Apple is rumored to be working on adding widgets to iOS, a development that would allow users to see more information from looking at their iPhone's Home screen without needing to navigate to another area. In an image shared by leaker @choco_biton Twitter, the widgets will seemingly be available in a variety of different sizes.
The image shows representations of icons on the Home screen, but with some being rectangular and taking up the space of two icons, and others being larger and consuming four icon spots. While the image doesn't specify what these elements are, the most likely answer is that they are widgets.
From those wireframes the form looks pretty similar to the tiles from Microsoft Design Language.
Notches are quickly looking more dated. If this is for a phone which is to cover the best part of 2021, it won't fare well on the design front with so many phones out there with tiny notches, holepunches etc. It will fare far worse if those bezels are representative of the screen to body ratio.
Hopefully it is simply a basic mock-up and far from the real thing.
Yeah you’ve been saying that since there was a notch. And one day it just may be true.
Actually, I haven't. I defended the use of the notch on both Apple and Android devices as it was a way to fill more of the screen.
However, it wasn't the only way to do that and alternatives arrived. So, much like foreheads and chins became dated, so have notches.
If the goal is to maximise screen to body ratios, that has already been done well into 90%+ by reducing bezels and in some cases completely eliminating the notch. There are compromises and preferences involved and if you want 3D depth sensing, at the very least, you have to aspire to getting the most screen available to users. Big bezels and prominent notches (even if you feel you need the technology) are going to be very dated in 2021 (the period iPhone 12 will have most prominence).
The images linked in this story already look dated. That's why I hope they aren't representative of the sizes.
I've come to like hole punch options but my preference, as I have made clear for a couple of years now, is for a slight bump at the top of the frame to house the necessary components. Like the curves on the Pismo PowerBooks. Just a more subtle curvature.
One thing is for sure. No one ideally wants bezels or notches and the longer they are around and the bigger the bezels, the more they will look dated.
You have claimed the the iPhone is dated, stale design, following not leading, since I can remember. And yet, all this time, your knockoffs keep copying it, year after year. Whatevs.
The use of the sensor cutout is what enables the lack of forehead or chin on iPhones. Currently, you either have a forehead or chin, or you cut out part of the screen. That's it. There's no other magic way to increase surface-to-screen ratios, until the time comes the tech can be put under the display screen.
That the iPhone looks dated has been the reality of the last few years.
Buy your cheap man's iPhone and be happy. Apple doesn't care about your opinion they'll keep leading the pack.
Notches are quickly looking more dated. If this is for a phone which is to cover the best part of 2021, it won't fare well on the design front with so many phones out there with tiny notches, holepunches etc. It will fare far worse if those bezels are representative of the screen to body ratio.
Hopefully it is simply a basic mock-up and far from the real thing.
Yeah you’ve been saying that since there was a notch. And one day it just may be true.
Actually, I haven't. I defended the use of the notch on both Apple and Android devices as it was a way to fill more of the screen.
However, it wasn't the only way to do that and alternatives arrived. So, much like foreheads and chins became dated, so have notches.
If the goal is to maximise screen to body ratios, that has already been done well into 90%+ by reducing bezels and in some cases completely eliminating the notch. There are compromises and preferences involved and if you want 3D depth sensing, at the very least, you have to aspire to getting the most screen available to users. Big bezels and prominent notches (even if you feel you need the technology) are going to be very dated in 2021 (the period iPhone 12 will have most prominence).
The images linked in this story already look dated. That's why I hope they aren't representative of the sizes.
I've come to like hole punch options but my preference, as I have made clear for a couple of years now, is for a slight bump at the top of the frame to house the necessary components. Like the curves on the Pismo PowerBooks. Just a more subtle curvature.
One thing is for sure. No one ideally wants bezels or notches and the longer they are around and the bigger the bezels, the more they will look dated.
You have claimed the the iPhone is dated, stale design, following not leading, since I can remember. And yet, all this time, your knockoffs keep copying it, year after year. Whatevs.
The use of the sensor cutout is what enables the lack of forehead or chin on iPhones. Currently, you either have a forehead or chin, or you cut out part of the screen. That's it. There's no other magic way to increase surface-to-screen ratios, until the time comes the tech can be put under the display screen.
That the iPhone looks dated has been the reality of the last few years.
Buy your cheap man's iPhone and be happy. Apple doesn't care about your opinion they'll keep leading the pack.
