[Jzero]

Because they know they can milk your money by slowly increasing the specs every year..

[entrement]

Because they know they can milk your money by slowly increasing the specs every year..

Slowly increasing the specs? Have you seen how much faster each major iteration of the iPhone has been?

[donkey show]

taking my outstanding, anecdotal experience with siri aside, it is a beta service. i don't think it would really qualify.

Then why was it advertised as such a huge feature for the 4S?

[mescalineeyes]

Then why was it advertised as such a huge feature for the 4S?

Because its pretty damn great for some, not so for others.

People in the first category include Zooey.

[Zefah]

To be fair, wireless charging is a gimmick, and I don't think Apple wanted to add extra bulk and components to their phone for a needless feature that doesn't really add any functionality. I agree with you that leaving out blu ray is indefinsable. I think it's just a part of Apple's larger goal to phase out optical drives completely and instead replace their entire laptop line up with variants of the Macbook Air or the retina display Macbook Pro. More importantly, why does every else wait so long to match Apple's features... Apple started using A9 cpus and quad core 543MP gpus months before anyone else. Even today, the iPhone 4s and new iPad crushes the Samsung Galaxy 3 and 99% of all smartphones and tablets outthere in gpu benchmarks because despite coming out an year ago, the gpu in both the iPhone 4s and iPad is much much much better than the lameass gpus most other smartphones use. The new iPhone has the cortex a15 processor a full six months before any other smartphone on the market will. Likewise, apple introduced Ultrabooks (Macbook Air) a full 3 years before other people were able to match it's form factor. And Apple introduced super high ppi displays into their phones and tablets months to years before anyone else as well. Even to this day, no other company manages to build unibody aluminum devices while pretty much all apple's devices are now unibody aluminium and had been for many many years. So I ask again, why is everyone else so far behind apple in terms of actual performance and more importantly, why do Andriod fanboys continously ignore all the various ways that Apple devices trump their competitors in terms of performance?

Damn. I was going to write something up, but you've already killed it.

I don't to say that various features and functions that Apple often chooses to not include until much later than competitors aren't cool. I'm really looking forward to when Apple puts NFC in its devices so the technology will actually see mainstream adoption in the US.

However, I think that Apple really just doesn't like to compromise other aspects that they view as more important. I think their products are really of an extremely high quality that you often don't find anywhere else. I'm talking about the total package here: appearance, form factor, weight, "feel," performance, battery life, screen quality, etc. In order to achieve what they do and hit their high profit margin, I'm sure they just have to make certain sacrifices. It's unfortunate for some people who really want these features earlier than later, but I think the strategy is working out pretty well for them.

[jcm]

does anyone remember when iphone couldn't copy/paste and the isheep were all like "who needs that? nerds?"

No, I don't remember that at all. Which isheep exactly were like that? Because all of the isheep i know thought it was a bummer Apple hadn't gotten it done in time for the launch. For example, this famous isheep:

Clearly, the single most vexing shortcoming of the iPhone is its lack of text selection and clipboard features. (I group them together because neither would be very useful without the other.)

I am not alone in thinking this. It’s hard to find an iPhone review that doesn’t mention this. The need is so obvious that I don’t just hope that Apple adds these features in a future iPhone software update, I pretty much expect them to.

[mescalineeyes]

Man, all the people thinking apple is withholding features must be really challenged.

By the time next year's iteration rolls around, there will be new technology they can implement.
At least be creative and say its due to their low R&D spendings that they can't catch up.

[EightBitNate]

Better question; why are 6 Apple threads on the front page?

[Kung Fu Jedi]

How the iPhone still doesn't have NFC baffles me.

Why is that? Where is NFC widely adopted and in use? I'm baffled that you're baffled to be honest.

I think NFC has some interesting potential uses and I'm looking forward to it going mainstream too. But it's still not ready for primetime and there are still some large hurdles to overcome.

[MoxManiac]

I really want an iphone 5 but the thing STILL doesn't have a user replaceable battery or SD card slot. It seems so draconian.

