"But doing so would be a huge blow to the ease of use and intuitiveness of the current home button Touch ID design. And that seems out of whack with Apple's philosophy."
Ummm ... headphone jack anyone?
Not following you. Sales of 7 were awesome. Most iPhone users use the headphones that come in the box. And no, most of these users don't also use a MacBook. I know one guy in my gym who uses his favorite wired headphones with the free adapter. So, I personally don't know anyone with a real-world ease-of-use problem -- just lots of hand-wringing from online commenters always looking for an angle to insist they know better than the folks at Apple.
Consider the possibility this is the preliminary design for a case for the iPhone 8. That thickness would not be out of line. Accessory manufacturers start planning production months ahead based on leaked data. Cases for the iPhone 5 and 6 were appearing before the phones were even officially announced by Apple and they turned out to be pretty accurate.
If you look closely at the design picture, particularly the back image, it looks a lot like the Spigen Ultra Hybrid 2 case with the raised rib around the back edge and the camera cutout.
Out of curiosity, what would be the benefit of a vertical camera array?
I think most photos are taken in lanscape, even on a phone. Having the array like in the current iPhone 7 makes sense mostly for portrait photos, but doesn't work as good in landscape where the difference in depths mainly appears horizontally. That's why our eyes are horizontally aligned.
In thinking about this further, that's not really an issue for what the camera lens positioning is doing now. It's still taking two pictures of the same thing and averaging them together in software, so within a certain tolerance it doesn't matter what their orientation. It only starts to matter with things like 3D, or augmented reality.
I would LOVE a phone that was 1.5mm thicker if we got three things out of it.
one, the usual, a bigger battery. Battery life is pretty good these days, but could always be better.
two, better cooling potential, possibly allowing a slightly faster SoC.
three, a better camera. With that extra thickness, Apple would have more room for better lenses, and possibly a slightly larger sensor.
why they may HAVE to go thicker - a glass back. Folks, glass, as we know, is fragile. You can make that aluminum back real thin, but glass needs to be thicker. At some point in thinning things, you have a situation where there's no room left between the inside of the front, and the inside of the back. Might as well just glue the pieces together and sell it as a mock phone.
so in order to have the same amount of room inside for, you know - parts, the outsides move further away from each other.
and a mm is just a 25.4th of an inch. 1.5 is still just 0.059 inch. That's less than a sixteenth. I'd bet that almost no one would notice that if they weren't told about it.
So theoretically it can happen yet your headline makes it sound like it definitely won't. It's a rumour, just like the rumour that it would be embedded in the glass. Theoretically either one can be correct at this point.
We're dealing in rumors. Apple could theoretically not release an iPhone this year. They could theoretically say they have perfected the smartphone for all time and shut down the damn company, for all we know. I cannot definitively prove either of those to be untrue, even though we all know they are not true.
Anyhow, it's clearly labeled as an editorial, not news. And that's precisely why.
So this is the official policy of AI? To believe that the new phone won't be thicker? That what an editorial means.
are you sure this isn't an opinion piece? That's when the writer expresses his or her opinion, which may not be the opinion of the publication. I hate it when writers, and publications can't tell the difference between one and the other. Standards are so low these days.
go to any serious newspaper and you'll see both an editorial page, and an op. ed. page. They're different.
So theoretically it can happen yet your headline makes it sound like it definitely won't. It's a rumour, just like the rumour that it would be embedded in the glass. Theoretically either one can be correct at this point.
this piece is labeled as an Opinion piece. and in Neil's opinion, no that isn't happening. valid opinion.
Emm, editorial, not opinion. That's different. It should be listed as an opinion piece.
So theoretically it can happen yet your headline makes it sound like it definitely won't. It's a rumour, just like the rumour that it would be embedded in the glass. Theoretically either one can be correct at this point.
We're dealing in rumors. Apple could theoretically not release an iPhone this year. They could theoretically say they have perfected the smartphone for all time and shut down the damn company, for all we know. I cannot definitively prove either of those to be untrue, even though we all know they are not true.
Anyhow, it's clearly labeled as an editorial, not news. And that's precisely why.
So this is the official policy of AI? To believe that the new phone won't be thicker? That what an editorial means.
are you sure this isn't an opinion piece? That's when the writer expresses his or her opinion, which may not be the opinion of the publication. I hate it when writers, and publications can't tell the difference between one and the other. Standards are so low these days.
go to any serious newspaper and you'll see both an editorial page, and an op. ed. page. They're different.
