'Fierce competition' drives Apple's iPhone 6 changes

Evolution

Phone me when we have full coloUr, high resolution, roll up, flexible displays in our portable 'smart' devices. None of this from any manufacturer is game changing.

Guess we're gonna have to wait until this 'market reset' is on its way out...

You only have to look at apples previous product releases to see whats happening next, so thats not really news. Although the recent schedule extensions they have put on their previous clockwork timed product announcements does seem to me that apple are pulling back slightly, for what purpose? I dont know, logic would conclude a period of outer lull belies a skunk project in the making, if you ask me. But then I am having a beer or free..

Yet another iphone release

iYawn.

Confused

"The iPhone 4 is still selling quite well, and to undercut it by announcing that an improved model will appear in a mere matter of months would seem unlikely."

Erm, you mean the same pattern they've always done?? The 4 would just become the supplementary model, much like the 3GS is still on sale now, and the 3G sold alongside the 3GS.

Reckon they'll fix the antenna?

Heh... :)

I like my iTouch

Not sure why all the hype about the iPhone 4, most of what it does, including making video calls can be done from the iTouch at a fraction of the cost - you can also carry a wi-fi connection on your person whilst out and about - go figure.

Further, my 3 year old daughter loves her jailbroken iTouch 4, rather than the iPhone being the game changer, its actually the iTouch that gets my vote, its also 64 gigs of wow - great for playing games and totally out-manouvered Sony PSP.

My wife desires a iPhone4 though, its this desirability that Apple have captured, the 3GS being so boring in her opinion and oh so last year.

Here's to the iPad3 that will be my next Apple purchase to go with my iTouch, iMac, MacMini and MacBook - for now, I'll stick with my very old Sony Ericsson Phone, it actually does what I need it to do, make phone calls.

Small changes

Sure, the iPhone5 may have minor changes, but you'll still have the Apple sheep queuing up all over the country waiting to walk out while being clapped by Apple staff to show all your friends your new iPhone5..... which will look just like an iPhone4.

Wonder what Job's tagline will be on this one.... "This changes everything, again, and again"

I'll stick with Android and HTC thanks.

Maybe it's

the Dom Joly iPhone?

The big question is...

How much more technology can you *usefully* stuff into a mobile phone? Let's take each bit in turn:

1) Comms. 3G, Wifi, Bluetooth: it's all already there. Sure, the next wave of cellular tech is incoming (i.e. 4G) but 3G is more than fast enough for most people - you can download maps, stream audio/video and upload photos of your pet to youtube, all pretty much in realtime.

2) CPU: 1GHz dual-core processors are now becoming the norm, which should be more than enough to run most apps, barring some edge cases such as Apple's GarageBand or high-end games.

3) Memory: Most handsets now come with 512mb RAM (and some high-end android phones have 768mb); given that the level of multitasking you can do is generally limited by the form-factor, do you need more?

4) GPU: Most high-end handsets are using a PowerVR SGX535 (or Qualcomm equivalent): this part is DX10.1 compatible and drives Intel's GMA 500 PC chipset. This may not be quite up to the level of a high-end Nvidia/AMD GPU, but it's more than enough for the majority of games, especially considering the small screen - both Epic and iD have managed to get high-end visuals up and running on the iPhone.

5) Display: handset displays are topping out at around 4" and a 1024*640 resolution (or thereabouts). The visual benefits from boosting the screen resolution will be minimal. The only other potential upgrade is to go "3D", but it's debatable how useful this is - there's all sorts of ergonomic issues (e.g. the 3DS doesn't require glasses, but does need to be held at a specific distance/angle - and a lot of people have reported issues with headaches, etc)

6) Battery life: this definitely needs to be improved - my Desire HD generally lasts about 1.5 days inbetween charges, as I use it as an ebook reader on the train. But cramming more powerful tech into a handset isn't going to improve this...

7) Form factor: Apple are obsessed with their one-button setup and the majority of Android phones are stamped out of the "PDA with four buttons at the bottom" mould. And while most Android handsets could maybe have a bit of weight trimmed off here and there, I think Apple's gone as far as physically possible on that front.

8) Camera: boosting the resolution isn't particularly useful, given that the sensor size remains the same (i.e. more noise/poorer quality picture). You could slap two cameras onto the back to take 3D pictures, but see point 5) - and camera manufacturers have already figured out a "pan and scan" way to generate 3D images in software. Improving the flash would be nice, though...

All told, I'm struggling to think of useful new features.

Oh, and won't someone think of the developers? The Android market is bad enough - you get everything from 300mhz Chinese ePads to multi-core high-end handsets. But Apple is starting to go that way as well: between the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, there's somewhere in the region of 9 distinct CPU/GPU/Ram/Display combinations. Admittedly, it's probably safe to ignore everything pre-3rd gen, but that still leaves the iPhone 3GS/4, the iPad/iPad2, and the iPod Touch 3/4...

@There's nothing wrong with the antenna

Yes there is. The open circuit end of a monopole antenna is high impedance (zero current because you've run out of element, and thus highest voltage and *very* high impedance (Z)).

Because the end of the monopole is hi-Z, it is very sensitive to being loaded-down and/or detuned when touched. This hi-Z end of a monopole antenna is normally (instinctively) kept out of reach. The Iphone 4 has two external monopoles (differently tuned) with their hi-Z ends right next to each other where they can be touched, effectively bridging them.

