1) They made an honest mistake in leaving in the 4S models but not the 5 model.
2) It's APple's disinformation.
THAT.
I don't think it was 'an honest mistake'. I think they put 4S on purpose. Either because it represents an iPhone 4 "Single lineup with both styles of antenna in an 8GB model" or because they knew that folks would be looking for clues and calling it the 5 would mean that folks would guess there was a new design.
In the end, how important is it for all models to be listed in the betas. What is it going to break for them to add 2-4 more lines for the iPhone 5 or the other iPhone 4s models (changing the name to 5) before the final release. Probably nothing
Quote:
However I do believe the market will re-act very badly to this, if this is true and all we get.
The stock market might take a little dip but once the lines start, full of the folks that don't come to the sites for clues, it will go back up.
Then again, Apple has been known to be very skilled at polishing what the 5% says is a total turd because its not what they want (and they haven't figured out yet that rarely to never will they get what they want which is why for example they still don't have blu-ray) and getting folks to phrase whatever it released. The market might buy the hype and actually go up. Either because the buyers like what they see personally or because even if they don't like it they will see the appeal to the masses so they know sales will be crazy awesome
What is Apple's target market in releasing a new design - current iPhone 4 customers or new customers? If it is the latter, then changing the form factor is not necessary because the last few months have shown that this is the most desirable phone in existence.
Isn't there some survey suggesting that 40% of Android users are waiting to change to iPhones? If so, what is making them salivate - a design they haven't seen, or the current one with the unrivaled user experience?
Judging by stock price it looks like we will not see a redesign.
Or Apple's done a better job at keeping things secret.
The stock market overall is having a down week and that might be all the current price is about. Not some doom and gloom about a redesign or not.
There are a lot of analysts making claims about what we are about to hear but in truth they have no clue. Some of them are rather shitty with their logic and are known to be way off the mark all the time. But unfortunately some buyers might believe that folks like Shaw Wu know what they are talking about and have sold their stocks. And will feel real dumb when whatever is released sells 20 million in the first weekend and the stock price jumps.
People also need to get out of the mental rut of only looking at the hardware. New software can also be a redesign and a very good one especially when combined with some tweaking of the hardware. Apple is all about protecting both sides of the game and their integration for a reason. They feel it is the full package that matters and perhaps we need to look at that full package as well.
IF they do indeed only offer a 4GS I also think it will be a limited failure & limited success... with many disappointed and not buy, while others won't care and buy regardless. To me it will be somewhat of a disappointment, 1.5 years and all they do is upgrade the cam, screen and other misc specs, but still the same general look and feel? I may keep my 3GS till next year. Hopefully for their sake (and ours) it is truly a new phone or else fans, media, and stock holders will bash them loudly.
I don't know if you are in the U.S. But, if you are, you have been giving more money to AT&T since your contract expired. AT&T did not lower your monthly charges after they recovered the subsidy from you. Perhaps (and, I repeat, perhaps), you might have been better off upgrading to iPhone 4 at the end of your 3Gs contract, and selling your 3Gs to pay for some or all of the subsidized iPhone 4 price. I know people who have come out ahead this way. In the U.S.
As for 3Gs running iOS5, the question is: How well will it run iOS5? I don't know, but it is a safe assumption that the latest version of the iPhone will run it the best.
Now I agree that the newer hardware will definitely run the new software better!
I am in the U.S., and simply had not thought about selling my old phone. Sounds like a good idea.
I used a 3GS with iOS 4 and it lagged a bit, but I wouldn't say it was "laggy as hell". That is a bit of hyperbole. From what I have read of those using iOS Betas on a 3GS, it runs fine.
Compared to what it was the day I bought it? Maybe "laggy" isn't the right word, maybe "sleepy" would be a better word. One it's going it's OK, but it's initially unresponsive -- only to catch up. Run a new app, new sleepyness. And IMO that is the sign of a really crappy UI experience. Everyone says it's the same phone that it was the day I bought it (the day it was released) but the 3GS hardware doesn't seem to be up to the task of iOS 4.x and I'm convinced iOS 5 won't be any better.
