Cause they have a track record and they spend MILLIONS on market research.
Do they really? I'm not saying that they don't, I'm asking because I don't know.
I always thought that Apple didn't really care too much about market research and they didn't put that much weight on it. I might be wrong of course, but that's what I always thought.
Seems like the name 6S mini is redundant. Since we already have a 5S, a 6S would connote it's already mini. Although, I have no idea what the S would mean. So, I think iPhone 6S would be fine.
Hey maybe I can milk my iPhone 4 until September of next year. I have no desire to carry a brick around in my pants. Mainly because there is no room, a smaller iPhone allows room for important stuff.
Bottom line is I'm okay with any decision Apple makes and I will support their decision.
Why? Cause they have a track record and they spend MILLIONS on market research. If they make a 4 inch premium model they know there is a massive market for it.
Says you, again.
You have no clue what massive is. Is massive the size of the 5c market? the 5s market? A hundred million phones? You love to spit out these generalizations that support your point - the problem is that they don't seem to mean anything.
How do you know there isn't already money invested into the survey of the 4" phone market? How do you know that it isn't positioning Apple to create this device as we speak? You don't. Instead you choose to believe that since your opinion on phones is softer towards larger models, the rest of the potential market speaks the same.
My guess is Apple will keep the colored plastic around for the low end phone. They didn't create that differentiation only to get rid of it 2 years later. It might be a plastic version of the 6 design. I think that could actually sell really well.
I would agree they will keep it around for at least one more year to complete a typical 4 year investment cycle. However, colored plastic phones are passed, especially now that everybody else has already knocked them off. My guess is the answer for the free phone when the iPhone 7 is released will be the iPod Touch/iPhone hybrid. They have to redesign the phone to stay competitive in the marketplace, but they could share the R&D between the two devices. They could further offer colored anodized aluminum just like they are doing with the iPods. This would be one more way Apple can distinguish themselves from their competitors. Their "free" phone is just as well made as their premium phones. And while I don't know Apple's financials, if what I suspect is correct, it will cost more to retool for a brand new plastic design than to simply upload a new CAD design into the 5S case factory computers already being under-utilized to produce a product that is in less demand than it was a year ago. I would think per unit expense aside, dedicating a factory to producing a single phone design for which demand has fallen significantly would be a major factor in what materials the next phone will be produced.
"We don't use customer surveys, focus groups, or typical things of that nature. That plays no role in the creation of [our] products," he said, as originally reported by CNET.
Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, spoke briefly, yet candidly, about the company's approach to using market research, or rather, not using it. Historically, Apple representatives, including the late Steve Jobs, have spoken of how the company does not rely on market research in product development.?
IMO, the 5c was a supply chain move to keep the aluminum shell fabrication from becoming a production bottleneck for the 5s launch.
Yes, I agree and said as much at the time. This was a brilliant move by Apple. The difference is that the 5C case will be four years old by the time I suspect they retire it (after upgrading the internals with the 5S which I suspect it was engineered to do). That means Apple has had four years to build new aluminum shell fabrication plants. The plastic phone cases could literally be produced at any existing plastic manufacturing plant. Does the plastic shell really cost that much less than milled aluminum once you take into account the metal reinforcing substructure? And even if it does, you can't discount Apple's long-term capital investment into new aluminum milling manufacturing plants for all of their products.
The mistake some folks are making here is that they think the aluminum shell fabrication process has a similar relationship to injection molding systems or die cast manufacture. But it's NOT. It literally is telling a computer how to maneuver the cutting tools. This means, Apple could theoretically change the product they manufacture every day on the exact same equipment. iPad Air one day, iPhone 5S the next, MacBook Pro the next. I'm sure it's not like that, but it's possible, and likely why Apple has moved almost exclusively to this kind of manufacture despite the initial cost. Makes it much easier to adapt your factory to changing demand than having a plant sit idly by waiting to produce more of the same widget, through a dedicated traditional manufacture process.
Therefore, now that assuming Apple has the infrastructure to produce a mini 6S, after the initial 6 & Plus rush has abated, they will have the flexibility to address the demands of three product sizes with the added benefit that they all share the exact some basic components which gives them even greater economy of scale, rather than keeping a supply chain of older parts that are in less demand. This makes much more sense than perpetuating a 4 year old design, or the cost of redesigning a new plastic design from the ground up. The plus side of it is that Apple will have 4 distinct product price-point categories which are all far more competitive in the marketplace since none will be more than one generation out of date.
