brucemc

The mockups aside (for the reasons mentioned earlier in the thread w.r.t. "edge-to-edge" really only possible with OLED - we think...:), the rumour should not be dismissed out of hand.  Keeping an LCD display on a "new" model, to allow expanded supply of new phones (due to expected still tight supply for quality OLED panels) makes sense.  OLED panel prices are likely to remain elevated.  Allows a new phone to hit that lower, premium point Apple hits now with iPhone 8/8+.

With the information that the 8+ is outselling the 4.7" 8, there is also a logic to focus on the larger size.  With the second year of the iPhone X models (and possible larger one), even more demand is expected for the X's, so why make the two models of LCD - ditch the 4.7" size.

Why 6.1"?  As noted in the article, without the home button it could be possible to make the LCD screen a little bigger in that "plus size" chassis.  Certainly a way to shake things up a bit but still have an LCD in the lineup with the size that is becoming the most popular.

There would still be the 8 series, and 7 series, and possibly an updated SE, to round out the line.

And based on some analysts I follow, the bet is that Ming has sources (or at least information) out of Foxconn that he pays for, and is why he has a reasonable accuracy around new products which comes out of there (but not s/w).  The timing might be off, and the whole controversies of struggling between A & B made up, but overall he is more accurate than most with features of new phones.

And....here we go again.

For those that say Apple shouldn't call it the 8, but rather 7s:
- It is simply a name.  The "s" line has always had solid updates internally (usually equal to, or better, than the first number version), but not case/design change.
- For those who want to be nit-picky, the 8 does have a case design change (all glass design), along with all new colours that make the 8 visibly different than 6/6s/7. That it looks "similar" from the front doesn't change those facts.

What does the 8 series have over the 7 series?
- That all new glass design, new colours
- Wireless charging (solving what many people here moaned about was the inability to charge phone and use the lightning port for audio)
- Quick charging
- Upgraded, True Tone, Retina HD display, wider viewing angle
- Improved camera in almost all areas (photos: low lighting and HDR, autofocus, noise reduction, QLED and slow sync flash; improved video capture for 4K@60fps and slowmo 1080p@240fps, real-time processing to better encode the video; 8+ gets portrait lighting)
- Significant improvements in CPU/GPU which provides solid future capability for AR, ML.  This is a bigger improvement over 7, than 7 was over 6s
- Better stereo speakers
- Base model of 64GB vs. 32GB

Sure, lots of people will look at that list and say "not enough for me to upgrade from my 7", and that is fine for them.  But it is disingenuous (or idiotic, moronic) to say the least to say the iPhone 8 is pretty much the same as the 7.

And for those keeping score, what were the improvements of the Samsung S8 over the S7?  
- All new, larger design, with infinity display (more pixels that S7, but slightly lower density).
- New Iris Scanner (which rarely works), and face recognition scanner (which might as well be turned off for the security it provides)
- Moved the finger print scanner to high on the back (less accessible by all reviews I read)
- CPU/GPU which is 10% faster
- Base model of 64GB vs. 32GB

So to summarize, the Samsung S8 had rave reviews (with actual poor features glossed over), and the iPhone 8 is considered "meh".

And that folks is the world that we live in...

macman1984 said:

" the price premium of iPhone X over iPhone 8 is just $50 shy the price of a new iPhone SE"

This is slightly disingenuous.  The correct comparison (both price-wise and feature-wise) is not the iPhone 8 but the iPhone 8 plus.  The 8+ and the X have a MUCH more similar screen size and camera functionality. The price comparison between these two is "only" $150.  Seems to me if you're already spending $850 on the iPhone 8+, springing for a X at $150 is a no-brainer.

The only reason NOT to do this is that you will probably have to wait until January (or maybe even March) to get an iPhone X.  So if you can wait, seems worth it to me...

I do wish they had made a 128 GB version.  64 GB is a tad too small (especially when considering the 12 MP cameras), but 256 is overkill (at least for me)...  128 GB (which is what I have on my iPhone 6 is just right.  Oh well... 