Apple cares about my opinion. And yours. Don't kid yourself into thinking they are not aware of our opinions and market shifts.
Your 'cheap man's iPhone' thinking shows how you see things and how wrong your are.
The phone industry is moving is the same direction but Apple is simply moving more slowly. Tri-cameras? Night Mode? Wireless charging? Full screen displays? Faster modems? Faster WiFi? USB-C? Etc. Slowly coming to an iPhone near.
Are you so blind to what is on the market that you cannot bring yourself to admit this?
'Cheap man's iPhone'? Really?
I voted with my wallet. It is up to us to decide what we consider the best options are and at what price. Apple is reacting but slowly. That's fine and they should get there at some point and if you want to be blind to what's going on in the market, that's fine too although I'm sure you actually agree with me on wanting thinner bezels and smaller (or no) notches.
We've had our iPhone 11s for about five months now. Honestly I hardly ever even notice the notch. It doesn't cause any problems.
Not unlike never noticing a rear-view-mirror as it takes up space in the windshield. You’re used to it in 3 seconds.
Yup, the only people who really notice it are the ones focussing on it to make a fuss over it. For everyone else, it's a bit like your nose or your spectacle frames: constantly in your line of sight, but your brain just tunes them out.
The reason it's there is nothing to do with Apple's lack of technical nonce; it's there because Apple, unlike the armchair designers around here, understands usability. If you put the FaceID in a bezel, then people would have to flick their eyes upward to the top of the phone to activate it. When you pick up your screen, you naturally look at it, not above it, so that's where you put the FaceID camera. What I've noticed on my iPad, especially when reading a book in bed, is that I have to move my eyes to look above the screen, or move the iPad, to unlock it.
So, I don't think the notch is going anywhere until they can figure out how to put the camera behind the screen.
Hate to break it you, but they really don't. They care about lots of people's opinions, but yours isn't one of them.
If you'd actually paid any attention then you'd realise that Apple doesn't make products for everybody (you'd think that was obvious, but you seem to have missed it). Rather than chasing every single person who wants to buy a device, they focus on the customers who want to buy a benefit rather than a spec sheet. Your problem is that your perspective is very narrow: you seem to think that Apple needs to make a phone bristling with USB and SCSCI ports so that it meets the needs of everyone, and sell it for a $1 so that everyone would buy it. Let's try some basic maths: if Apple made a phone for a $1 then, ignoring the fact that it would be a pretty crap phone, the most they could make from it would be around $8billion. But that's okay for you, because they've made a phone everyone can afford!
The phone industry is moving is the same direction but Apple is simply moving more slowly. Tri-cameras? Night Mode? Wireless charging? Full screen displays? Faster modems? Faster WiFi? USB-C? Etc. Slowly coming to an iPhone near.
Yeah, you've been banging this tired old drum for a couple of years now, and oddly enough, Apple is still here, and raking in money quarter after quarter and increasing the user base. USB-C is a poor design for a phone because they put the breakable part inside the phone, where it's most expensive to fix. But I digress …
I was looking for a way to explain why Apple doesn't care about your opinion, and I think it can best be explained simply by looking at your choice of user name.
Mrs Rayz2016 and I loved Blakes7 when we were kids, so we were over the moon when someone gave us the DVD set for Christmas a few years ago. We opened a bottle of wine, put the cat out, and settled in to binge watch it.
I think we made it to episode three before I turned and said: "This is sh*t." And she said: "It's not sh*t. Things have moved on and we've just grown out of it."
Anyway, the whole set went to the charity shop, having only watched three episodes.
And this is why Apple doesn't care about your opinion. They're focussed on customers who are willing to change and move on. They're not really interested in people who can't see any further than a spec list. Apple isn't selling a spec list, it's selling benefits for their chosen market, and if the item doesn't lead to a benefit for their chosen markets, then it doesn't make it on to the phone, otherwise, they'd have to add it because their chosen market demands it.
Going back to USB-C: what Apple knows, and you don't, is how the vast majority of their customers use their phone. The phone lasts for more than a day, so I put it on the IKEA lamp to charge it overnight. I don't ever transfer anything to the Phone through the port; I just go through iCloud, or Airdrop or email or whatever. If Apple's customers tend to use their phone like that, rather than hunting around for a cable to transfer a file to it then that would probably explain why the lack of a USB-C port only seems to bother spec-whores, and not Apple's customer base.
