All Things iOS - Apps, iPhones, iPods, iPads - Discussion

Ok, so I've only dealt with iPad 2's and Mini's up until this point because people always cheap out... But this iPad 4 is DAMN fast. Wow. The last android tablet I dealt with (Nexus 10) would have crapped itself by now. Mind blowing display panel, almost perfect build fit-n-finish, great speaker, and a HUGE app selection. iPad 4 wins.

Also, 4:3 is the absolute best tablet resolution. Ever.

 

Tell that to all the other tablet manufacturers. Every other tablet is 16:10 or 16:9. I do wish Apple dropped the price of the iPad mini...329 for those specs is kinda lame.


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I think everyone is afraid that Apple might sue for using 4:3.
But I agree, 4:3 FTW.

 

Considering the other silly things Apple's sued for, you can't be surprised now can you?

 

There are 4:3 Android tablets. The ones from Archos ring a bell. They're just not particularly good tablets. Now, if Google came out with a 4:3 Nexus I'd be all over that.

4:3 works perfect in landscape and portrait, where the same cannot be said for 16:9. 16:10 doesn't really exist for Android because tablets equipped with 1920x1200p displays have the nav bar and the status bar that really negate the 1200p part, bringing the usable screen res back down to 1080p.

Apple could try and sue, but they wouldn't get anything. You can't patent the 4:3 aspect ratio... the only thing is that Google keeps pushing out reference 16:9 tablets.

 

Do iPhones have a texts per thread limit?

 

16:9 is the best for media watching; watching a movie on an iPad transforms your screen into something a bit bigger than a Kindle Fire. 16:9 is also good for the side-by-side functionality that Windows tablets offer; though without that functionality on iOS, it's kind of a moot point.

I don't think there's one aspect ratio that's best for every tablet and every tablet buyer.

 

That really hasn't bothered me so far with it being able to fully reproduce 1080p video on the screen. Plus I mostly watch TV shows on Netflix, of which most are actually 4:3, oddly enough. Futurama, Frasier, ST Voyager, ST TNG...

TL;DR: The iPad's screen is so good, watching 16:9 video on a 4:3 display doesn't really bother me at all.

 

To me its like comparing a 1080p 13" laptop screen and a 1080p 17" laptop screen. Sure, the latter isn't showing you any more information, but it does it on such a bigger space that it's easier and more pleasant to look at. Watching 16:9 shows on an iPad transforms it to about an 8" screen (I haven't measured; that's a guesstimate). Even with the same number of pixels, watching it on an 11.6" 16:9 screen is just a lot more pleasant IMO.

As for 4:3 shows, the only show I watch that's 4:3 is Buffy the Vampire Slayer (it has held up well! ). Everything else I like, from Burn Notice to Top Gear to Being Human (UK) to Firefly to BSG to movies, is 16:9. I can't help it if you have a craaaaazy compulsion to watch Star Trek

 

By that logic you could never have a 4:3 Android tablet anyway, so what you want is impossible.

 

No, Samsung could make my tablet... Since they still have a think for physical buttons. The nav bar is what I hate. It takes up real estate, for nothing really.

 

There's still the notification bar.
You can't claim it takes up space for one aspect ratio and ignore it for another one.

There's no way Samsung will make a 4:3 tablet anyway, it'd be terrible for multi-tasking.

 

You know not everyone buys a tablet for multitasking. When I had my Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, it was used for games, watching Netflix/Hulu and an MP3 player so my Nexus 4 battery life didn't go to the crapper.


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You're just dancing around the fact that iOS doesn't have a large wasted navigation button area, and yes I know Samsung will never create a 4:3 tablet. Apple buys all their 4:3 displays anyway. Wishes are like bowel movements... 99% of people have them.

Also, barring side-by-side windows, 16:9 tablets are REALLY awkward in portrait and abnormally wide in landscape. I've always felt that way, though. Maybe it's the reason why no Android tablet has really caught on for my use cases. I will admit, though, that those are MY use cases... not everyone's.

 

So if the 5C has the same screen/internals as the 5S and only the case is different, I would lean towards getting the 5C, esp if it's cheaper.

 

I highly doubt internals and LCD would be the same, it's replacing the 4/4S models.


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It'll most likely have the iPod Touch 5th gen's screen/camera combo (or just maybe the 4S's camera) and a more mature, higher clocked A5... if the 5C is to be a cheap model. That would give Apple a MASSIVE profit margin. A5 is on such a mature process now that it's crazy. Plus a plastic body, instead of aluminum body would certainly bring margins up even more.

The thing to remember about Apple is that they're not afraid to cannibalize one of their own product lines for higher profit margin. They've already done it with the iPad Mini and the iPod Touch.

 

Steve Jobs is probably spinning in his grave. I remember the time he said he would never allow something like this.

