Apple unveils iPhone 4S with A5 CPU and 4G-like data speeds

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  • Reply 541 of 641
    vadaniavadania Posts: 425member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by graxspoo View Post


    Exactly. When I saw the iPad 2, I really wanted to get one, even though I had been skeptical of how useful it would be. All the little improvements really added up to a fantastic upgrade compared to the iPad 1. Little things like the way the smart cover automatically puts it to sleep, and acts as a stand. You can tell they really put some heart and soul into the iPad 2 upgrade.



    This iPhone 4s upgrade seems like they're running out of ideas and just kind of punted. I'd actually be happier if they weren't chasing the specs. I don't really care about a faster processor or a better camera. Apple is at its best when it surprises and delights, and, I'm just not feelin' it here.



    Chasing specs? Can you just imagine the posts if it didn't have the A5? Seriously! I've read them for almost a year! There's a lot of very smart people posting on this site, and I agree with them that it just makes sense to add it in to make it standard across all devices. But really, just imagine if they had that teardrop form everyone saw, but with the A4. ...and Apple said "it runs fine on an A4. But we have a new case!"
  • Reply 542 of 641
    tbelltbell Posts: 3,146member
    There is an excuse for it, you just might not like it. The same team at Apple works on both OSX, and iOS. You may recall when the iPhone 4 came out with iOS 4, Apple claimed it was delaying the anticpated release of the Mac OS because the OS team was focusing finishing up on iOS 4 and when that was completed Apple would turn its attention to Snow Leopard, which was released later then usual. The OS release was also small in scope focusing less on features and more on cleaning up the code.



    This summer Apple released OSX Lion the same time it would have the year prior released an update to iOS along with a new phone. Apple couldn't release both at the same time since the same team is working on both, so it finished Lion and then turned its attention to iOS, which obviously is going to be released later.



    Further, many sites, including Gruber, has been contending for a while it would make sense for Apple to move the release of IOS to the fall when Apple typically ramps up for the Holiday by updating other popular iOs devices like its iPod Touch. It seems Apple did that. The catch, was it moved the release of the iPhone further into the year as well.



    We might not like it, but from a business perspective it makes sense. Apple's distinguishes the iPhone largely through software so it wanted iOS to be updated along with the new phones.



    I do not not know if it is true or not, but there was also rumor that some of the parts in the iPhone were developed in Japan where factories were devastated by the Tsunami. That might have played an effect as well.



    My overall thoughts though are that the change of time was not related to hardware, but software.



    It is worth noting, that by keeping the shape the same, Apple essentially allowed accessories created for the other iPhone 4 to be used here as well.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Andysol View Post


    Dude- it's not about a new phone and being a fail. Some people think that- fine, whatever. My beef is why was this not brought out in June. There's no excuse for it.



  • Reply 543 of 641
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alienzed View Post


    I really didn't like the original, 3G or 3GS. I bought in for the iPhone 4.



    To me, it's just that you see so many companies releasing so many phones, inferior perhaps, but some not so bad.

    And then there's Apple, sitting on 80 billion dollas and they give us a spec bump, after 16 months.



    And yet their phones sell the best, are seen as the best, the most VALUABLE, have the lowest return rate?



    I'm tired of retyping the same arguments that people just plain ignore.



    Android is the bargain basement brand because new phones come out every four months from the same company. And phones less than a year old can't even run the newest software.
  • Reply 544 of 641
    vadaniavadania Posts: 425member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alienzed View Post


    I really didn't like the original, 3G or 3GS. I bought in for the iPhone 4.



    To me, it's just that you see so many companies releasing so many phones, inferior perhaps, but some not so bad.

    And then there's Apple, sitting on 80 billion dollas and they give us a spec bump, after 16 months.



    Oh, I agree with you. I love the iPhone 4. I was worried they would change the beautiful stainless steel and glass.



    Now I know for sure that I have to buy the 4G 64Gig as soon as they announce the iPhone5, or I'll be stuck with a new form, possibly plastic like the 3GS. Also, they'll drop the 64G availability to 8gig as an entry phone! Yuck!
  • Reply 545 of 641
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by graxspoo View Post


    I almost never use the iPhone as a phone, so I don't care about talk times. I do however, really like being able to go all weekend without needing to recharge. I am not playing games on the thing all day, and just want to be able to check my email, surf the web a little and that's about it. So, standby time is important to me.



    How many days do you think that 200 hours equates to? In your case, the iPhone sounds ideal.



    I suspect that the iPhone 4S is a vast improvement over my iPhone 4, not some minor spec bump. The operating system is entrained in shooting video, through for example shake reduction and in employing the Siri derived voice capabilities. These two features alone will have demanded much greater capability of the processor and OS and so, battery life seems quite impressive next to the older model.
  • Reply 546 of 641
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vadania View Post


    But really, just imagine if they had that teardrop form everyone saw, but with the A4. ...and Apple said "it runs fine on an A4. But we have a new case!"



