randominternetperson said: Personally I think "s" was a particularly bad choice (strictly because of the pluralization challenge).
Remember, though, that Apple doesn’t do that. Your device is the only one in the entire world, and as such it doesn’t receive an article–indefinite or otherwise–in any of the product literature, nor a plural.
That’s 11 for the last one. 8 (in the normal cycle) is 12, but apparently they ARE actually going to release either two models or just 7 with a modified body for its ‘lower price’ release.
I'm with you. Clearly the next one should be the iPhone 2 to fill in that glaring numbering gap.
Did we ever learn what the "S" stands for?
Do we care? Surely it’s an arbitrary model number simply to differentiate it from non-s models.
Why do we care? Call it curiosity. Call it wanting insight into the Apple corporate thought process. Surely the decision wasn't arbitrary. Steve didn't say "I don't want to go to iPhone 6 yet, add a random letter on the end of the iPhone 5 name." There was some reason why it wasn't called the iPhone 5x or 5p or 5ex or 5fu. Personally I think "s" was a particularly bad choice (strictly because of the pluralization challenge). Obviously at the end of the day, it's not a bid deal, but we're not exactly ending world hunger on this site.
For comparison, for the past 15 years ago, Oracle has stuck a letter on the end of their major version to highlight their current focus. Larry Ellison was a good friend of Steve Jobs, so this isn't completely irrelevant. After Oracle 7 came Oracle 8i and 9i where "i" stood for "internet." This was followed by 10g and 11g (g for "grid computing") and now 12c (c for cloud).
You're overthikng it. It really doesn't matter what the S stands for, just as it didn't matter what iPod meant. What matters is what the S does, not what it means. The S says this model is newer than the one without an S. This is the information is conveys and its objective. It's has significance thusly. Like people don't hear "SE" and think "special edition". They simply know you're talking about the small iPhone. These are model signifiers. Car makers have been doing this for decades.
Let me reword my statement. I have a mild curiosity why they went with iPhone 5s instead of say iPhone 5x or iPhone5(pi). I'm certain that a TON of thought and research goes into those silly automotive trim-line letters (e.g., the Honda Accord LX versus Honda Accord EX versus the Honda Accord EX-L). So you know there was a meeting (or 5) at 1 Infinite Loop about this "s" decision. I'm just saying I'm curious who said what about the pros and cons of that.
Wasn't there something - purely hypothetical - about "s for SIRI" (4s), "s for security (5s = touchID), .... ahm... s for .... 6s eludes me but for sure according to many who correlate form factor with innovation 7s was given the extra letter to acknowledge "still same design"
i’m an active investor, which just means that I do all of the decisions myself, and don’t use managed accounts. So I have to be on the ball about it. Really, if you’re not doing estimates, you shouldn’t be an active investor. Just do what Buffet advises, and get a bundle of the Fortune 500 without management. Otherwise, it requires work.
Thanks for the (condescending) advice. Yeah, I happen to know a little bit about investing too, manage mine as well, so I am good.
The last thing this board needs is another sog35-type amateur investor bragging about stock price estimates for Apple (or any other stock), or some back and forth about market price forecasts. They go nowhere quickly.
I don’t know what you consider to be an amateur. You can only speak for yourself. In addition, any estimates we care to make, based on whatever facts and speculation we care to us, is our business, not yours. And remember that you are the one who. Made a condescending post to me. I didn’t make one to you. I was just explaining my position.
sorry that your superior sensibility and knowledge was hurt.
Oh gosh, not at all. I quite vividly recall our many discussions from many years ago, and your views on basic principles of valuation, and on things such as PE ratios, risk, cash flows, cost of capital, etc. Basedd on the many things you've said, I have a rather strong basis for the view I have formed.
That said, it's your wont to express any opinion on this forum, just as it is mine. It's a free country. It should be pointed out, however, that you seemed to be the one to take umbrage over my pointing out -- a couple of others pointed it out too, earlier in this thread -- that price forecasts for AAPL in the $175 region were not unique to you or sog35. I was simply saying something similar, and providing data on the median analyst forecast which also happens to be $175 per share (with a max that goes to $208). And I gave you a link.
Perhaps you or sog35 do (although I would find that difficult to believe), but I have no superior sensibility or knowledge to forecast stock prices.
As an aside, didn't AI used to have a separate section of stock price discussions (just as they did for political discussions)? I don't know if it's still there, but given the topic at hand in this blog, it seems like a discussion of stock price forecasts seems a tad misplaced.
It’s nice that you’ve formed such a strong opinion of my investing knowledge. I’d be curious as to which one if has done better during that time, but obviously, that can never happen. There’s usually a good reason as to why different people come to a similar conclusion about something, and that’s not bad. You seem to be trying to make it so though.
I said I have a 'strong basis' for my opinion. That's not the same as 'strong opinion.' Don't misstate.
I don't get into contests over who has.... er... bigger hands. I am glad you have convinced yourself that you can clearly separate luck from skill. Good for you.
It’s still just an opinion. If you state that basis it would be easier to evaluate it. Otherwise, we don’t know anything about it, and it’s just another opinion among many.
I told you it's based on numerous conversations we've had over the years. Do you seriously expect me to recount those?
Oh, yes, he does. And if you don't dance for him (recount your past conversations for his amusement), he's right. He'll tell you all about how right he is.
You are really being a pain in the ass for continuing this in the matter you are. Do you want me to flag YOU? I rarely gave points to people when I was a mod, just told them to knock it off, but you’re becoming a real problem here.
I wonder why you are no longer a mod?
I was a mod for years, and they switch them up after a time. Only the admins are permanent, as long as they continue to work here, that is.
I was made a moderator in the last year. I take a mostly hands-off approach, letting the bickering peter out on its own, but have stepped in from time to time to call out an aggregious infraction, and even boot one or two obvious trolls a dozen messages into their stay. I think you'd be a welcome addition back, Mel, should the admins want to tap you again for the role.
There are some here that I violently disagree. We can't all act like snowflakes. I have nobody on my ignore list.
Above all, AppleInsider can't turn into MacRumors.
Admins and Mods: If there is a way of disabling the ignore feature of this forum, please do it.
AI will never turn into MR because the mods here don't have an agenda to follow (namely, allowing trolls to run rampant to generate hits). Mods here at AI also allow members to call out trolls for what they are. You do that on MR and you're the one who gets the boot while the troll remains.
