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They improved every aspect of the phone. Each is a feat of engineering unto itself. What were you hoping for?

by z5h 7y ago

ehsankia 7y ago
You don't need a 2 hour long presentation to give small spec bumps. The problem is that everyone now expects this whole yearly circus, and Apple puts on a show even though they only have very incremental improvements to show. It also doesn't help that most of the the cool software features were already announced at WWDC.
- z5h 7y ago
  Better computational photography with added camera hardware, new immersive audio algorithms, on-CPU changes for optimized ML matrix computations, etc, are not "small spec bumps". If you think they are it's likely because companies like Apple are so incredible at delivering this kind of stuff that it seems routine.
  - writepub 7y ago
    Every one of those features appeared in Chinese & Korean Android phones 2-3 years ago. Neither are these "feats", nor are they unique to Apple. They're already behind the curve on these features. The only commendable thing is scale, when Apple adds these features they reach 10X in unit sales per SKU compared to the competition.
    - beamatronic 7y ago
      Do you trust those phones with your data?
      - writepub 7y ago
        Do you really trust Apple with yours? [1][2]. [1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208351 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208351 [2] https://9to5mac.com/2019/07/29/stop-apple-listening-siri-recordings/ https://9to5mac.com/2019/07/29/stop-apple-listening-siri-rec...
  - ehsankia 7y ago
    > Better computational photography Basically catching up to the Pixel > new immersive audio algorithms Will have to try it out but it sounds very much like fluff > on-CPU changes for optimized ML matrix computations So faster matrix multiplies are a user-facing feature? Other than the camera changes, there was no features an average user would be excited over. No new tech like face unlock, animojis, Samsung's audio focus, Pixel's Soli, or other real new features.
    - z5h 7y ago
      I was countering your claim that these were spec bumps. Now we're instead having a discussion about Android phones and Animojis? I can't keep track.
      - nanoservices 7y ago
        > Now we're instead having a discussion about Android phones and Animojis? Because you & apple during the presentation made is sound like computational photography in phones was something ground breaking and never before seen. Its been in the Pixel phone for years.
        colejohnson66 7y ago
        No one said it was new. They said it was big for Apple. Yes, Apple is always behind their competitors in many things, but that’s not why people buy Apple.
      - ehsankia 7y ago
        I categorize announcements in two buckets: 1. Spec bumps: These are mostly invisible to the consumer, it just gives them a phone that's slightly faster or lasts longer. Faster matrix multiply falls into this category. 2. Features: These are actual changes the user can see and interact with. I named a few examples, both on software (animoji/sound focus) and hardware (face unlock/soli) side. This presentation had almost none of the latter, other than Dark Mode. I'm not sure why that statement is so hard to understand. None of the stuff you named were really features. No one goes to the store to buy the phone with the slightly faster cpu or better matrix multiplies.
- Shivetya 7y ago
  what I find odd is Apple appears disconnected from their audience, this was not the first presentation where Tim or others seem to pause waiting for an expected cheer that was not to materialize.
Flavius 7y ago
I was hoping for USB-C and no camera bump on the back. Just make the phone 1mm thicker and add some extra battery. I guess that would be too much... We have to live with the "up to 4h" extra battery life that would probably translate in 1h of extra battery in the real world. It's just depressing.
- lisper 7y ago
  I always mentally translate "up to" as "strictly less than."
- kalleboo 7y ago
  The 11 Pro is 0.4mm thicker than the XS (and the X/XS were 0.6mm thicker than the 7). They're slowly getting there. > We have to live with the "up to 4h" extra battery life that would probably translate in 1h of extra battery in the real world Comparing the numbers to the stated numbers for the iPhone XS, "streaming video" has actually gone down by 3 hours. And they removed the "internet use" spec completely. You can now listen to music for 65 hours instead of 60 though.
- snazz 7y ago
  Potentially controversial: how much more battery do you need? I have an iPhone 8 and it lasts for two solid days (48 hours) if I forget to charge it and one really heavy day if I do charge it. I agree that a little extra thickness isn’t too bad (and on USB-C), but I’m pretty happy with my battery life. Do I just not use it as much as most people? I’m genuinely curious.
nailer 7y ago
I was hoping to get rid of the notch. I had an iPhone X, I'm typing this on a OnePlus 7. There's a few phones now that have no notches or holes in the screen.