I voted with my wallet.
And that's my point: you voted with your wallet, and yet you're still here whining because you feel that Apple has forsaken you. You hope that running around Apple forums telling people that you've "voted with your wallet" that someone at Apple will alert Tim Cook that the Blakes7 guy has left the platform, and that they'd better get the parallel port on to the next version of the phone if there's any hope of him coming back. This is not what is going to happen because what Apple is seeing is people using wires less, and transferring information across services more. You think Apple is just being obstinate to annoy you? Nope, contrary to what you think, they're simply being driven by what their customer base is doing. Just because you're not, you think they should change course and row against the tide?
You've voted with your wallet but your still here because you can't deal with the change. And because you can't deal with the change, Apple's not interested in your opinion or you as a customer. Dunno, is that irony? I'm never quite sure these days.
Apple is rumored to be working on adding widgets to iOS, a development that would allow users to see more information from looking at their iPhone's Home screen without needing to navigate to another area. In an image shared by leaker @choco_biton Twitter, the widgets will seemingly be available in a variety of different sizes.
The image shows representations of icons on the Home screen, but with some being rectangular and taking up the space of two icons, and others being larger and consuming four icon spots. While the image doesn't specify what these elements are, the most likely answer is that they are widgets.
From those wireframes the form looks pretty similar to the tiles from Microsoft Design Language.
The difference is subtle.
Looking at the wireframe, the gap between the elements points more towards buttons than tiles. When I think of tiles I tend to think of elements that are much closer together. By having them further apart, Apple can make the actual elements smaller without worrying about people hitting the wrong one, which is better for devices with smaller screens.
I'd like to know more about the functionality of the widgets. Will these be full featured and first class citizens of the screen estate (also for us third party developers)? Then we will see some really nice innovations, I'm sure!
We've had our iPhone 11s for about five months now. Honestly I hardly ever even notice the notch. It doesn't cause any problems.
Not unlike never noticing a rear-view-mirror as it takes up space in the windshield. You’re used to it in 3 seconds.
The reason it's there is nothing to do with Apple's lack of technical nonce; it's there because Apple, unlike the armchair designers around here, understands usability. If you put the FaceID in a bezel, then people would have to flick their eyes upward to the top of the phone to activate it.
What? LOL! 1-2mm makes zippo difference as far as FaceID "discovering" you have eyes and they're open. It's not reading the blood vessels.
Test it yourself: Look at the center of your display instead of the notch when unlocking. It will still work.
Hate to break it you, but they really don't. They care about lots of people's opinions, but yours isn't one of them.
If you'd actually paid any attention then you'd realise that Apple doesn't make products for everybody (you'd think that was obvious, but you seem to have missed it). Rather than chasing every single person who wants to buy a device, they focus on the customers who want to buy a benefit rather than a spec sheet. Your problem is that your perspective is very narrow: you seem to think that Apple needs to make a phone bristling with USB and SCSCI ports so that it meets the needs of everyone, and sell it for a $1 so that everyone would buy it. Let's try some basic maths: if Apple made a phone for a $1 then, ignoring the fact that it would be a pretty crap phone, the most they could make from it would be around $8billion. But that's okay for you, because they've made a phone everyone can afford!
The phone industry is moving is the same direction but Apple is simply moving more slowly. Tri-cameras? Night Mode? Wireless charging? Full screen displays? Faster modems? Faster WiFi? USB-C? Etc. Slowly coming to an iPhone near.
Yeah, you've been banging this tired old drum for a couple of years now, and oddly enough, Apple is still here, and raking in money quarter after quarter and increasing the user base. USB-C is a poor design for a phone because they put the breakable part inside the phone, where it's most expensive to fix. But I digress …
I was looking for a way to explain why Apple doesn't care about your opinion, and I think it can best be explained simply by looking at your choice of user name.
Mrs Rayz2016 and I loved Blakes7 when we were kids, so we were over the moon when someone gave us the DVD set for Christmas a few years ago. We opened a bottle of wine, put the cat out, and settled in to binge watch it.
I think we made it to episode three before I turned and said: "This is sh*t." And she said: "It's not sh*t. Things have moved on and we've just grown out of it."
Anyway, the whole set went to the charity shop, having only watched three episodes.
