Where has Apple taken the biggest step back on the iPhone compared to the competition?

[DevNull0]

You can do this actually. I can do it with outlook and word or even dropbox.

Dropbox doesn't count, I'm not talking about cloud services but what the phone can do. As far as word, do you mean microsoft's cloud?

And even if word is local, you need MS to give you basic functionality on an iPhone?

Plus i was picturing jpgs when I originally typed my post, but I really do mean any arbitrary file format as long as i have an iPhone app that can edit the file and someone can attach it to an email.
[doublepost=1461950611][/doublepost]

Internal storage is for grandpas...

We have 2016 and cloud storage! As you need to backup the pictures in iOS anyways if you want to move them to a new phone, why store them internal?

Nobody watches his 500+ photos daily, so "I have a limited data plan" is no point here and in most places wifi is available.

Funny. First I disagree about the 500+ photos daily. I guess you've never met a new parent.

Second, how do all the pictures you take even make it onto the cloud? 12.5 meg for a live photo is about 80 per gigabyte. I'm on my cell provider's largest plan at 5gig/month. So if I take 400 pictures per month, about 12 per day, I will use 100% of my monthly limit just uploading the pictures to the cloud.

Similarly, if you view 12 live photos a day from the cloud, that's another 5 gig per month. So forget 500+ daily, you can't even do 12 daily.

4k video is even worse. A few short clips a month will use a whole month's data.

And what about music. A few days of spotify killed my monthly limit.

 

[aneftp]

It's nice that you can opt to turn on or off...depending on preference. Choice is always good. /grin/

I wonder if Samsung offers a sub-setting where you can schedule the always-on to turn off automatically...the idea being let's say between 12am - 6am turn the always-on to off and then at 6:01am, turn it back on.

Would be neat if it could.

It's easy to "deactivate always on screen".

Just flip the phone down when going to sleep. It turns back on if u flip it up. Wait 2-3 seconds for clock to show again.

Always on screen supposed to turn off when phone is in pocket or facing down.

 

[bufffilm]

It's easy to "deactivate always on screen".

Just flip the phone down when going to sleep. It turns back on if u flip it up. Wait 2-3 seconds for clock to show again.

Always on screen supposed to turn off when phone is in pocket or facing down.

I never have it face down though. /grin/

Also, face down may not work if one has a glass screen protector thicker than the surrounding case 'lip' or goes caseless.

 

[5105973]

Dropbox doesn't count, I'm not talking about cloud services but what the phone can do. As far as word, do you mean microsoft's cloud?

And even if word is local, you need MS to give you basic functionality on an iPhone?

Plus i was picturing jpgs when I originally typed my post, but I really do mean any arbitrary file format as long as i have an iPhone app that can edit the file and someone can attach it to an email.
[doublepost=1461950611][/doublepost]

Funny. First I disagree about the 500+ photos daily. I guess you've never met a new parent.

Second, how do all the pictures you take even make it onto the cloud? 12.5 meg for a live photo is about 80 per gigabyte. I'm on my cell provider's largest plan at 5gig/month. So if I take 400 pictures per month, about 12 per day, I will use 100% of my monthly limit just uploading the pictures to the cloud.

Similarly, if you view 12 live photos a day from the cloud, that's another 5 gig per month. So forget 500+ daily, you can't even do 12 daily.

4k video is even worse. A few short clips a month will use a whole month's data.

And what about music. A few days of spotify killed my monthly limit.

Excellent points. I'm on a grandfathered unlimited data plan so many forget how streaming can eat through monthly allotments.

 

[bufffilm]

Excellent points. I'm on a grandfathered unlimited data plan so many forget how streaming can eat through monthly allotments.

Cloud storage is still overrated for many use cases.

Nothing beats local storage for convenience, speed, bandwidth independence, etc. Not to mention if you're in the boonies/camping/on the water/away from cell towers then you are SOL.

 

[Zaft]

Dropbox doesn't count, I'm not talking about cloud services but what the phone can do. As far as word, do you mean microsoft's cloud?

And even if word is local, you need MS to give you basic functionality on an iPhone?

Plus i was picturing jpgs when I originally typed my post, but I really do mean any arbitrary file format as long as i have an iPhone app that can edit the file and someone can attach it to an email.
[doublepost=1461950611][/doublepost]

Funny. First I disagree about the 500+ photos daily. I guess you've never met a new parent.

