Why no stereo speakers for iPhone?

[12vElectronics]

They have to choose what they focus on. If they do improve the speakers in the future, fine. But I wouldn't want it to come before more important things.

Everything is important. That's what set Apple products apart from others. A phone that only does a few things right but everything else is crap is what I'd call a smartphone prior to 2007 .

I mean, not really. I would rather just have headphone or airplay the music.

Not arguing the headphone thing. I guess I'm just expecting a quality music experience from a company that say they're all about the music. I love Apple more than anyone, but I'm not a fanboy and will call out where they are lacking.

 

[thisdj78]

I agree. But dont'cha think a company that's "all about the Music" would put a little more effort into the speakers they use in their devices?

And they are also a retailer that makes money on accessories, of which happen to include Bluetooth & Airplay speakers. Doesn't make business sense to enhance the internal speakers when "most" customers aren't looking to their phone for this experience.

 

[lordofthereef]

Everything is important. That's what set Apple products apart from others. A phone that only does a few things right but everything else is crap is what I'd call a smartphone prior to 2007 .

There are very many things the iPhone did wrong when it launched, but the things it did right appealed more to the masses. Do you know how long before enterprise actually looked at Apple's phone as a device an not a toy?

The phone did music, movies, and web pages better than anything before it. They also did this all without any navigational buttons. That is what was so important.

 

[Dreamliner330]

Apple could easily add a second speaker up top. I expect to see stereo on the next iPad.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

1GB RAM. Only 1.2 megapixel front cam. Base model at 16GB which means you have to delete pretty much everything just to update. Etc etc.

I'm only using 5-6GB on my iPhone 5 right now. There's 13GB total capacity. If you really have a lot of content, you're probably using iTunes to sync; in which case you can use iTunes to install OS updates.

Again with the numbers in front of "MP". A higher number != better camera/better pictures. A Nikon DSLR sensor has around 20 megapixels. That Nokia Lumia phone has 40 megapixels. Are you trying to tell me all the professional photographers should toss their $2,000 DSLR and use Lumias instead? The front camera takes pretty good photos and there's always the back camera which is much better. Having two equally good cameras is a waste. You can always flip the phone around and use the + volume button as a shutter.

RAM. 1GB is good enough. For most users. What the heck are you possibly doing on your phone that *requires* you to have more than 1GB? My iPhone 5 has 1GB. My Safari pages don't need to load after I switch to another app. I usually have 5-10 apps open on a regular basis. No more than 5 tabs in Safari (any more and it's hard to manage, much less be useful). More would be better, but is it necessary? I mean you could stuff gobs and gobs of RAM if you wanted to. But is it necessary? The reason why Android phones have so much is that half of the apps on Google Play leak memory. And the allocation of memory is extremely poor and/or broken in some cases. So to counter that, Android phone makers put in more. iOS is extremely conservative with how it allocates memory. You can argue that for power users, it's not enough. I agree. But is it enough for 90% of the users out there? More than enough. You can't cater to everyone. Apple isn't perfect, they have areas in which they can definitely improve.

 

[geoff5093]

I'm only using 5-6GB on my iPhone 5 right now. There's 13GB total capacity. If you really have a lot of content, you're probably using iTunes to sync; in which case you can use iTunes to install OS updates.

Again with the numbers in front of "MP". A higher number != better camera/better pictures. A Nikon DSLR sensor has around 20 megapixels. That Nokia Lumia phone has 40 megapixels. Are you trying to tell me all the professional photographers should toss their $2,000 DSLR and use Lumias instead? The front camera takes pretty good photos and there's always the back camera which is much better. Having two equally good cameras is a waste. You can always flip the phone around and use the + volume button as a shutter.

RAM. 1GB is good enough. For most users. What the heck are you possibly doing on your phone that *requires* you to have more than 1GB? My iPhone 5 has 1GB. My Safari pages don't need to load after I switch to another app. I usually have 5-10 apps open on a regular basis. No more than 5 tabs in Safari (any more and it's hard to manage, much less be useful). More would be better, but is it necessary? I mean you could stuff gobs and gobs of RAM if you wanted to. But is it necessary? The reason why Android phones have so much is that half of the apps on Google Play leak memory. And the allocation of memory is extremely poor and/or broken in some cases. So to counter that, Android phone makers put in more. iOS is extremely conservative with how it allocates memory. You can argue that for power users, it's not enough. I agree. But is it enough for 90% of the users out there? More than enough. You can't cater to everyone. Apple isn't perfect, they have areas in which they can definitely improve.

