I'm not sure I buy this at all. Given the timing, wouldn't right now be more the time when various prototypes are being created and far too soon for a finished product?
Also, why replace the glass back (which admittedly can shatter sometimes), with an aluminium back that won't shatter, but will scratch far more easily? It seems to me that there would be more complaints about the scratching than there would be incidences of shattered backs. Even if you're going to do an aluminium back, why leave the glass bits at the top and bottom? That's gives you the worst of both choices in that the glass bits could still shatter and the aluminium bits will still scratch. It's also a bitch to join them up and creates two new seams where there (apparently) needn't be any at all.
Also, why move the headphone jack to the bottom, and the speaker holes look both ugly and less efficient. It really doesn't look very "Appley" to me at all.
I don't know if this leak is legitimate, but all of those complaints can be explained pretty easily. Let's not forget, when people saw the iPhone 4 leak, they all exclaimed "look at those un-Apple-like seams!". Now it's considered a classic that will have served Apple for 2 generations.
1) People pretty much accept scratches as incidental damage. When a glass back shatters, they go running to the nearest Apple Store.
2) Aluminum blocks electromagnetic signals (AKA reception). That's why the original iPhone and 3G/4G iPads have plastic bands.
3) Seams? Meh. All Apple products have seams, including the iPhone 4/S. From front to back, it's glass, steel, glass. Even the unibody MacBook has a removable bottom.
4) Moving the headphone jack to the bottom is quite logical - When held in the hand, the headphone wire leads directly to the user, rather than arcing up and bending back down. It also makes it easier to slip the phone into your pocket upside down, with the wire leading upwards and out of the pocket. Then when you remove it from your pocket, it's already facing you. The iPod Touch is designed like this.
Regarding the speaker grilles, I dunno if I like them either (I'd prefer tiny, MBP-style laser-perforated ones myself). But the effect is probably exaggerated since the body of the phone is empty and letting light through. The final product may very well have a fine speaker mesh underneath, or simply be blacked out.
I think the phones will be announced when iOS 6 is ready for launch. Why would they announce a grand new iOS with lots of new features just to install on your old hardware? Apple want you running the latest software on the latest hardware, at least as far as their phones go.
Yep, that's been the pattern. iOS announced, beta released nearly immediately. iPhone announced 3 months later, along with iOS release date. iOS released, iPhone released 2-3 days later. iOS releases and iPhone releases are in sync within a half a week or so.
First, Intel has already approved Apple's use of Thunderbolt. They don't need to approve every single application.
Of course they do, Sony couldn't implement it first according to the standard and then not and get away with it. Intel has to approve every implementation of Thunderbolt and certify it, otherwise it can't use the Thunderbolt brand.
As for the cables, you don't think that the cost would come down if Apple purchased 100 million of them?
Why would they do that when not even 100 million people have a Thunderbolt port? It arrived Feb 2011 only on Apple computers. Apple sells 5 million Macs per quarter. That makes the upper bound on Thunderbolt port ownership 25 million people.
USB on the other hand, is owned by pretty much everyone that owns a computer.
The next iPhone will come with a USB cable for IO and only a USB cable.
I'm pretty sure that Zirconium is not liquid metal. Two different things. But Apple has a similar world-wide exclusive patent on it's use in any case.
They also have a patent on using both together because both can be moulded and neither shrinks appreciably when it cools. So they could conceivably do a case that's all curvy and cool with some areas shiny liquid metal and other areas coloured crystal etc. This is one of the reasons I find this particular design to be dull as dishwater. There is so much cool stuff they *could* do, but all they've done with this design (if it is theirs), is f*ck up the aspect ratio and reach for that old standard ... the "unibody" frame. Yawn.
The more I look at this design the more I think it's about making manufacturing and servicing easier, it has nothing to do with what the consumers really want or making it look cool or interesting. it looks like the Home button could be easier to replace for instance, and the top and bottom sections look to be easy to pop off and tinker with the insides.
3) Seams? Meh. All Apple products have seams, including the iPhone 4/S. From front to back, it's glass, steel, glass. Even the unibody MacBook has a removable bottom.