Second, how do all the pictures you take even make it onto the cloud? 12.5 meg for a live photo is about 80 per gigabyte. I'm on my cell provider's largest plan at 5gig/month. So if I take 400 pictures per month, about 12 per day, I will use 100% of my monthly limit just uploading the pictures to the cloud.

Similarly, if you view 12 live photos a day from the cloud, that's another 5 gig per month. So forget 500+ daily, you can't even do 12 daily.

4k video is even worse. A few short clips a month will use a whole month's data.

And what about music. A few days of spotify killed my monthly limit.

Yes local Microsoft word. Its free on the app store, no idea if its basic but it does alot.

Im sure there are some things ios cant do but honestly I dont edit stuff like that on my phone anyway. I use my real computer like most people do I think.

 

[pappy53]

Dunno all people who has the edge at least say it's on par with 6s plus if not better

No, "all" people are not saying that. Actually, most of the opinions that I have read say that the 6S+ is still king of the hill for battery life.

 

[The Game 161]

No, "all" people are not saying that. Actually, most of the opinions that I have read say that the 6S+ is still king of the hill for battery life.

People here are saying it's just as good and on YouTube

I will judge myself early next week

My battery life on my 6s plus is garbage lately

 

[bruinsrme]

My wife didn't care about the latest and greatest technology. She doesn't want a 6 series as she is content with her 5s.
The camera protrudes. Yet the vast majority of phones I see have a case.
Size - not everyone wants a iPad mini mini in there pocket. My wife is exemplifies this.
Not everyone is looking for cutting edge technology. Then again apple is expected to have the cutting edge but then doesn't offer to the masses. Not sure which one people want. Profits surely do reside in old technology.
Every item in the product line takes resources to manage and quality is more difficult to maintain.
So many wanted larger screens. Then again it appears many want a smaller screen.

I am confident that if Apple offered a phone with lesser technology and just the basic functions people would continue to flock to it.

My biggest gripe is their storage offerings.
Then again they're making money hand over fist offering a near useless model and slapping a $100 price tag on a model with an adequate amount of storage.

 

[whtrbt7]

From my point of view, my opinion of the iPhone now vs before is that the design is some cookie cutter design that uses marginally ok aluminum vs stainless steel and glass. The 4S design was probably the peak of iPhone design in my opinion and since then, I feel like we have been struggling to get back that iconic design that oozed a quality feel. The feel of the 6S Plus right now just feels cheap but at least not as cheap as the Samsung S7 Edge.

The other area of why people used iPhones was the view that it had a rock solid OS. While the animations and the iOS7 rework were ok, I feel that there have been multiple stability issues that could have gotten debugged before it was released to public. People don't buy an iPhone for the latest technology, they buy one because it's sensible and what smart people buy. While Android is the main competitor in this space, their stuff is even more fragmented in focus and has issues with identity. iOS really needs to get back in the driver seat and become the seemingly "rock solid" OS it once was.

The last thing that I find that Apple is behind in is a release schedule that reflects a major change in hardware. It seems like they churn out a minor upgrade every year now instead of having a huge upgrade to entice purchases every year. The timing has been really off and the excitement I feel has died down a lot.

 

[Jimmy James]

What's Samsung's growth rate? Are they outpacing Aoole or is this an overall segment decline?

 

[aneftp]

What's Samsung's growth rate? Are they outpacing Aoole or is this an overall segment decline?

The whole smartphone segment is saturated. Especially in high end smartphones

The Samsung Galaxy s7/edge appears to be selling well. Samsung reporting increased sales first quarter from 2016 compared to same time 2015. Although one can interpret it differently. Cause the s6 was released in 2nd quarter 2015. While the s7 was released in beginning of March 2016 (first quarter)

So we will have to see if sales maintain for the s7 through q2 2016.

I own the s7 regular size and love the hardware.

 

[d5aqoëp]

Simple factor is price. Take India's example.

iPhone SE 16 GB costs $399 (₹26,500) in USA
But Apple have priced it at $587 (₹39,000) in India. That's 25-32% markup considering taxes in US.

Indian market is not that developed or saturated for such ridiculous pricing. Most people mention that Apple has priced SE so high so that they can use India as dumping ground for their 2-3 year old phones like iPhone 5S and 6. This is a disastrous long term strategy.

