Five ways Apple can fix the iPhone, but won't Apple's new iPhone will be packed with new features you didn't know you needed. It almost certainly won't be getting features it absolutely does need. We made a list of what Apple needs to do, but won't. 1. Two-day battery life Apple’s obsession with making the iPhone as slim as possible means that when you buy an iPhone the …
"My Feature request for the next iPhone is for it to run Android."
"My feature request for my next Android phone is that it runs IOS."
"My feature request for iPhone and Android is to run Windows."
"Why can't these stupid phones run OS/2 Warp - as God intended!"
My feature request is that it can run Crysis.
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An all day battery would be nice
Actually, how about a bit of bloody choice on spec (and Android makers, this applies to you lot too). So, by all means lead the range with a wafer thin, hermetically sealed range topper, but then have a similar spec model (or as close as possible), as a sort of Swiss Army version - so a couple of mm thicker, with a larger, AND user replaceable battery. And a 3.5mm headphone jack. And a twin Sim or Sim + Sd card slot, so that it can cater for those who want two sims, or for those who hanker for extra storage.
Having mentioned "Swiss Army", personally I'd not be seeking any additional robustness - this is just about being able to buy a decent phone with a spec that meets my needs. And Sammy showed that water resistance was possible with the S5, although I prefer to keep my phone dry.
You're right. I've got a UK grey import Android myself that does a very good (but slightly different) mix of those capabilities, and has a really nice, high res 5.5 inch IPS screen. But these low cost devices (we have to assume) have no ongoing software support, and the battery may be replaceable only in theory - if there's not a high volume sold, nobody will be supplying spare batteries two years or more down the road.
You also make the point that I'd taken for granted, that the number one reason I don't have an Apple device is simply because they are too bloody expensive for what's on offer. The speed with which specifications have improved at the bottom of the market is such that the improvements to the Sammy S8 and new iPhone are insufficient to justify their enormous list prices (for me, at any rate). And the real killer is that I have ignored mid range phones from established brands, and got a better spec device for less money. I can understand to a degree the fashion victims buying an S8 or iPhone X because they want it. But as far as I can see there's now no case for anybody buying any mid-tier phone from the likes of Samsung, or the lower Apple models.
Seriously. What are you running on your phone?
Do you keep your apps up and running in the background when you don't need them?
Are you busy watching youtube vids or netflix on your phone?
I have maybe 30 apps downloaded to my phone. Most are for travel, some are for work (emails , slack, skype, etc ...) But that's pretty much it. I don't listen to music although I do have music apps.
So yeah. if you use your phone primarily as a phone and a communication device... your battery lasts a day or more.
Mines the jacket with the small jar of prune juice as I keep yelling at you kids to get off my lawn.
MY iPhone 7 battery usually goes almost 2 days and it's a busy phones.
I'll agree with battery life being on the list, but the rest.... I would have more important things such as:
2. Ability to survive drop on concrete from 2 metres without a guaranteed shattered screen.
3. Readability in bright sunlight.
4. Improved RF reception in fringe areas, across voice and data.
5. Non proprietary charging socket. Should be able to take emergency power from anywhere.
I don't care about a headphone jack. My headphones are Bluetooth, cost £7 and work for longer than I would want things in my ears.
Ability to survive drop on concrete from 2 metres without a guaranteed shattered screen.
This makes me think that maybe what I really want is a phone engineered by Fluke. It would last forever, survive lots of abuse, but only come in bright yellow and cost $3000.
"This makes me think that maybe what I really want is a phone engineered by Fluke. It would last forever, survive lots of abuse, but only come in bright yellow and cost $3000."
Actually CAT branded phones cost a lot less than that, and back in the day my wife had a bright yellow Sonim that could survive 2M drops and water immersion, which I got her after the second time she dropped a Nokia in the stream when out dog walking.
In true karma, very shortly after I fell off a boat with my expensive phone out of its waterproof case. By the time I surfaced, hauled myself back on board and extracted it, the battery was very hot and so was the motherboard. It did not survive.
So yeah. if you use your phone primarily as a phone and a communication device... your battery lasts a day or more.
Fucking neo-luddites. Why wouldn't I use the computer in my pocket as a pocket computer?
So yeah. If you ignore 98% of the capabilities of your phone.... your battery lasts a day or more.
So yeah. If you ignore 98% of the capabilities of your phone....
I'm not ignoring them, I haven't even got time to sit and go through 98% of the capabilities of my phone one at a time until I've used them all.
It's not the capabilities you use it's the amount of time you spend using them.
I could flatten the battery in short order by streaming video over 4G. What percentage of capability am I using then?
Or I could use the calendar, web browser, email, messaging, voice calls, sync a watch over Bluetooth, listen to some stored music and a bit of radio, check the time, use the voice assistant over wifi, get directions from a map with 4G and use my phone wallet for boarding passes and the phone will last all day. What percentage of the capabilities am I using?
I use an iPhone 6, and if I'm travelling I tend to switch the phone data side to 3G or even 2G and reduce polling to every 30 minutes or 1 hour (4 email accounts and a private cloud feed for calendar and contacts sync). If I don't get too many calls and I'm in a city (read: strong signal) I have no problem getting a full working day of use out of one charge.
There is no material issue with receiving email or messages slower, but it certainly has a major impact on power use.
Fucking neo-luddites. Why wouldn't I use the computer in my pocket as a pocket computer?
Dear child, some of us have real jobs and that often entails working with a real computer with a 20+ inch display or sometimes multiple 20+ inch displays. As a result we "fucking neo-luddites" as you so childishly call us don't see the need to play pocket pool with our pocket computer that is ill equipped for most computing tasks. Some of us also have a more-or-less regular phone sitting on the desk which further reduces our dependence on said pocket rocket toy with a lousy keyboard.