I definitely agree that more MP does not directly equate to better photos. However, 1-2MP is extremely low for a camera these days. The HTC One M8 has a 4MP FFC, and it takes incredible photos from the front facing camera. With how many people take selfies and facetime, the FFC needs a major upgrade.

I know the 1GB debate has been beat to death, and I can also agree that it's "enough" on the iPhone 6 running iOS 8. However, people tend to keep their phones for 2 years, sometimes more, so it would be nice to have a bit more future proofing so when iOS 9 and 10 come out, they won't be limited by the memory. Also, if Apple ever introduces true multitasking, you will need more memory to prevent app reloading.

 

[AverageBob]

I'm only using 5-6GB on my iPhone 5 right now. There's 13GB total capacity.

Again with the numbers in front of "MP". A higher number != better camera/better pictures. A Nikon DSLR sensor has around 20 megapixels. That Nokia Lumia phone has 40 megapixels. Are you trying to tell me all the professional photographers should toss their $2,000 DSLR and use Lumias instead?

RAM. 1GB is good enough. For most users. What the heck are you possibly doing on your phone that *requires* you to have more than 1GB? My iPhone 5 has 1GB. My Safari pages don't need to load after I switch to another app. I usually have 5-10 apps open on a regular basis. No more than 5 tabs in Safari (any more and it's hard to manage, much less be useful). More would be better, but is it necessary? I mean you could stuff gobs and gobs of RAM if you wanted to. But is it necessary? The reason why Android phones have so much is that half of the apps on Google Play leak memory. And the allocation of memory is extremely poor and/or broken in some cases. So to counter that, Android phone makers put in more. iOS is extremely conservative with how it allocates memory. You can argue that for power users, it's not enough. I agree. But is it enough for 90% of the users out there? More than enough. You can't cater to everyone. Apple isn't perfect, they have areas in which they can definitely improve.

I can sense the lack of RAM on my ipad. Tabs constantly reload and apps reload when switching between them. It's so obvious to me that they put 1GB of RAM and started at 16GB on purpose so that the device gets obsolete faster. Are you really telling me that if they had a version of iphone 6 with 2GB ram for $50 more you wouldnt get that? According to your logic you wouldn't. That being said, the ipad is the best tablet on the market by far, despite its shortcoming so I bought it.

I understand that more pixels don't mean a better camera which is why I didn't say anything about the iphone's back camera. I 100% agree iphone 6 has the best back camera in the market. The front cam is only 1.2 though and it's not very good quality. I bet they're gonna increase it next year and then market it as new and improved to entice people to upgrade.

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I definitely agree that more MP does not directly equate to better photos. However, 1-2MP is extremely low for a camera these days. The HTC One M8 has a 4MP FFC, and it takes incredible photos from the front facing camera. With how many people take selfies and facetime, the FFC needs a major upgrade.

I know the 1GB debate has been beat to death, and I can also agree that it's "enough" on the iPhone 6 running iOS 8. However, people tend to keep their phones for 2 years, sometimes more, so it would be nice to have a bit more future proofing so when iOS 9 and 10 come out, they won't be limited by the memory. Also, if Apple ever introduces true multitasking, you will need more memory to prevent app reloading.

Wow you read my mind. We have very similar posts.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

I definitely agree that more MP does not directly equate to better photos. However, 1-2MP is extremely low for a camera these days. The HTC One M8 has a 4MP FFC, and it takes incredible photos from the front facing camera. With how many people take selfies and facetime, the FFC needs a major upgrade.

I know the 1GB debate has been beat to death, and I can also agree that it's "enough" on the iPhone 6 running iOS 8. However, people tend to keep their phones for 2 years, sometimes more, so it would be nice to have a bit more future proofing so when iOS 9 and 10 come out, they won't be limited by the memory. Also, if Apple ever introduces true multitasking, you will need more memory to prevent app reloading.

