10 ms·

Apple announces September 12 media event

65 points by twoodfin 14y ago

twoodfin 14y ago
Not at all surprised that it's going to be the "iPhone 5". Apple accepts that two-year contracts mean there's going to be an ebb and flow to their phone sales, and thus it's worth making as big a "bang" as possible for each new device, even at the expense of having buyers delay their purchase waiting on the new release. But the iPad doesn't have a contract, and they'd prefer the average consumer not sit around waiting for the "new" iPad any more than they'd wait around for the "new" Macbook. Obviously some consumers are going to go to the Mac Rumors buying guide, but not many. By not hanging a big number on the brand, they mitigate the "I'll wait for N+1" mentality and hopefully spread out sales into the months post-release when their margins improve.
- cwe 14y ago
  I was thinking it could (also) be an allusion to 5 complete years of the iPhone.
  - epo 14y ago
    Try again! It is going to be the announcement of 5 new lawsuits against Samsung which will be left as a shadow of its former self.
  - spicyj 14y ago
    It can't really be by years: 1: iPhone (2G) 2: iPhone 3G 3: iPhone 3GS 4: iPhone 4 5: iPhone 4S 6: iPhone 5?
    - noblethrasher 14y ago
      The original iPhone debuted in 2007.
- jsz0 14y ago
  It may be that since many people continue to refer to the 'new iPad' as the iPad 3 they decided it just doesn't stick so why bother?
- mikek 14y ago
  Also - there is only 1 current version of the iPhone available at any time. Compare this to the iPad (Regular vs. Mini), iPod (Touch, Nano, Shuffle), Macbook (Air, Pro).
  - megablast 14y ago
    I know they still sell the iPhone 4 and 4s, and think they may even still sell the 3gs.
    - spullara 14y ago
      They sell all 3 right off their site: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iph...
  - untog 14y ago
    Not true- they still sell the iPhone 4 as a cut-price version of the 4S. And they sold the 3GS when the 4 was the top model. Expect them to do the same- sell the 4S alongside the 5.
    - mikeash 14y ago
      Note that they still sell the 3GS, right now. I assume that once the 5 ships, the 4S will become the cheaper model, and the 4 will become the really-cheap model that the 3GS currently is.
      - cwe 14y ago
        With the rumored iPad Mini, they just might continue making the 3GS instead of the 4. A non-retina cheapo iPhone option makes sense for prepaid and free phones, and it's supposedly the same display PPI as the iPad Mini, so it could share a lot of components.
colmvp 14y ago
Worst kept secret ever.
- 1qaz2wsx3edc 14y ago
  Best hype machine ever.
moystard 14y ago
Samsung lawyers are watching that with attention, waiting for the word LTE to come up. http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/30/samsung-if-apple-releases-an-lte-iphone-were-ready-to-sue http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/30/samsung-if-apple-releas...
- epo 14y ago
  "Samsung, start your photocopiers."
- kemiller 14y ago
  Those are most likely standards-essential patents, no? In which case they can't use them to block sales, in theory. IANAL so this is an honest question.
- pooriaazimi 14y ago
  (from the article) > "[Samsung] decid[ed] not to go after Apple’s less popular LTE-enabled iPad device. The “hit them where it hurts” approach." Yeah. iPad has such a small marketshare and generates so little revenue for Apple that it's not worth going after. Right.
  - jarek 14y ago
    I think the idea would be that relatively few of iPads sold, percentage wise, are cellular/LTE, while all iPhones will be. The absolute number of devices sold probably doesn't hurt the case.
smoyer 14y ago
I'm waiting for Apple to invite all it's friends to an event and then just provide a nice party. "You're our friends and we wanted to treat you well" would be a nice sentiment and the perfect way to confuse people who try to predict what they'll do next.
- moystard 14y ago
  I guess you will wait for a long time then, I don't see it happening anytime soon. For that kind of philosophy to appear, it would mean Apple is losing market shares and needs a new strategy to attract developers and users.
- Achshar 14y ago
  Bad idea. Some people fly from different parts of country at attend such an event.
kristofferR 14y ago
Thank God, seems like it'll be called iPhone 5 instead of "the new iPhone".
- ceejayoz 14y ago
  I'm just waiting for the people who were absolutely certain Apple would call it the iPhone 6 to show up.
- schiffern 14y ago
  This confuses me. Why does anyone care? The iPod had undifferentiated names for a decade, despite dramatic changes in capabilities. Whenever there's a need for specificity (e.g. buying/selling a device online), people had no problem specifying "iPod third generation," "iPod nano second generation" etc.
  - jamesaguilar 14y ago
    I would say the only substantial change from one iPod to the next was the amount of storage and the quality of the screen. You'd never need to talk about which generation you had, because they only do one thing: play music. Meanwhile, successive iPhones have a few features that differentiate how they actually behave: - processor (screen smoothness, webpage performance, what games you can play) - camera (quality of images) - radio antenna type - OS versions supported (iPhone features often vary by OS version, unlike the features of the traditional iPod) In conclusion, iPods only have one real feature, and it doesn't change, so you don't need to talk about version numbers. iPhones have more features that do change, so version numbers are important.
    - qq66 14y ago
      iPods grew in feature set as much as iPhones have... they added cameras, video, color screens, and FM radio over the product lifecycle.
      - jamesaguilar 14y ago
tsycho 14y ago
Is the image (12 reflecting 5) actually from Apple, or did someone else create it? I can't seem to find it anywhere on Apple's website.
- glhaynes 14y ago
  They don't put these sorts of images on apple.com afaik - they're just sent to the invitees who then spread them.
stripe 14y ago
Cool! Maybe Apple will also tell why they allow spyware on iOS as reported by Bloomberg? http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-29/spyware-matching-finfisher-can-take-over-iphone-and-blackberry.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-29/spyware-matching-fi...
- TobbenTM 14y ago
  They would never admit to something like that.
- guywithabike 14y ago
  Read the article. The whole article. It doesn't say what you think it says.
cdrxndr 14y ago
Apple-Google cross licensing agreement announcement - calling it now.
gkoberger 14y ago
For those that didn't notice, the shadow on the "12" forms a "5": http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/09/04/apple-announces-special-event-for-september-12/ http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/09/04/apple-announces-specia...