And this is why Apple doesn't care about your opinion. They're focussed on customers who are willing to change and move on. They're not really interested in people who can't see any further than a spec list. Apple isn't selling a spec list, it's selling benefits for their chosen market, and if the item doesn't lead to a benefit for their chosen markets, then it doesn't make it on to the phone, otherwise, they'd have to add it because their chosen market demands it.
Going back to USB-C: what Apple knows, and you don't, is how the vast majority of their customers use their phone. The phone lasts for more than a day, so I put it on the IKEA lamp to charge it overnight. I don't ever transfer anything to the Phone through the port; I just go through iCloud, or Airdrop or email or whatever. If Apple's customers tend to use their phone like that, rather than hunting around for a cable to transfer a file to it then that would probably explain why the lack of a USB-C port only seems to bother spec-whores, and not Apple's customer base.
I voted with my wallet.
And that's my point: you voted with your wallet, and yet you're still here whining because you feel that Apple has forsaken you. You hope that running around Apple forums telling people that you've "voted with your wallet" that someone at Apple will alert Tim Cook that the Blakes7 guy has left the platform, and that they'd better get the parallel port on to the next version of the phone if there's any hope of him coming back. This is not what is going to happen because what Apple is seeing is people using wires less, and transferring information across services more. You think Apple is just being obstinate to annoy you? Nope, contrary to what you think, they're simply being driven by what their customer base is doing. Just because you're not, you think they should change course and row against the tide?
You've voted with your wallet but your still here because you can't deal with the change. And because you can't deal with the change, Apple's not interested in your opinion or you as a customer. Dunno, is that irony? I'm never quite sure these days.
Re-read what I wrote.
Apple cares about everybody's opinion. That's why, when it carries out it research, it could easily include me or you in sample groups.
What it does with the resulting information is something else. That's a completely different story and has nothing to do with caring about someone's opinion.
There is no pre-filtering of people's opinions to select only those that fall in line with what Apple is looking to find. That would be pointless and absurd. The only pre-filtering that happens is to meet a basic profile such as teen, pensioners, women etc.
Perhaps you understand this now. Caring about our opinions doesn't mean catering to everyone. Yes, you would think that should be obvious and yes, I have been paying attention.
Spec sheet? Go back and watch an Apple iPhone keynote. They are chock full of specs. Perhaps you haven't been paying attention but specs are what move this industry (Apple included). You cannot get away from that. You cannot brush over that. The problem that has become evident (especially since 2017) is that Apple cannot blow its trumpet on specs that are behind those of its competitors. What it has done of late is put more spec focus on previous iPhones and less on industry specs.
You are utterly and demonstrably wrong when you say Apple works to provide a benefit to users. So wrong that I find it hard to fathom how you reached that conclusion.
Where is the benefit in shipping a 5W charger? Where was the benefit in removing the second camera (XR). Where was the benefit of skimping on battery capacities and even RAM. Where was the benefit in switching to intel modems. Where was the benefit in flimsy cables?
And you say I have a narrow perspective? My mind is open enough to take in the entire market and not try to make excuses for reality.
If Apple has failed to keep up in key areas over recent years, don't make excuses for them, demand value with your wallet! You, me everyone. That is what has happened IMO. Longer upgrade times, flat sales (years of flat sales). From the 2019 refresh we were beginning to see a turnaround in key areas but only due to changes. Changes in what is on offer, changes in price etc.
Benefits for users? No. In a single word, no. At least in the blanket use you are trying to pass off here.
There are no user benefits in opening an iPhone 11 in 2020 and finding a charger from 2010.
Bristling with SCSI and USB ports. Really? Re-read what I actually wrote and try to comprehend it. Meeting the needs of everyone? Selling for $1? Absurd.
What you see as 'banging on about' is wanting a device that is actually competitive within the flagship band it sits in. Nothing out of the ordinary, and I will repeat, what I have 'banged on' about over the last three years has started to be delivered by the company in spite of the opinions of people like yourself!
Delivered because the competition was leaving it in the shade. Delivered because sales flattened. Delivered because prices were too high etc.
Basic math? Your point imploded when Apple vastly upped the spec sheet and discounted phone prices, then reduced them on many phones in the range. Your $1 point is absurd.
I have said a few times, competitors offer far more and still make billions. The reality is that. Not only that but they sacrifice the highest 'profit taking' for more R&D and offer more. Apple has a history of banking the profits and we know this.
