7 ms·

The Next iPhone

37 points by tortilla 17y ago

martythemaniak 17y ago
A pretty safe set of assumptions. Considering that Apple shops around for chips like all other smartphone manufacturers, and that phones like the BB Bold have had 600+Mhz CPUs for quite a while, it'd be pretty silly to bet against that. And lord knows the iPhone needs a speed bump. That slick UI and effects comes at a price and its almost embarrassing when you want to write down someone's phone number, but you have to tell them to wait 3 seconds while the contacts app loads.
- axod 17y ago
  Personally, I think the speed is "good enough". If they can up that without compromizing battery life, then great. But if it's a choice between battery and cpu, I'd take battery every time. The most irritating thing is that with 3g enabled+GPS, the battery drains ridiculously quickly, and you have to enable/disable 3g yourself manually. Why can't it just do that itself? :/
  - joeyo 17y ago
    Android with the Locale app does this (lets you toggle features as a function of battery state), but I've heard that Google is actually removing the API calls for toggling GPS in Cupcake (Android v1.5). I'm not entirely sure why this is supposed to be a good thing
    - jodrellblank 17y ago
      So apps can't spy on you, I hope.
    - thwarted 17y ago
      Supposedly, there was confusion about what exactly "turning off GPS" meant, because on the G1, you "enable" GPS, but it doesn't actually do anything unless an app queries for geolocation data -- it doesn't drain the battery just because GPS is enabled. So you'd disable it and wouldn't have to worry that there was some app running that would drain your battery because it is using GPS. But there is a UI problem, somewhat exposed with the Maps app, with when you have it disabled, the app detects that and tells you that you'll need to enable it. Except the wording isn't straightforward, and the app doesn't handle turning it on itself (which may be a good or bad thing, if you've got it disabled in the preferences). G1's GPS setting does need some work, but it's good that it's getting some attention now that location based apps are increasing in popularity.
      - joeyo 17y ago
        Thanks for the clarification. I suspect that my G1 has a bad GPS module because I find that when I have it disabled, I can get a somewhat accurate measurement of my current location via cell towers or whatever, however if I have it enabled, it can't figure out where I am at all (at least not within the amount of time that I am willing to wait for it-- 1 minute or so). So I leave it disabled pretty much all the time in an attempt to keep the battery life long. If it were up to me (and I must admit I have not looked at how the location API works), I would have location services return an imprecise value quickly (via cell towers or wifi or whatever) and refine it as the GPS came online. Sensor fusion is still an active research topic, but there are at least some simple heuristics that could be used if it was inefficient to make a full Bayesian inference.
        thwarted 17y ago
        I seemed to have a similar problem a few months ago. I think there is also confusion as to the "location" settings -- there doesn't seem to be one setting that turns off all location querying ability, so you can have "use wireless networks" on, and "enable GPS satellites" off, and it still works, but the application calls it GPS (and the icon looks like a satellite). I think it cleared up for me when I turned on both location settings (use wireless networks and enable GPS satellites). I have not noticed a significant drain on the battery due to having both on, but I rarely use location based apps anyway.
    - nuclear_eclipse 17y ago
      It seems to still work correctly in 1.5 with Locale on my phone, but I honestly haven't paid too close attention to it. Perhaps they're planning this change for after 1.5?
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- mlinsey 17y ago
  The worst thing about it is that the interface lag problems seem to have gotten significantly worse since launch. I've even tried re-installing the firmware, backing up only my contacts, but it now seems common to wait sometimes as long as 7-10 seconds for an app to load, or up to experience up to around a five second lag in keyboard input, especially in search boxes in Safari and YouTube.
tophat02 17y ago
The NEXT next iPhone needs to really be your "personal computer". I imagine a time when the only computer you have will be your mobile device. How this device acts will depend on what you dock it with. Maybe when you're on the couch you'll slide it into a tablet-like device and you instantly run in tablet mode, with more apps and functionality becoming available to you in that mode. Maybe when you're in your home office you'll dock it with a keyboard, mouse, and two monitors, and use it as your workstation. The point is, I look forward to the day when physical device size no longer really correlates to usable power or storage space, and THAT means that, barring supercomputers and servers, most people will have just their "phone". What that device acts like will be based on which I/O peripherals you plug it in to. A guy can dream...
- dejb 17y ago
  > The NEXT next iPhone needs to really be your "personal computer". Would you allow your main personal computer to have such a closed system that you aren't even allow to install unapproved software on it? I agree that this device will essentially be your interface to the digital and remote world. Can you really allow a company to censor what you can do with that? The current App store model just doesn't 'scale' to this scenario. To me the only choice is to look to other platforms until Apple changes their policy.