Just read the reviews for iPhone SE on amazon.in on this link. So full of hatred. This is a prime example how goodwill is lost slowly but surely. There will come a time when people will just don't give a damn just like they did for blackberry.

We all know how hard Blackberry (RIM) is finding to erase their badwill and negative publicity caused due to their smugness and overpricing. If you look closely, Apple is on the same path. Just that Apple has huge cash reserves to survive the tide. But they must act now before things become unfixable.

 

[Savor]

The biggest advantage Apple has over Android and even WP always been software updates. That has always been the biggest complaint for Android users even now. But Apple's updates also becomes a double-edged sword to them. What is the point of buying a newer iPhone when most of the older iPhones can get most of the new software features too? A half decade old iPhone 4s can still be updated.

Because to me, phones are interchangeable and disposal. We buy new hardware to keep using the software and services. What is the point of updating every couple of years when half decade old devices can still be updated and can still have the new software updates? The best business strategy Apple did for themselves is to continue to jip consumers with storage space, no removable battery, and expensive service replacements. It puts people in a position to update their hardware more often. The closer to perfection in areas, the more content people are that hardware upgrades aren't needed as often.

 

[Qbnkelt]

Apple just needs to stick with it's philosophy. Mobile payment is coming and after the first global robbery powered by androids absence of security, people will buy iOS phones like bread and butter.

Today features and hardware are of non interest for the consumer, as even low cost phones can do what flagships of two years ago could do.

It's all about security and safety of personal data. Android can't offer this. It was designed to collect data and is as open as open can be. To fix all vulnerabilities they would need to rewrite it from scratch.

The security and safety argument didn't help BlackBerry at all. They're so waiting at Crackberry for the cataclysmic breach that will bring everyone back.

 

[nia820]

The biggest advantage Apple has over Android and even WP always been software updates. That has always been the biggest complaint for Android users even now. But Apple's updates also becomes a double-edged sword to them. What is the point of buying a newer iPhone when most of the older iPhones can get most of the new software features too? A half decade old iPhone 4s can still be updated.

I think power android users have complained about the slow update roll outs but the majority of Android owners don't even know when a new Android OS had been released nor do they care.

 

[maflynn]

I think power android users have complained about the slow update roll outs but the majority of Android owners don't even know when a new Android OS had been released nor do they care.

Agreed, and this one (there were a few) reasons why I moved back to iOS. The best way to resolve that issue, is to get a vanilla android phone, i.e., Nexus and that way any updates come straight from google.

This is where Apple's model really works,
In January, MacRumors ran a story that had 75% of active iOS devices were on iOS9.
Cnet in March reports that only 1.2% are on Marshmallow.

Clearly if you, as a user wants to remain current on the latest phone OS, you need to choose wisely with Android, or stick with iOS

 

[PortableLover]

Not really a step back but battery could be so much bigger and better then the competition. Its already fine but apple could get even better battery if they really wanted to.

 

[smacrumon]

And I don't think you grasp that storage costs money. Also, Macs differentiate by CPU because of costs. So it is all about costs.

Storage costs aren't significant in 2016. Maybe 2006 there was an argument, but today, no.

 

[drysdale86]

I think the bottom line is, Apple's iPhone line has become stale.

The 4/5 felt fresh, innovative. Since the 5S, Apple have struggled to innovate and have concentrated on software/OS enhancements that generally only appeal to creative professionals. I mean who regularly uses Handoff? They have pushed iCloud top far in my opinion.

Competitors have innovated where Apple has slowed down. No one really cares about 80% of the features Apple has added in recent years.

The Keynotes have become tiresome. Yes its great you have 25 engineers working on increasing the amount of light your camera sensor lets in, but for all intents and purposes the quality of image between the 5S and 6S has not improved to a noticeable level to the general public.


The reason sales are declining is because Apple hasnt found a way to improve their devices enough to justify a purchase.

We need true innovation. Not just a slight cosmetic change or a couple of extra megapixels - reserve that for the 'S' years.

The 7 rumours and leaks are so underwhelming....a dual lens camera, a slight cosmetic change, getting read of the headphone jack. So what? More of an 'S' improvement.


The 7 should be a completely redesigned body, vastly improved camera, home button removed etc or even a proper curved screen like the Edge.