The iPhone 8+ is $799 - not $850.  So the price difference is $200 between it and the iPhone X.

macplusplus said:

tadd said:

My biggest gripe about the iPhone 8 was also my gripe about the iPhone 7.  You don't get the better camera without going for the ridiculously large chassis size.  I don't want such a large chassis.  The iPhone X gets me the camera in the smaller chassis.  

What made the Plus series camera better was the optical image stabilization. The second lens provides only a 2x optical zoom, not a big deal. The 8 is different from 7 in that now the optical image stabilization exists on both models. If you can afford paying $300 premium for a 2x zoom lens then go with X.

The iPhone 7 (4.7") does have OIS, for both pictures and video.  This was one of its main camera benefits over the 6s.  The 7 received OIS and the 7+ the dual cameras.

I have the 7 and the OIS is a significant improvement for video capture.

lkrupp said:

Can we settle an ongoing argument about 4K streaming? How much bandwidth is recommended for reliable 4K streaming? I have seen figures of around 20mbps. Now what is the average bandwidth available in the U.S. right now? I myself have a 12mbps DSL line so I am assuming 4K streaming would be useless to me, especially if other devices were consuming bandwidth online at the same time. And while we're at it my DSL line is 1mbps upstream. Using an online bandwidth calculator I figured it would take 120 hours to upload 50GB of my Photos library. This makes cloud computing a non-starter for me and I assume millions of others.

I strongly suspect the hold-up for Apple before was the H.265 licensing issue, which is only now getting settled. This next generation codec is really required to have a standards based answer for the over 4x of information in 4K (double the resolution in each dimension plus the increased colour of HDR).  With Apple talking up H.265 at WWDC in regards to iPhone, it was a good sign that AppleTV and iTunes would get 4K this fall.  We might also see HD 1080p use H.265 which will lower bandwidth requirements / storage for existing quality (and / or better quality of encoding). 

As for b/w required of 4K, I expect 20Mbps to cover all basis (With H.265) with movie content taking less. Apple does progressive downloads - not streaming - for iTunes so it is a matter of time before start rather than if. 

muthuk_vanalingam said:

cali said:

I don't understand why anyone in their right mind would choose an iPhone knockoff. Unless money is a problem I can't wrap
my head around it. 

i) Access to File System (The most important one. I know everyone in this forum would laugh at this point - only to be hypocrites 1 year later when Apple opens it up in iphones as well, apart from opening it up in iPads this year)

ii) Better battery life (of course not through optimization, but by use of larger batteries)

iii) Customization (yes, even basic customization options can go a long way in improving user experience, which is just NOT possible in IOS)

And a salute to the author for sharing his viewpoints openly, particularly about Android - which WILL infuriate MANY people in this forum.

It doesn't infuriate me in the slightest...though you sound a bit defensive...

I think the author did a good job of highlighting what he (and I am sure many millions more) "prefer" about Android phones (customization, widgets, Google services integration).  Unfortunate about his product defect on the 6 - based on my experiences (personal & via friends/family) and reviews, Apple devices last quite well absent physical damages, and Apple is good about replacements / fixes when broader issues.  But there are going to be issues for certain with millions of devices.

A friend of mine has a Galaxy S7 Edge (high end device as much $$ as an iPhone), and what I see there:
- Overall good phone, great screen, good camera.  He is quite happy with it.
- Fingerprint scanner was never as reliable as TouchID (nor as fast), and has degraded in accuracy in just over a year.  He doesn't use it anymore.  I use TouchID at least 50x every day (and while I have an iPhone 7 now, I had a 5s for 3 years and TouchID was as good as the day I bought it).
- Very difficult to get any OS updates
- Responsiveness has slowed a bit (not much) in the year+ that he has had it.

To each their own.  My experience with Apple has been excellent - for Macs, iPhones and iPads (and Apple Watches). Build quality is great, useful life is excellent, security is top notch, ecosystem and useful services continues to grow with time.  

Some may laugh, but I *honestly and truly* trust Apple far more than any other tech company with my security and privacy. Their business model aligns with it.  Google's aligns with security (for the data they collect), but not with privacy.  Same for FB.  I am not sure Amazon's aligns with either.  Right now, the masses don't seem too concerned with either security or privacy, but I am not so sure that will remain the case forever.  For decades people weren't really concerned with the health effects of smoking either.