Still missing the point. Compare the photos, regardless of what camera spec it came from. I think you'll find that the new iPhone 6 front camera is pretty damn good.

I can't get behind that bold part. That is an if. Not a when. Also, future proofing is just another justification for getting more than you need.

 

[TechGod]

Yup, they sure cut corners when they opted to use aluminum which costs more and is harder to mass-produce/machine than cheap plastic. And then they also cut corners on the SoC, which seems to blow every single other SoC out of the water and into oblivion. And then they decided to cut some other corners on the camera, which is better than any other smartphone camera. And then they decided to just say what the hell and cut some more corners on the ISP and algorithms that beat everything else.

This can go on for a very long time. Apple doesn't cut corners. That's why so many people still buy Apple products, myself included.

Also, replying to the OP. You wouldn't really notice the stereo effect anyway. Have you seen stereo speakers? The space between L and R speaker is huge compared to the overall size of an iPhone. Most of the time, you'll be using headphones or connecting to some speakers. That said, the speakers they use aren't some cheap crap that they stuck there for show. It's not something you'll find in a music studio, but it's better than many other smartphone speakers out there.

Actually the A8 gets beat by the nVidia K1, and performs identically to the S801.

It's still impressive for a 1.4Ghz dual core chip but I needed to correct you.

 

[Winona Northdakota]

Space and nobody really cares. Phone speakers will never provide a great listening experience. Why make the phone bigger so you can have marginally better sound when you'll just use headphones most of the time anyway?

I agree with your post.

 

[japanime]

We'll have to wait for the iPhone 6s. The "s" will be for stereo.

 

[TechGod]

That. You need separation between left and right. If you put two speakers fairly close to each other (like the width of an iPhone), you won't notice any difference.



That's because they opted to put the speakers on top and bottom (height), which is maybe 2-3 times longer distance than left and right (width) of a smartphone. Also, they dedicated an enormous amount of space to the actual speaker components. They sound just incredible, but most people tend to use headphones or external speakers

In order to defend your assumptions, you make even more assumptions about other people? Ha. No.

I use the speakers on my Nexus 4 regularly.

 

[accountforit]

If they did have 'stereo' speakers, do you think we'd hear stereo with the separation at about an inch? And that's on the iPhone 6!

I've always thought if you wanted stereo, use headphones of some sort. (Or perhaps Bluetooth speakers.)

Exactly.

OP - Why do you think you need stereo speakers? Do you think sitting in front of your phone you are going to have a massive soundstage with a perfect center image and left and right width and separation?

The sound out of the new iPhone is actually quite good and seems to be more transparent than the iPhone 5 I previously had.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

I can sense the lack of RAM on my ipad. Tabs constantly reload and apps reload when switching between them. It's so obvious to me that they put 1GB of RAM and started at 16GB on purpose so that the device gets obsolete faster. Are you really telling me that if they had a version of iphone 6 with 2GB ram for $50 more you wouldnt get that? According to your logic you wouldn't. That being said, the ipad is the best tablet on the market by far, despite its shortcoming so I bought it.

I understand that more pixels don't mean a better camera which is why I didn't say anything about the iphone's back camera. I 100% agree iphone 6 has the best back camera in the market. The front cam is only 1.2 though and it's not very good quality. I bet they're gonna increase it next year and then market it as new and improved to entice people to upgrade.

iPads are different than iPhones. I hope you realize that my comments about RAM are for iPhones. For iPads, I think Apple should add more RAM. I definitely feel limited there. But I still buy it anyway because the rest of it is better than any other tablet on the market. Is it perfect? Nope. Is it better than the other options? Yes. Can Apple make it better (iPhones too)? Yes.

Obsolete? There are so many people out there than don't require much storage capacity. Myself included. Actually, I am using less than before. I had the 32GB iPhone 4, 32GB iPhone 5 and now I went for the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus. Why? I used to store all of my music on my phone. Now, it's all in iCloud (iTunes in the Cloud). Maybe this solution only works for people with fast cellular connections but it works for me (and probably others). Let's not forget all the people who don't even store music on their phone anymore. All the people who basically just use Pandora or Spotify or some other music streaming service as their sole source for music. I would argue that because of the proliferation of streaming (not just music, but movies and other content as well, think Netflix), people tend to store less on their phone.