Am I getting a "4S" next week? I guess I'll have to, because my 3GS hasn't cut it for several iOS point releases now.
The recent poll bears that out - 41 percent would buy an iPhone 5, but only 15% would buy a spec-bumped 4S.
Suicide is right.
ROTFLMAO. Leave it to you to believe one of the most ridiculous surveys I've ever heard. No mention of specs nor what differentiates a "iPhone 4s" and an "iPhone 5". By that survey, it doesn't matter what Apple puts into the phone, it's all about what they name it. It could be the same phone, but if they call it iPhone 5, three times as many people will buy it as if they call it 4S.
Maybe they should simply call it iPhone 1000 and then 400% of the world will upgrade?
Quote:
Originally Posted by goofy1958
I am a current 3GS owner (2 1/2 years), and I have to respectfully disagree. I did not see anything in the iPhone 4 that caused me to upgrade, and if the new model is simply a revamped 4, I'll wait again. IOS5 will run on my 3GS, so unless the hardware is a significant upgrade, why would I spend my money? A faster processor and better camera are hardly reasons to spend hundreds of dollars, but a larger screen, resolution, and other enhancements might entice me. I guess we will find out in a few days which way we are headed!
As soon as you demonstrate that you constitute the entire phone market, then your views might be relevant.
As it is, I'll trust Apple's views of the market over yours.
On the other hand, 15 months are a long time for a speed bump, unless the software is the reason for the delay.
The more likely reason is ipod sales. Or rather a lack thereof.
Apple's fiscal year starts in October, which used to come with a healthy run of iPod sales to kick off the year and slide into the holiday season where iPods were a big chunk of sales.
But with the growth of music playing smart phones, iPods have potentially fallen off despite attempts to do cool and slick things to keep up interest. In fact there's talk that Apple is going to kill the Shuffle because it just isn't selling anymore and either kill off or simple yet again not update the Classic. Both due to pretty much zero sales. The Nano and Touch also receiving few to no changes (especially the Nano).
All of this means that there's nothing to kick off the start of the year. Unless they move the iPhone to that slot. A choice they may have made months ago and decided to delay iOS 5, iCloud etc based on that choice rather than the hardware delay being made based on struggles with anything. They may have made this decision in time to also go to Verizon, where they were going to originally release the iPhone in the summer with the 4s/5 and said that they are changing up the release schedule and were willing to and able of releasing a Verizon iPhone 4 in January/February and Verizon said okay. Because we aren't in the inner halls we simply don't know.
Which is not proof we are getting such a phone, but merely that someone at Cincinnati Bell believes that's what we are getting. Someone that could be right, or could be wrong
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacDevil
Maybe, but I don't expect them to be selling 600,000 in the first weekend of pre-orders like they did with the iPhone 4.
First they need to actually do pre-orders. I suspect they won't just like they didn't with the iPad 2. And just like the iPad they probably won't do reservations ever and make it first come first serve and torture their retail staff with pissed off folks lining up, calling etc every day. When what they should do is make all in store sales by reservation only with no walk in stock period (something they did set aside for a couple of the phones which pissed off those that had reservations). If they don't want to do online pre-orders let us know that from the start so people will know they can't even try to order until 12.01am release day, the day after or whatever. Yeah some folks will scream but they will also deal.
If it is the latter, then changing the form factor is not necessary because the last few months have shown that this is the most desirable phone in existence.
I don't think you understand - Apple skates to where the puck is going to be. "Last month's phone" is not Apple's style. They will give a breakthrough design that will last another 16 months and everyone else will copy it, only to have Apple raise the bar once again.
This whole iPhone 5 obsession is funny. Apple has never, ever committed to consistently naming the iPhone based on the generation number of the product. There was no iPhone 2, after all.
The point with that naming being that they wanted to highlight that the iPhone had 3g, not just edge like the first iPhone.