 

[smacrumon]

I'm going to have to side with you on the storage issues. My sister in-law bought a 16 GB iPhone 6 Plus. She is not tech savvy at all. She didn't even understand what the difference between 16 GB and 128 GB meant except that here was a significant price difference so of course she went cheaper by default. What was a small difference in cost to Apple was a huge difference in price to the consumer because Apple chooses to differentiate in part based on storage.

She ran into storage problems very quickly because with the new screen size and better camera she wanted to take more pics and videos than she did on her iPhone 5. She gets furious with her iPhone and now think Apple puts out crap. We explained to her how she didn't choose the right storage size for her needs but the damage is done and she's not a happy customer.

She just knew or believed IPhones are the best, she thought got the top of the line Plus model...and it gives her nothing but grief. She's nearly 60 and she's a businesswoman and quite intelligent but she's got a blind spot with tech. Oh and she's got a mouth on her and she's been badmouthing her iPhone and scaring a lot of her friends away from it.

Anyway she's not a rare case of ignorance. I've asked around very carefully to gauge how much of a grasp the iPhone users in my social circle have on the differences between storage sizes as it relates to how many pics and vids and music they can store on their iPhones. Their grasp is vague. Many went cheap by default. And we know late model iPhones are not cheap!

If the cost of storage to Apple is not huge, it would be better for them to pick one generous storage size and price point or perhaps two, that would be more user friendly than 16 GB. They may be losing customers' good will. Not everyone hangs out on forums learning the ins and outs. They buy something as expensive as even a 16 GB iPhone is and expect it to work and not throw error codes at them. Which can happen too soon on a 16 GB iPhone, especially given the video capabilities and live photo features on the newest models.

This is my point, you have expressed it really well. Thank you. The expectation with Apple products is so high, when simple issues like this arise it really does turn people off the brand. I can relate with your account here. imessage is another storage trap. Getting video messages and photos, these all add up quietly in the background. The amount of baby videos and photos I receive from relatives is cute up until the point of a storage full error message.
[doublepost=1462019952][/doublepost]

I think the bottom line is, Apple's iPhone line has become stale.

The 4/5 felt fresh, innovative. Since the 5S, Apple have struggled to innovate and have concentrated on software/OS enhancements that generally only appeal to creative professionals. I mean who regularly uses Handoff? They have pushed iCloud top far in my opinion.

Competitors have innovated where Apple has slowed down. No one really cares about 80% of the features Apple has added in recent years.

The Keynotes have become tiresome. Yes its great you have 25 engineers working on increasing the amount of light your camera sensor lets in, but for all intents and purposes the quality of image between the 5S and 6S has not improved to a noticeable level to the general public.


The reason sales are declining is because Apple hasnt found a way to improve their devices enough to justify a purchase.

We need true innovation. Not just a slight cosmetic change or a couple of extra megapixels - reserve that for the 'S' years.

The 7 rumours and leaks are so underwhelming....a dual lens camera, a slight cosmetic change, getting read of the headphone jack. So what? More of an 'S' improvement.


The 7 should be a completely redesigned body, vastly improved camera, home button removed etc or even a proper curved screen like the Edge.

Will "7" be named "SE" in two larger sizes SE 4.7, SE 5.5, maybe? I think iPhone 5 was the first sign of a lack of innovation in terms if outward design. Apple made the phone thinner, but taller to fit the larger screen. It's my view that design wasn't resolved enough in particular the top/bottom bezels, while slightly shrunk, it didn't go far enough. It's the kind of design work where we start with something good, but in the next iteration, instead of redesigning something better, we make the mistake of simply adding and not redesigning and rethinking. From 3GS --> 4, there was adding, redesign, and rethink. From 4s --> 5 there was adding. From 5s--> 6, there was even more adding. The next iPhone needs redesigning and rethinking.

 

[navaira]

I can't believe people defend the 16 GB base. Price difference in the NL between 16 GB and 128 GB 6s+ is 220 euro. You seriously think that 128 GB memory chip costs 220 euro?

 

[smacrumon]

Already said multiple times but the decline is due in large part to market saturation. Another huge factor is that the phones are so good now - we've kind of hit the same peak PC's have where there's not as much reason to upgrade. Some of the slide may also have to do with getting people off of the subsidized 2 year upgrade cycle. I'm paying cash for my phones from here on out, you can bet I'll think twice before forking over $950 for a new phone. Most people seem to love payments though so I'm not sure how much of an impact that's really had.