The most expensive part of a phone is probably the SoC design, testing and fabrication. Apple is not alone in these highly expensive areas. Competitors with far less cash in the bank (from all those profits) are there, too. Apple won't be alone in announcing 5nm SoCs (probably won't be first either) and right up until now Apple hasn't moved modems into its SoCs either.
Money can't buy everything for Apple because frankly the money (a large part of all those profits) is not even in the phones - it is elsewhere.
Its cash reserves tell us this. Its investment strategy tells us this. Is there a problem with that? That depends on your viewpoint but it is irrelevant. iPhone purchasers have little or no reason to be interested in Apple's business side as long as it's viable and able to produce phones and everything else. Just like every other business.
We know that companies can produce amazing bleeding edge phones with high price tags with drawing from far less profits. We know this because they are actually doing it! It can be argued they are doing far more with far less. Simple math you say?
They offer lower priced phones along with prices that even blaze past Apple's. Have done for years. They turn in profits, sometimes to the tune of billions but they compete. Apple hasn't really been competing and that is why things went the way they did. That is why they are reacting!
I don't whine. Never have. I point out where, IMO, Apple has failed. I do this as an Apple user and in no way forsaken (another absurd claim). The difference with some here is that I don't go on the defensive at the slightest criticism of Apple. I am also an Android user. Like many others and am well positioned to compare both platforms and the businessess behind them. We all have opinions. I also give credit where credit is due. Did you ever see me criticise the objectives of the notch from a screen to body perspective? Nope. I criticised other aspects.
My user name has zero to do with anything (LOL). It seems ironic that you point to my seemingly narrow perspective of the iPhone market but utterly fail to apply the correct perspective to a low budget, children's TV show from decades ago!
The 'quality' of the show is not what people remember it for! It was a kids show! It was even lower than 'low budget'. Wow! It is crap by today's standards. Were you expecting something different? Didn't you see the repeats as a young adult? Hadn't you reached that conclusion over 20 years ago?
You are not supposed to compare it from a modern day perspective! When you saw it first you were a kid! You aren't a kid now. At most it would be nostalgia! That is reason enough to keep the DVDs!
Do Daleks still scare you!? Perspective!
If B7 had continued like Doctor Who, things would be different.
No. People remember it for other things. The characters. The dark undertones. As well as being a great show when we were kids.
That's why some people yearn for a big budget version. That's why, to this day, fans have continued with the story to carry it forward in different directions.
Can you name two fictional characters over these decades who have come close to the chemistry of Avon or Vila and their casting?
Now, after all that, how about the core point I was making: In 2021, a large notch and big bezels will look dated. I hope they increase screen to body ratios by reducing those two elements.
We've had our iPhone 11s for about five months now. Honestly I hardly ever even notice the notch. It doesn't cause any problems.
Not unlike never noticing a rear-view-mirror as it takes up space in the windshield. You’re used to it in 3 seconds.
The reason it's there is nothing to do with Apple's lack of technical nonce; it's there because Apple, unlike the armchair designers around here, understands usability. If you put the FaceID in a bezel, then people would have to flick their eyes upward to the top of the phone to activate it.
What? LOL! 1-2mm makes zippo difference as far as FaceID "discovering" you have eyes and they're open. It's not reading the blood vessels.
Test it yourself: Look at the center of your display instead of the notch when unlocking. It will still work.
Yes. This is a strange claim. Especially when FaceID works in complete darkness too and is fast enough to 'see' you before your eyes actually focus on anything precisely. Just looking in the right direction is enough. I believe the latest version also widened the angle of view for FaceID.
I may be wrong but I think I've even seen patents with notches in the bezels.
The phone industry is moving is the same direction but Apple is simply moving more slowly. Tri-cameras? Night Mode? Wireless charging? Full screen displays? Faster modems? Faster WiFi? USB-C? Etc. Slowly coming to an iPhone near.
Are you so blind to what is on the market that you cannot bring yourself to admit this?
Just few remarks to this topic:
To Apple adopt some technology, things are needed
tech being technically very well functional
software implementation as well
has to be secure on SW and HW side as well
mass production in high quantity a quality for target price available
simple to use, even by grandma
there has to be mas market or adoption, infrastructure available (like 5G. Not just on paper)
sometimes Apple wait till can technology make stand out compare current implementation.
The phone industry is moving is the same direction but Apple is simply moving more slowly. Tri-cameras? Night Mode? Wireless charging? Full screen displays? Faster modems? Faster WiFi? USB-C? Etc. Slowly coming to an iPhone near.