The switch to calling it the iPhone 4 and not the iPhone 3gs+ or whatever could mean a switch to a straight Gen number system. rather than calling out any certain features. Especially if it turns out that the iPhone 5, or 6 or whatever is LTE on Verizon but HSPA on ATT and Wimax on Sprint. That gets too confusing to list out. Just call it the 5 and put the flavors in a footnote.
ROTFLMAO. Leave it to you to believe one of the most ridiculous surveys I've ever heard. No mention of specs nor what differentiates a "iPhone 4s" and an "iPhone 5".
Did you review the exact questions that were asked in the survey? Or are you just imagining you know based upon third-hand press accounts?
And by the way, nothing in my post shows that I "believe the ... survey", whatever that means. I was pointing out that the opinion of the OP was bolstered by the survey results. Nothing about my personal beliefs. You added that, using an unstated (and maybe undetected) premise: That if I cited the survey it meant that I "believed" the survey and even, that I endorsed the survey.
Please deal in facts when speaking to me, and not in imagined motivations and assumed beliefs.
I have never owned an iPhone. For the first 4 years that was because AT&T coverage sucks where I live and I get a much better deal with my Sprint plan. The reason I didn't switch to Verizon when the iPhone 4 came out was I am still happy with my Sprint service and even happier with the price I pay every month. about half of what Verizon would charge me a month. Also, the iPhone 4 came out in the middle of its product cycle and thought is was a pretty safe bet the iPhone 5 wouldn't take that much longer and also it would make sense for Apple to release a Sprint version.
I was wrong about the wait, it has taken a lot longer that I thought but now it appears almost certain Sprint will get the next iPhone. I am currently using a 3.5" screen Android phone and I am ready for something larger. Two of the things I love and use the most are speech recognition for text messages and also for inputting addresses in Maps very easily and Maps itself. I was excited that iOS 5 might include these as well. Sprint also offer free Telenav, so I figured the Sprint iPhone would as well.
I have been a loyal Apple user since the early 1980's. I have never bought a PC running Windows. I have also bought numerous iPods. It is safe to say I have been very anxious to get my hands on an iPhone. However, my best friend just got a Samsung Galaxy SII and the Sprint version has a 4.5" screen. That may sound really large but it isn't. It easily fits in your pocket and that huge screen really is gorgeous. The iPhone 4 does have a crisp display but that is no substitute for a larger screen.
Even though I have been waiting 5 long years for a Sprint iPhone, if Apple only releases a slightly tweaked iPhone 4 without at least a 4" or larger screen I will gladly just get a Galaxy SII. 3.5" is simply too damn small now. I don't care about pixel density nearly as much as I care about a larger screen. I also follow Sprint forums and that is the sentiment of a lot of people that have been waiting. If it doesn't have a larger screen most people will pass.
Most people had already come to terms that it would not include Wimax for Sprint 4G or LTE for Verizon 4G and would only include HSPA+ for AT&T. That was annoying but a compromise most of us will accept. But after a year and half of waiting it would be intolerable to only get a slightly souped up iPhone 4. If this rumor is true, Apple will not get my business but I certainly will look again in 20 months when my upgrade credit kicks in.
I'm still running an iPhone 3G so I'm going upgrade to whatever is being offered - 4S or 5 but it will be dissappointing if there's no exterior design update. I'll also start taking Android phones more seriously and start exploring what is being offered by Sony, Samsung etc.
I have no religious affiliation with Apple and as soon as someone else comes out with a better product I'll jump ship very quickly without regard to being called an apostate.
The point with that naming being that they wanted to highlight that the iPhone had 3g, not just edge like the first iPhone.
The switch to calling it the iPhone 4 and not the iPhone 3gs+ or whatever could mean a switch to a straight Gen number system. rather than calling out any certain features.
You are correct about the 3G name (used to indicate a feature). But the 3GS name both served to indicate features (ie, very similar features as the 3G + more speed, hence the 'S') and to allow the fourth phone to have a name that indicated both it being the fourth model and and markedly different from the 3GS.
