Just Another iPhone
September 21st, 2012 - 2:01 pm
I’m not upgrading phones this year, but maybe that puts me in the minority:
A survey of lines at Apple stores in New York, Boston and Minneapolis found that crowds for the iPhone 5 are 83 percent larger than they were for the iPhone 4S, which has led one analyst to predict sales of 8 million iPhones this launch weekend.
Apple sold two million units — not AT&T, not Sprint, not Verizon, just Apple — on the first day for pre-orders. That’s twice as many as the sold of the iPhone 4S not even a full year ago. I guess consumers didn’t get the message from all the smart tech writers that the iPhone 5 is a letdown and a bore.
“Best Buy is really coming through today,” said no one ever.
Looks like they’re sending e-mails to lots of people who pre-ordered (even people who were among the first to pre-order) telling them that they were unable to receive enough phones, but they’ll try to get one within 28 days.
I learned long, long ago to put my trust in the Apple Store for these things and in Amazon for anything else.
When will the iPhone 6 be released?
A lot of people are on two upgrade panths– those tracking the “S” phones and those tracking the major release phones. I didn’t bother with a 4S as it wasn’t significant enough an improvement over my 4. I am bothering with the 5 because it is.
Likewise going from a 3S to a 4S just made good sense, but from a 3S to a 4 perhaps not so much unless you were ga-ga over the new form factor.
I’m not seeing anything in the phone that makes me wanna upgrade. Disappointed in the size, actually. Was really expecting something in the 4.5-5″ range like most every other phone.
I’m on an S upgrade track. The 4S was a no-brainer from the 3GS. Great camera, retina, Siri. Right now, I’m not seeing what could be in the 5S next year to make it worth it.
iOS 6 on the other hand… That has some really interesting new features. iOS 6.something only running on a 5 Series… that would get me to upgrade next year.
Mark my words–the iPhone will never come in a 4.5 or 5″ form factor. Ain’t gonna happen. That’s too fricking big and clunky and is simply not Apple’s way.
If they go bigger, then it’ll be an iPad-mini. A 6 or 7″ iPad would fit that niche. But I even doubt that will happen.
Forget about an iPhone any larger than 4″. It completely violates all of the design principals built into the UX.
Don’t disagree w/ you that 4.5″ is not Apple’s way. Just think a, what, .5″ increase in screen size is pointless.
As for an iPad Mini. It won’ have a phone and 6-7″ for a phone is too big anyway. That 7″ Samsung phone is just silly.
Every iPhone since the original (inclusive, natch) has been a “letdown and a bore.” The tech industry pundits, for whatever reason, have never gotten how Apple rolls.
The current form-factor works. Period. Why change it? You might be able to throw in some extra curves, or come up with some new exotic materials with which to build the frame. But so what?
There is simply no point in developing a new form-factor, just for the sake of change. That would be a waste of money and engineering and design time. I’d be pissed off, as an Apple shareholder, if they did that. I’m sure they experiment all the time. But clearly they’ve not come up with anything worth going to mass market with.
Tech Pundits and Reporters are universally stupid and sheep-like.
Wait. Scratch the “Tech”.
I picked up mine this morning from an Apple store. Wait in line was about an hour which was less than expected given I wasn’t one of those people that camped out to be there at the crack of dawn. I showed up around 10 AM. I was impressed how organized the store was. An employee would periodically walk down the line to address new arrivals, inquiring which version for which carrier you wanted. If they were out of what you wanted, they let you know. No waiting in line for an hour only find they were sold out.
This is my first new iPhone. The one I just upgraded was a 3GS I inherited from a friend when he upgraded to the 4. I’ve had it for over 2 years and put off upgrading because A, I’m cheap and B, I’m cheap.
But the battery in my 3GS is finally starting to show it’s age and with the upgrades in pretty much every facet of the phone from a 3GS to a 5, I finally cracked the piggy bank and upgraded.
And it’s myyyyy preccccciousssss. Damn, this thing feels like it weighs half what the 3GS does, is noticeably faster, the display is crisper and sweet mamma jamma I can actually hear audio from the built in speakers.
Going from a 3GS to a 5 was, for me, a big old improvement. And I loved my 3GS. So far the new Maps app is awesome and I may marry Siri.
Of course, this is just a few hours of use, so I might have buyer’s remorse in a week. But I doubt it.