    Yes, that wouldn't have gone over too well either. I wish they had come out with a brand new chip (A6?) that gave the iPhone a speed boost but actually improved battery life rather than reducing it... Or if they had done a better job of power cycling the two cores so it didn't reduce battery life. It's really a shame that standby is reduced because you would think they'd be able to completely shut down one core in that case.
  • Reply 547 of 641
    wovelwovel Posts: 956member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Andysol View Post


    Dude- it's not about a new phone and being a fail. Some people think that- fine, whatever. My beef is why was this not brought out in June. There's no excuse for it.



    Why would it be? What was the business reason? They decided to stop doing hardware at WWDC and were freed to release iPhones whenever they want. This is a much better time of year for a product transition. The only reason to release in June would be Anysol expected it.



    You act like this some big deal. Like you were somehow damaged. Perhaps you think there should be a new design because some no-name case maker purchased some bogus data to try and get a jump on the market? Tell me this. What other smartphone maker is releasing a major new OS update on hardware well over two years old?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Andysol View Post


    I'm not flustered or upset in the slightest. But other than the world phone aspect (which, honestly, there might not have been the technology or there was, but I'm too lazy to go look), there isn't anything that they didn't have already.

    8mp camera- np

    A5- iPad

    Antenna- exact same as Verizon (at glance at least)

    64gb- ok



    So like I said- let's not pretend they were holding out just because of the cdm chip. Couldve been that, but unlikely. The more logical thought was they were waiting on the software- and let's be honest- iOS 5, Lion, and iCloud all in a year is a ton- but the phone should have delivered as well if they were waiting this long. Everything they had to make this phone was available. So I'm assuming it was the software. Like I said in my original all caps annoying post- they could have gotten "wow"- but instead they get "ok...." because of when it's released.

    And why is it that if anyone disagrees with Apple, were idiots. Seriously man- im an apple whore, but I also can think outside of the ecosystem.





    And just for my own edification (I must have missed it)- what was the simplest responsibility in life you gave me? Because I'd like to do that for a living.



    Not everything. You may be an Apple whore , but you don't understand them at all. Where does an OS for all of those pieces fit into your puzzle? Do you think they should have done all that development work against iOS 4 and then iOS 5? They did it with the iPad because they saw the opportunity to dominate the market. The iPhone 4 continues to dominate the market, even after 16 months. There was no business reason to release sooner. There were a ton of technical reasons not to.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    ...and so it begins... again.



    Like Christmas decorations being put back out on New Years.
  • Reply 548 of 641
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by IQatEdo View Post


    How many days do you think that 200 hours equates to? In your case, the iPhone sounds ideal.



    Nope. I'm still using a 1st Gen iPhone because everyone I know that has an iPhone 3G, 3Gs or 4 has to recharge at least once a day. They may say 200 or 300 hours of standby, but apparently once they added the multitasking features into the OS they lost the ability to tightly control the battery drain they way they did in earlier versions. I've heard many stories of mystery power drains, especially with the iPhone 4. Similarly my friend who has an iPhone 4 can't figure out why it eats through all his data-plan allocation even though he's not using it most of the time. I hope iOS 5 fixes some of this stuff.
  • Reply 549 of 641
    Simple questions for all you whingers out there...



    You say that the iP4S (or whatever version) is a fail... 4 months late -- minor upgrade...



    ...That you can get a Galaxy DroidFroid that is bigger, better, cheaper smoother...





    What do you do in 3 months when HTC comes comes out with the MergaDroid II LTE with 3D?





    Do you buy a new smart phone every 3 months just to get the latest features and the latest version of Android?





    Would you buy a smartphone from a company that never upgrades the current model, never upgrades to the current OS, and releases a replacement every 3 months?





    How can you afford to switch smart phones every 3 months to get the latest, greatest whatever --- ETFs would kill you?





    Or maybe... are you only saying what you would do if you ever really bought a smart phone and had no concern about contracts, ETFs, etc?
  • Reply 550 of 641
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Other than fulfilling every single rumor except NFC and a larger screen.







    So put it in a case that changes its design. Boom.







    And I was going to give you ad revenue, but I'll never ever go to your site now.



    My blog is ad free. At least, as much as a free blog from WordPress can be. Why is money so important to people like you?
  • Reply 551 of 641
    ikolikol Posts: 369member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    .... the 3GS was a worse update to the 3G than the 4S was to the 4.



    That is PURE FUD. The 3GS got video recording and MMS - both messaging and pics and vids- all basic phone functions that were sorely lacking before. Nothing released today comes even close to those items- try again. And then again.
  • Reply 552 of 641
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Conrail View Post


    I was really shocked to see I was getting 2mbps here in bumpkin-land with my 3GS. 5 shouldn't be that unbelievable.



    I just hope this doesn't turn into another "megahertz myth" thing where Apple keeps claiming that slower is actually faster. They're going to get burned if they do.



    Other than that, woo-hoo, a new phone for me this month!