Which way Apple goes with the next model is very much open ('4S' would again indicate features, ie, similar to '4' but faster).
10:36 AM - It's another new iPhone! And this one looks like a shrunken iPad 2! They're releasing two different models!
..
Right there we know you were dreaming because it will take them more than 30 minutes to cover the sales etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyopicPaideia
I think this would be the classiest thing in the world to do. Steve deserves a 20 minute standing ovation for the contributions he has made to Apple and the tech industry. A proper last hurrah for a living legend.
He hasn't actually left Apple and he isn't on schedule to drop dead on the 5th. Plus he's had more than enough ovations during his time at Apple. This time, lets leave him off the stage and avoid continuing the false belief that Apple=Steve Jobs. Let Tim Cook have the spotlight and the stage to himself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by asdasd
So all the disappointed posters on AI who were hoping to upgrade to an iPhone 5 are now "Apple haters" Look if you guys who downplay features and promote software are so adamant why not hope Apple has no features on Tuesday but merely mentions iOS 5.
Features aren't just about hardware. Which is something that several posters need to figure out.
Even louder whining should it is indeed 4S and Apple stock drop below $340? So much hype was built up around iPhone 5, traders won't show mercy come Thursday morning.
Most of the world doesn't come to sites like this and has no clue what the rumors are. So they don't know the hype to be disappointed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by noirdesir
The funny thing is that in the US while you can buy a smartphone without a data plan, you cannot buy a data plan without a smartphone. It is a bit like your electricity utility selling you the electricity only together with a fridge.
MOre like the other way around. for the most part data plans are required with smart phones. but you can also get them on what are called 'feature phones' (basic phone that also has email and perhaps text only web access) or even tablets and computers.
Comments
Two other options:
1) They made an honest mistake in leaving in the 4S models but not the 5 model.
2) It's APple's disinformation.
THAT.
I don't think it was 'an honest mistake'. I think they put 4S on purpose. Either because it represents an iPhone 4 "Single lineup with both styles of antenna in an 8GB model" or because they knew that folks would be looking for clues and calling it the 5 would mean that folks would guess there was a new design.
In the end, how important is it for all models to be listed in the betas. What is it going to break for them to add 2-4 more lines for the iPhone 5 or the other iPhone 4s models (changing the name to 5) before the final release. Probably nothing
However I do believe the market will re-act very badly to this, if this is true and all we get.
The stock market might take a little dip but once the lines start, full of the folks that don't come to the sites for clues, it will go back up.
Then again, Apple has been known to be very skilled at polishing what the 5% says is a total turd because its not what they want (and they haven't figured out yet that rarely to never will they get what they want which is why for example they still don't have blu-ray) and getting folks to phrase whatever it released. The market might buy the hype and actually go up. Either because the buyers like what they see personally or because even if they don't like it they will see the appeal to the masses so they know sales will be crazy awesome
What is Apple's target market in releasing a new design - current iPhone 4 customers or new customers? If it is the latter, then changing the form factor is not necessary because the last few months have shown that this is the most desirable phone in existence.
Isn't there some survey suggesting that 40% of Android users are waiting to change to iPhones? If so, what is making them salivate - a design they haven't seen, or the current one with the unrivaled user experience?
Judging by stock price it looks like we will not see a redesign.
Or Apple's done a better job at keeping things secret.
The stock market overall is having a down week and that might be all the current price is about. Not some doom and gloom about a redesign or not.
There are a lot of analysts making claims about what we are about to hear but in truth they have no clue. Some of them are rather shitty with their logic and are known to be way off the mark all the time. But unfortunately some buyers might believe that folks like Shaw Wu know what they are talking about and have sold their stocks. And will feel real dumb when whatever is released sells 20 million in the first weekend and the stock price jumps.