It's a case of YMMV. If you have very dry hands and live in an area with strong signals, then it may never be a problem. But if you have hands that are damp with salty sweat and are in the fringe of coverage, then one false move and physics dictates that the signal will drop.

The wrap-around antenna is nice in some ways, but the design should be modified. One option would be to extend the monopole elements, bending them within the case (effectively end-loading). The hidden end would perhaps have to be effectively length-entended with dielectric. This would bring the hi-Z ends of the elements inside the case where they couldn't be touched. The part that remains outside would naturally present a lower impedance and would thus be less sensitive to being touched.

If anyone with any common-sense knowledge of antennas whatsoever had been in the room when the internal design of the Iphone 4 antenna system had been unveiled to management, they would have *immediately* pointed at the hi-Z ends and said, "You'd better insulate those ends..." I estimate the reaction time would have been about 1 or 2 seconds.

Here is the announcement you've been waiting for..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AdsCj4eSWE

Um

Who cares?

isn't this....

brilliant?!? Just like being back in the 16 bit days!

@uhuznaa - Show me a teenager that has issues with holding 4 inches in their hand for half the day or more and I'll show you a liar :D

ps: Amiga fanboi to this very day ;D

Ok, my prediction!

Ok, not like it really matters...but what will it have? here's my prediction based on well, stuff. Everyone else is predicting, so why not :D

Internally it'll be typical Apple recycled parts. Same basically exactly the same motherboard components as the Iphad2. Same dual core CPU, same GPU, same pretty much all round. Why? it's the usual form they do on these things. Keep all the same parts to keep costs down and just keep on flogging the same stuff in a different size to the sheep.

Better camera, probably. Doesn't take much to change the sensor. Probably a fraction thinner also but solely for fashion purposes. Magnetic case thing will probably copy over from the Pad also. Glass back will probably of reverted back to metal.

Near Field Communications...yeah yeah, Apple keeps saying it isn't interested in it and won't have NFC. Which of cause means it won't, it'll have Apple(tm) Wigglyfluffcoms(tm)(c) which is just NFC with a fluffed out Apple branding because it'll work so much better, but in fact will just be no change whatsoever.

4G hmm, probably not yet...not enough market for it as yet.

Connector wise will be Apples usual proprietary crap dock connector, but this will be shipped with a micro-USB adaptor....why? because Apple signed up to the EU standard for this, and got a loop out of there sign up in December to allow them to ship a Micro-USB adaptor with future phones.

But due to it being just relatively smaller changes, it'll probably come out as a 4GS or something, and they'll leave the 5 for now....but it will be able to make calls this one :P

camera pixels

So rumours of a 12Mpixel camera?

But if you don't increase the physical size of the lens and the sensor then the shutter speed will be dead slow, dark with blurry pictures.

Then again Apple could make use of the extra pixels to add image stabilization for sharper images.

That would be worth having.

bias

my bias against Apple has come to a point where even if the Iphone was 75% cheaper then any other and 200% faster, i'd still not buy one. even if i could get a solid gold one for half the price of another brand, then i still wouldn't buy it.

the company i work for is giving away Ipads if we bring in new staff, i may get one and will put it up for sale without even opening the package.

to me, Apple is the new Microsoft and the embodiment of everything that's wrong with the market for mobile devices.

how the hell can you patent something like icon shapes and phone casings? by default these are generic things, interchangeable between all sorts of brand. My nokia could even fall within that lawsuit.

@Dave, Rob, Mr H:

I dunno how many of those suggestions were serious, but most of those suggestions are either impractical/edge-cases or have already been implemented in some handsets. To take some examples...

1) Pico-projector: would increase the size of the phone and isn't useful in most scenarios - you need a dark room, a large flat wall and there's likely to be problems with keystoning. And it'll kill the battery, as per the Coolpix S1000j camera...

2) Laserbeams should only be attached to sharks ;) That said, a range-finding laser would be cool, though it's not likely to get used much and I suspect it'd be abused - both by the young (teenagers pointing it at bus windows/airplanes) and the old (how long before someone puts together a "car speed detector" app for grumpy old people to wave around?)

3) Infra-red cameras would be cool, but the only obvious use-cases I can think of are a) finding the keyhole when drunk late at night or b) finding your way around a dark room when carrying out a burglary...

4) Thermo/baro/altimeter: The Desire HD has a thermometer built into it which apps can read; for the rest, you're probably best off switching on GPS and using a weather service.

5) Electro/magnetic sensor: again, a lot of Android phones have these, as can be seen with the Tricorder app

6) Load cell. There's an obvious use-case if you're in Amsterdam, but it's not that much use otherwise!

7) Storage. It's debatable how useful more storage is; it's a problem on the non-upgradable iPhone, but Android phones have micro-SD slots, and you can get 32gb micro-SD cards for around £20 these days. Which is a damn sight less than any manufacturer charges for built-in storage!

8) Better DAC: I'm guessing this is for music, but TBH, people are listening to heavily compressed (both in terms of filesize and audio tweaking) media, both locally and streamed. So what's the point?

In any case, the biggest problem with all of the above is that they're not sexy and they don't sell phones. Unless you're an estate agent who supports his ghost-hunter hobby by selling herbal remedies by the ounce...