They improved every aspect of the phone. Each is a feat of engineering unto itself. What were you hoping for?

by z5h 7y ago

They improved every aspect of the phone. Each is a feat of engineering unto itself. What were you hoping for?

You don't need a 2 hour long presentation to give small spec bumps. The problem is that everyone now expects this whole yearly circus, and Apple puts on a show even though they only have very incremental improvements to show. It also doesn't help that most of the the cool software features were already announced at WWDC.

z5h 7y ago
Better computational photography with added camera hardware, new immersive audio algorithms, on-CPU changes for optimized ML matrix computations, etc, are not "small spec bumps". If you think they are it's likely because companies like Apple are so incredible at delivering this kind of stuff that it seems routine.
- writepub 7y ago
  Every one of those features appeared in Chinese & Korean Android phones 2-3 years ago. Neither are these "feats", nor are they unique to Apple. They're already behind the curve on these features. The only commendable thing is scale, when Apple adds these features they reach 10X in unit sales per SKU compared to the competition.
  - beamatronic 7y ago
    Do you trust those phones with your data?
    - writepub 7y ago
      Do you really trust Apple with yours? [1][2]. [1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208351 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208351 [2] https://9to5mac.com/2019/07/29/stop-apple-listening-siri-recordings/ https://9to5mac.com/2019/07/29/stop-apple-listening-siri-rec...
- ehsankia 7y ago
  > Better computational photography Basically catching up to the Pixel > new immersive audio algorithms Will have to try it out but it sounds very much like fluff > on-CPU changes for optimized ML matrix computations So faster matrix multiplies are a user-facing feature? Other than the camera changes, there was no features an average user would be excited over. No new tech like face unlock, animojis, Samsung's audio focus, Pixel's Soli, or other real new features.
  - z5h 7y ago
    I was countering your claim that these were spec bumps. Now we're instead having a discussion about Android phones and Animojis? I can't keep track.
    - nanoservices 7y ago
      > Now we're instead having a discussion about Android phones and Animojis? Because you & apple during the presentation made is sound like computational photography in phones was something ground breaking and never before seen. Its been in the Pixel phone for years.
      - colejohnson66 7y ago
        No one said it was new. They said it was big for Apple. Yes, Apple is always behind their competitors in many things, but that’s not why people buy Apple.
    - ehsankia 7y ago
      I categorize announcements in two buckets: 1. Spec bumps: These are mostly invisible to the consumer, it just gives them a phone that's slightly faster or lasts longer. Faster matrix multiply falls into this category. 2. Features: These are actual changes the user can see and interact with. I named a few examples, both on software (animoji/sound focus) and hardware (face unlock/soli) side. This presentation had almost none of the latter, other than Dark Mode. I'm not sure why that statement is so hard to understand. None of the stuff you named were really features. No one goes to the store to buy the phone with the slightly faster cpu or better matrix multiplies.
Shivetya 7y ago
what I find odd is Apple appears disconnected from their audience, this was not the first presentation where Tim or others seem to pause waiting for an expected cheer that was not to materialize.

Flavius 7y ago

I was hoping for USB-C and no camera bump on the back. Just make the phone 1mm thicker and add some extra battery. I guess that would be too much... We have to live with the "up to 4h" extra battery life that would probably translate in 1h of extra battery in the real world. It's just depressing.

lisper 7y ago
I always mentally translate "up to" as "strictly less than."
kalleboo 7y ago
The 11 Pro is 0.4mm thicker than the XS (and the X/XS were 0.6mm thicker than the 7). They're slowly getting there. > We have to live with the "up to 4h" extra battery life that would probably translate in 1h of extra battery in the real world Comparing the numbers to the stated numbers for the iPhone XS, "streaming video" has actually gone down by 3 hours. And they removed the "internet use" spec completely. You can now listen to music for 65 hours instead of 60 though.
snazz 7y ago
Potentially controversial: how much more battery do you need? I have an iPhone 8 and it lasts for two solid days (48 hours) if I forget to charge it and one really heavy day if I do charge it. I agree that a little extra thickness isn’t too bad (and on USB-C), but I’m pretty happy with my battery life. Do I just not use it as much as most people? I’m genuinely curious.

nailer 7y ago

I was hoping to get rid of the notch. I had an iPhone X, I'm typing this on a OnePlus 7. There's a few phones now that have no notches or holes in the screen.