What's going to become increasingly important is the software and how we use the phone. In my opinion these are the biggest areas Apple should work on:

- Truly eliminate the need to carry a wallet or purse. Not just a half-assed attempt but a true replacement. I don't want to carry a debit card just in case I go somewhere that doesn't accept Apple Pay - if I have to carry a debit card then why even use Apple Pay (yes, I understand there are security benefits)? I don't want to have to carry a driver's license or insurance card (yes, much of that is dependent upon the state). I don't want to carry rewards cards because Passbook adoption was so piss poor. Yes, they're saying Wallet will integrate Apple Pay with rewards but that sounds like more of the same - doesn't mean a thing if no one adopts it. I think we'll get there on all of this but I think it's going to take way longer than it should.

- Home automation. Wouldn't mind seeing Apple come out with some hardware of their own.

- Media consumption. Maybe work with TV manufacturers build-in a TV equivalent of Car Play. Basically allowing anyone with an iPhone to beam media to their TV - no need to buy a box or dongle.

IMO it's going to be more about what makes iOS stand out from Android and how each fits into your lifestyle.

Customers would upgrade if Apple's proposition was a new phone that is tremendously better. Customers are hanging on to their phones in part because the devices still meet their needs, but the other reason is Apple hasn't created a new proposition that taps into the need to upgrade irrelevant of their contentment with their current device. iPhone 4 was really groundbreaking design work that would end up in a museum. iPhone 6 on the other hand was just a design, nothing else.
[doublepost=1462021118][/doublepost]

I think form-factor is one of the biggest issues, iPhone 6s is practically a dinosaur, it's got huge top and bottom bezels, big side bezels, it's really archaic compared to a phone like the S7, I mean look at this, same screen size, yet the S7 is much more elegant and smaller:

And the ugly antenna bands? How in the world did Apple think this would be acceptable? It's really a joke, how can they expect the market won't react at some point? If this design was branded with a Microsoft logo, everyone at Macrumors would be making fun of it all day, but oh no, it's Apple must be cool right? No.

Agreed. Those were ugly antenna bands on launch, and they continue to be ugly today, and will continue to be ugly as long as they are visible. Time doesn't improve that mistake.

 

[Michael Goff]

Storage costs aren't significant in 2016. Maybe 2006 there was an argument, but today, no.

The amount it costs them is irrelevant. It costs them. You could argue that they charge too much and should maybe go with a 32/64/128 or even 32/128/256 scheme. Either of those make sense. But to say they should make the 128 the only option and keep the cost the same is just not how capitalism works.

 

[smacrumon]

The amount it costs them is irrelevant. It costs them. You could argue that they charge too much and should maybe go with a 32/64/128 or even 32/128/256 scheme. Either of those make sense. But to say they should make the 128 the only option and keep the cost the same is just not how capitalism works.

This isn't a debate about capitalism, it's about what gives the user the best experience. Users that get a storage full error message comes close to getting a hard drive failure, because the user needs to consider how to manage their device's critical contents. Users either need to abruptly stop what they are doing, start deleting items, or start backing up and transferring items before they can recommence whatever it is they want to achieve. It drives users crazy. Even more, certain aspects of iOS actually stop working properly when the device is low on storage. That's just nuts! Customers develop poor perceptions of Apple products that way, it damages Apple as a trusted brand, that for shareholders and the company should be most alarming.

Getting users to decide what storage they might require, getting users to conceptualize how many emails, messages, photos, videos, they might store is a total guessing game.
"How big a basket do you need for an unknown quantity of items that you, your friends and family will fill it with?"
"Umm..?"
Apple customers don't pay premiums to enter a guessing contest. Apple needs to resolve the storage issue problem once and for all. It's a design problem. Memory costs nothing these days, so it's a non issue at Apples end, so it's incredible why Apple continues making it a customer issue at purchase time.

Apple has always been about being best. The fact that they have been best in the past has been rewarded. However multiple storage options isn't a good Apple experience, it isn't best practice. Storage should not even be quoted anymore just like CPU, RAM etc which aren't listed. Keep that nonsense for the rest of the industry players.

Choosing storage limits are pointless choices. Customers want the best experience and Apple needs to design their product with that in mind. Don't frustrate users. Build 128GB across all new models and be done with it.