I still think that the iPhone and iPad models should be produced like this:
iPhone S - 4 inches (small)
iPhone M - 4.7 inches (medium)
iPhone L - 5.5 inches (large)
iPad S - 7.9 inches (small)
iPad M - 9.7 inches (medium)
iPad L - 12.9 inches (large)
That way, we have a size catering for everyone, plus Apple gets more customers for three separate products in both phone and tablet categories.
Careful. sog will start screaming at you. Apparently even the suggestion that some significant portion of the market might want a smaller phone is an offensive suggestion.
You have no idea about that. Spouting lies again I see.
The most logical 'new' 4 inch phone would be TouchID/A8 inside a 5C case. Good night.
There is no reason for Apple to spend millions on millions to start a BRAND NEW machine line
Apple spends millions of dollars on paperclips. Given the scale they operate at, the cost of designing and implementing these sorts of changes are barely material.
I just completed my first long-distance road trip with a 6S. I love the phone, but the size of it made it a huge chore for one-handed use. Just getting a grip on it (and it has a rubbery, grippy case) was a huge headache. I wouldn't mind having some sort of stick-on wedge on the back just so I wouldn't have to try to wrap my entire hand around it and bend my thumb in an awkward position to use it. It was very difficult to hang on to it while doing something as simple as just pressing the home button.
For this kind of use, I would have preferred a standard 6.
I suspect that this will be the iPhone that brings Apple Pay to the masses -- especially emerging countries.
I agree, but not next year, the following year. Merchants are going to go kicking and screaming into adopting compatible contactless systems for which the deadline doesn't hit until months after the 6S is released. And even then consumers will still have old credit cards that haven't been replaced. The iPhone 7 is when the 6S mini will bring ?Pay to the masses. If I'm right, that's when it will drop to the "free" phone, with a new 7 mini/7/7 Plus lineup taking the top 3 tiers. Apple will have enough data at that point (after a year of 6S mini sales) to determine the proper demand ratio for each. So next year, touch ID will come to all iPhones (with the 5S internals going into the 5C), getting "free" phone users used to the convenience of using it (I have to admit I'm thinking of getting a new iPad because I waste so much time trying to unlock it with non-existent Touch ID LOL). Then with the 7 in late 2016, all iPhones will support ?Pay, at just about the same time, all merchants and banks everywhere will support it, including much wider adoption outside the US.
Hey maybe I can milk my iPhone 4 until September of next year. I have no desire to carry a brick around in my pants. Mainly because there is no room, a smaller iPhone allows room for important stuff.
Is that a brick in your pants ... Or are you just happy to see her
You have no idea about that. Spouting lies again I see.
The most logical 'new' 4 inch phone would be TouchID/A8 inside a 5C case. Good night.
There is no reason for Apple to spend millions on millions to start a BRAND NEW machine line
I disagree. To me, the most logical "new" 4" iPhone would be TouchID / A8 / Apple Pay inside a 5s case. That allows Apple to still keep the 5c case BUT with 5s internals. So you could potentially have the following line-up next year;
iPhone 6S Plus
iPhone 6S
iPhone 6
iPhone 5s+ (Basically an iPhone 5s with A8 / TouchID / Apple Pay)
iPhone 5c (Basically an iPhone 5c with A7 / TouchID)
EDIT:
Or the other possibility, depending on how aggressive Apple wants to get;
iPhone 6S Plus
iPhone 6S
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 mini (redesigned 4" iPhone with A8 / TouchID / Apple Pay)
iPhone 5c (Basically an iPhone 5c with A7 / TouchID)
If his latest claims prove true, the new 4-inch device could be a replacement for the iPhone 5c, which currently occupies the low end of Apple's smartphone lineup.
The 5s will replace the 5c next year, just as the middle tier phone has ALWAYS replaces the low tier when new models are released.
If you say the 5c was a new model that replaced the 5, the 5c is no different than a 5 with a colour case.
Apple is pushing 64bit mobile, the A7 in the 5s will be their lowest end chip by the end of next year.
Comments
Cause they have a track record and they spend MILLIONS on market research.