Well, there was the Cube - and we all know how that turned out.
Of course they do, Sony couldn't implement it first according to the standard and then not and get away with it. Intel has to approve every implementation of Thunderbolt and certify it, otherwise it can't use the Thunderbolt brand..
Care to provide a link to that? Everything I can find says that Apple has a license for any products they make.
Why would they do that when not even 100 million people have a Thunderbolt port? It arrived Feb 2011 only on Apple computers. Apple sells 5 million Macs per quarter. That makes the upper bound on Thunderbolt port ownership 25 million people.
USB on the other hand, is owned by pretty much everyone that owns a computer.
The next iPhone will come with a USB cable for IO and only a USB cable.
OK, so 25 million cables will bring the price down if you want to be pedantic. But by the time the next iPhone comes out, the number will be much closer to 100 M considering more time for Mac sales plus some non-Apple systems that support Thunderbolt.
More importantly, much of the cost of the current Thunderbolt cables is in the electronics in the cable. It is entirely possible for Apple to put the electronics into the phone and make the cable a simple passive bundle of wires.
I already said that it is unlikely that Apple will offer only Thunderbolt. It is not, however, impossible for them to offer it as an option.
Some notes of interest using some crude Photoshop guestimating:
1) It looks like this case is about the same width as the iPhone 4S.
Using the headphone jack as a scale, the backplate is about 11.5 ports wide. Assuming they didn't radically redesign the headphone jack (5 mm diameter), this means that the backplate is about 58 mm wide. Nearly exactly the same as the 4S. If the new iPhone is any wider than the 4S, this backplate doesn't demonstrate it.
2) The smaller port is also consistent with what we've been hearing about the "Micro Dock Connector". Using the same scale, the Micro Dock in this photo looks about 10 mm x 3.3 mm. This is a hair larger than Mini USB (about 3 mm x 7 mm).
3) As a previous commenter pointed out, the arrangement of the headphone jack (bottom left corner) is consistent with the supposed headphone/usb ribbon that came out awhile ago.
In short, it is pretty consistent with rumors we've been hearing. Same width, rearranged headphone, small dock connector. Either it's real, or a very elaborate, detailed hoax.
That right picture makes these leaks look quite authentic. I prefer the speaker redesign in these leaks. The current speaker grille collects dirt too easily. Actually, I might like the headphone jack placement too... the cable might not dangle across the screen as much.
I honestly don't see how they can improve on the design aesthetics of the iPhone 4. Like the current iMac, it's Apple's best work, and with all the time that's passed since these products have debuted, I have yet to see a more attractive product in either category.
After coming from an Nextel i90C to the iPhone in 2007 -- I STILL WANT DIRECT CONNECT FOR IPHONE!!!
The problem is they don't just make the phone for you and they don't just make the phone just for Americans either. They make it for the whole world. Quite a concept, eh?
Maybe if you looked further than your own interests and your own country once in a while you'd realise this.
Who Knows... but if the overall design does end up looking this (mildly) evolutionary, as in just an elongated version of the current theme, it'll just serve as further evidence that Apple's design team appears to have few truly new ideas on the horizon.
Or that the design team feels they have a design that doesn't need radical changes.
People buy the iPhone and iPad because they have cutting edge design blended with leading edge technology.
Remove the annual or bi-annual design changes and you reduce the incentive for existing users to upgrade and you allow the competition to start putting out better looking devices.
Better looking maybe but better working. Maybe not. And you may be shocked to find out that some folks would rather have better working over looking when the look isn't total fugly. They don't need a major change up every year or two on the look if the working is always improving
Where does that say that Intel has to approve any products using Thunderbolt? It says that Intel will control the trademark, but doesn't say anything about Intel approving products.
Furthermore, Apple is already using the trademark. Where does that article say that Apple's license to the trademark doesn't allow them to release new products? Oh, it doesn't.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
I'm not sure I buy this at all. Given the timing, wouldn't right now be more the time when various prototypes are being created and far too soon for a finished product?
