. OLED screens? Once again, not the first on a smartphone. Glass body for the phone? Apple itself did that years ago, they just moved away from the practice. Wireless charging? If it was non-contact, where you could be in a close proximity but not required to be in contact with the charger then yes, that would be radical. But evidently this is like other phones which already exist which have contact charging. You don't have to plug a cable into the phone but it needs to be in contact with the charger. I haven't heard/read about main camera improvements that would be 'radical', but I guess that doesn't mean that there aren't any. This iPhone doesn't seem radical, at least in hardware, but evolutionary.

What has (usually) set the iPhone apart is the integration of hardware and software. Having control of the OS down to the smallest detail means Apple has an advantage in utilizing hardware more fully even if they weren't the first to implement that hardware. Android has many different phone manufacturers and Android's prime developer (Google) is in direct competition with all of them, as well as Apple. It's harder for Samsung or LT to customize their flavor of Android (not impossible, just harder) and it makes upkeep more difficult as new OS's are released, because brand X can't run Brand Y's new OS.

Edit: Decided to add one personal sideswipe. This phone need a phono jack.

 

[FactVsOpinion]

I know of nobody that makes a distinction in how they pronounce "the" in front of a word. I don't even remember it being a topic in English class at any time in school. "A" and "an" were taught, but not "the". In fact, until I just looked it up I thought it was a regional idiosyncrasy like how we say "creek" where I live while my Northern cousins consistently say "crick" or Bostonians use "ah" instead of "er" at the end of a word (think chowder vs. chowdah).

I would bet the person speaking says it the same way in front of every word and is not doing it to be sophisticated.

I suspect they do it it their YouTube videos and maybe formal presentations but not elsewhere.

 

[Karma*Police]

I just dont think that notch is necessary. Its unnecessarily complicated looking. And I can't think of a reason for it to exist besides to just be different

If Apple had the tech to make the entire front of the device a display, they would. But the tech doesn't exist yet to integrate a camera, a speaker a proximity sensor, etc. seamlessly into the display. Apple's been trying hard for many years judging by their patents. So IMO they're doing what they often do... the very obvious (after the fact) in a minimalist way... they made the entire front of the device a display except for the part they couldn't.

 

[EdT]

If Apple had the tech to make the entire front of the device a display, they would. But the tech doesn't exist yet to integrate a camera, a speaker a proximity sensor, etc. seamlessly into the display. Apple's been trying hard for many years judging by their patents. So IMO they're doing what they often do... the very obvious (after the fact) in a minimalist way... they made the entire front of the device a display except for the part they couldn't.

With the need for 3 screen side cameras, one a standard 'selfie' camera and 2 (so a rumor goes) infra red cameras as the facial ID feature I wouldn't be surprised that the notch was an unavoidable necessity for at least this iteration of the iPhone.

The notch doesn't bother me. The PRICE of the phone bothers me. And no phono jack.

 

[MDF314159265]

Forgive me if I'm echoing a previous comment, but I hope they finally announce a release date for the HomePod. Who needs a HomePod? No one! But it says Apple, so I want it.
But seriously, from what I've read, it's supposed to be one killer sound system in a tube! And who DOESN'T want government listening to the inside of their home?

Edit: get over the jack - it ain't comin' back!

 

[EdT]

Forgive me if I'm echoing a previous comment, but I hope they finally announce a release date for the HomePod. Who needs a HomePod? No one! But it says Apple, so I want it.
But seriously, from what I've read, it's supposed to be one killer sound system in a tube! And who DOESN'T want government listening to the inside of their home?

EVERYBODY wants to invite the government into their home, they just don't want to pay $300 plus dollars to do so. Why, Amazon and Google are already selling overheard data to businesses and agencies, AND it only costs less than $150.00 to buy their informant to place in your home.

Apple needs to either rethink their pricing strategy or they need to incorporate new features, like a bribery and payoff option so you can 'encourage' the HomePod not to narc on you. That would raise the stakes for Google and Amazon.

 

[jujufreeze]

iphone: Not liking the re-design and 1k s too much. Pass.
LTE watch: Release a round version and I'd get one.
4k Apple TV: If it's not less than $150 it won't gain enough market share compared to roku, amazon, google.