 

"The 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps". -Steve Jobs, 2010.

 

That quote should go on a wall along with John Dvorak saying that nobody wants to use an experimental pointing device called a "mouse." I'd say Bill Gates' quote about nobody needing more than 640k of memory should be there too, but apparently there's a serious question whether he ever said it at all (he denies it).

Steve Jobs was smart but he wasn't infallible. And I think he was dead-wrong to oppose tablets smaller than 10" and smartphones bigger than 3.5".

 

I actually like the iPad mini form factor a lot more than the 10" iPads. Only if they put that QXGA+ screen in it.


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I've seen leaks suggesting that the next 10" iPad will go to the minimalist side-bezels (the "sides" while in portrait orientation) to make the overall device substantially smaller without shrinking the screen.

 

I still feel for me a 10" tablet is still bulky and not very portable compared to 7-8" tablet.


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I too think that 4:3 is the best aspect ratio. I love it on my Android tablet and my girlfriend's iPad. My iPod and phone would be more usable with 4:3 screens, but the phone would have to be very wide to accommodate a comparable screen of a different aspect ratio.

 

Customers already lining up for iPhone 5S, obviously have no jobs, sense of time

Took the words right out of my mouth...

+1 to that. :thumbsup: A 16:9 ratio tablet is either too narrow in portrait mode, or too wide in landscape mode, especially during browsing.

 

The iPhone 5S/5C haven't even been officially announced and people are already lining up, that is ridiculous.

 

Ridiculous doesn't scratch the surface.

 

LG sold a phone with a 4:3 aspect ratio: the Optimus Vu. I don't think it has sold well at all.

 

So, iOS 7. We've already been waiting and waiting... it's been announced for a LONG time. Now we have to wait some more. Coming on the 18th.

WTH, Apple?

 

Compared to wait times for Android KitKat to hit the market, or for Windows 8.1 to be available to the public, another eight days is actually not bad at all.

Anyway, the iPhone 5C looks pretty decent. iPhone 5 internals with a more playful, more durable, and better-for-the-signal exterior for $99 on contract. I'm less impressed by the iPhone 5S. The big selling points are 64-bit (which won't affect day-to-day usage one iota) and fingerprint scanner (maybe important to some, but not me). That's about it.

 

Notice to ANY NBR users whom use iPhones. You'd better not be standing in line waiting for the iPhone 5C or 5S to be released.

I have maple syrup...

...and feathers.



You have been warned.

 

What's striking to me about the iPhone 5S and the 5C is that there's very little to discuss. I know this is a mid-cycle update, but even so, the changes feel very incremental/minimal.

The 5C is an iPhone 5 with a plastic case, selling for $99 with a contract (the normal price of a one-generation-old iPhone). The iPhone 5 (no letter) has been removed from Apple's store; the 5C replaces it instead of supplementing it. There, I've said everything there is to say with the phone.

The 5S is an iPhone 5 with a fingerprint scanner, an improved flash for the camera, and a 64-bit processor that's a specs bragging point but probably won't have any effect on day-to-day usage. There, I'm out of things to say about the 5S as well.

 

Nobody is seeing what's happening here. And honestly I'm shocked. It's pretty blunt.

This is Apple starting the move on merging the MBA line with the iOS device line. You'll notice Apple didn't really increase CPU performance at all with the 2013 MBA line (partly on Intel with Haswell, but also on Apple... they could have chosen different CPU's or custom silicon altogether), opting instead for more battery life. If they can keep iterating on their ARM CPU technology (which purchasing PASemi was the best thing they ever did), keep innovating in the SoC space and keep bringing these IPC increases... it won't be long before we have ARM powered Apple ultraportables.

Apple makes THE best SoC in the consumer ARM space, period. One can't argue the point.

And if you want more proof where Apple is going with their own SoC designs, look at the iPad. A7X is going to be beastly.

 

The downside of that approach is that the ARM MacBook Airs would be the Surface RTs of Apple space...no legacy OSX program support. Maybe Apple users would be more forgiving of a lack of backward compatibility than Windows users are, but still, it's quite risky. Or am I misunderstanding the consequences of the MBA line switching to ARM?

 

Apple would likely have something like Rosetta for the ARM/X86 translation. Just like they did with Power/X86. The OSX kernel is highly adaptive.

 

On a less technical note, does anyone else think these cases...



...look like these?



And why on earth would they have all those holes anyway? Any practical reason? Seems like an invitation for dirt to get under the case and grind against the skin of the phone.

 

^I think it's strictly about the colors--being able to have the phone's color show through the case's color.

The "5C" seems like an interesting move. Rather than try to sell previous-generation phones under their old name and design, they put some color options on it and call it a new phone, even though it's identical to the 5 in specs.