  - nazgulnarsil 17y ago
    typical mac users wouldnt know the difference between an open and closed system because they dont do anything on their device except what it comes with or is sold through official channels.
    - zimbabwe 17y ago
      Most of my Mac-using friends use Adium and Firefox. Some of them even understand what plugins are. I've got a friend or two who've skinned their Mac, though why anybody would dislike Leopard's version of Aqua rather baffles me. Typical Windows users don't know their device comes with official programs because every machine is loaded with crap. No Windows user within my acquaintance uses Notepad as their basic writing tool. They think Word is a default because it's so common. Meanwhile, I know a lot of Mac users who use TextEdit for everything. I only use Pages on rare occasions. Typical Linux users are fringe to begin with, but of the casual computer users I know most couldn't tell the Ubuntu app directory from the App Store. Meanwhile, I can run quite a lot of Linux stuff on my Mac because it supports many of the same functions of Linux.
dejb 17y ago
The Next iphone will still be one generation behind the next crop of smartphones from HTC or other manufacturers. At about the same time they introduce video someone else will be introducing a screen close to the 1024 pixels wide. After the others catch up to their UI methods the only distinguishing feature they will have will be the app store.
- zimbabwe 17y ago
  After the others catch up to their UI methods Certain designers have tried to catch up to Apple for a decade, now. the only distinguishing feature they will have will be the app store. ...which has sold a billion applications in less than a year, and whose designers are among the most talented on the planet. The quality of my iPod apps are on par with or better than my OS X apps, and that's a high bar.
  - dejb 17y ago
    Wow you iPhone guys sure are sensitive. I see this a playing out much like the Mac from 84 onwards with regards to the UI. > ...which has sold a billion applications in less than a year Actually this is downloads not sales. Most estimates are that about 95% percent of downloads are free so that would make about 50M apps sold. Readers may want to consider why they are upvoting a story that contains false information and downvoting the story that corrects it. They may want to ask themselves 'just what has happened to my critical faculties with regards to the iphone'. Or not. Of course other platforms that actually allow you to install software without the approval of their 'app store' can't trumpet numbers like these cause they don't know about every single app their users are installing. It's called freedom.
    - zimbabwe 17y ago
      The Mac in 84 onwards was run by a man who thought Apple had to sacrifice its design integrity to succeed. Since then it has been placed back in Jobs' hands, and he's taken a decade to fill it with people who believe in his design philosophy. Note that the iPod has maintained its virtual monopoly thanks to design alone. So far, no competitor has arisen to match the iPhone. I'd love it if one appeared, but it hasn't happened so far. You seem to think that design progress is a given. Look at Microsoft for the counterexample. They have progressed their design several major times since Windows 95, and each one has taken steps back. The fact that window borders are now twice as huge as they were a decade ago, or that gradients have been added where gradients are not needed, makes me think that the people designing Windows simply don't know what about Apple's design appeals to people. Phone design seems similarly hedged. I play with every major phone that comes out, because I want somebody to get Apple scared enough to turn more competitive. So far, nothing done. I don't know why companies feel the need to place meaningless gradients for backgrounds, or shade things in pretty ways that reduce functionality, but they all do, and they seem to think it's helping. Apple's not perfect here - there's a lot about their designs that I dislike, especially regarding their iPod classic - but they at least understand what they're supposed to be doing. Most estimates are that about 95% percent of downloads are free so that would make about 50M apps sold. Apologies for saying "sold". You're right. I happen to think that 50M sales are very impressive nonetheless. I also don't think that free downloads are as easy to come by as you seem to think. Most people are averse to downloading software. I don't download free things to my cell phone, and I'm a geek. That Apple has made app downloading as simplified as they have is a testament to their systems. Wow you iPhone guys sure are sensitive. Of course other platforms that actually allow you to install software without the approval of their 'app store' can't trumpet numbers like these cause they don't know about every single app their users are installing. It's called freedom. I'll assume you've heard all the counterarguments I want to provide right now, and simply choose to ignore them. If you want to be an ass online you're allowed.
jodrellblank 17y ago
600Mhz xScale CPUs have been in PDAs for years. CPU "speed" no longer links directly with clock speed. It could very well be 600Mhz and feel worse. If they can get rid of the UI lag, that's worth bonus points over obscure new features.
shalmanese 17y ago
The iPod touch already has a 600Mhz processor in it and the user experience is pretty much the same. I wouldn't expect anything mindblowing from a 50% speed boost.