You want to cry because people ignore others? Yet you're calling them snowflakes?
They are claiming the world's first mobile AI processing unit.
The official presentation isn't until tomorrow but if what is being claimed actually works on the device, they may have upped the ante a little. This makes me think Apple might also have something along those lines for their big reveal on the 12th.
Nobody cares. Even "if" they have a machine learning processor on board, how will it get used? The biggest problem with Android is device makers adding their own custom hardware that isn't actually supported by Android. So none of your Apps will properly take advantage of those features.
The rest of the 970 is generic off-the-shelf A73, A53 and Mali parts. Nothing new here, just another SoC based on ARM cores. At least Samsung and Qualcomm are now trying their hand at making their own custom cores, although they are still WAY behind Apple in this regard. The A11 should hit 4,000 single core, which makes it literally double that of the 835 or 8895. Quite amazing how far ahead Apple is.
If nobody cared, this site wouldn't have half as much Google and Samsung content.
Let me know when AI does an article on Kirin processors.
They've been discussed several times in AI articles. Use your favorite browser and search "AppleInsider Kirin", tho it doesn't help the point you thought you were making.
I said "let me know when AI does an article on Kirin processors", not "AI has never mentioned them before".
So then you had no point at all. The OP alluded to the very valid fact that if there was no interest in other companies products or OS's AI wouldn't keep bringing them up in article content, and folks like you, me, Tmay, Soli and hundreds of others wouldn't have any reason to comment in them when they do. And proving your own interest you frequently comment on even Android, or Google or Microsoft specific articles posted here.
Yes you're interested just as many of us are, and TBH we should be IMO.
Well, some people don’t think “interest” means anything other than “like”. Obviously, that’s not true.
“I’ll tell you, you just have not had chili by the campfire until you’ve eaten it with one of Jony [Ive’s] custom crafted aluminium spoons. … It’s the diamond-cut chamfered edges that really make the experience.” – Craig Federighi, while demoing the new Finder, WWDC 2014
I've heard that the new Apple TV will come with up to 512GB of storage and include a PlayStation-like gaming controller with it. Can anyone confirm this??
Tim's biggest problem is that he doesn't have stage persona and his voice is tiring to listen to. Unfortunately he is also robotic and uses a monotonous tone.
That isn't a criticism of him. He just isn't cut out for large presentations, in fact most of us aren't. I was not a big Jobs fan but his presentations were well constructed and delivered. Obviously they suffered towards the end due to underlying illness.
I think Tim manages an uncomfortable situation as best he can and logically tries to hand over tasks to others ASAP while on stage.
He must dread it but there's no way out of it.
I'm not aware of any natural born presenters in Apple higher management right now.
Craig has come on a lot over the years, even running demos on completely different areas within the same presentation but still needs experience.
We should all give thanks that Jony Ive is limited to video appearances though. He makes Tim seem like Steve.
You seem to see these events as superficial entertainment; a performance. I don't. Tim is displaying a stronger personna as each event occurs. He shows the same fire within himself, the same laser focus for Apple, that Steve did, and that is what I, and most of the rest of us foliowing Apple, see every day.
I note that in most of your comments, you attempt to distract and divert attention from all the things that Apple does well, things that it is improving on, and things that it is leading on.
That must require a lot of energy on your part; working at being such a perfectly superficial, and shallow, participant on AI, as you have just demonstrated above, and so many times prior.
ALL presentations are performances whether you see them that way or not, and Tim Cook isn't cut out for them. It's not his fault but being the CEO there is little he can do about it. One of a presenter's most important and effective tools is the voice. Unfortunately Tim Cook lacks in that vital area and there is very little he can do about it.
Doubled down; bold.
Here's a video of a press event where the participants were, from your perspective, about the worst possible candidates for a press event as ever could be imagined.
We all know how this worked out:
What is your point and what does it have to do with what I wrote?
Your posts indicate that you are biased towards presentation; you certainly expound on that in a number of posts. I gave you a video all about content and context, pretty historic content at that, and demonstrably little in the way of presentation.
Myself, I'm biased towards the technology that Apple will provide at that upcoming event of September 12, in the form of products, software, and services, and whatever innovations that arrive at that time.
No, not biased. The subject of presentations appeared and I commented on it from an impartial perspective and evaluated Jobs and Cook's presentation skills.
I'm sure Tim would agree with my observations.
I know first hand the terror stage fright can bring to some people. People handle it in different ways.
I know people that have learned to vomit in a particular way so they can reduce the damage to their throats when they are doing it. Vomiting is a common problem for some people before big events. I wouldn't be surprised if Tim took some kind of medication before going on stage. That is very common for big events.
People that aren't professional presenters or who have lots of experience, do not enjoy the moments prior to the presentations. When they are up there and things are going well, things normally get much better but the hours beforehand can be torture.
I will never forget a chance meeting on a ferry I had in 1987 with probably the most talented singer I have ever heard. He opened up to me on that night crossing and revealed his biggest fear: stage fright.
I followed his career as best I could and he disappeared from performing for years. His way of resolving his stage fright seemed to be through alcohol. At 47 he was dead. Not as a direct result of alcohol but it definitely screwed him up. I have a very good understanding of alcoholism and drug addiction and although I have never been there personally, I know how easy it is to end up there.
From the audience's perspective most people simply don't need to understand what the presenter is going through but I get to see things from the other side. I run through rehearsals, body language, relaxation, timing, backup etc and most of my clients are giving presentations in a non-native language. One had huge problems saying the word 'interoperability' and needed to say it over and over during a presentation. Sometimes, from the outside, you just don't see how one 'simple' word could cause someone so many problems. Although I speak fluent Spanish, I never ever use the word 'perros' (dogs) while giving examples. I always use 'gatos' (cats). Rolling my R's is difficult for me so I simply avoid them where possible.
I don't know exactly what Tim's preparation routine is, I don't know if he sleeps well the night before, I don't know what's going on in him during the presentation.
I can only watch him and give my opinion and that is what I have done. It's impossible for him not to be compared to Steve Jobs and he arguably has an extra layer of pressure as a result.
For what it is worth, he is a far better presenter than me.
