Slashdot Mirror
Apple To Extend iPhone's Product Cycle; Shift To 32GB Internal Storage On Base Model: Reports (nikkei.com)
According to Japanese outlet Nikkei, which has a good track record, Apple is planning to extend its iPhone's product cycle. The Cupertino, California-based company, which currently utilizes the same design language for two years, now plans to make major refreshes to its iconic smartphone every three years. The report claims that Apple is changing the refresh cycle as it struggles to innovate and provide new features and substantial improvements to its iPhone. For those planning to purchase the next iPhone, don't expect any design changes, the report adds. From the report: The new version slated for this autumn will look almost identical to the current iPhone 6. Functions such as the camera, water resistance and battery capacity will likely be improved, and the headphone jack will be removed. Also, a high-end version of the model will give users better-quality photo capabilities via correction functions. On the sidelines, the media is abuzz with reports that the next iPhone will have 32GB internal storage in its base model.
why would you do this? to artificially inflate battery life or make it slimmer, not worth it, this is a stupid move.
On the other hand, I'm old enough to remember when Macs dropped the serial port in favor of USB, and all the squalling about "b-b-but my cheap modems!" Heck, I remember the complaints about non-standard (i.e. not DB9 or DB25) serial connectors.
Maybe it'll look boneheaded five years from now, maybe it won't. I'm going with "will", but I've been wrong before betting against Apple.
The 32GB base absolutely makes sense as 16GB is not nearly enough for anyone but a casual user. Load up a couple dozen Apps, store email on your phone and take some photo's and BAM, your 16GB is done.
As far as the headphones, I personally do not care. I use bluetooth and for those that still want to use headphones, there will be a lightning adaptor to do so. I really do not get the reason, though. To make the phone .xxx MM thinner? IMO, it's already too thin and quite cumbersome to use w/o a case on it.
why purchase $5.00 headphones to listen to highly compressed lossy music, when I can purchase the same headphones, at 10-20X the price, because of a proprietary connector.
No one is forcing you to use a proprietary connector at 10-20X the price. Bluetooth headphones start at about $11 shipped these days. Granted, they likely won't be decent, but neither will the $5 set you're worried you can't use. Alternatively, there are third-party Lightning -> 3.5mm audio jack adapters available for relatively cheap, allowing you to still use your $5 crappy headphones if you're dead-set on them.
But let's be honest: none of this is actually something that'll ever affect you since you have no interest in this product. You just wanted to complain about a product from a company other than the one you support so that you could feel better about your purchasing decisions, which explains why you conveniently chose to ignore the obvious. That's not something unique to one side or the other. Apple fanboys do it. Android fanboys do it. But none of that makes it right. You're doing a disservice to yourself when you exaggerate the situation unnecessarily.
I anticipate no problems hooking up my headphones to the new iPhone.
Then again, I joined the 21st century a while back with a decent set of bluetooth headphones.
You're (quite understandably) assuming something I didn't say. I asserted that he was grossly overstating the situation, which he was. I never said I was a fan of them dropping the headphone jack, which you seem to have incorrectly inferred.
I'm actually on the fence about it. In the long-term, I do want this stuff to go wireless, since it opens up new form factors, provides more freedom in how we use our devices, and makes it easier to move around (I can't count how many times I've pushed back from my desk at work and had my headphones yank off my head/out of my ears). I actually just purchased my first set of Bluetooth headphones this week (admittedly, a rather cheap set) to see how they work for me in practical use. That said, the idea of needing to replace batteries or charge on a regular basis, introducing room for additional latency, dealing with signal interference, adding cost (even if it's marginal), or facing the idea that they might stop working at the least convenient time is utterly and completely unappealing. That's why I went cheap; I get to see how much those disadvantages hurt and whether they matter to me in practice before I commit more fully.
More or less, I'm uncomfortable with the idea of them dropping the headphone jack, since there are clear advantages to it, but my misgivings feel very similar to the ones I had when floppies went away or as we've started to see optical media disappear. It's a bit painful at the time, and there are things that are lost in the process, but by and large, the changes are for the better in the end. We can argue about whether the time to do this change is now or not, but I think most of us have a sense that the world should be going this direction eventually.