Do they really? I'm not saying that they don't, I'm asking because I don't know.
I always thought that Apple didn't really care too much about market research and they didn't put that much weight on it. I might be wrong of course, but that's what I always thought.
Seems like the name 6S mini is redundant. Since we already have a 5S, a 6S would connote it's already mini. Although, I have no idea what the S would mean. So, I think iPhone 6S would be fine.
Bottom line is I'm okay with any decision Apple makes and I will support their decision.
Why? Cause they have a track record and they spend MILLIONS on market research. If they make a 4 inch premium model they know there is a massive market for it.
Says you, again.
You have no clue what massive is. Is massive the size of the 5c market? the 5s market? A hundred million phones? You love to spit out these generalizations that support your point - the problem is that they don't seem to mean anything.
How do you know there isn't already money invested into the survey of the 4" phone market? How do you know that it isn't positioning Apple to create this device as we speak? You don't. Instead you choose to believe that since your opinion on phones is softer towards larger models, the rest of the potential market speaks the same.
My guess is Apple will keep the colored plastic around for the low end phone. They didn't create that differentiation only to get rid of it 2 years later. It might be a plastic version of the 6 design. I think that could actually sell really well.
I would agree they will keep it around for at least one more year to complete a typical 4 year investment cycle. However, colored plastic phones are passed, especially now that everybody else has already knocked them off. My guess is the answer for the free phone when the iPhone 7 is released will be the iPod Touch/iPhone hybrid. They have to redesign the phone to stay competitive in the marketplace, but they could share the R&D between the two devices. They could further offer colored anodized aluminum just like they are doing with the iPods. This would be one more way Apple can distinguish themselves from their competitors. Their "free" phone is just as well made as their premium phones. And while I don't know Apple's financials, if what I suspect is correct, it will cost more to retool for a brand new plastic design than to simply upload a new CAD design into the 5S case factory computers already being under-utilized to produce a product that is in less demand than it was a year ago. I would think per unit expense aside, dedicating a factory to producing a single phone design for which demand has fallen significantly would be a major factor in what materials the next phone will be produced.
"We don't use customer surveys, focus groups, or typical things of that nature. That plays no role in the creation of [our] products," he said, as originally reported by CNET.
Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, spoke briefly, yet candidly, about the company's approach to using market research, or rather, not using it. Historically, Apple representatives, including the late Steve Jobs, have spoken of how the company does not rely on market research in product development.?
https://www.ama.org/publications/eNewsletters/MarketingInsightsNewsletter/Pages/apple_market_research.aspx
No one lives in a vaccume, including Apple
Of course not. Just think about it–dark, dusty, cobwebs everywhere…
IMO, the 5c was a supply chain move to keep the aluminum shell fabrication from becoming a production bottleneck for the 5s launch.
Yes, I agree and said as much at the time. This was a brilliant move by Apple. The difference is that the 5C case will be four years old by the time I suspect they retire it (after upgrading the internals with the 5S which I suspect it was engineered to do). That means Apple has had four years to build new aluminum shell fabrication plants. The plastic phone cases could literally be produced at any existing plastic manufacturing plant. Does the plastic shell really cost that much less than milled aluminum once you take into account the metal reinforcing substructure? And even if it does, you can't discount Apple's long-term capital investment into new aluminum milling manufacturing plants for all of their products.
The mistake some folks are making here is that they think the aluminum shell fabrication process has a similar relationship to injection molding systems or die cast manufacture. But it's NOT. It literally is telling a computer how to maneuver the cutting tools. This means, Apple could theoretically change the product they manufacture every day on the exact same equipment. iPad Air one day, iPhone 5S the next, MacBook Pro the next. I'm sure it's not like that, but it's possible, and likely why Apple has moved almost exclusively to this kind of manufacture despite the initial cost. Makes it much easier to adapt your factory to changing demand than having a plant sit idly by waiting to produce more of the same widget, through a dedicated traditional manufacture process.
Therefore, now that assuming Apple has the infrastructure to produce a mini 6S, after the initial 6 & Plus rush has abated, they will have the flexibility to address the demands of three product sizes with the added benefit that they all share the exact some basic components which gives them even greater economy of scale, rather than keeping a supply chain of older parts that are in less demand. This makes much more sense than perpetuating a 4 year old design, or the cost of redesigning a new plastic design from the ground up. The plus side of it is that Apple will have 4 distinct product price-point categories which are all far more competitive in the marketplace since none will be more than one generation out of date.