I have a very good sounding voice and can easily shake off my natural accent, I am good in a classroom setting but I need the possibility of improvisation. I don't feel safe in the timed rigid world of complex presentations. I help people with them but luckily never have to give any.
Anyway, after chatting with this guy, he left a mark on me. RIP John
I'm sure you're the best.
That said, during and after the event, I'm just really looking forward to discussion of the event sans, for the most part, discussion of the presentation and delivery by the participants. There's a lot of technology reveals, and maybe even a few surprises in store. I certainly expect your participation, and welcome it.
I'm thinking that the industry holds its breath for 2 hours just to see if Apple has blindsided them, or if a potential disruption is at hand. It will certainly be worth a number of discussions.
Looking forward to seeing everybody here the 12th after the event. Take notes, or not.
Yes, I am actually looking forward to it too.
For various reasons. Not least competion. I've been saying all along that this year the competion will be fierce at the top end and that is exactly how it's playing out. Apple must deliver this year and that's the kind of pressure that is good for the industry and us, consumers.
There's been a lot of talk about the under screen fingerprint sensor but I don't consider that to be all that special. It's just another way of doing something we already do, just in a different place. On the camera front, it's largely all been done. We will see dual front cameras I'm sure at some point but you now don't need a high end camera to take good photos. The same goes for speed. Mid tier phones have been fast enough for quite a while. The same applies to graphics. RAM and storage? Apple will finally leaving this problem behind. 32GB would be a little on the stingy side but the system would be usable. Far different to the 16GB situation. If they deliberately leave out the 'sweet spot' storage option on any model I will continue calling them out. It isn't justified IMO.
Sensors? Better, faster without doubt but still just sensors that almost everybody already has across most mid-tier and high end phones. Some kind of new optical biometric option? It's still just a biometric option, just a different one. Nice to have but little more. We might see something new, yes but it's still just a sensor and will it be on all three phones or just the rumoured 10th anniversary model? I would hope to see any new sensor technology rolled out across the three models. If it can't be done due to cost or component availability, its impact will not be noticed and this time next year Apple could be playing catch up like it probably will this year with dual cameras. External Design? Ha! Something new for sure, right? Bezelless with and without a notch is already here so nothing radical there except for change itself (long overdue, another year with the same design and I can see them getting slated).
Better battery is nothing new, nor is OLED, nor is wireless charging. Convenience and functionality, yes (and very welcome!) but little more.
So, what would truly mark a jump forward?
My bets are on locally resolved AI hardware (as I already mentioned in this thread) and a major improvement in Siri. AR we know is coming but it needs application support. It's not something the user will truly see out of the box. An NPU is something that has been rumoured from Apple. Huawei just demoed one on a SoC that is already in mass production. They have opened up the AI platform to developers and partners to develop it too. It is not unreasonable to think Apple's is not ready to roll with their own chip.
I truly hope there is something no one has thought of. That would be great.
The most important thing for us though is competition, and that is what we have. On all fronts.
For an out on a limb bet, I would go for more competive pricing on some of the new hardware (as opposed to rehashed older models).
avon b7 said: [...] The same goes for speed. Mid tier phones have been fast enough for quite a while.
The experience I'm having right now with my iPhone 6 makes me wonder if that's true. I'm getting a lot of lag and sluggishness. That has me wondering if there's some kind of problem, or if it's a case of processor performance improving so rapidly that software designed for "current" speeds runs poorly on devices that are only a couple years old.
Perhaps others can tell me if they have the same issues, particularly with the Music app, that I do. I select a playlist and hit shuffle. I'll then just start hitting "skip" until it brings up something I want to listen to. The first time I hit the button it advances immediately. If I want to skip again, I hit the button and nothing happens. I hit it again and still nothing. Eventually it will respond, but will then skip once for each time I pressed the button. If I hit it three times, it will do nothing for a while and then suddenly skip three songs. So it's receiving the input, but there's a delay of several seconds before playback of the next song begins. If I press skip just once and wait, after three to five seconds it will finally advance. This is with music stored on the device, not cloud playback.
So now I'm wondering if this a sign that the latest iOS expects a faster processor, or if there's some other issue causing the problem (or maybe that's just expected and accepted performance from the iOS Music app).
avon b7 said: [...] So, what would truly mark a jump forward?
Getting a little jaded, are you?
While something new would be novel and welcome, I wouldn't be dissatisfied with just incremental improvements to existing features. Stability, predictability, and, above all, reliability, are my highest priorities in a device. A major factor in my move to the Apple ecosystem was the promise that things just work. Often that isn't the case, and I wind up having to do things like initiate a sync between devices multiple times because the first two or three times it only completed part of the task, but then magically finished it on the third or fourth try, or signing in and out of accounts to kickstart an action. These aren't life-altering problems, but they are perplexing and often frustrating. Given a choice between getting some new feature or polishing the performance of existing ones, I'll take the latter.
Tim's biggest problem is that he doesn't have stage persona and his voice is tiring to listen to. Unfortunately he is also robotic and uses a monotonous tone.
That isn't a criticism of him. He just isn't cut out for large presentations, in fact most of us aren't. I was not a big Jobs fan but his presentations were well constructed and delivered. Obviously they suffered towards the end due to underlying illness.
I think Tim manages an uncomfortable situation as best he can and logically tries to hand over tasks to others ASAP while on stage.
He must dread it but there's no way out of it.
I'm not aware of any natural born presenters in Apple higher management right now.
Craig has come on a lot over the years, even running demos on completely different areas within the same presentation but still needs experience.
We should all give thanks that Jony Ive is limited to video appearances though. He makes Tim seem like Steve.
Actually, Steve wasn't that great at presentations either. If you put on the stage to present the latest Windows OS he would have stunk. The difference was that Steve was both designer and technician and he not only knew the product he was presenting from the inside out, he knew it was perfect -- because he had worked his ass off to make it perfect. There was no faith or belief. And, he wasn't enthusiastic. He was passionate -- and his passion stemmed from knowing beyond a shadow of doubt that he was presenting a great product that would make people's live better. Tim is just not on that level.
There are some here that I violently disagree. We can't all act like snowflakes. I have nobody on my ignore list.
Above all, AppleInsider can't turn into MacRumors.
Admins and Mods: If there is a way of disabling the ignore feature of this forum, please do it.