Also, why replace the glass back (which admittedly can shatter sometimes), with an aluminium back that won't shatter, but will scratch far more easily? It seems to me that there would be more complaints about the scratching than there would be incidences of shattered backs. Even if you're going to do an aluminium back, why leave the glass bits at the top and bottom? That's gives you the worst of both choices in that the glass bits could still shatter and the aluminium bits will still scratch. It's also a bitch to join them up and creates two new seams where there (apparently) needn't be any at all.
Also, why move the headphone jack to the bottom, and the speaker holes look both ugly and less efficient. It really doesn't look very "Appley" to me at all.
I don't know if this leak is legitimate, but all of those complaints can be explained pretty easily. Let's not forget, when people saw the iPhone 4 leak, they all exclaimed "look at those un-Apple-like seams!". Now it's considered a classic that will have served Apple for 2 generations.
1) People pretty much accept scratches as incidental damage. When a glass back shatters, they go running to the nearest Apple Store.
2) Aluminum blocks electromagnetic signals (AKA reception). That's why the original iPhone and 3G/4G iPads have plastic bands.
3) Seams? Meh. All Apple products have seams, including the iPhone 4/S. From front to back, it's glass, steel, glass. Even the unibody MacBook has a removable bottom.
4) Moving the headphone jack to the bottom is quite logical - When held in the hand, the headphone wire leads directly to the user, rather than arcing up and bending back down. It also makes it easier to slip the phone into your pocket upside down, with the wire leading upwards and out of the pocket. Then when you remove it from your pocket, it's already facing you. The iPod Touch is designed like this.
Regarding the speaker grilles, I dunno if I like them either (I'd prefer tiny, MBP-style laser-perforated ones myself). But the effect is probably exaggerated since the body of the phone is empty and letting light through. The final product may very well have a fine speaker mesh underneath, or simply be blacked out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Feynman
I think the phones will be announced when iOS 6 is ready for launch. Why would they announce a grand new iOS with lots of new features just to install on your old hardware? Apple want you running the latest software on the latest hardware, at least as far as their phones go.
Yep, that's been the pattern. iOS announced, beta released nearly immediately. iPhone announced 3 months later, along with iOS release date. iOS released, iPhone released 2-3 days later. iOS releases and iPhone releases are in sync within a half a week or so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ankleskater
Does a device have to look dramatically different to improve? It's about the function first and foremost, isn't it?
No. It's much more important to have a radically new design so your friends will instantly know how cool you are.
Of course they do, Sony couldn't implement it first according to the standard and then not and get away with it. Intel has to approve every implementation of Thunderbolt and certify it, otherwise it can't use the Thunderbolt brand.
Why would they do that when not even 100 million people have a Thunderbolt port? It arrived Feb 2011 only on Apple computers. Apple sells 5 million Macs per quarter. That makes the upper bound on Thunderbolt port ownership 25 million people.
USB on the other hand, is owned by pretty much everyone that owns a computer.
The next iPhone will come with a USB cable for IO and only a USB cable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
I'm pretty sure that Zirconium is not liquid metal. Two different things. But Apple has a similar world-wide exclusive patent on it's use in any case.
They also have a patent on using both together because both can be moulded and neither shrinks appreciably when it cools. So they could conceivably do a case that's all curvy and cool with some areas shiny liquid metal and other areas coloured crystal etc. This is one of the reasons I find this particular design to be dull as dishwater. There is so much cool stuff they *could* do, but all they've done with this design (if it is theirs), is f*ck up the aspect ratio and reach for that old standard ... the "unibody" frame. Yawn.
The more I look at this design the more I think it's about making manufacturing and servicing easier, it has nothing to do with what the consumers really want or making it look cool or interesting. it looks like the Home button could be easier to replace for instance, and the top and bottom sections look to be easy to pop off and tinker with the insides.
If it's not fake that back is ugly.
Well, there was the Cube - and we all know how that turned out.
Care to provide a link to that? Everything I can find says that Apple has a license for any products they make.
OK, so 25 million cables will bring the price down if you want to be pedantic. But by the time the next iPhone comes out, the number will be much closer to 100 M considering more time for Mac sales plus some non-Apple systems that support Thunderbolt.