Are you so blind to what is on the market that you cannot bring yourself to admit this?
Just few remarks to this topic:
To Apple adopt some technology, things are needed
tech being technically very well functional
software implementation as well
has to be secure on SW and HW side as well
mass production in high quantity a quality for target price available
simple to use, even by grandma
there has to be mas market or adoption, infrastructure available (like 5G. Not just on paper)
sometimes Apple wait till can technology make stand out compare current implementation.
and maybe other thing I have no idea about
Apple doesn't always adhere to all that.
iOS 11-13 haven't had a good ride as far as QC is concerned.
Siri has different personalities depending on the device used.
HomeKit seems to have been brought to market with the Mac as some long lost cousin.
LiDAR has little use but has been implemented but UWB looks to be only present on high end iDevices.
5G is moving on SoC (you get it even if you don't need it) on many devices (even mid range devices). 5G as an infrastructure element is being rolled out literally as fast as they can make base stations. Some countries are well ahead of others. Clearly, purchasing a new phone, you have to consider 5G becoming a reality within its lifetime.
Grandma's use smartphones without issue.
Apple can always wait but then it becomes less competitive. We have seen just that over the last four years. The recent iPhone SE is proof of that in terms of pricing. You only need to search AI for 'race to the bottom' and look at the conversations. Mostly they were from people who were convinced a low cost iPhone was not needed. If Samsung or Huawei had released such a phone there would have been howls of laughter here. Guaranteed. I can understand the logic behind the phone but the reason it exists (that lies as the foundation of all other reasons) is to resolve a problem that has been dogging Apple for years now.
Comments
Buy your cheap man's iPhone and be happy. Apple doesn't care about your opinion they'll keep leading the pack.
Your 'cheap man's iPhone' thinking shows how you see things and how wrong your are.
The phone industry is moving is the same direction but Apple is simply moving more slowly. Tri-cameras? Night Mode? Wireless charging? Full screen displays? Faster modems? Faster WiFi? USB-C? Etc. Slowly coming to an iPhone near.
Are you so blind to what is on the market that you cannot bring yourself to admit this?
'Cheap man's iPhone'? Really?
I voted with my wallet. It is up to us to decide what we consider the best options are and at what price. Apple is reacting but slowly. That's fine and they should get there at some point and if you want to be blind to what's going on in the market, that's fine too although I'm sure you actually agree with me on wanting thinner bezels and smaller (or no) notches.
Yup, the only people who really notice it are the ones focussing on it to make a fuss over it. For everyone else, it's a bit like your nose or your spectacle frames: constantly in your line of sight, but your brain just tunes them out.
The reason it's there is nothing to do with Apple's lack of technical nonce; it's there because Apple, unlike the armchair designers around here, understands usability. If you put the FaceID in a bezel, then people would have to flick their eyes upward to the top of the phone to activate it. When you pick up your screen, you naturally look at it, not above it, so that's where you put the FaceID camera. What I've noticed on my iPad, especially when reading a book in bed, is that I have to move my eyes to look above the screen, or move the iPad, to unlock it.
So, I don't think the notch is going anywhere until they can figure out how to put the camera behind the screen.
If you'd actually paid any attention then you'd realise that Apple doesn't make products for everybody (you'd think that was obvious, but you seem to have missed it). Rather than chasing every single person who wants to buy a device, they focus on the customers who want to buy a benefit rather than a spec sheet. Your problem is that your perspective is very narrow: you seem to think that Apple needs to make a phone bristling with USB and SCSCI ports so that it meets the needs of everyone, and sell it for a $1 so that everyone would buy it. Let's try some basic maths: if Apple made a phone for a $1 then, ignoring the fact that it would be a pretty crap phone, the most they could make from it would be around $8billion. But that's okay for you, because they've made a phone everyone can afford!
Yeah, you've been banging this tired old drum for a couple of years now, and oddly enough, Apple is still here, and raking in money quarter after quarter and increasing the user base. USB-C is a poor design for a phone because they put the breakable part inside the phone, where it's most expensive to fix. But I digress …
I was looking for a way to explain why Apple doesn't care about your opinion, and I think it can best be explained simply by looking at your choice of user name.
Mrs Rayz2016 and I loved Blakes7 when we were kids, so we were over the moon when someone gave us the DVD set for Christmas a few years ago. We opened a bottle of wine, put the cat out, and settled in to binge watch it.