65 points by twoodfin 14y ago

Not at all surprised that it's going to be the "iPhone 5". Apple accepts that two-year contracts mean there's going to be an ebb and flow to their phone sales, and thus it's worth making as big a "bang" as possible for each new device, even at the expense of having buyers delay their purchase waiting on the new release. But the iPad doesn't have a contract, and they'd prefer the average consumer not sit around waiting for the "new" iPad any more than they'd wait around for the "new" Macbook. Obviously some consumers are going to go to the Mac Rumors buying guide, but not many. By not hanging a big number on the brand, they mitigate the "I'll wait for N+1" mentality and hopefully spread out sales into the months post-release when their margins improve.

cwe 14y ago
I was thinking it could (also) be an allusion to 5 complete years of the iPhone.
- epo 14y ago
  Try again! It is going to be the announcement of 5 new lawsuits against Samsung which will be left as a shadow of its former self.
- spicyj 14y ago
  It can't really be by years: 1: iPhone (2G) 2: iPhone 3G 3: iPhone 3GS 4: iPhone 4 5: iPhone 4S 6: iPhone 5?
  - noblethrasher 14y ago
    The original iPhone debuted in 2007.
jsz0 14y ago
It may be that since many people continue to refer to the 'new iPad' as the iPad 3 they decided it just doesn't stick so why bother?
mikek 14y ago
Also - there is only 1 current version of the iPhone available at any time. Compare this to the iPad (Regular vs. Mini), iPod (Touch, Nano, Shuffle), Macbook (Air, Pro).
- megablast 14y ago
  I know they still sell the iPhone 4 and 4s, and think they may even still sell the 3gs.
  - spullara 14y ago
    They sell all 3 right off their site: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iph...
- untog 14y ago
  Not true- they still sell the iPhone 4 as a cut-price version of the 4S. And they sold the 3GS when the 4 was the top model. Expect them to do the same- sell the 4S alongside the 5.
  - mikeash 14y ago
    Note that they still sell the 3GS, right now. I assume that once the 5 ships, the 4S will become the cheaper model, and the 4 will become the really-cheap model that the 3GS currently is.
    - cwe 14y ago
      With the rumored iPad Mini, they just might continue making the 3GS instead of the 4. A non-retina cheapo iPhone option makes sense for prepaid and free phones, and it's supposedly the same display PPI as the iPad Mini, so it could share a lot of components.

colmvp 14y ago

Worst kept secret ever.