37 points by tortilla 17y ago

A pretty safe set of assumptions. Considering that Apple shops around for chips like all other smartphone manufacturers, and that phones like the BB Bold have had 600+Mhz CPUs for quite a while, it'd be pretty silly to bet against that. And lord knows the iPhone needs a speed bump. That slick UI and effects comes at a price and its almost embarrassing when you want to write down someone's phone number, but you have to tell them to wait 3 seconds while the contacts app loads.

axod 17y ago
Personally, I think the speed is "good enough". If they can up that without compromizing battery life, then great. But if it's a choice between battery and cpu, I'd take battery every time. The most irritating thing is that with 3g enabled+GPS, the battery drains ridiculously quickly, and you have to enable/disable 3g yourself manually. Why can't it just do that itself? :/
- joeyo 17y ago
  Android with the Locale app does this (lets you toggle features as a function of battery state), but I've heard that Google is actually removing the API calls for toggling GPS in Cupcake (Android v1.5). I'm not entirely sure why this is supposed to be a good thing
  - jodrellblank 17y ago
    So apps can't spy on you, I hope.
  - thwarted 17y ago
    Supposedly, there was confusion about what exactly "turning off GPS" meant, because on the G1, you "enable" GPS, but it doesn't actually do anything unless an app queries for geolocation data -- it doesn't drain the battery just because GPS is enabled. So you'd disable it and wouldn't have to worry that there was some app running that would drain your battery because it is using GPS. But there is a UI problem, somewhat exposed with the Maps app, with when you have it disabled, the app detects that and tells you that you'll need to enable it. Except the wording isn't straightforward, and the app doesn't handle turning it on itself (which may be a good or bad thing, if you've got it disabled in the preferences). G1's GPS setting does need some work, but it's good that it's getting some attention now that location based apps are increasing in popularity.
    - joeyo 17y ago
      Thanks for the clarification. I suspect that my G1 has a bad GPS module because I find that when I have it disabled, I can get a somewhat accurate measurement of my current location via cell towers or whatever, however if I have it enabled, it can't figure out where I am at all (at least not within the amount of time that I am willing to wait for it-- 1 minute or so). So I leave it disabled pretty much all the time in an attempt to keep the battery life long. If it were up to me (and I must admit I have not looked at how the location API works), I would have location services return an imprecise value quickly (via cell towers or wifi or whatever) and refine it as the GPS came online. Sensor fusion is still an active research topic, but there are at least some simple heuristics that could be used if it was inefficient to make a full Bayesian inference.
      - thwarted 17y ago
        I seemed to have a similar problem a few months ago. I think there is also confusion as to the "location" settings -- there doesn't seem to be one setting that turns off all location querying ability, so you can have "use wireless networks" on, and "enable GPS satellites" off, and it still works, but the application calls it GPS (and the icon looks like a satellite). I think it cleared up for me when I turned on both location settings (use wireless networks and enable GPS satellites). I have not noticed a significant drain on the battery due to having both on, but I rarely use location based apps anyway.
  - nuclear_eclipse 17y ago
    It seems to still work correctly in 1.5 with Locale on my phone, but I honestly haven't paid too close attention to it. Perhaps they're planning this change for after 1.5?
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
mlinsey 17y ago
The worst thing about it is that the interface lag problems seem to have gotten significantly worse since launch. I've even tried re-installing the firmware, backing up only my contacts, but it now seems common to wait sometimes as long as 7-10 seconds for an app to load, or up to experience up to around a five second lag in keyboard input, especially in search boxes in Safari and YouTube.

tophat02 17y ago

The NEXT next iPhone needs to really be your "personal computer". I imagine a time when the only computer you have will be your mobile device. How this device acts will depend on what you dock it with. Maybe when you're on the couch you'll slide it into a tablet-like device and you instantly run in tablet mode, with more apps and functionality becoming available to you in that mode. Maybe when you're in your home office you'll dock it with a keyboard, mouse, and two monitors, and use it as your workstation. The point is, I look forward to the day when physical device size no longer really correlates to usable power or storage space, and THAT means that, barring supercomputers and servers, most people will have just their "phone". What that device acts like will be based on which I/O peripherals you plug it in to. A guy can dream...