Would I get your theoretical 2GB iPhone? Probably not. I don't need it. Would it be nice for people who do need it? Obviously. But that adds more options to confuse the very large number of people who would be just fine with 1GB. Remember, not all people are tech-savvy like this forum.

 

[Winona Northdakota]

And they are also a retailer that makes money on accessories, of which happen to include Bluetooth & Airplay speakers. Doesn't make business sense to enhance the internal speakers when "most" customers aren't looking to their phone for this experience.

I would rather use a dock and powered external speakers. I would rather use an external D/A convertor and really good amp and speakers. I really don't have a need for two speakers on my phone. Two mics, yes. The stereo separation issue would negate any quality experience. I just plug in a really good pair of headsets on the go.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Actually the A8 gets beat by the nVidia K1, and performs identically to the S801.

It's still impressive for a 1.4Ghz dual core chip but I needed to correct you.

I should of been more clear, it's more efficient for what it is than any other SoC. I also factor in power consumption, which seems to beat just about any other phone. As you pointed out, it's a 1.4GHz dual core chip. Also, which smartphone actually uses the K1? I have not seen any, but I don't follow this topic as much as other things.

 

[AverageBob]

iPads are different than iPhones. I hope you realize that my comments about RAM are for iPhones. For iPads, I think Apple should add more RAM. I definitely feel limited there. But I still buy it anyway because the rest of it is better than any other tablet on the market. Is it perfect? Nope. Is it better than the other options? Yes. Can Apple make it better (iPhones too)? Yes.

Obsolete? There are so many people out there than don't require much storage capacity. Myself included. Actually, I am using less than before. I had the 32GB iPhone 4, 32GB iPhone 5 and now I went for the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus. Why? I used to store all of my music on my phone. Now, it's all in iCloud (iTunes in the Cloud). Maybe this solution only works for people with fast cellular connections but it works for me (and probably others). Let's not forget all the people who don't even store music on their phone anymore. All the people who basically just use Pandora or Spotify or some other music streaming service as their sole source for music. I would argue that because of the proliferation of streaming (not just music, but movies and other content as well, think Netflix), people tend to store less on their phone.

Would I get your theoretical 2GB iPhone? Probably not. I don't need it. Would it be nice for people who do need it? Obviously. But that adds more options to confuse the very large number of people who would be just fine with 1GB. Remember, not all people are tech-savvy like this forum.

Ok your reply is pretty reasonable even though we don't agree on everything, especially because you agree that the ipad needs more ram.

I should add that Spotify is actually exactly one of the reasons I do need more space now because streaming over data is not feasible as it uses waaaay too much data so I have to save a lot of my playlists for offline use. 32GB is the bare minimum if you do this.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

In order to defend your assumptions, you make even more assumptions about other people? Ha. No.

I use the speakers on my Nexus 4 regularly.

What assumptions have I made specifically about stereo speakers? None. It's scientific fact that you need physical distance between left and right in order to observe a stereo effect.

It is true people tend to use headphones. It's not an assumption. Do you even know what an assumption is? Here is a definition straight from Google (it's a useful tool for people like you):

"a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof."

Notice how I use the word "tend" instead of just stating people use headphones more. Tend as in tendency. There is no "certain of happen" in tendency.

Also, you make an assumption. You assume because you use your speakers, that other people do too. That is the (flawed) premise of your entire post. Even then, do you not use headphones/earphones ever?

 

[TechGod]

I should of been more clear, it's more efficient for what it is than any other SoC. I also factor in power consumption, which seems to beat just about any other phone. As you pointed out, it's a 1.4GHz dual core chip. Also, which smartphone actually uses the K1? I have not seen any, but I don't follow this topic as much as other things.

The K1 is actually exclusive to tablets, so I guess it isn't a valid comparison.

Furthermore the A8 also demonstrates another rather impressive trait.

It stays on higher frequencies for longer i.e. less throttling comes into play which is probably the end result of a 20nm CPU.

The A8 is certainly an impressive chipset, no doubt about that.

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What assumptions have I made specifically about stereo speakers? None. It's scientific fact that you need physical distance between left and right in order to observe a stereo effect.