People also need to get out of the mental rut of only looking at the hardware. New software can also be a redesign and a very good one especially when combined with some tweaking of the hardware. Apple is all about protecting both sides of the game and their integration for a reason. They feel it is the full package that matters and perhaps we need to look at that full package as well.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/01/i...ll-questionab/
IF they do indeed only offer a 4GS I also think it will be a limited failure & limited success... with many disappointed and not buy, while others won't care and buy regardless. To me it will be somewhat of a disappointment, 1.5 years and all they do is upgrade the cam, screen and other misc specs, but still the same general look and feel?
I don't know if you are in the U.S. But, if you are, you have been giving more money to AT&T since your contract expired. AT&T did not lower your monthly charges after they recovered the subsidy from you. Perhaps (and, I repeat, perhaps), you might have been better off upgrading to iPhone 4 at the end of your 3Gs contract, and selling your 3Gs to pay for some or all of the subsidized iPhone 4 price. I know people who have come out ahead this way. In the U.S.
As for 3Gs running iOS5, the question is: How well will it run iOS5? I don't know, but it is a safe assumption that the latest version of the iPhone will run it the best.
Now I agree that the newer hardware will definitely run the new software better!
I am in the U.S., and simply had not thought about selling my old phone. Sounds like a good idea.
Kevin
sent from my iPhone
I used a 3GS with iOS 4 and it lagged a bit, but I wouldn't say it was "laggy as hell". That is a bit of hyperbole. From what I have read of those using iOS Betas on a 3GS, it runs fine.
Compared to what it was the day I bought it? Maybe "laggy" isn't the right word, maybe "sleepy" would be a better word. One it's going it's OK, but it's initially unresponsive -- only to catch up. Run a new app, new sleepyness. And IMO that is the sign of a really crappy UI experience. Everyone says it's the same phone that it was the day I bought it (the day it was released) but the 3GS hardware doesn't seem to be up to the task of iOS 4.x and I'm convinced iOS 5 won't be any better.
Am I getting a "4S" next week? I guess I'll have to, because my 3GS hasn't cut it for several iOS point releases now.
The recent poll bears that out - 41 percent would buy an iPhone 5, but only 15% would buy a spec-bumped 4S.
Suicide is right.
ROTFLMAO. Leave it to you to believe one of the most ridiculous surveys I've ever heard. No mention of specs nor what differentiates a "iPhone 4s" and an "iPhone 5". By that survey, it doesn't matter what Apple puts into the phone, it's all about what they name it. It could be the same phone, but if they call it iPhone 5, three times as many people will buy it as if they call it 4S.
Maybe they should simply call it iPhone 1000 and then 400% of the world will upgrade?
I am a current 3GS owner (2 1/2 years), and I have to respectfully disagree. I did not see anything in the iPhone 4 that caused me to upgrade, and if the new model is simply a revamped 4, I'll wait again. IOS5 will run on my 3GS, so unless the hardware is a significant upgrade, why would I spend my money? A faster processor and better camera are hardly reasons to spend hundreds of dollars, but a larger screen, resolution, and other enhancements might entice me. I guess we will find out in a few days which way we are headed!
As soon as you demonstrate that you constitute the entire phone market, then your views might be relevant.
As it is, I'll trust Apple's views of the market over yours.
On the other hand, 15 months are a long time for a speed bump, unless the software is the reason for the delay.
The more likely reason is ipod sales. Or rather a lack thereof.
Apple's fiscal year starts in October, which used to come with a healthy run of iPod sales to kick off the year and slide into the holiday season where iPods were a big chunk of sales.
But with the growth of music playing smart phones, iPods have potentially fallen off despite attempts to do cool and slick things to keep up interest. In fact there's talk that Apple is going to kill the Shuffle because it just isn't selling anymore and either kill off or simple yet again not update the Classic. Both due to pretty much zero sales. The Nano and Touch also receiving few to no changes (especially the Nano).
All of this means that there's nothing to kick off the start of the year. Unless they move the iPhone to that slot. A choice they may have made months ago and decided to delay iOS 5, iCloud etc based on that choice rather than the hardware delay being made based on struggles with anything. They may have made this decision in time to also go to Verizon, where they were going to originally release the iPhone in the summer with the 4s/5 and said that they are changing up the release schedule and were willing to and able of releasing a Verizon iPhone 4 in January/February and Verizon said okay. Because we aren't in the inner halls we simply don't know.