Why the hell would you want AI to disable the ignore button? This is exactly how you remedy something without doing things like banning permanently. If you don't like what someone says, then you ignore them, just like you do on any other social forum whether its FaceBook, AOL IM, Twitter, or other forums. If the mod doesn't have to get involved, sometimes its better so if ignoring someone makes that happen then I'm all for it.
What do you want AI to do then? Nothing? Just let forum arguments happen over and over again until someone (or both) get banned? Then both are gone permanently so we have 2 less members.
Soli said: This will be landmark event for many reasons, one of which I hope will make this the most remembered event since the original 2007 introduction of the iPhone*.
Won't be with out Steve Jobs. Tim Cook is no where close to what Steve could do with an audience...
He’s enthusiastic to be sure, but he says that he’s uncomfortable in front of large audiences. Apple has a management school, and one thing it teaches is presentation. He’s much better than in the beginning, but his quiet demeanor comes across on the stage, and his slight southern drawl doesn’t give him the sharpness needed. Steve, of course, was unmatched. Just watching some old presentations shows that.
I think the major difference -- what made Steve so great -- was that he understood the underlying technology and how it was being utilized to make people's live better -- as well as the infinite care from late and sleepless nights that went into making it a great product. Tim is doing well -- but he just doesn't have Steve's underlying emotional investment or understanding of the product.
Steve was like any entrepreneur, but he was just better at this whole marketing thing, because he really BELIEVED. Cook is really much better than he’s given credit for. Just watch presentations from other large companies, and you'll see what I mean. I think he also really believes, as do the others below him. But Steve had a talent for this, without having to learn it. Natural charismatics, are rare.
edit; the usual typos, errors in auto correction that I always seem to miss until much later.
You seem to have a far more in depth and inside knowledge of Apple than I do -- so I respect your opinion. But on this I would, knowing that my opinion may be based more on bias than fact, would differ with you.
To me it seems that Steve's "charisma" stemmed from a deep conviction (that underlies mere 'faith' or 'belief' because it is founded on knowledge rather than faith) as well as a passion to present something that will make a difference in the world and make people's lives better.
While I very much respect Tim Cook and believe that he was an outstanding choice for CEO, I don't think he can every have that same magic as Steve -- not for lack of charisma (which I don't think that either has) but because he lacks the conviction and passion that show when presenting a product that you have personally spent long nights down in the nuts and bolts, bits and bytes while perfecting that product.
I think Markkula, during the first Jobs movie said it best: "I see that look in your eye -- because I've had myself".
We all know people who have charisma. We all know people who don’t. While believing in something helps, you either have it, or you don’t.
Believing and knowing are two different things. -- Steve knew -- Tim believes
There's been a lot of talk about the under screen fingerprint sensor but I don't consider that to be all that special. It's just another way of doing something we already do, just in a different place.
Ridiculous. A reader under the screen allows you to have slim bezels AND keep the fingerprint sensor on the front, instead of the useless hack that everyone else is doing placing it on the back (because they had no alternative). That is, if Apple even goes this route (they likely have a superior solution in FaceID).
The same goes for speed. Mid tier phones have been fast enough for quite a while. The same applies to graphics. RAM and storage? Apple will finally leaving this problem behind.
Rubbish. For example, ARCore from Google requires the latest and fastest phones to work (because AR done in software requires power). This is why Apple also requires a minimum A9 equipped device to use ARKit. Mid-tier phones WILL NOT be able to do AR because they will lack the processor power to achieve it. The funny thing about this is that a 2 year old A9 equipped iPhone (even the least expensive SE) still outperforms 95% of Android devices on the market. Which is why Apple will dominate AR because of the sheer number of devices that will be able to use ARKit.
If all you do is run basic Apps, then mid-tier phones are fast. It's when you want to do something more that iOS shines (not only because of the superior processing power but because of Apps that can actually take advantage of it).
RAM is a problem? iOS isn't the clusterfuck known as Android where you need more RAM than a desktop PC running Windows before it will perform well.
Some kind of new optical biometric option? It's still just a biometric option, just a different one. Nice to have but little more.
More rubbish. Perhaps you forgot how useless Face Unlock was when Android introduced it? Easily fooled by a picture of you, forcing Google to add their Liveness Check feature which required you to blink to verify you weren't a picture. And having to hold your phone up to your face (even for a short time) to unlock? Nobody wants to do that, which is why nobody uses Face Unlock. Then Samsung decided to add this useless feature to the S8, and apparently forgot about the issues Google had and their system was also fooled with a picture. So was their iris scanner. Two-time losers for that screw up.
If Apple implements FaceID according to the features/capabilities shown by the companies they acquired, then it will be a complete game changer. Can't be fooled by a picture, can't be fooled by a 3D sculpture with your face applied to it, can tell identical twins apart, works in the dark, works from a partial view of your face, works at odd angles, and can't be fooled by sunglasses, beards or shaving. It's practically the perfect biometric unlocking feature. If you can see the screen of your phone then it can see you and unlock. It has all the features that make Touch ID so great (fast and accurate) without any drawbacks (like wearing gloves or having dirty/wet fingers).
Better battery is nothing new, nor is OLED, nor is wireless charging.
OLED is not new, but an OLED phone that supports color management is. Since Android doesn't have color management then having a great OLED screen with a wide color gamut is pointless since you can't render content correctly. The iPhone will be the first device in the world to have an OLED screen AND support color management. Couple that with individually calibrated screens and you get the most accurate color reproduction possible. It won't have the "pop" that the cartoonish OLED screens of other devices do, but I'll take accuracy over flash any day.
avon b7 said: [...] The same goes for speed. Mid tier phones have been fast enough for quite a while.
The experience I'm having right now with my iPhone 6 makes me wonder if that's true. I'm getting a lot of lag and sluggishness. That has me wondering if there's some kind of problem, or if it's a case of processor performance improving so rapidly that software designed for "current" speeds runs poorly on devices that are only a couple years old.
Perhaps others can tell me if they have the same issues, particularly with the Music app, that I do. I select a playlist and hit shuffle. I'll then just start hitting "skip" until it brings up something I want to listen to. The first time I hit the button it advances immediately. If I want to skip again, I hit the button and nothing happens. I hit it again and still nothing. Eventually it will respond, but will then skip once for each time I pressed the button. If I hit it three times, it will do nothing for a while and then suddenly skip three songs. So it's receiving the input, but there's a delay of several seconds before playback of the next song begins. If I press skip just once and wait, after three to five seconds it will finally advance. This is with music stored on the device, not cloud playback.