I think we made it to episode three before I turned and said: "This is sh*t."
And she said: "It's not sh*t. Things have moved on and we've just grown out of it."
Anyway, the whole set went to the charity shop, having only watched three episodes.
And this is why Apple doesn't care about your opinion. They're focussed on customers who are willing to change and move on. They're not really interested in people who can't see any further than a spec list. Apple isn't selling a spec list, it's selling benefits for their chosen market, and if the item doesn't lead to a benefit for their chosen markets, then it doesn't make it on to the phone, otherwise, they'd have to add it because their chosen market demands it.
Going back to USB-C: what Apple knows, and you don't, is how the vast majority of their customers use their phone. The phone lasts for more than a day, so I put it on the IKEA lamp to charge it overnight. I don't ever transfer anything to the Phone through the port; I just go through iCloud, or Airdrop or email or whatever. If Apple's customers tend to use their phone like that, rather than hunting around for a cable to transfer a file to it then that would probably explain why the lack of a USB-C port only seems to bother spec-whores, and not Apple's customer base.
And that's my point: you voted with your wallet, and yet you're still here whining because you feel that Apple has forsaken you. You hope that running around Apple forums telling people that you've "voted with your wallet" that someone at Apple will alert Tim Cook that the Blakes7 guy has left the platform, and that they'd better get the parallel port on to the next version of the phone if there's any hope of him coming back. This is not what is going to happen because what Apple is seeing is people using wires less, and transferring information across services more. You think Apple is just being obstinate to annoy you? Nope, contrary to what you think, they're simply being driven by what their customer base is doing. Just because you're not, you think they should change course and row against the tide?
You've voted with your wallet but your still here because you can't deal with the change. And because you can't deal with the change, Apple's not interested in your opinion or you as a customer. Dunno, is that irony? I'm never quite sure these days.
The difference is subtle.
Looking at the wireframe, the gap between the elements points more towards buttons than tiles. When I think of tiles I tend to think of elements that are much closer together. By having them further apart, Apple can make the actual elements smaller without worrying about people hitting the wrong one, which is better for devices with smaller screens.
Test it yourself: Look at the center of your display instead of the notch when unlocking. It will still work.
Apple cares about everybody's opinion. That's why, when it carries out it research, it could easily include me or you in sample groups.
What it does with the resulting information is something else. That's a completely different story and has nothing to do with caring about someone's opinion.
There is no pre-filtering of people's opinions to select only those that fall in line with what Apple is looking to find. That would be pointless and absurd. The only pre-filtering that happens is to meet a basic profile such as teen, pensioners, women etc.
Perhaps you understand this now. Caring about our opinions doesn't mean catering to everyone. Yes, you would think that should be obvious and yes, I have been paying attention.
Spec sheet? Go back and watch an Apple iPhone keynote. They are chock full of specs. Perhaps you haven't been paying attention but specs are what move this industry (Apple included). You cannot get away from that. You cannot brush over that. The problem that has become evident (especially since 2017) is that Apple cannot blow its trumpet on specs that are behind those of its competitors. What it has done of late is put more spec focus on previous iPhones and less on industry specs.
You are utterly and demonstrably wrong when you say Apple works to provide a benefit to users. So wrong that I find it hard to fathom how you reached that conclusion.
Where is the benefit in shipping a 5W charger? Where was the benefit in removing the second camera (XR). Where was the benefit of skimping on battery capacities and even RAM. Where was the benefit in switching to intel modems. Where was the benefit in flimsy cables?
And you say I have a narrow perspective? My mind is open enough to take in the entire market and not try to make excuses for reality.
If Apple has failed to keep up in key areas over recent years, don't make excuses for them, demand value with your wallet! You, me everyone. That is what has happened IMO. Longer upgrade times, flat sales (years of flat sales). From the 2019 refresh we were beginning to see a turnaround in key areas but only due to changes. Changes in what is on offer, changes in price etc.
Benefits for users? No. In a single word, no. At least in the blanket use you are trying to pass off here.
There are no user benefits in opening an iPhone 11 in 2020 and finding a charger from 2010.
Bristling with SCSI and USB ports. Really? Re-read what I actually wrote and try to comprehend it. Meeting the needs of everyone? Selling for $1? Absurd.