As I alluded to in the second graf of this editorial, our staff received this tip with a picture of the "schematic" this morning, and we collectively decided it was not worth covering as news, because none of us believed it to be legitimate in any way. When the story started to gain traction elsewhere on the internet, our coverage turned into the editorial you see here — a way to address the news (and to explain to readers why we chose not to cover it).
I have a degree in journalism and worked full-time as a reporter at a print newspaper for years. I know what an editorial is. I am not an opinion writer or a columnist for AppleInsider — my title is managing editor. I oversee the entire editorial staff.
Bizarro World - To get back at all the copy cat competitors, Apple begins to copy the worst features of its competitors... starting with an inconveniently positioned login/ID button on the back of the phone that often results in you searching for the correct area to scan, while smudging the camera lense in the process!
Bizarro World - To get back at all the copy cat competitors, Apple begins to copy the worst features of its competitors... starting with an inconveniently positioned login/ID button on the back of the phone that often results in you searching for the correct area to scan, while smudging the camera lense in the process!
It doesn't often result in you searching for the correct area to scan. You know where the scanner is and you run your finger to it. Much the same as when you enter any room in your house and turn the lights on. You probably rarely fail to hit the light switch on the first attempt. It's even easier to find the scanner on a phone.
This means that smudges on the camera lens as a result of searching for the scanner are not a problem. That said, the lens can get smudged for all manner of reasons. It's often in your hand. As a result, you see lots of people give the lens a quick swipe with their clothing (shirt, t-shirt etc) before taking pictures. Whatever your habits, finding the sensor and smudging the lens in the process is a non-issue for the vast majority of users.
When you change your house you might have minor issues finding light switches for a very short period of time. The same thing happens with regards to scanner placement. And keyboard layouts etc.
Reading the Chinese on the screen, it says "Product specification difference and explanations", "Hon-Hai", not Foxconn in the lower right corner, and some slogans that says "thanks for the hard work, reach for the peak performance" So it looks to me more like a training slide with mock specifications.
Out of curiosity, what would be the benefit of a vertical camera array?
The only thing I can think of is 3D augmented reality support with rear cameras when held in landscape mode (left and right eyes).
I would imagine that eventually, we would see a + array right in the center of the back, kicking the logo off elsewhere. And as much as we(me) may cringe about the home button being on the back, eventually as more and more sensors are included for more functionality than we can imagine today...the back and front of the devices may get quite busy.
Out of curiosity, what would be the benefit of a vertical camera array?
I think most photos are taken in lanscape, even on a phone. Having the array like in the current iPhone 7 makes sense mostly for portrait photos, but doesn't work as good in landscape where the difference in depths mainly appears horizontally. That's why our eyes are horizontally aligned.
In thinking about this further, that's not really an issue for what the camera lens positioning is doing now. It's still taking two pictures of the same thing and averaging them together in software, so within a certain tolerance it doesn't matter what their orientation. It only starts to matter with things like 3D, or augmented reality.
...yes, and that's where I think this is headed. Eventually.
Reading the Chinese on the screen, it says "Product specification difference and explanations", "Hon-Hai", not Foxconn in the lower right corner, and some slogans that says "thanks for the hard work, reach for the peak performance" So it looks to me more like a training slide with mock specifications.
So theoretically it can happen yet your headline makes it sound like it definitely won't. It's a rumour, just like the rumour that it would be embedded in the glass. Theoretically either one can be correct at this point.
this piece is labeled as an Opinion piece. and in Neil's opinion, no that isn't happening. valid opinion.
Emm, editorial, not opinion. That's different. It should be listed as an opinion piece.
I've googled this for you before. Here we go again:
Editorial
noun
1.
a newspaper article written by or on behalf of an editor that gives an opinion on a topical issue.
...As Neil is indeed an editor, his piece is an editorial which is synonymous with an opinion piece, imo. But sure, the actual label here is Editorial and not Opinion as i wrote, but it's semantics because an editorial is still opinion.
After using a Homtom Android phone (not through choice) that had the fingerprint sensor on the back, i would welcome this. It was really natural to pick up the phone and have one finger go straight to the sensor as I support the phone and have the screen unlock. I would love this if it meant having a smaller form factor but keep the existing screen size. it actually makes sense.
I fail to see how a sensor on the back is at all intuitive or useful. It's functional in only one holding position and with one or two fingers (index, middle maybe) for each hand resting on the back. Laying on the table? Nope. In a car mount/dock? Nope. Where it is now, you can program multiple fingers and thumbs and you have options to press with either depending on where the phone is or how you're holding it.