Good for you. I suspect you are in the minority, though.
There's still a market for 4-inch .... holding to my 5s until 6 mini ...
I still think that the iPhone and iPad models should be produced like this:
iPhone S - 4 inches (small)
iPhone M - 4.7 inches (medium)
iPhone L - 5.5 inches (large)
iPad S - 7.9 inches (small)
iPad M - 9.7 inches (medium)
iPad L - 12.9 inches (large)
That way, we have a size catering for everyone, plus Apple gets more customers for three separate products in both phone and tablet categories.
Careful. sog will start screaming at you. Apparently even the suggestion that some significant portion of the market might want a smaller phone is an offensive suggestion.
I suspect that this will be the iPhone that brings Apple Pay to the masses -- especially emerging countries.
Also, the cost on the device will mostly be subsidized by the financial institutions providing Apple Pay credit and services.
You have no idea about that. Spouting lies again I see.
The most logical 'new' 4 inch phone would be TouchID/A8 inside a 5C case. Good night.
There is no reason for Apple to spend millions on millions to start a BRAND NEW machine line
Apple spends millions of dollars on paperclips. Given the scale they operate at, the cost of designing and implementing these sorts of changes are barely material.
For this kind of use, I would have preferred a standard 6.
I suspect that this will be the iPhone that brings Apple Pay to the masses -- especially emerging countries.
I agree, but not next year, the following year. Merchants are going to go kicking and screaming into adopting compatible contactless systems for which the deadline doesn't hit until months after the 6S is released. And even then consumers will still have old credit cards that haven't been replaced. The iPhone 7 is when the 6S mini will bring ?Pay to the masses. If I'm right, that's when it will drop to the "free" phone, with a new 7 mini/7/7 Plus lineup taking the top 3 tiers. Apple will have enough data at that point (after a year of 6S mini sales) to determine the proper demand ratio for each. So next year, touch ID will come to all iPhones (with the 5S internals going into the 5C), getting "free" phone users used to the convenience of using it (I have to admit I'm thinking of getting a new iPad because I waste so much time trying to unlock it with non-existent Touch ID LOL). Then with the 7 in late 2016, all iPhones will support ?Pay, at just about the same time, all merchants and banks everywhere will support it, including much wider adoption outside the US.
Is that a brick in your pants ... Or are you just happy to see her
Do you only have 1 usable hand? If so I'm sorry.
But situation would you need true 1 handed use?
Driving?
Caring a baby?
I don't understand all this angst of using two hands
because its a phone.
after reading your comments, I'm pretty sure you are just a troll on this this topic.
You have no idea about that. Spouting lies again I see.
The most logical 'new' 4 inch phone would be TouchID/A8 inside a 5C case. Good night.
There is no reason for Apple to spend millions on millions to start a BRAND NEW machine line
I disagree. To me, the most logical "new" 4" iPhone would be TouchID / A8 / Apple Pay inside a 5s case. That allows Apple to still keep the 5c case BUT with 5s internals. So you could potentially have the following line-up next year;
iPhone 6S Plus
iPhone 6S
iPhone 6
iPhone 5s+ (Basically an iPhone 5s with A8 / TouchID / Apple Pay)
iPhone 5c (Basically an iPhone 5c with A7 / TouchID)
EDIT:
Or the other possibility, depending on how aggressive Apple wants to get;
iPhone 6S Plus
iPhone 6S
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 mini (redesigned 4" iPhone with A8 / TouchID / Apple Pay)
iPhone 5c (Basically an iPhone 5c with A7 / TouchID)
The 5s will replace the 5c next year, just as the middle tier phone has ALWAYS replaces the low tier when new models are released.
If you say the 5c was a new model that replaced the 5, the 5c is no different than a 5 with a colour case.
Apple is pushing 64bit mobile, the A7 in the 5s will be their lowest end chip by the end of next year.
That phone in the picture is a two handed device.
Most phones made up to 2000 were two handed devices to dial.
The one handed phone is a recent thing.
Anyway you can EASILY use the 6+ with one hand for phone calls.
I am 34 years old & have never had any phone that required 2 hands to operate and i never want one that does.