So now I'm wondering if this a sign that the latest iOS expects a faster processor, or if there's some other issue causing the problem (or maybe that's just expected and accepted performance from the iOS Music app).
avon b7 said: [...] So, what would truly mark a jump forward?
Getting a little jaded, are you?
While something new would be novel and welcome, I wouldn't be dissatisfied with just incremental improvements to existing features. Stability, predictability, and, above all, reliability, are my highest priorities in a device. A major factor in my move to the Apple ecosystem was the promise that things just work. Often that isn't the case, and I wind up having to do things like initiate a sync between devices multiple times because the first two or three times it only completed part of the task, but then magically finished it on the third or fourth try, or signing in and out of accounts to kickstart an action. These aren't life-altering problems, but they are perplexing and often frustrating. Given a choice between getting some new feature or polishing the performance of existing ones, I'll take the latter.
My wife has the iPhone 6 and hasn't commented anything really strange but has commented the screen blacking out then coming back. Nothing I've been able to reproduce although I have seen it happen. This began after upgrading to iOS 10. I will wait before upgrading to iOS 11 to see if people notice any slowdown.
As for the ' truly new' comment, it was a wink to the competition and above all, Wall Street.
Personally, I think on board AI will be the next true driver or progress even though many people will get by without it and be perfectly happy.
Here I am with my Honor phone and two years after launch it's perfect for me. Rock solid. I have absolutely no need for anything else, not even AR. If I am representative of a significant number of people, the highest end phones will be a hard sell and there are some mighty big fish fighting it out in that pond. That said, I am willing to spend 400€ on a new phone but definitely not 700€ plus and I'm in no hurry. Being behind the latest technological wave isn't an issue for me.
Wall Street tends to see things from a different perspective though and if we get another 'evolutionary' upgrade, the stock price will probably suffer. If sales momentum is good though, the stock price will recover -eventually. It's pretty crazy how things work but if they maintain sales momentum, I think it would be a great success, especially given the fierce competition. I'm in the camp of those who think there will be a supercycle btw.
Tim's biggest problem is that he doesn't have stage persona and his voice is tiring to listen to. Unfortunately he is also robotic and uses a monotonous tone.
That isn't a criticism of him. He just isn't cut out for large presentations, in fact most of us aren't. I was not a big Jobs fan but his presentations were well constructed and delivered. Obviously they suffered towards the end due to underlying illness.
I think Tim manages an uncomfortable situation as best he can and logically tries to hand over tasks to others ASAP while on stage.
He must dread it but there's no way out of it.
I'm not aware of any natural born presenters in Apple higher management right now.
Craig has come on a lot over the years, even running demos on completely different areas within the same presentation but still needs experience.
We should all give thanks that Jony Ive is limited to video appearances though. He makes Tim seem like Steve.
You seem to see these events as superficial entertainment; a performance. I don't. Tim is displaying a stronger personna as each event occurs. He shows the same fire within himself, the same laser focus for Apple, that Steve did, and that is what I, and most of the rest of us foliowing Apple, see every day.
I note that in most of your comments, you attempt to distract and divert attention from all the things that Apple does well, things that it is improving on, and things that it is leading on.
That must require a lot of energy on your part; working at being such a perfectly superficial, and shallow, participant on AI, as you have just demonstrated above, and so many times prior.
ALL presentations are performances whether you see them that way or not, and Tim Cook isn't cut out for them. It's not his fault but being the CEO there is little he can do about it. One of a presenter's most important and effective tools is the voice. Unfortunately Tim Cook lacks in that vital area and there is very little he can do about it.
Doubled down; bold.
Here's a video of a press event where the participants were, from your perspective, about the worst possible candidates for a press event as ever could be imagined.
We all know how this worked out:
What is your point and what does it have to do with what I wrote?
Your posts indicate that you are biased towards presentation; you certainly expound on that in a number of posts. I gave you a video all about content and context, pretty historic content at that, and demonstrably little in the way of presentation.
Myself, I'm biased towards the technology that Apple will provide at that upcoming event of September 12, in the form of products, software, and services, and whatever innovations that arrive at that time.
No, not biased. The subject of presentations appeared and I commented on it from an impartial perspective and evaluated Jobs and Cook's presentation skills.
I'm sure Tim would agree with my observations.
I know first hand the terror stage fright can bring to some people. People handle it in different ways.
I know people that have learned to vomit in a particular way so they can reduce the damage to their throats when they are doing it. Vomiting is a common problem for some people before big events. I wouldn't be surprised if Tim took some kind of medication before going on stage. That is very common for big events.
People that aren't professional presenters or who have lots of experience, do not enjoy the moments prior to the presentations. When they are up there and things are going well, things normally get much better but the hours beforehand can be torture.
I will never forget a chance meeting on a ferry I had in 1987 with probably the most talented singer I have ever heard. He opened up to me on that night crossing and revealed his biggest fear: stage fright.
I followed his career as best I could and he disappeared from performing for years. His way of resolving his stage fright seemed to be through alcohol. At 47 he was dead. Not as a direct result of alcohol but it definitely screwed him up. I have a very good understanding of alcoholism and drug addiction and although I have never been there personally, I know how easy it is to end up there.
From the audience's perspective most people simply don't need to understand what the presenter is going through but I get to see things from the other side. I run through rehearsals, body language, relaxation, timing, backup etc and most of my clients are giving presentations in a non-native language. One had huge problems saying the word 'interoperability' and needed to say it over and over during a presentation. Sometimes, from the outside, you just don't see how one 'simple' word could cause someone so many problems. Although I speak fluent Spanish, I never ever use the word 'perros' (dogs) while giving examples. I always use 'gatos' (cats). Rolling my R's is difficult for me so I simply avoid them where possible.
I don't know exactly what Tim's preparation routine is, I don't know if he sleeps well the night before, I don't know what's going on in him during the presentation.
I can only watch him and give my opinion and that is what I have done. It's impossible for him not to be compared to Steve Jobs and he arguably has an extra layer of pressure as a result.
For what it is worth, he is a far better presenter than me.