Personally, I don't feel the need to spend every waking moment glued to a tiny screen so I am not texting or surfing or twattering when I drive a car and instead I drive the car. When I get home there is a computer that is much better equipped than my phone within 30 feet so I prefer to use it. The only time I would use the phone as a computer is when there isn't another computer about but that usually implies that I'm neither at home nor at work which means that more likely than not I'm out with friends doing something social be it eating, talking, or enjoying another activity like a show or exhibit and in that instance I don't feel the need to interrupt the occasion by checking some damn twaddle feed. As a result I still have about 80% of the charge left in my phone from when I unplugged it yesterday morning a bit before 5 AM. We each live different lives so by all means utilize your pocket player as you see fit but perhaps before you start hurling invectives consider taking a step the fuck back and realize that it's actually called a phone and when used as such the battery can last much more than a day.
Sure if I forget to check traffic before I leave the office it takes 10 seconds and doesn't deplete the battery appreciably and it isn't often that I need directions. Not really given every computer has a player of some sort as does the car. Once at a home improvement store I looked up which aisle an item I was looking for was in but not the price as I looked that up before I left the house it didn't tax the battery to the point where I had to recharge it that evening. No I'm not at all concerned about the sports team from my geographical area humiliating the sports team from your geographical area. The weather forecast in SoCal, it's the same as yesterday, the day before, etc. A what's it now group?
I get that there are some professions where it would be seriously draining on a battery. I'm sure several of the sales reps I deal with fairly regularly are constantly either on the phone or using maps or shuffling files on their phone because they have a mobile lifestyle and they seem to have a new phone every year which I don't doubt is in part because the battery issue. I don't take issue with any of that but I do find the charge of "fucking neo-luddite" to be a bit arseholier than thou.
@Eddy Ito
I suspect you might be one of those uncommonly sensible people who turn off battery sapping but limited use items on the phone and only have them on when needed?
Things like GPS and wifi? Things you only need on when doing things that need GPS (maps) or wifi (extensive online use - streaming audio/video, etc.)
I've had people complain about battery life on their phone, lasting less than a full day of light use (not talking about someone using their phone to play a game on all day or watching moves) and have a squiz and see that their GPS is always on, no matter what they are doing on the phone. Same with wifi, if you aren't using the phone at all for anything internet/data-related, why is wifi on? Both of those services, while on, sap a lot of battery.
I tinkered with turning GPS off for a while, but found it didn't really save me any noticeable amount of battery. The reason is, at least on Android phones, GPS is only powered up continuously if an app is using it -- say, a map program. YMMV, especially if you have background apps that want to track you all the time.
WiFi definitely sucks some power. I tend to keep it on to fill in the cellular dead-spots in my house, though.
I find I actually care less about battery runtime now that I have USB-C quick charging. It takes so little time to top up the battery now.
"Personally, I don't feel the need to spend every waking moment glued to a tiny screen so I am not texting or surfing or twattering when I drive a car and instead I drive the car."
Guess you've never had to do on-the-spot research in the field that absolutely cannot wait until you get home because it'll be gone by the time you get back.
Trust me. I speak from experience.
If you want more battery life, get a case that has an integrated battery and make YOUR phone thicker and heavier! I don't want the extra size, because I was getting two and often THREE days of battery life from my 6S Plus when it was new. Now that it is two years old (and probably I'm using it a bit more heavily these days) a good day's use drains it under 50% so now I charge nightly, but the idea that charging every other day is somehow a major improvement over nightly charging is ludicrous. It takes literally seconds to plug it in when you go to bed!
Why do people want to change the design of a phone to satisfy THEM, when simple solutions exist that they can custom tailor (i.e. depending on the thickness/capacity of the battery case) to meet their exact needs? I'm sure there are people out there who are on their phone pretty much 12-14 hours a day for whom an extra couple millimeters of thickness would not be nearly enough. Would those suggesting "just add a millimeter or two" be OK with fully doubling the thickness & weight to satisfy the real power users out there?
Using a double thickness phone with a 10000 mAH battery I'd probably only need to charge it weekly when it was new. You know how much of an improvement weekly charging would make in my life? Zero.
Fucking neo-luddites. Why wouldn't I use the computer in my pocket as a pocket computer?
Because I have real computers for that task? Because I sit in front of a real computer all day?
Oh? You must be a windows luser...
Its not being a ludite. I've been in tech longer than you've been alive.
Its using the tool for its designed use.
My phone... calls, text, emails. Then there are the work related apps. Closed when not in use.
Uber, off when not in use and use of location services are turned off.
I don't have a battery life concern with my iDevices - but I agree that the modern trend for 'super thin' is daft, and that the trend for 'stupid thin but with this bulgy bit' is just ridiculous. Particularly if you then claim that you can't fit in a headphone jack when there is clearly room:
have the camera lens stick out of the case
Because we all add a case. The lens ends up flush with the case, and the resulting package as a whole is less inclined to snag as you take it from your pocket.
With a flush camera body, the case would still need to have the opening for the lens, but now that lens is a millimetre or two inset within the case. This depression is now more likely to snag and have detritus collect within it*.
(* if your belly button is an 'innie', you'll already understand this scenario)
Apple dropping the headphone jack from iPhone 7 is the main reason I still have a 6. I fall asleep listening to music from my phone over the headphone jack, with my phone plugged into the charger. A bluetooth headset would just be another piece of cr@p I would have to keep charged.
Hmmm.
I would have opted for creating a pluggable device that expanded the USB charging port.
Think of it as a dock that fits over the USB port that still allows you charge but then has a headphone jack that lets you plug in your head phones but then runs thru the USB port.
But that's just me and rather than ruin your phone, you would have a marketable product. (Of course you would have to write the software app that lets you recognize the head sets... )
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