 

[Rob_2811]

Names for the three phones. iPhone 8, iPhone 8 plus and iPhone X

https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/906541199288397824

https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/906542097284714496

 

[Kabeyun]

I agree, ip5 was the best design. Dream phone would be an SE with edge to edge display, solid black color, Touch ID in the the screen. I'm fairly confident I won't care about 3D capabilities, not gonna play poke man go and I own a tape measure. It will however be fun to watch movies where people shoot people and unlock their phones using their dead face.

I actually liked the 4 best, so you can see I'm big on smaller. Agree with black color and TouchID > FaceID, but I'm not a soldier in the war on bezels. Can already use a corpse's fingerprint, lol, but FaceID will definitely figure in an upcoming Bond film (especially if Apple buys the distribution rights!).

Ok, I'm not picking on Apple so much as whoever wrote the headline for this article: 'Radically Redesigned'.

If it works, the face scanning security will be an advancement, but the iPhone will not be the first with face scanning by several years, although if it works reliably it can claim that as a first. OLED screens? Once again, not the first on a smartphone. Glass body for the phone? Apple itself did that years ago, they just moved away from the practice. Wireless charging? If it was non-contact, where you could be in a close proximity but not required to be in contact with the charger then yes, that would be radical. But evidently this is like other phones which already exist which have contact charging. You don't have to plug a cable into the phone but it needs to be in contact with the charger. I haven't heard/read about main camera improvements that would be 'radical', but I guess that doesn't mean that there aren't any. This iPhone doesn't seem radical, at least in hardware, but evolutionary.

This is semantics, but "radically redesigned" doesn't mean novel technology. It just means dramatically different from the previous design. In. Road strokes the 8 will still be a rectangular candy bar smartphone, so you could certainly quibble about using the term "radical." Certainly a bigger change from 7 to 8 versus 6 to 7.

What has (usually) set the iPhone apart is the integration of hardware and software. Having control of the OS down to the smallest detail means Apple has an advantage in utilizing hardware more fully even if they weren't the first to implement that hardware. Android has many different phone manufacturers and Android's prime developer (Google) is in direct competition with all of them, as well as Apple. It's harder for Samsung or LT to customize their flavor of Android (not impossible, just harder) and it makes upkeep more difficult as new OS's are released, because brand X can't run Brand Y's new OS.

Agreed, and of course that'll all still apply.

 

[jonnysods]

I think I'll sell my watch to my son and grab their this new series 3. If it's mind blowing. Spec bumps will have me waiting couple more years.

 

[EdT]

Another Apple Watch release and no radical makeover.

Looks like Apple can't focus on more than one big product change at a time.

I don't own anyone's smart watch, and I haven't looked at any to compare features, but it sounds like with the next Apple Watch you will be able to make and receive phone calls using just the watch. The Apple Watch will therefore joins the, uh, I guess none of the other leading brands of smart watches can currently do phone calls.

Is round your only definition of progress?

 

[deany]

I don't own anyone's smart watch, and I haven't looked at any to compare features, but it sounds like with the next Apple Watch you will be able to make and receive phone calls using just the watch. The Apple Watch will therefore joins the, uh, I guess none of the other leading brands of smart watches can currently do phone calls.

Is round your only definition of progress?

I own an apple watch Sport and I would seriously miss it. I dont use the fitness side much, and app are too slow to use.
My #1 feature is the iPhone letting me know someone is ringing, I have a major hatred for ring tones, phones ringing.
The £1000 iPhone "X" tag is a tad too much.
So I bought a £118 Xiaomi 4 for an android test and also their £12 notification 'band' that gives notifications when someone calls.
I will update end of next week or week after with how I'm getting on.
I do feel a little flying by the wind as I'm iPhone 10 year customer and love iOS.
cheers

 

[GadgetBen]

I don't own anyone's smart watch, and I haven't looked at any to compare features, but it sounds like with the next Apple Watch you will be able to make and receive phone calls using just the watch. The Apple Watch will therefore joins the, uh, I guess none of the other leading brands of smart watches can currently do phone calls.

Is round your only definition of progress?

Can you write in English please?

 

[EdT]

Can you write in English please?

I'll use littler words for you.

Apple is releasing a watch that can make phone calls, which is something that many have said is the greatest shortfall of every smartwatch.

You claim that this is not a radical makeover.

What would you define as a radical makeover then?