I love the gold 5S and will probably end up getting it, but man, I am really looking forward to the day the iPhone gets a wider screen. My usual pattern is to buy the "S" versions of the iPhones and thus waiting for them to make improvements to the new designs. Although it is hard sometimes to resist the temptation to get the new design when it comes out...

 

I was going to make a joke about a soft Corinthian leather case to go with your gold iPhone 5S, but it turns out Apple DID actually reveal a lineup of real leather cases today. No joke.

(In all seriousness, more color choices are better, and I don't care what color other people's phones are. I just can't resist the opportunity for a soft Corinthian leather joke).

 

Though I would rather wait for a bigger iPhone, I'll be ordering a 5s on Friday (maybe 2).

Have been iPhone-less since December and I actually miss it.

 

Still wondering why they used glossy plastic for the 5C. Plastic, I'm cool with, the colors meh, but a matter of taste, however, glossy really is a big downer for me. Scratches show, fingerprints show and imo, it doesn't look good, has that "toy" feel to it.

 

No legacy support? Apple has already done that twice in recent memory. I was grumbling when they went from OS9 to OSX, and they did it again when they went from PPC to x86.

If they make a new desktop OS based on ARM, they already have the "Metro" part of it figured out, iOS.

They have never had anything that wasn't glossy.

 

They've had their version of Metro in OSX since OSX Lion, an iPad-style launcher called Launchpad (har har):

 

I wouldn't really count OSX as recent, you are talking about 13+ years now. And initially when they switched to x86, Apple did support PowerPC as well as x86, but everyone knew that PowerPC was going in the crapper, so all the people who continued to use it for years and years...well you get my gist.


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Wall Street Gives Apple's New iPhones Thumbs Down - MoneyBeat - WSJ

“So much for the low end,” Credit Suisse analysts wrote to clients on Wednesday, while downgrading the stock to neutral from outperform. “We remain disappointed with Apple’s decision to remain a premium priced smartphone vendor, and this continues to competitively expose the company.”

 

Maybe I shouldn't be challenging Wall Street experts, but I'm not sure remaining a low-volume-high-margin OEM is a bad strategy. In fact, it's worked great for Apple's Mac division. Despite only having 7% market share last time I checked, it's MASSIVELY profitable thanks to high margins on the hardware, app store sales, and iTunes sales.

I know that electronics-to-automotive comparisons are overdone, but here goes. The world needs work trucks and econoboxes. I'm glad many manufacturers offer them. But is a bad move of Porsche to stay out of that market, focusing solely on luxurious-and-high-performance sports cars, sedans, and SUVs? Their market share sucks, but their profitability doesn't.

And offering a Lumia 620 competitor to try and take over emerging markets could damage the brand prestige that allows for such generous profit margins on their high-end devices.

The luxury-only strategy doesn't make them a brand I personally want to buy from, but it IS a very smart strategy for their continued financial success. I can't fault them from a business perspective at all.

 

I kinda think 550 unlocked is a bit much for a lower end model. I think to spread it around, you need to go 300 or lower unlocked. Cripes 200 more you can get the 5S. And the 5S should debut 199 on contract, so 5C is only 100 cheaper..


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The release of OSX 12 years ago feels like yesterday to me, but that is besides the point. Apple has already done it a couple of times, and since they control all the hardware and the OS, they can make it as pain-free as possible. They did an amazing job of migrating from PPC to x86. I have no doubt that if they migrate from x86 to ARM they will also do a good job of it. However, I really don't think that it is in the cards in the near future.

I agree with Mitlov. Investors aren't looking into what is best for the company's long term sustainability, just what is going to increase profits in the short term. Before, all I could hear about how introducing a new cheaper phone would reduce profit margins, cut into sales of premium iPhones, and dilute the brand name. But now it is a bad thing that the cheaper iPhone is still high end? I have more faith in Apple continuing to run the company as they see fit rather than investors just wanting to see the greatest and quickest rise in the stock price.

What should be more important is that Apple released a version of the iPhone that will work on China Mobile's network (they use GSM 2G and a proprietary technology for 3G). China Mobile is the largest carrier in the world, with 700 million subscribers.

 

iTunes Radio is working on iOS 7 on my iPad. Pretty nice SQ and IQ... at least as good as Google Play's radio station features.

 

Im outright going to say that he is a moron. you want a high margin company to completely change its way it does business for a long time and its working and all things point that its going to keep working, to satisfy what? to complement what? to fill what niche? for what gains? for what image?

and if by an immense stupid decision they decide to do it, those same guys are going to say that apple since jobs has lost its way and it will become another dell and hp

why is he an analyst investor? well anyway, credit suisse basically operates by selling large and buying large, usually in mutual agreements with others, they rarely know anything that is worth, other companies are much more interesting and have good insiders