I have a very good sounding voice and can easily shake off my natural accent, I am good in a classroom setting but I need the possibility of improvisation. I don't feel safe in the timed rigid world of complex presentations. I help people with them but luckily never have to give any.
Anyway, after chatting with this guy, he left a mark on me. RIP John
A lot of great live performers had stage fright. Johnny Carson admitted that he was extremely nervous every night while he was standing off stage right before he went on. But you would never know it from his show, which I watched for years.
Mac mini???? Bahahahahahaha! Who gives a shit about the Mac mini? Any new Mac mini is going to be the same as what's available today, only with faster processors and the latest Intel graphics. I wouldn't get your hopes up on anything more.
First, LOTS of people give a shit about the Mac mini. "Lots' obviously being a relative term in comparison to the iPhone, but enough that it keeps coming up. I can't imagine what you find funny about that, nor why you would feel inclined to insult what others wish for.
Second, a wish list for the mini could include Thunderbolt 3 on USB-C connectors to provide consistency with the new notebooks, a return to quad-core processors, and native hardware acceleration for h.265.
Third, what would be wrong with just a CPU and GPU upgrade? I might pull the trigger based on that alone.
LOTS is a very relative term....Lots could be 1000, or it could be 50. The bottomline is that the Mac mini is just about the worst selling Mac they have in the lineup. Just because you have a use for it, doesn't mean LOTS of people give a shit about the Mac mini.
Maybe you aren't thinking this, but there are those out there (including here in AI forums) that seem to think Apple is going to make this modular Mac mini with swappable RAM, and storage as well as discrete graphics, and all for $799!!! This simply isn't gonna happen.
I've said it here many times and I'll say it again...the Mac mini exists for one reason and one reason only, so nobody can say Macs are expensive. They used to be for switchers, but in today's world I'd like to know how many "switchers" buy a Mac mini over an iMac. The same can be said for the MacBook Air...it only exists so people can't say Apple's notebooks are too expensive.
Quite right. There's no reason at all for the Mac Mini anymore; Apple has no need to push x86 switchers to MacOS.
Still, I can see a market for a "Pro" AppleTV which would include AirPort, and media storage internally, and/or via USB Type C.
Given a second HDMI port for a BD Player connection, such a device could manage BD, CD, and DVD media seamlessly with iTunes; Home Theater suitable for a great number of people.
I think that Apple is missing the boat by not making a cheap, basic Tv device as Amazon and Google are doing. We know that Apple has slipped to four or five in tv hardware sales, and a new, expensive, 4K model isn’t going to change that much. Because of a lack of a popular, cheap, way of getting movies and Tv shows, their renting and sales of Tv shows and movies has also slipped. They used to be number one there, but they’re closer to number three now.
i get that Apple wants to change the way we watch Tv, but those efforts are failing there. I’m willing to bet that what they’re doing now is a result of failing to secure agreements at the pricing they want for what they wanted to do. Meanwhile, even small players are gaining access to the content Apple is having problems with, because they are willing to play ball more. We see Sonos doing very well with that, and others too. Maybe if Apple came out with a $60-$75 Tv device, that might change. If Apple were back on top in rentals and purchase, they would have more leverage, but as they slip, whatever leverage they may have had, slips too.
amazon gives a certain number of movies. Tv shows and music away for free each month with Prime. I think they lose money with Prime for most of those users. I just use Prime for shipping. But others take advantage of everything else. Amazon is willing to lose money on these services, but Apple isn’t, maybe they should.
Why? To increase attendance at the Church of Marketshare? Not Apple's bag. Contrary to your concern I believe Apple services income is growing.
Contrary to your belief, it’s known that sales and rentals are down. Services cover a big area. They’re up mostly because of increased sales in the App Store.
companies are in business to make sales and profits. I attempted to give a logical reason showing why their efforts haven’t been working. It’s so well known that their efforts aren’t working, that I’m surprised that you aren’t aware of it. It’s been reported a number of times over the past couple of years, or so. It’s known what movie and Tv rentals are doing. Forbes, Billboard, and the WSJ among other sources have reported this. Articles about Apple’s troubles negotiations with industry have also been reported.
With some in the negotiations stating that Apple wants certain pricing, and that they haven’t backed down from that, we can tell that things have been at a standstill. Now we also know that they’re battling about 4K pricing too.
in addition, it’s known that their competitors have made deals in content that Apple hasn’t been able to. When you diss market share, you’re doing what others like to do. But while it may be nice to think that Apple doesn’t care about market share, that’s wouldn’t be true. Apple cares very much about it, and states market share numbers every quarterly report. You should listen into the conference calls.
when I say that they are losing leverage with content producers, it’s true, and very important. When Jobs made his pitch to the music industry for low song pricing, it was still very early, and theft was a major issue, and self sales were very poor. They didn’t believe iTunes would be a success, and so let him have his way. That’s been documented, by the way, with interviews with several of those involved in the talks. But it succeeded way beyond what anyone, including Apple, expected. That gave Apple a lot of power in the music industry. Movie and Tv production companies are now wary of Apple. But if Apple were still number one there, they would have to give Apple more attention. But right now, they can walk away. That’s what marketshare means.
in addition, Apple had been asked a number of times over the past few years if they would be doing their own original content the way their competitors such as Amazon, Google and others were doing. Apple’s response each time was that they preferred leaving production to content producers, and handle distribution. But, here they are doing production. Do you wonder why?"
"Do you wonder why?" - Yes, and still haven't found a viable answer.
Because they can’t get what they want from the studios.
i’m an active investor, which just means that I do all of the decisions myself, and don’t use managed accounts. So I have to be on the ball about it. Really, if you’re not doing estimates, you shouldn’t be an active investor. Just do what Buffet advises, and get a bundle of the Fortune 500 without management. Otherwise, it requires work.
Thanks for the (condescending) advice. Yeah, I happen to know a little bit about investing too, manage mine as well, so I am good.
The last thing this board needs is another sog35-type amateur investor bragging about stock price estimates for Apple (or any other stock), or some back and forth about market price forecasts. They go nowhere quickly.
I don’t know what you consider to be an amateur. You can only speak for yourself. In addition, any estimates we care to make, based on whatever facts and speculation we care to us, is our business, not yours. And remember that you are the one who. Made a condescending post to me. I didn’t make one to you. I was just explaining my position.
sorry that your superior sensibility and knowledge was hurt.