I'm trying to decide between the 5 and whatever that galaxy thing is that it's current equivlant.

[Zefah]

I really want an iphone 5 but the thing STILL doesn't have a user replaceable battery or SD card slot. It seems so draconian. I'm trying to decide between the 5 and whatever that galaxy thing is that it's current equivlant.

This is really the only complaint I have about the iPhone and iOS platform. Just let me use my device as a portable HDD! I don't really care about SD cards, though.

[Jzero]

I really want an iphone 5 but the thing STILL doesn't have a user replaceable battery or SD card slot. It seems so draconian. I'm trying to decide between the 5 and whatever that galaxy thing is that it's current equivlant.

Do you even like android?

[effingvic]

is wireless charging and NFC that big of a deal? people are seriously losing their shit because the iphone doesnt have those?

[mescalineeyes]

is wireless charging and NFC that big of a deal? people are seriously losing their shit because the iphone doesnt have those?

I don't think anyone is losing their shit over this iPhone. Neither negatively or positively.

[SteveMeister]

Why is that? Where is NFC widely adopted and in use? I'm baffled that you're baffled to be honest. I think NFC has some interesting potential uses and I'm looking forward to it going mainstream too. But it's still not ready for primetime and there are still some large hurdles to overcome.

Thank you, this is pretty much what I was going to post. That said, Passbook will be so much better with NFC support. Apple had an opportunity to drive NFC adoption. But maybe they see more of a future with Bluetooth 4.0. Or maybe they're just waiting for it all to shake out. Either way, it's not one field they are driving.

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

is wireless charging and NFC that big of a deal? people are seriously losing their shit because the iphone doesnt have those?

It's like when people get into arguments and just focus on one thing forever and can't drop it no matter what. Those topics have become GAF's rock.

[LuchaShaq]

Because they know when they roll out a feature late or half assed their fans and 90%+ of the tech media will eat it up no matter what the circumstance.

[Psychotext]

Why is that? Where is NFC widely adopted and in use? I'm baffled that you're baffled to be honest.

I can use NFC all over the place in the UK to pay for things (assuming they're below a certain cost). Most of the new chip and pin readers support it.

[AstroNut325]

To be fair, wireless charging is a gimmick, and I don't think Apple wanted to add extra bulk and components to their phone for a needless feature that doesn't really add any functionality. I agree with you that leaving out blu ray is indefinsable. I think it's just a part of Apple's larger goal to phase out optical drives completely and instead replace their entire laptop line up with variants of the Macbook Air or the retina display Macbook Pro. More importantly, why does every else wait so long to match Apple's features... Apple started using A9 cpus and quad core 543MP gpus months before anyone else. Even today, the iPhone 4s and new iPad crushes the Samsung Galaxy 3 and 99% of all smartphones and tablets outthere in gpu benchmarks because despite coming out an year ago, the gpu in both the iPhone 4s and iPad is much much much better than the lameass gpus most other smartphones use. The new iPhone has the cortex a15 processor a full six months before any other smartphone on the market will. Likewise, apple introduced Ultrabooks (Macbook Air) a full 3 years before other people were able to match it's form factor. And Apple introduced super high ppi displays into their phones and tablets months to years before anyone else as well. Even to this day, no other company manages to build unibody aluminum devices while pretty much all apple's devices are now unibody aluminium and had been for many many years. So I ask again, why is everyone else so far behind apple in terms of actual performance and more importantly, why do Andriod fanboys continously ignore all the various ways that Apple devices trump their competitors in terms of performance?

Just wow! FLAWLESS VICTORY!

[Dreams-Visions]

Siri.

Beta.

To the OP, I think they just wait for technologies to mature such that they don't:

1.) Compromise the battery life.

2.) Require physical size increases.

3.) Cause thermal issues.