Engadget has a story saying they may indeed have an "iPhone5" and a 4GS... believe it or not:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/01/i...ll-questionab/
Yeah, with a "$60 instant savings". And another phone advertised for $400 - $300 = $99.99 [sic].
FUD.
And the hits just keep on coming!...
There is a TUAW post of a reader who "captured" an image from Cincinnati Bell of an iPhone 5 with 4" screen and 4G
Which is not proof we are getting such a phone, but merely that someone at Cincinnati Bell believes that's what we are getting. Someone that could be right, or could be wrong
Maybe, but I don't expect them to be selling 600,000 in the first weekend of pre-orders like they did with the iPhone 4.
First they need to actually do pre-orders. I suspect they won't just like they didn't with the iPad 2. And just like the iPad they probably won't do reservations ever and make it first come first serve and torture their retail staff with pissed off folks lining up, calling etc every day. When what they should do is make all in store sales by reservation only with no walk in stock period (something they did set aside for a couple of the phones which pissed off those that had reservations). If they don't want to do online pre-orders let us know that from the start so people will know they can't even try to order until 12.01am release day, the day after or whatever. Yeah some folks will scream but they will also deal.
If it is the latter, then changing the form factor is not necessary because the last few months have shown that this is the most desirable phone in existence.
I don't think you understand - Apple skates to where the puck is going to be. "Last month's phone" is not Apple's style. They will give a breakthrough design that will last another 16 months and everyone else will copy it, only to have Apple raise the bar once again.
Or maybe not? Time will tell.
This whole iPhone 5 obsession is funny. Apple has never, ever committed to consistently naming the iPhone based on the generation number of the product. There was no iPhone 2, after all.
The point with that naming being that they wanted to highlight that the iPhone had 3g, not just edge like the first iPhone.
The switch to calling it the iPhone 4 and not the iPhone 3gs+ or whatever could mean a switch to a straight Gen number system. rather than calling out any certain features. Especially if it turns out that the iPhone 5, or 6 or whatever is LTE on Verizon but HSPA on ATT and Wimax on Sprint. That gets too confusing to list out. Just call it the 5 and put the flavors in a footnote.
ROTFLMAO. Leave it to you to believe one of the most ridiculous surveys I've ever heard. No mention of specs nor what differentiates a "iPhone 4s" and an "iPhone 5".
Did you review the exact questions that were asked in the survey? Or are you just imagining you know based upon third-hand press accounts?
And by the way, nothing in my post shows that I "believe the ... survey", whatever that means. I was pointing out that the opinion of the OP was bolstered by the survey results. Nothing about my personal beliefs. You added that, using an unstated (and maybe undetected) premise: That if I cited the survey it meant that I "believed" the survey and even, that I endorsed the survey.
Please deal in facts when speaking to me, and not in imagined motivations and assumed beliefs.
I was wrong about the wait, it has taken a lot longer that I thought but now it appears almost certain Sprint will get the next iPhone. I am currently using a 3.5" screen Android phone and I am ready for something larger. Two of the things I love and use the most are speech recognition for text messages and also for inputting addresses in Maps very easily and Maps itself. I was excited that iOS 5 might include these as well. Sprint also offer free Telenav, so I figured the Sprint iPhone would as well.
I have been a loyal Apple user since the early 1980's. I have never bought a PC running Windows. I have also bought numerous iPods. It is safe to say I have been very anxious to get my hands on an iPhone. However, my best friend just got a Samsung Galaxy SII and the Sprint version has a 4.5" screen. That may sound really large but it isn't. It easily fits in your pocket and that huge screen really is gorgeous. The iPhone 4 does have a crisp display but that is no substitute for a larger screen.