Oh gosh, not at all. I quite vividly recall our many discussions from many years ago, and your views on basic principles of valuation, and on things such as PE ratios, risk, cash flows, cost of capital, etc. Basedd on the many things you've said, I have a rather strong basis for the view I have formed.
That said, it's your wont to express any opinion on this forum, just as it is mine. It's a free country. It should be pointed out, however, that you seemed to be the one to take umbrage over my pointing out -- a couple of others pointed it out too, earlier in this thread -- that price forecasts for AAPL in the $175 region were not unique to you or sog35. I was simply saying something similar, and providing data on the median analyst forecast which also happens to be $175 per share (with a max that goes to $208). And I gave you a link.
Perhaps you or sog35 do (although I would find that difficult to believe), but I have no superior sensibility or knowledge to forecast stock prices.
As an aside, didn't AI used to have a separate section of stock price discussions (just as they did for political discussions)? I don't know if it's still there, but given the topic at hand in this blog, it seems like a discussion of stock price forecasts seems a tad misplaced.
It’s nice that you’ve formed such a strong opinion of my investing knowledge. I’d be curious as to which one if has done better during that time, but obviously, that can never happen. There’s usually a good reason as to why different people come to a similar conclusion about something, and that’s not bad. You seem to be trying to make it so though.
I said I have a 'strong basis' for my opinion. That's not the same as 'strong opinion.' Don't misstate.
I don't get into contests over who has.... er... bigger hands. I am glad you have convinced yourself that you can clearly separate luck from skill. Good for you.
It’s still just an opinion. If you state that basis it would be easier to evaluate it. Otherwise, we don’t know anything about it, and it’s just another opinion among many.
I told you it's based on numerous conversations we've had over the years. Do you seriously expect me to recount those?
Oh, yes, he does. And if you don't dance for him (recount your past conversations for his amusement), he's right. He'll tell you all about how right he is.
You are really being a pain in the ass for continuing this in the matter you are. Do you want me to flag YOU? I rarely gave points to people when I was a mod, just told them to knock it off, but you’re becoming a real problem here.
I wonder why you are no longer a mod?
I was a mod for years, and they switch them up after a time. Only the admins are permanent, as long as they continue to work here, that is.
I was made a moderator in the last year. I take a mostly hands-off approach, letting the bickering peter out on its own, but have stepped in from time to time to call out an aggregious infraction, and even boot one or two obvious trolls a dozen messages into their stay. I think you'd be a welcome addition back, Mel, should the admins want to tap you again for the role.
Thanks. Over the years, I had people say things to me that were vastly worse than what I’m accused of saying to the couple of people here who aren’t happy with me, and I never gave them any flags or points. My feeling was that I’d rather have then yell at me than someone else. But I would PM them, to talk about it. Sometimes people couldn’t believe that I was letting it go. I’m sure the older members remember. Some of these newer members are very intolerant.
They are claiming the world's first mobile AI processing unit.
The official presentation isn't until tomorrow but if what is being claimed actually works on the device, they may have upped the ante a little. This makes me think Apple might also have something along those lines for their big reveal on the 12th.
Nobody cares. Even "if" they have a machine learning processor on board, how will it get used? The biggest problem with Android is device makers adding their own custom hardware that isn't actually supported by Android. So none of your Apps will properly take advantage of those features.
The rest of the 970 is generic off-the-shelf A73, A53 and Mali parts. Nothing new here, just another SoC based on ARM cores. At least Samsung and Qualcomm are now trying their hand at making their own custom cores, although they are still WAY behind Apple in this regard. The A11 should hit 4,000 single core, which makes it literally double that of the 835 or 8895. Quite amazing how far ahead Apple is.
If nobody cared, this site wouldn't have half as much Google and Samsung content.
Let me know when AI does an article on Kirin processors.
They've been discussed several times in AI articles. Use your favorite browser and search "AppleInsider Kirin", tho it doesn't help the point you thought you were making.
I said "let me know when AI does an article on Kirin processors", not "AI has never mentioned them before".
So then you had no point at all. The OP alluded to the very valid fact that if there was no interest in other companies products or OS's AI wouldn't keep bringing them up in article content, and folks like you, me, Tmay, Soli and hundreds of others wouldn't have any reason to comment in them when they do. And proving your own interest you frequently comment on even Android, or Google or Microsoft specific articles posted here.
Yes you're interested just as many of us are, and TBH we should be IMO.
Well, some people don’t think “interest” means anything other than “like”. Obviously, that’s not true.
“I’ll tell you, you just have not had chili by the campfire until you’ve eaten it with one of Jony [Ive’s] custom crafted aluminium spoons. … It’s the diamond-cut chamfered edges that really make the experience.” – Craig Federighi, while demoing the new Finder, WWDC 2014
I think that’s it’s great that they can kid each other like that.
Comments
Some of you are ignoring others. That's bad.
There are some here that I violently disagree. We can't all act like snowflakes. I have nobody on my ignore list.
Above all, AppleInsider can't turn into MacRumors.
Admins and Mods: If there is a way of disabling the ignore feature of this forum, please do it.
AI will never turn into MR because the mods here don't have an agenda to follow (namely, allowing trolls to run rampant to generate hits). Mods here at AI also allow members to call out trolls for what they are. You do that on MR and you're the one who gets the boot while the troll remains.
You want to cry because people ignore others? Yet you're calling them snowflakes?
2) Can you already connect any number of 3rd-party game controllers for the 4th gen Apple TV?
For various reasons. Not least competion. I've been saying all along that this year the competion will be fierce at the top end and that is exactly how it's playing out. Apple must deliver this year and that's the kind of pressure that is good for the industry and us, consumers.
There's been a lot of talk about the under screen fingerprint sensor but I don't consider that to be all that special. It's just another way of doing something we already do, just in a different place. On the camera front, it's largely all been done. We will see dual front cameras I'm sure at some point but you now don't need a high end camera to take good photos. The same goes for speed. Mid tier phones have been fast enough for quite a while. The same applies to graphics. RAM and storage? Apple will finally leaving this problem behind. 32GB would be a little on the stingy side but the system would be usable. Far different to the 16GB situation. If they deliberately leave out the 'sweet spot' storage option on any model I will continue calling them out. It isn't justified IMO.