1qaz2wsx3edc 14y ago
Best hype machine ever.

moystard 14y ago

Samsung lawyers are watching that with attention, waiting for the word LTE to come up. http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/30/samsung-if-apple-releases-an-lte-iphone-were-ready-to-sue http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/30/samsung-if-apple-releas...

epo 14y ago
"Samsung, start your photocopiers."
kemiller 14y ago
Those are most likely standards-essential patents, no? In which case they can't use them to block sales, in theory. IANAL so this is an honest question.
pooriaazimi 14y ago
(from the article) > "[Samsung] decid[ed] not to go after Apple’s less popular LTE-enabled iPad device. The “hit them where it hurts” approach." Yeah. iPad has such a small marketshare and generates so little revenue for Apple that it's not worth going after. Right.
- jarek 14y ago
  I think the idea would be that relatively few of iPads sold, percentage wise, are cellular/LTE, while all iPhones will be. The absolute number of devices sold probably doesn't hurt the case.

smoyer 14y ago

I'm waiting for Apple to invite all it's friends to an event and then just provide a nice party. "You're our friends and we wanted to treat you well" would be a nice sentiment and the perfect way to confuse people who try to predict what they'll do next.

moystard 14y ago
I guess you will wait for a long time then, I don't see it happening anytime soon. For that kind of philosophy to appear, it would mean Apple is losing market shares and needs a new strategy to attract developers and users.
Achshar 14y ago
Bad idea. Some people fly from different parts of country at attend such an event.

kristofferR 14y ago

Thank God, seems like it'll be called iPhone 5 instead of "the new iPhone".

ceejayoz 14y ago
I'm just waiting for the people who were absolutely certain Apple would call it the iPhone 6 to show up.
schiffern 14y ago
This confuses me. Why does anyone care? The iPod had undifferentiated names for a decade, despite dramatic changes in capabilities. Whenever there's a need for specificity (e.g. buying/selling a device online), people had no problem specifying "iPod third generation," "iPod nano second generation" etc.
- jamesaguilar 14y ago
  I would say the only substantial change from one iPod to the next was the amount of storage and the quality of the screen. You'd never need to talk about which generation you had, because they only do one thing: play music. Meanwhile, successive iPhones have a few features that differentiate how they actually behave: - processor (screen smoothness, webpage performance, what games you can play) - camera (quality of images) - radio antenna type - OS versions supported (iPhone features often vary by OS version, unlike the features of the traditional iPod) In conclusion, iPods only have one real feature, and it doesn't change, so you don't need to talk about version numbers. iPhones have more features that do change, so version numbers are important.
  - qq66 14y ago
    iPods grew in feature set as much as iPhones have... they added cameras, video, color screens, and FM radio over the product lifecycle.
    - jamesaguilar 14y ago

tsycho 14y ago

Is the image (12 reflecting 5) actually from Apple, or did someone else create it? I can't seem to find it anywhere on Apple's website.

glhaynes 14y ago
They don't put these sorts of images on apple.com afaik - they're just sent to the invitees who then spread them.

stripe 14y ago

Cool! Maybe Apple will also tell why they allow spyware on iOS as reported by Bloomberg? http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-29/spyware-matching-finfisher-can-take-over-iphone-and-blackberry.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-29/spyware-matching-fi...

TobbenTM 14y ago
They would never admit to something like that.
guywithabike 14y ago
Read the article. The whole article. It doesn't say what you think it says.

cdrxndr 14y ago

Apple-Google cross licensing agreement announcement - calling it now.

gkoberger 14y ago

For those that didn't notice, the shadow on the "12" forms a "5": http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/09/04/apple-announces-special-event-for-september-12/ http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/09/04/apple-announces-specia...