    Ironically, it's when there aren't many users in your vicinity that you get the best speeds. Once a lot more people use it, ie. in highly populated areas, that's when you can get congestion with 3G networks. For data they just do not scale well within a limited geographic area.
  • Reply 553 of 641
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Conrail View Post


    But it looks the same! Whaa! None of the baristas at starbucks will know I've got the latest apple toy! They'll all think I've got some 99 dollar piece of shit!



    Yeah, you'd better tell em it's NOT the Samsung Galaxy Ripoff II, or they'll spit in your coffee behind the counter.
  • Reply 554 of 641
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by IQatEdo View Post


    The A5 is fuel hungry and yet talk time is up to 1 hour greater than for the iPhone 4, if specs are to be believed. Why did you pick standby? Why not rejoice in longer talk times!



    Wow... Because how many people do a lot of *talking* on their iPhones nowadays? We're taking video, pictures, apps, WhatsApp, facebooking and texting. Talk time is the least concern of average "modern" iPhone users.



    I hope the 1/3 reduction in standby time is not true.
  • Reply 555 of 641
    pmcdpmcd Posts: 396member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sarges View Post


    ..... and they expect us iPhone 4 users upgrade to this at the tune of 700 buck?



    No, your phone is perfectly fine. Stay with it or wait unlit one that will also take you into space. iOS 5, serious voice capabilities, etc ... all make for very interesting additions.



    AppleInsider's Forums are turning into sounding boards for teens who like to hear themselves talk. The owners should do something.



    philip
  • Reply 556 of 641
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kotatsu View Post


    A much bigger screen, you know, like every high end smart phone except the iPhone has. And a design which is actually comfortable to hold wouldn't be a bad idea either.



    Agreed. iPhone is a nice looking phone, but uncomfortable to hold with it's sharp edges and cold metal/glass materials. Not so sleek once you have to throw a case on it.
  • Reply 557 of 641
    The iPhone 4S is without doubt an awesome phone, the specs are amazing, and if there was no competition, then it would be lauded to high heaven.



    I have a 3G, which just came off a plan. Strangely I might consider keeping the 3G.



    Let me explain why.



    Without doubt there will be an iPhone 5 that will be thinner and incredibly amazing, that is the Apple way.



    The question is when will the iPhone 5 come out.



    There are three possibilities.



    Summer 2012. If so all the people that bought 4S phones are screwed.



    October 2012. Which would mean that the iPhone 4 design would be 28 months old, so quite obsolete. Remember the Samsung Prime is coming out next week, and this will have most of the things people wanted in the non-existent iPhone 5, bigger almost retina-like display, dual processors, 1G of memory, a decent camera, and not a bad OS, but not the best. This is not to mention NFC, Google Wallet and maybe LTE support. So Samsung's 'iPhone 5" comes out next week, that is 2011. Apple's a year later in 2012. So the iPhone 5 would have be pretty amazing to catch up and beat Samsung phone after the Prime, because that will be the competition, the phone after the Prime. On top of that, a lot of iPhone 4 customers will come off contract in the summer 2012, they are not going to upgrade to the 4S, knowing the iPhone 5 will be coming in an extra 5 months. So these customers are screwed, unless they all go on a month-to-month plan. Here we are talking of millions of people.



    Spring 2013. If Apple is on 16 month cycle, then there will be no iPhone 5 in 2012. If that is the case, sell, sell, sell AAPL.



    I do not think Apple can wait to October 2012 for the iPhone 5, so best wait for the summer launch of the iPhone 5 or get Samsung's "iPhone 5" next week.
  • Reply 558 of 641
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bdorei View Post


    The question is when will the iPhone 5 come out.



    Never. Signature.



    Quote:

    If that is the case, sell, sell, sell AAPL.



    Okay?
  • Reply 559 of 641
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    Simple questions for all you whingers out there...



    You say that the iP4S (or whatever version) is a fail... 4 months late -- minor upgrade...



    ...That you can get a Galaxy DroidFroid that is bigger, better, cheaper smoother...





    What do you do in 3 months when HTC comes comes out with the MergaDroid II LTE with 3D?





    Do you buy a new smart phone every 3 months just to get the latest features and the latest version of Android?





    Would you buy a smartphone from a company that never upgrades the current model, never upgrades to the current OS, and releases a replacement every 3 months?





    How can you afford to switch smart phones every 3 months to get the latest, greatest whatever --- ETFs would kill you?





    Or maybe... are you only saying what you would do if you ever really bought a smart phone and had no concern about contracts, ETFs, etc?



    Well actually, if another version of Android comes out... You just get the update. (unless it's strictly hardware related eg. NFC and a FFC)



    You see, Android doesn't hold back features from older phones (***Siri***) even though the phone can run them just fine. Even Google's latest gingerbread runs great on phones 2 years old.



    Who was even implying someone would buy a new flagship device every 3 months?
  • Reply 560 of 641
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alienzed View Post


    the body would have been the more important thing to change, after 16 months... do you not also feel at least slightly that that is a bit long between product updates for a speed bump?



    Translation: Mom!!! There are people on the Internet who don't agree with me! Make them stop!!!!

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