Sensors? Better, faster without doubt but still just sensors that almost everybody already has across most mid-tier and high end phones. Some kind of new optical biometric option? It's still just a biometric option, just a different one. Nice to have but little more. We might see something new, yes but it's still just a sensor and will it be on all three phones or just the rumoured 10th anniversary model? I would hope to see any new sensor technology rolled out across the three models. If it can't be done due to cost or component availability, its impact will not be noticed and this time next year Apple could be playing catch up like it probably will this year with dual cameras. External Design? Ha! Something new for sure, right? Bezelless with and without a notch is already here so nothing radical there except for change itself (long overdue, another year with the same design and I can see them getting slated).
Better battery is nothing new, nor is OLED, nor is wireless charging. Convenience and functionality, yes (and very welcome!) but little more.
So, what would truly mark a jump forward?
My bets are on locally resolved AI hardware (as I already mentioned in this thread) and a major improvement in Siri. AR we know is coming but it needs application support. It's not something the user will truly see out of the box. An NPU is something that has been rumoured from Apple. Huawei just demoed one on a SoC that is already in mass production. They have opened up the AI platform to developers and partners to develop it too. It is not unreasonable to think Apple's is not ready to roll with their own chip.
I truly hope there is something no one has thought of. That would be great.
The most important thing for us though is competition, and that is what we have. On all fronts.
For an out on a limb bet, I would go for more competive pricing on some of the new hardware (as opposed to rehashed older models).
Perhaps others can tell me if they have the same issues, particularly with the Music app, that I do. I select a playlist and hit shuffle. I'll then just start hitting "skip" until it brings up something I want to listen to. The first time I hit the button it advances immediately. If I want to skip again, I hit the button and nothing happens. I hit it again and still nothing. Eventually it will respond, but will then skip once for each time I pressed the button. If I hit it three times, it will do nothing for a while and then suddenly skip three songs. So it's receiving the input, but there's a delay of several seconds before playback of the next song begins. If I press skip just once and wait, after three to five seconds it will finally advance. This is with music stored on the device, not cloud playback.
So now I'm wondering if this a sign that the latest iOS expects a faster processor, or if there's some other issue causing the problem (or maybe that's just expected and accepted performance from the iOS Music app).
Getting a little jaded, are you?
While something new would be novel and welcome, I wouldn't be dissatisfied with just incremental improvements to existing features. Stability, predictability, and, above all, reliability, are my highest priorities in a device. A major factor in my move to the Apple ecosystem was the promise that things just work. Often that isn't the case, and I wind up having to do things like initiate a sync between devices multiple times because the first two or three times it only completed part of the task, but then magically finished it on the third or fourth try, or signing in and out of accounts to kickstart an action. These aren't life-altering problems, but they are perplexing and often frustrating. Given a choice between getting some new feature or polishing the performance of existing ones, I'll take the latter.
What do you want AI to do then? Nothing? Just let forum arguments happen over and over again until someone (or both) get banned? Then both are gone permanently so we have 2 less members.
-- Steve knew
-- Tim believes
Ridiculous. A reader under the screen allows you to have slim bezels AND keep the fingerprint sensor on the front, instead of the useless hack that everyone else is doing placing it on the back (because they had no alternative). That is, if Apple even goes this route (they likely have a superior solution in FaceID).
Rubbish. For example, ARCore from Google requires the latest and fastest phones to work (because AR done in software requires power). This is why Apple also requires a minimum A9 equipped device to use ARKit. Mid-tier phones WILL NOT be able to do AR because they will lack the processor power to achieve it. The funny thing about this is that a 2 year old A9 equipped iPhone (even the least expensive SE) still outperforms 95% of Android devices on the market. Which is why Apple will dominate AR because of the sheer number of devices that will be able to use ARKit.
If all you do is run basic Apps, then mid-tier phones are fast. It's when you want to do something more that iOS shines (not only because of the superior processing power but because of Apps that can actually take advantage of it).
RAM is a problem? iOS isn't the clusterfuck known as Android where you need more RAM than a desktop PC running Windows before it will perform well.
More rubbish. Perhaps you forgot how useless Face Unlock was when Android introduced it? Easily fooled by a picture of you, forcing Google to add their Liveness Check feature which required you to blink to verify you weren't a picture. And having to hold your phone up to your face (even for a short time) to unlock? Nobody wants to do that, which is why nobody uses Face Unlock. Then Samsung decided to add this useless feature to the S8, and apparently forgot about the issues Google had and their system was also fooled with a picture. So was their iris scanner. Two-time losers for that screw up.
If Apple implements FaceID according to the features/capabilities shown by the companies they acquired, then it will be a complete game changer. Can't be fooled by a picture, can't be fooled by a 3D sculpture with your face applied to it, can tell identical twins apart, works in the dark, works from a partial view of your face, works at odd angles, and can't be fooled by sunglasses, beards or shaving. It's practically the perfect biometric unlocking feature. If you can see the screen of your phone then it can see you and unlock. It has all the features that make Touch ID so great (fast and accurate) without any drawbacks (like wearing gloves or having dirty/wet fingers).
OLED is not new, but an OLED phone that supports color management is. Since Android doesn't have color management then having a great OLED screen with a wide color gamut is pointless since you can't render content correctly. The iPhone will be the first device in the world to have an OLED screen AND support color management. Couple that with individually calibrated screens and you get the most accurate color reproduction possible. It won't have the "pop" that the cartoonish OLED screens of other devices do, but I'll take accuracy over flash any day.
As for the ' truly new' comment, it was a wink to the competition and above all, Wall Street.
Personally, I think on board AI will be the next true driver or progress even though many people will get by without it and be perfectly happy.
Here I am with my Honor phone and two years after launch it's perfect for me. Rock solid. I have absolutely no need for anything else, not even AR. If I am representative of a significant number of people, the highest end phones will be a hard sell and there are some mighty big fish fighting it out in that pond. That said, I am willing to spend 400€ on a new phone but definitely not 700€ plus and I'm in no hurry. Being behind the latest technological wave isn't an issue for me.
Wall Street tends to see things from a different perspective though and if we get another 'evolutionary' upgrade, the stock price will probably suffer. If sales momentum is good though, the stock price will recover -eventually. It's pretty crazy how things work but if they maintain sales momentum, I think it would be a great success, especially given the fierce competition. I'm in the camp of those who think there will be a supercycle btw.