Even though I have been waiting 5 long years for a Sprint iPhone, if Apple only releases a slightly tweaked iPhone 4 without at least a 4" or larger screen I will gladly just get a Galaxy SII. 3.5" is simply too damn small now. I don't care about pixel density nearly as much as I care about a larger screen. I also follow Sprint forums and that is the sentiment of a lot of people that have been waiting. If it doesn't have a larger screen most people will pass.
Most people had already come to terms that it would not include Wimax for Sprint 4G or LTE for Verizon 4G and would only include HSPA+ for AT&T. That was annoying but a compromise most of us will accept. But after a year and half of waiting it would be intolerable to only get a slightly souped up iPhone 4. If this rumor is true, Apple will not get my business but I certainly will look again in 20 months when my upgrade credit kicks in.
I have no religious affiliation with Apple and as soon as someone else comes out with a better product I'll jump ship very quickly without regard to being called an apostate.
Antennas:
Bluetooth/Wi-FI (2.4ghz) GPS (not sure)
UTMS (850/1900mhz)
GSM (850/1900mhz)
4G (700mhz)
Edit: I've made a few corrections, might still be off on some specifics.
The antenna on these pictures is in 4 segments vs the 3 of the iPhone 4. This indicates the iPhone 4S will have 4G.
Antennas:
2G/3G (1900mhz)
WiFi (2.4ghz)
Bluetooth (2.4ghz)
4G (700mhz)
Might it be that the extra segment is for a new carrier, either in the US or otherwise?
The antenna on these pictures is in 4 segments vs the 3 of the iPhone 4. This indicates the iPhone 4S will have 4G.
Antennas:
2G/3G (1900mhz)
WiFi (2.4ghz)
Bluetooth (2.4ghz)
4G (700mhz)
The point with that naming being that they wanted to highlight that the iPhone had 3g, not just edge like the first iPhone.
The switch to calling it the iPhone 4 and not the iPhone 3gs+ or whatever could mean a switch to a straight Gen number system. rather than calling out any certain features.
You are correct about the 3G name (used to indicate a feature). But the 3GS name both served to indicate features (ie, very similar features as the 3G + more speed, hence the 'S') and to allow the fourth phone to have a name that indicated both it being the fourth model and and markedly different from the 3GS.
Which way Apple goes with the next model is very much open ('4S' would again indicate features, ie, similar to '4' but faster).
October 4, 2011
9:58 AM -
10:36 AM - It's another new iPhone! And this one looks like a shrunken iPad 2! They're releasing two different models!
..
Right there we know you were dreaming because it will take them more than 30 minutes to cover the sales etc.
I think this would be the classiest thing in the world to do. Steve deserves a 20 minute standing ovation for the contributions he has made to Apple and the tech industry. A proper last hurrah for a living legend.
He hasn't actually left Apple and he isn't on schedule to drop dead on the 5th. Plus he's had more than enough ovations during his time at Apple. This time, lets leave him off the stage and avoid continuing the false belief that Apple=Steve Jobs. Let Tim Cook have the spotlight and the stage to himself.
So all the disappointed posters on AI who were hoping to upgrade to an iPhone 5 are now "Apple haters" Look if you guys who downplay features and promote software are so adamant why not hope Apple has no features on Tuesday but merely mentions iOS 5.
Features aren't just about hardware. Which is something that several posters need to figure out.
Here is a story that supports what I have said.
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/01/...xconn-factory/
Note that the source is macrumors not macfacts
Even louder whining should it is indeed 4S and Apple stock drop below $340? So much hype was built up around iPhone 5, traders won't show mercy come Thursday morning.
Most of the world doesn't come to sites like this and has no clue what the rumors are. So they don't know the hype to be disappointed.
The funny thing is that in the US while you can buy a smartphone without a data plan, you cannot buy a data plan without a smartphone. It is a bit like your electricity utility selling you the electricity only together with a fridge.
MOre like the other way around. for the most part data plans are required with smart phones. but you can also get them on what are called 'feature phones' (basic phone that also has email and perhaps text only web access) or even tablets and computers.