Maybe it depends on hand size, but feels unnatural to me to pick up a phone and bend a finger over to a sensor on the back that you can't see.
So theoretically it can happen yet your headline makes it sound like it definitely won't. It's a rumour, just like the rumour that it would be embedded in the glass. Theoretically either one can be correct at this point.
We're dealing in rumors. Apple could theoretically not release an iPhone this year. They could theoretically say they have perfected the smartphone for all time and shut down the damn company, for all we know. I cannot definitively prove either of those to be untrue, even though we all know they are not true.
Anyhow, it's clearly labeled as an editorial, not news. And that's precisely why.
Apple could always make an iPhone with Touch ID through the screen for existing iPhone users, and another on the back for Android switchers.
/s
I think that this would be a good idea but I don't see Apple spending money on two fingerprint scanners. I think it would be great to turn the Apple logo into the TouchId sensor.
9to5Mac has a new rumor out that says both Touch ID and the camera will be imbedded in the display. But it also says the overall size of the phone will stay the same. I hope that's false. I would love the same screen size but in an overall smaller body.
So theoretically it can happen yet your headline makes it sound like it definitely won't. It's a rumour, just like the rumour that it would be embedded in the glass. Theoretically either one can be correct at this point.
this piece is labeled as an Opinion piece. and in Neil's opinion, no that isn't happening. valid opinion.
Emm, editorial, not opinion. That's different. It should be listed as an opinion piece.
Editorial: A newspaper article written by or on behalf of an editor that gives an opinion on a topical issue.
Comments
Consider the possibility this is the preliminary design for a case for the iPhone 8. That thickness would not be out of line. Accessory manufacturers start planning production months ahead based on leaked data. Cases for the iPhone 5 and 6 were appearing before the phones were even officially announced by Apple and they turned out to be pretty accurate.
If you look closely at the design picture, particularly the back image, it looks a lot like the Spigen Ultra Hybrid 2 case with the raised rib around the back edge and the camera cutout.
https://www.spigen.com/collections/iphone-7/products/iphone-7-case-ultra-hybrid-2?variant=29141697409
one, the usual, a bigger battery. Battery life is pretty good these days, but could always be better.
two, better cooling potential, possibly allowing a slightly faster SoC.
three, a better camera. With that extra thickness, Apple would have more room for better lenses, and possibly a slightly larger sensor.
why they may HAVE to go thicker - a glass back. Folks, glass, as we know, is fragile. You can make that aluminum back real thin, but glass needs to be thicker. At some point in thinning things, you have a situation where there's no room left between the inside of the front, and the inside of the back. Might as well just glue the pieces together and sell it as a mock phone.
so in order to have the same amount of room inside for, you know - parts, the outsides move further away from each other.
and a mm is just a 25.4th of an inch. 1.5 is still just 0.059 inch. That's less than a sixteenth. I'd bet that almost no one would notice that if they weren't told about it.
are you sure this isn't an opinion piece? That's when the writer expresses his or her opinion, which may not be the opinion of the publication. I hate it when writers, and publications can't tell the difference between one and the other. Standards are so low these days.
go to any serious newspaper and you'll see both an editorial page, and an op. ed. page. They're different.
I have a degree in journalism and worked full-time as a reporter at a print newspaper for years. I know what an editorial is. I am not an opinion writer or a columnist for AppleInsider — my title is managing editor. I oversee the entire editorial staff.
This means that smudges on the camera lens as a result of searching for the scanner are not a problem. That said, the lens can get smudged for all manner of reasons. It's often in your hand. As a result, you see lots of people give the lens a quick swipe with their clothing (shirt, t-shirt etc) before taking pictures. Whatever your habits, finding the sensor and smudging the lens in the process is a non-issue for the vast majority of users.
When you change your house you might have minor issues finding light switches for a very short period of time. The same thing happens with regards to scanner placement. And keyboard layouts etc.
I would imagine that eventually, we would see a + array right in the center of the back, kicking the logo off elsewhere.
And as much as we(me) may cringe about the home button being on the back, eventually as more and more sensors are included for more functionality than we can imagine today...the back and front of the devices may get quite busy.
Editorial
...As Neil is indeed an editor, his piece is an editorial which is synonymous with an opinion piece, imo. But sure, the actual label here is Editorial and not Opinion as i wrote, but it's semantics because an editorial is still opinion.
Maybe it depends on hand size, but feels unnatural to me to pick up a phone and bend a finger over to a sensor on the back that you can't see.