4.) Have enough support to make them relevant


For example, I think we can all agree that when 4G phones came out, they destroyed batteries and offered gains only for a niche audience. The tech was cool and nerds used it to bash iPhones, but they had to admit later that having 3 hours of battery life with 4G enabled fucking sucked on a phone. Apple didn't walk into that trap and now they can do it with much less battery sacrificed, and the reputation that comes with the iPhone is retained.

They won't add things that fuck up the standard level of expectation (size, battery life, operation) that people have come to expect from Apple devices. If they can do it and do it well, they usually will.

As for blu-ray, they just don't believe in the technology for computers. Based on the last 6 years of it on the market, I can't say I've had a need for it or missed it (I have an external BD drive that collects dust). Cloud storage is plentiful and external storage too big now to worry about BD for storage, and games are all downloaded now. BD is a dead technology to me as far as computers go. I think they made the right call on that. If, however, it gets to a point where BD drives cost little more than DVD drives, they'll probably add them.

To be fair, wireless charging is a gimmick, and I don't think Apple wanted to add extra bulk and components to their phone for a needless feature that doesn't really add any functionality. I agree with you that leaving out blu ray is indefinsable. I think it's just a part of Apple's larger goal to phase out optical drives completely and instead replace their entire laptop line up with variants of the Macbook Air or the retina display Macbook Pro. More importantly, why does every else wait so long to match Apple's features... Apple started using A9 cpus and quad core 543MP gpus months before anyone else. Even today, the iPhone 4s and new iPad crushes the Samsung Galaxy 3 and 99% of all smartphones and tablets outthere in gpu benchmarks because despite coming out an year ago, the gpu in both the iPhone 4s and iPad is much much much better than the lameass gpus most other smartphones use. The new iPhone has the cortex a15 processor a full six months before any other smartphone on the market will. Likewise, apple introduced Ultrabooks (Macbook Air) a full 3 years before other people were able to match it's form factor. And Apple introduced super high ppi displays into their phones and tablets months to years before anyone else as well. Even to this day, no other company manages to build unibody aluminum devices while pretty much all apple's devices are now unibody aluminium and had been for many many years. So I ask again, why is everyone else so far behind apple in terms of actual performance and more importantly, why do Andriod fanboys continously ignore all the various ways that Apple devices trump their competitors in terms of performance?

nice post, though I couldn't give 2 fucks about Blu-ray on my computer, and I have a drive and BD support on all of my machines. Far from indefensible.

[Timedog]

Because it costs them less to have others try out risky and innovative things first, absorbing more R&D and initial phase manufacturing costs, and make sure it works correctly and it's a feature people find really useful.

[Pizarro]

Gorilla glass an expandable memory be half arsed technology.

[mescalineeyes]

Gorilla glass an expandable memory be half arsed technology.

Since apple is already on GG2 that would be half assing it, yeah.

[Cyrillus]

Even today, the iPhone 4s and new iPad crushes the Samsung Galaxy 3 and 99% of all smartphones and tablets outthere in gpu benchmarks because despite coming out an year ago, the gpu in both the iPhone 4s and iPad is much much much better than the lameass gpus most other smartphones use.

It does?
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5810/s...rmance-preview

[effingvic]

I don't think anyone is losing their shit over this iPhone. Neither negatively or positively.

ive seen in many blogs people using the lack of these 2 features as a negative towards the iphone. why not just use a powermat? its essentially the same thing isnt it?

[mooooose]

Why is that? Where is NFC widely adopted and in use? I'm baffled that you're baffled to be honest. I think NFC has some interesting potential uses and I'm looking forward to it going mainstream too. But it's still not ready for primetime and there are still some large hurdles to overcome.

What hurdles exactly?

[mescalineeyes]

ive seen in many blogs people using the lack of these 2 features as a negative towards the iphone. why not just use a powermat? its essentially the same thing isnt it?

People have too much time on their hands. Whining about the iPhone and customizing android phones ... I wish I was a time millionaire.

[Maxrunner]

Because they want to make those features work well instead of half-assed. Like NFC.

Spoken like a true fan. Nfc works well thank you.