It is true people tend to use headphones. It's not an assumption. Do you even know what an assumption is? Here is a definition straight from Google (it's a useful tool for people like you):

"a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof."

Notice how I use the word "tend" instead of just stating people use headphones more. Tend as in tendency. There is no "certain of happen" in tendency.

Also, you make an assumption. You assume because you use your speakers, that other people do too. That is the (flawed) premise of your entire post. Even then, do you not use headphones/earphones ever?

Rarely, but I apologise I did make a rather rude post that I did not need to make.

 

[iososx]

Yup, they sure cut corners when they opted to use aluminum which costs more and is harder to mass-produce/machine than cheap plastic. And then they also cut corners on the SoC, which seems to blow every single other SoC out of the water and into oblivion. And then they decided to cut some other corners on the camera, which is better than any other smartphone camera. And then they decided to just say what the hell and cut some more corners on the ISP and algorithms that beat everything else.

This can go on for a very long time. Apple doesn't cut corners. That's why so many people still buy Apple products, myself included.

Also, replying to the OP. You wouldn't really notice the stereo effect anyway. Have you seen stereo speakers? The space between L and R speaker is huge compared to the overall size of an iPhone. Most of the time, you'll be using headphones or connecting to some speakers. That said, the speakers they use aren't some cheap crap that they stuck there for show. It's not something you'll find in a music studio, but it's better than many other smartphone speakers out there.

Each manufacturer has their obsessions, Apple is addicted to metal, in thin somewhat fragile form factor it's no big deal.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Ok your reply is pretty reasonable even though we don't agree on everything, especially because you agree that the ipad needs more ram.

I should add that Spotify is actually exactly one of the reasons I do need more space now because streaming over data is not feasible as it uses waaaay too much data so I have to save a lot of my playlists for offline use. 32GB is the bare minimum if you do this.

I'm slightly confused by that.

I do agree with that second part. I wish unlimited data plans would still be offered today. I go over my 2GB sometimes when I use iTunes Radio while at work. I mentioned Spotify for the streaming aspect not really the storing for offline use aspect. But your point is valid nonetheless.

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The K1 is actually exclusive to tablets, so I guess it isn't a valid comparison.

Furthermore the A8 also demonstrates another rather impressive trait.

It stays on higher frequencies for longer i.e. less throttling comes into play which is probably the end result of a 20nm CPU.

The A8 is certainly an impressive chipset, no doubt about that.

----------


Rarely, but I apologise I did make a rather rude post that I did not need to make.

I apologize for my post, for the same reason.

----------

Each manufacturer has their obsessions, Apple is addicted to metal, in thin somewhat fragile form factor it's no big deal.

Metal is less fragile than plastic. That is why many things are built with metal like cars, buildings, tools, machines, etc.

 

[McCool71]

Yup, they sure cut corners when they opted to use aluminum which costs more and is harder to mass-produce/machine than cheap plastic.

Yep, aluminium is such an expensive material that they even use it for soda cans...

 

[TechGod]

I'm slightly confused by that.

I do agree with that second part. I wish unlimited data plans would still be offered today. I go over my 2GB sometimes when I use iTunes Radio while at work. I mentioned Spotify for the streaming aspect not really the storing for offline use aspect. But your point is valid nonetheless.

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I apologize for my post, for the same reason.

----------



Metal is less fragile than plastic. That is why many things are built with metal like cars, buildings, tools, machines, etc.

Metal(or glass) also look far better and to me aesthetics are important which is why I would consider an HTC One and iPhone but not a Galaxy S5 and below.

 

[Lictor]

I wish Apple made phones with no speakers at all... It would make the world a better place by disabling the idiots who listen to bad music which sounds even worse through these speakers in the subway or in the streets at night or at the restaurant. Besides, "stereo" is just a marketing gimmick on a phone, there is no way you can here stereo through two tiny speakers on a phone - you can barely hear proper mono from one anyway...

If you want to listen to good quality stereo, just use headphones or use airplay to send music to your hifi receiver. If you want to diffuse music for several people, just buy a portable speaker, they're not hifi quality but at least they sound decent.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Yep, aluminium is such an expensive material that they even use it for soda cans...

Good laugh. You demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge about metallurgy.