dejb 17y ago
> The NEXT next iPhone needs to really be your "personal computer". Would you allow your main personal computer to have such a closed system that you aren't even allow to install unapproved software on it? I agree that this device will essentially be your interface to the digital and remote world. Can you really allow a company to censor what you can do with that? The current App store model just doesn't 'scale' to this scenario. To me the only choice is to look to other platforms until Apple changes their policy.
- nazgulnarsil 17y ago
  typical mac users wouldnt know the difference between an open and closed system because they dont do anything on their device except what it comes with or is sold through official channels.
  - zimbabwe 17y ago
    Most of my Mac-using friends use Adium and Firefox. Some of them even understand what plugins are. I've got a friend or two who've skinned their Mac, though why anybody would dislike Leopard's version of Aqua rather baffles me. Typical Windows users don't know their device comes with official programs because every machine is loaded with crap. No Windows user within my acquaintance uses Notepad as their basic writing tool. They think Word is a default because it's so common. Meanwhile, I know a lot of Mac users who use TextEdit for everything. I only use Pages on rare occasions. Typical Linux users are fringe to begin with, but of the casual computer users I know most couldn't tell the Ubuntu app directory from the App Store. Meanwhile, I can run quite a lot of Linux stuff on my Mac because it supports many of the same functions of Linux.

dejb 17y ago

The Next iphone will still be one generation behind the next crop of smartphones from HTC or other manufacturers. At about the same time they introduce video someone else will be introducing a screen close to the 1024 pixels wide. After the others catch up to their UI methods the only distinguishing feature they will have will be the app store.

zimbabwe 17y ago
After the others catch up to their UI methods Certain designers have tried to catch up to Apple for a decade, now. the only distinguishing feature they will have will be the app store. ...which has sold a billion applications in less than a year, and whose designers are among the most talented on the planet. The quality of my iPod apps are on par with or better than my OS X apps, and that's a high bar.
- dejb 17y ago
  Wow you iPhone guys sure are sensitive. I see this a playing out much like the Mac from 84 onwards with regards to the UI. > ...which has sold a billion applications in less than a year Actually this is downloads not sales. Most estimates are that about 95% percent of downloads are free so that would make about 50M apps sold. Readers may want to consider why they are upvoting a story that contains false information and downvoting the story that corrects it. They may want to ask themselves 'just what has happened to my critical faculties with regards to the iphone'. Or not. Of course other platforms that actually allow you to install software without the approval of their 'app store' can't trumpet numbers like these cause they don't know about every single app their users are installing. It's called freedom.
  - zimbabwe 17y ago
    The Mac in 84 onwards was run by a man who thought Apple had to sacrifice its design integrity to succeed. Since then it has been placed back in Jobs' hands, and he's taken a decade to fill it with people who believe in his design philosophy. Note that the iPod has maintained its virtual monopoly thanks to design alone. So far, no competitor has arisen to match the iPhone. I'd love it if one appeared, but it hasn't happened so far. You seem to think that design progress is a given. Look at Microsoft for the counterexample. They have progressed their design several major times since Windows 95, and each one has taken steps back. The fact that window borders are now twice as huge as they were a decade ago, or that gradients have been added where gradients are not needed, makes me think that the people designing Windows simply don't know what about Apple's design appeals to people. Phone design seems similarly hedged. I play with every major phone that comes out, because I want somebody to get Apple scared enough to turn more competitive. So far, nothing done. I don't know why companies feel the need to place meaningless gradients for backgrounds, or shade things in pretty ways that reduce functionality, but they all do, and they seem to think it's helping. Apple's not perfect here - there's a lot about their designs that I dislike, especially regarding their iPod classic - but they at least understand what they're supposed to be doing. Most estimates are that about 95% percent of downloads are free so that would make about 50M apps sold. Apologies for saying "sold". You're right. I happen to think that 50M sales are very impressive nonetheless. I also don't think that free downloads are as easy to come by as you seem to think. Most people are averse to downloading software. I don't download free things to my cell phone, and I'm a geek. That Apple has made app downloading as simplified as they have is a testament to their systems. Wow you iPhone guys sure are sensitive. Of course other platforms that actually allow you to install software without the approval of their 'app store' can't trumpet numbers like these cause they don't know about every single app their users are installing. It's called freedom. I'll assume you've heard all the counterarguments I want to provide right now, and simply choose to ignore them. If you want to be an ass online you're allowed.

jodrellblank 17y ago

600Mhz xScale CPUs have been in PDAs for years. CPU "speed" no longer links directly with clock speed. It could very well be 600Mhz and feel worse. If they can get rid of the UI lag, that's worth bonus points over obscure new features.

shalmanese 17y ago

The iPod touch already has a 600Mhz processor in it and the user experience is pretty much the same. I wouldn't expect anything mindblowing from a 50% speed boost.