[Cyrillus]

People have too much time on their hands. Whining about the iPhone and customizing android phones ... I wish I was a time millionaire.

Looks like I can't detect sarcasm anymore.

[Maxrunner]

Who does iphone processors isnt it samsung?

[Copernicus]

Who does iphone processors isnt it samsung?

Designed by Apple built by Samsung.

Just like the unibody designed by Apple, and manufactured by a (then) Asus subsidiary.

Screens, built by Samsung/LG/Sharp.

[RevDM]

I'm tired of the UI, switch that shit up.

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

I'm tired of the UI, switch that shit up.

That seems as good of a reason as any to do it.

[Dreams-Visions]

It does? http://www.anandtech.com/show/5810/s...rmance-preview

rebuked!

[DeadFalling]

Since apple is already on GG2 that would be half assing it, yeah.

but aren't they using the thinner GG2? you can either go thinner and have same strength as GG1 or same thickness as GG1 and improved strength.

[travisbickle]

It's called making executive decisions, and they're pretty good at it. For a company who is bad at it see Sony.

[-Pyromaniac-]

The problem with comparing how Apple operates with how other companies operate is that they have vastly different philosophies. The other companies just want to get in as much shit as possible in hopes to as lure as many people as possible with those things.

Apple just hopes to laser focus on a few things at a time that they're able to perfect. Then one at a time they'll get to that other stuff if it fits into their philosophy for that product. Or they'll ditch it completely because they don't believe in it or it has no place in their ecosystem or it sucks.

People get mad at apple because they aren't catering to them personally. But they never have. They've always just done their own thing and said this is what we're doing, this is how we think is perfect, if you like it, join us. And join them people have. But then there is a segment of people who demand more of this and that, and changes here and there, despite the fact that the people who joined and are still joining their ecosystem of products are joining because they like the way things are.

Takes a lot of thought to change something in their system because it effects many other things, because it's so tightly integrated. Other companies add shit and drop shit like it's nobody's business, and not many people care because the people who buy those products, generally speaking, do not give a fuck.

It sounds cheesy but it's true, when you buy an apple product you're buying into their way of thinking. You either like it, or you don't and get the other products. But there are obviously legions that like that way of thinking, and the philosophies that are used to make their products.

[Jburton]

They like to delay adding industry standard features so that when they eventually do it ... it is supposedly a big deal.

In reality it is called catching up.

[gcubed]

rebuked!

And the A15 thing was wrong too, but hey... what a rallying cry

[Ollie Pooch]

Spoken like a true fan. Nfc works well thank you.

It works fine tech-wise, but there's not going to be a widespread adoption of NFC payments on smartphones until Apple puts it in the iPhone.

On this note, Apple may take longer (in some cases) to implement stuff, but it always ends up being more polished. Google haven't even got their music/tv/magazine store working outside the US.

[Bgamer90]

The problem with comparing how Apple operates with how other companies operate is that they have vastly different philosophies. The other companies just want to get in as much shit as possible in hopes to as lure as many people as possible with those things. Apple just hopes to laser focus on a few things at a time that they're able to perfect. Then one at a time they'll get to that other stuff if it fits into their philosophy for that product. Or they'll ditch it completely because they don't believe in it or it has no place in their ecosystem or it sucks. People get mad at apple because they aren't catering to them personally. But they never have. They've always just done their own thing and said this is what we're doing, this is how we think is perfect, if you like it, join us. And join them people have. But then there is a segment of people who demand more of this and that, and changes here and there, despite the fact that the people who joined and are still joining their ecosystem of products are joining because they like the way things are. Takes a lot of thought to change something in their system because it effects many other things, because it's so tightly integrated. Other companies add shit and drop shit like it's nobody's business, and not many people care because the people who buy those products, generally speaking, do not give a fuck. It sounds cheesy but it's true, when you buy an apple product you're buying into their way of thinking. You either like it, or you don't and get the other products. But there are obviously legions that like that way of thinking, and the philosophies that are used to make their products.

This is pretty much spot on.

