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Your cars battery is cooled instead of being abused as a heat sink, is nearly never emptied, and uses a battery chemistry that doesn't degrade when fully charge
by hanbura 9y ago
Your cars battery is cooled instead of being abused as a heat sink, is nearly never emptied, and uses a battery chemistry that doesn't degrade when fully charged.
Smartphone battery degradation is indeed a consequence of design choices, but I think those choices are reasonable. I prefer battery power and processor power now over long term battery life, as long as the battery is replaceable.
- mikeash 9y agoIf they’d just make it bigger they’d solve a lot of things for both of us.
- ghaff 9y agoExcept people tend to vote with their wallets for thinner lighter phones. Probably I’d prefer a slightly thicker phone myself but I’m probably not typical.
- mikeash 9y agoIndeed. I really wish Apple would offer an option to have a phone that's twice as thick as their current offerings, with the extra space filled with extra battery. Keep the thin ones available for people who prefer those. But I'm not getting my hopes up for such a thing. (And to preempt the typical responses to this: I know battery cases exist, but they're a substantially inferior solution.)
- robterrell 9y agoIt's not just us geeks. My wife and kids (at least, the daughters who are full-time snapchat users) would definitely select the larger phone with bigger battery. If you had both choices before you in the store, who wouldn't start to wonder if they'd regret the thinner/lower capacity choice?
- chrisbennet 9y agoI would love it if they came out with a real Pro version of their products. Call them the "Pro Black" edition or something. Imagine a "Black Edition" of the iPhone that's thicker, has a headphone jack and an integral rubberized case. The aesthetic would be similar to military style watches. Imagine a thicker MacBook Pro that doesn't require dongles. Don't announce them initially but show it in some hacker movies. Make them special order initially. I can dream...
- ghaff 9y agoI have somewhat mixed feelings myself. On the one hand I would like to have true all day battery life for those relatively rare days when I’m really hammering on the battery. OTOH maybe I really do prefer less thickness and weight for the 90% case and just top it off with an external battery on the other days.
- gargravarr 9y agoGeeks (illustrated by those of us reading HN) tend to value function over form. Unfortunately this is not the market Apple appeals to. They have successfully managed to appeal to enough people that 'thin is good' at the expense of everything else, and here we are with laptops and phones you can practically shave with.
- remir 9y agoThe problem is Apple doesn't sell a thicker iPhone 8, so we don't know if it would sell better or worse than the thinner version.
- mgkimsal 9y agoPeople's purchases aren't 'votes' in some context-less void. Many folks (most in the last couple of years?) are firmly entrenched in the Apple ecosystem. Wanting a nicer camera and nicer screen, while not having to worry about migrating data and apps, forces the 'lighter/thinner' option on people. People moving from an iphone 5s to a 7 aren't necessarily "voting" for a thinner phone. They are more likely "voting" for a better camera or more storage, but are forced in to 'thinner' as a byproduct. I've never met anyone in the last 5 years who's upgraded to a new phone based on their current device being 'too thick'. Camera, storage, speed and screen size are factors; thickness has never been a motivating factor I've heard from people.