More importantly, much of the cost of the current Thunderbolt cables is in the electronics in the cable. It is entirely possible for Apple to put the electronics into the phone and make the cable a simple passive bundle of wires.
I already said that it is unlikely that Apple will offer only Thunderbolt. It is not, however, impossible for them to offer it as an option.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Care to provide a link to that? Everything I can find says that Apple has a license for any products they make.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/05/20/thunderbolt_trademark_rights_will_be_transferred_from_apple_to_intel.html
Some notes of interest using some crude Photoshop guestimating:
1) It looks like this case is about the same width as the iPhone 4S.
Using the headphone jack as a scale, the backplate is about 11.5 ports wide. Assuming they didn't radically redesign the headphone jack (5 mm diameter), this means that the backplate is about 58 mm wide. Nearly exactly the same as the 4S. If the new iPhone is any wider than the 4S, this backplate doesn't demonstrate it.
2) The smaller port is also consistent with what we've been hearing about the "Micro Dock Connector". Using the same scale, the Micro Dock in this photo looks about 10 mm x 3.3 mm. This is a hair larger than Mini USB (about 3 mm x 7 mm).
3) As a previous commenter pointed out, the arrangement of the headphone jack (bottom left corner) is consistent with the supposed headphone/usb ribbon that came out awhile ago.
In short, it is pretty consistent with rumors we've been hearing. Same width, rearranged headphone, small dock connector. Either it's real, or a very elaborate, detailed hoax.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Negafox
That right picture makes these leaks look quite authentic. I prefer the speaker redesign in these leaks. The current speaker grille collects dirt too easily. Actually, I might like the headphone jack placement too... the cable might not dangle across the screen as much.
well said. +1
I honestly don't see how they can improve on the design aesthetics of the iPhone 4. Like the current iMac, it's Apple's best work, and with all the time that's passed since these products have debuted, I have yet to see a more attractive product in either category.
Sadly STILL no dedicated Direct Connect PTT button.
Android has it, I want it on iPhone!:
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-127-sprint-direct-connecttheres-an-app-for-that/
After coming from an Nextel i90C to the iPhone in 2007 -- I STILL WANT DIRECT CONNECT FOR IPHONE!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by libertyforall
Sadly STILL no dedicated Direct Connect PTT button.
Android has it, I want it on iPhone!:
http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-127-sprint-direct-connecttheres-an-app-for-that/
After coming from an Nextel i90C to the iPhone in 2007 -- I STILL WANT DIRECT CONNECT FOR IPHONE!!!
The problem is they don't just make the phone for you and they don't just make the phone just for Americans either. They make it for the whole world. Quite a concept, eh?
Maybe if you looked further than your own interests and your own country once in a while you'd realise this.
Looks beautiful to me
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
So does a Tesla S. What's your point?
Look at the dock connector holes for screws, how they align with the nuts in the frame
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
So does a Tesla S. What's your point?
Look at the dock connector holes for screws, how they align with the nuts in the frame
It also offers audio and video out, audio input with some docks and cords. It has Serial I/O too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaHarder
Who Knows... but if the overall design does end up looking this (mildly) evolutionary, as in just an elongated version of the current theme, it'll just serve as further evidence that Apple's design team appears to have few truly new ideas on the horizon.
Or that the design team feels they have a design that doesn't need radical changes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaun, UK
People buy the iPhone and iPad because they have cutting edge design blended with leading edge technology.
Remove the annual or bi-annual design changes and you reduce the incentive for existing users to upgrade and you allow the competition to start putting out better looking devices.
Better looking maybe but better working. Maybe not. And you may be shocked to find out that some folks would rather have better working over looking when the look isn't total fugly. They don't need a major change up every year or two on the look if the working is always improving
Where does that say that Intel has to approve any products using Thunderbolt? It says that Intel will control the trademark, but doesn't say anything about Intel approving products.
Furthermore, Apple is already using the trademark. Where does that article say that Apple's license to the trademark doesn't allow them to release new products? Oh, it doesn't.