[saelz8]

I'm tired of the UI, switch that shit up.

You can switch that shit up and get a new phone.

The best thing about the iPhone is the very fact that it's UI doesn't change much.

[soco]

i think there are numerous issues at play here, and I don't think they're all specific to apple (not that you were implying that).

I think once a product line has becomes well-established, I think it's difficult to introduce new features for a variety of reasons. I think you begin walking that fine line between how much change users are willing to accept between versions and how much they expect. Plus, I think developers begin to mired within a specific area of features and find it hard to look for truly inspiring features.

I think you can see these types of things in practically every major electronics device on the market. One potential exception might be the 360 where it's had 2 fairly major dashboard updates which made some substantial changes, though many were simply cosmetic shuffles.

It might be especially difficult for Apple because of their customer base. Maybe they just don't ask/complain about a lot of missing features as much as other groups? Maybe Apple makes assumptions based on sales that people are generally happy with the product and don't want to take additional risks? Maybe they just want to sit back and rake in the dough while offering the minimal changes over time.

Even in the past, Apple has been beaten to the punch with certain features and have had to play catch-up. There were quite a few things on the iphone they had to do this with or were reluctant to implement such as backgrounding applications/multitasking.

[Surfheart]

Apple started using A9 cpus and quad core 543MP gpus months before anyone else. Even today, the iPhone 4s and new iPad crushes the Samsung Galaxy 3 and 99% of all smartphones and tablets outthere in gpu benchmarks because despite coming out an year ago, the gpu in both the iPhone 4s and iPad is much much much better than the lameass gpus most other smartphones use.

Crush? Really?









Do you really believe the propaganda bullshit you spew?

[Dizastah]

To be fair, wireless charging is a gimmick, and I don't think Apple wanted to add extra bulk and components to their phone for a needless feature that doesn't really add any functionality. I agree with you that leaving out blu ray is indefinsable. I think it's just a part of Apple's larger goal to phase out optical drives completely and instead replace their entire laptop line up with variants of the Macbook Air or the retina display Macbook Pro. More importantly, why does every else wait so long to match Apple's features... Apple started using A9 cpus and quad core 543MP gpus months before anyone else. Even today, the iPhone 4s and new iPad crushes the Samsung Galaxy 3 and 99% of all smartphones and tablets outthere in gpu benchmarks because despite coming out an year ago, the gpu in both the iPhone 4s and iPad is much much much better than the lameass gpus most other smartphones use. The new iPhone has the cortex a15 processor a full six months before any other smartphone on the market will. Likewise, apple introduced Ultrabooks (Macbook Air) a full 3 years before other people were able to match it's form factor. And Apple introduced super high ppi displays into their phones and tablets months to years before anyone else as well. Even to this day, no other company manages to build unibody aluminum devices while pretty much all apple's devices are now unibody aluminium and had been for many many years. So I ask again, why is everyone else so far behind apple in terms of actual performance and more importantly, why do Andriod fanboys continously ignore all the various ways that Apple devices trump their competitors in terms of performance?

It was never the hardware that I had a problem with. Its the software. Also, are we sure its A15 CPU? At what clock?

[Raistlin]

Siri.

b00m

[Gattsu25]

Even to this day, no other company manages to build unibody aluminum devices while pretty much all apple's devices are now unibody aluminium and had been for many many years.

I thought their legal department was responsible for this one..

[ReBurn]

I don't think anyone is losing their shit over this iPhone. Neither negatively or positively.

I'm kind of losing mine over the new iPod touch. $300 is pricey for next gen, but it is 32gb and it has the 4 inch retina display. There's nothing innovative about it, really. But I really want that red one.

[RevDM]

You can switch that shit up and get a new phone. The best thing about the iPhone is the very fact that it's UI doesn't change much.

That's the best thing? It's outdated dude, it doesn't look modern. It's everything Apple is not.

[travisbickle]

That's the best thing? It's outdated dude, it doesn't look modern. It's everything Apple is not.

So what does a "modern" smartphone UI look like?