What you see as 'banging on about' is wanting a device that is actually competitive within the flagship band it sits in. Nothing out of the ordinary, and I will repeat, what I have 'banged on' about over the last three years has started to be delivered by the company in spite of the opinions of people like yourself!
Delivered because the competition was leaving it in the shade. Delivered because sales flattened. Delivered because prices were too high etc.
Basic math? Your point imploded when Apple vastly upped the spec sheet and discounted phone prices, then reduced them on many phones in the range. Your $1 point is absurd.
I have said a few times, competitors offer far more and still make billions. The reality is that. Not only that but they sacrifice the highest 'profit taking' for more R&D and offer more. Apple has a history of banking the profits and we know this.
The most expensive part of a phone is probably the SoC design, testing and fabrication. Apple is not alone in these highly expensive areas. Competitors with far less cash in the bank (from all those profits) are there, too. Apple won't be alone in announcing 5nm SoCs (probably won't be first either) and right up until now Apple hasn't moved modems into its SoCs either.
Money can't buy everything for Apple because frankly the money (a large part of all those profits) is not even in the phones - it is elsewhere.
Its cash reserves tell us this. Its investment strategy tells us this. Is there a problem with that? That depends on your viewpoint but it is irrelevant. iPhone purchasers have little or no reason to be interested in Apple's business side as long as it's viable and able to produce phones and everything else. Just like every other business.
We know that companies can produce amazing bleeding edge phones with high price tags with drawing from far less profits. We know this because they are actually doing it! It can be argued they are doing far more with far less. Simple math you say?
They offer lower priced phones along with prices that even blaze past Apple's. Have done for years. They turn in profits, sometimes to the tune of billions but they compete. Apple hasn't really been competing and that is why things went the way they did. That is why they are reacting!
I don't whine. Never have. I point out where, IMO, Apple has failed. I do this as an Apple user and in no way forsaken (another absurd claim). The difference with some here is that I don't go on the defensive at the slightest criticism of Apple. I am also an Android user. Like many others and am well positioned to compare both platforms and the businessess behind them. We all have opinions. I also give credit where credit is due. Did you ever see me criticise the objectives of the notch from a screen to body perspective? Nope. I criticised other aspects.
My user name has zero to do with anything (LOL). It seems ironic that you point to my seemingly narrow perspective of the iPhone market but utterly fail to apply the correct perspective to a low budget, children's TV show from decades ago!
The 'quality' of the show is not what people remember it for! It was a kids show! It was even lower than 'low budget'. Wow! It is crap by today's standards. Were you expecting something different? Didn't you see the repeats as a young adult? Hadn't you reached that conclusion over 20 years ago?
You are not supposed to compare it from a modern day perspective! When you saw it first you were a kid! You aren't a kid now. At most it would be nostalgia! That is reason enough to keep the DVDs!
Do Daleks still scare you!? Perspective!
If B7 had continued like Doctor Who, things would be different.
No. People remember it for other things. The characters. The dark undertones. As well as being a great show when we were kids.
That's why some people yearn for a big budget version. That's why, to this day, fans have continued with the story to carry it forward in different directions.
Can you name two fictional characters over these decades who have come close to the chemistry of Avon or Vila and their casting?
Now, after all that, how about the core point I was making: In 2021, a large notch and big bezels will look dated. I hope they increase screen to body ratios by reducing those two elements.
I may be wrong but I think I've even seen patents with notches in the bezels.
iOS 11-13 haven't had a good ride as far as QC is concerned.
Siri has different personalities depending on the device used.
HomeKit seems to have been brought to market with the Mac as some long lost cousin.
LiDAR has little use but has been implemented but UWB looks to be only present on high end iDevices.
5G is moving on SoC (you get it even if you don't need it) on many devices (even mid range devices). 5G as an infrastructure element is being rolled out literally as fast as they can make base stations. Some countries are well ahead of others. Clearly, purchasing a new phone, you have to consider 5G becoming a reality within its lifetime.
Grandma's use smartphones without issue.
Apple can always wait but then it becomes less competitive. We have seen just that over the last four years. The recent iPhone SE is proof of that in terms of pricing. You only need to search AI for 'race to the bottom' and look at the conversations. Mostly they were from people who were convinced a low cost iPhone was not needed. If Samsung or Huawei had released such a phone there would have been howls of laughter here. Guaranteed. I can understand the logic behind the phone but the reason it exists (that lies as the foundation of all other reasons) is to resolve a problem that has been dogging Apple for years now.