Apple confirms September 10th iPhone event

[bearxor]

I'm still hoping I'll be able to get up at 3am on Friday and purchase one for in store pick up. Haven't really heard anything on that in the US though.

 

[Eug]

First 5S and 5C units:

China gets the 5S before everyone else?

For some reason they're allowing pre-orders. I suspect stock overall for pre-orders is low though.

Wow every model didn't sell out? That's shocking. With over a billion people I'd figure there's enough that don't mind any color.

That was in the first few minutes, but I don't know about now.

BTW, just for interest's sake... China is not a really a market of a billion plus for this type of stuff. The market size is a quite a bit smaller than the US's because the vast majority of the population lives in what we would consider poverty. The main market in China is for the upper class and the higher echelons of the growing middle class. To put this in perspective, several years ago the Chinese market would have been considered effectively about the size of the Canadian market, although I suspect it's significantly bigger than that now.

I'm still hoping I'll be able to get up at 3am on Friday and purchase one for in store pick up. Haven't really heard anything on that in the US though.

That's what they're doing for China, but I didn't know you could do that for Canada or the US. I think I'll just get it shipped anyway, since I don't want to fight the Apple Store crowds. OTOH, if they do allow it, this would be a great time to do the pimp outfit Apple Store visit for a gold model. 😉

 

[Kaido]

OTOH, if they do allow it, this would be a great time to do the pimp outfit Apple Store visit for a gold model. 😉

FYI, I will back this on Kickstarter if you post pics :awe:

 

[Ns1]

My desire to scalp the 5s has increased exponentially.

 

[smackababy]

I am going to pick a 5s up eventually, but I think I will wait out the initial rush. I've already got 2 next gen consoles to buy, quite a few games, possibly a new video card (if AMD doesn't screw up) and a few other things.

 

[Eug]

Carrier Sources Say iPhone 5s Inventory on Friday Will Be “Grotesquely” Low

 

[bearxor]

I think the low inventory for the carriers are because Apple is trying to push traffic back to it's stores.

Not that I think there'll be an overabundance of supply, mind you. I just think they're getting less than they've normally got on purpose. Tim Cook has stated numerous times he wants to refocus getting traffic back in to the stores.

 

[Eug]

I think the low inventory for the carriers are because Apple is trying to push traffic back to it's stores.

Not that I think there'll be an overabundance of supply, mind you. I just think they're getting less than they've normally got on purpose. Tim Cook has stated numerous times he wants to refocus getting traffic back in to the stores.

There are claims from analysts talking to industry sources that the yields for the fingerprint sensor are horrible. Not sure I trust them, but these claims came out days ago.

I also wonder what the volumes are on A7, given that it's a new chip, likely on a new 28 nm process.

 

[smackababy]

I think the low inventory for the carriers are because Apple is trying to push traffic back to it's stores.

Not that I think there'll be an overabundance of supply, mind you. I just think they're getting less than they've normally got on purpose. Tim Cook has stated numerous times he wants to refocus getting traffic back in to the stores.

I think doing that now might work, but in the long run, most people buy their phone on upgrade. While, some people may have an upgrade through their carriers, the majority of release day iPhone buyers probably buy it off contract. I can see it raising revenue in the Apple store now, but in the long run, the carriers will always win.

 

[bearxor]

There are claims from analysts talking to industry sources that the yields for the fingerprint sensor are horrible. Not sure I trust them, but these claims came out days ago.

I also wonder what the volumes are on A7, given that it's a new chip, likely on a new 28 nm process.

The yields on the fingerprint sensor wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Eug]

I still don't understand the hate by some on these newly released devices.

OK, I can sort of understand the 5C comments, because people were hoping for a 5 for 5C pricing. Some people just don't like plastic, esp. given the way Apple has marketed its MacBook Pro vs. MacBook line in the past.

However, for the 5S, I just don't understand what people were expecting. I personally think it's a pretty significant upgrade actually, and a bigger upgrade than both the 3G -> 3GS and the 4 -> 4S. It's not as big an upgrade as the 2G -> 3G, or 3GS -> 4, or maybe even 4S -> 5, but that would put it in the middle of the pack in terms of upgrades. So, in order of biggest upgrades, IMO:

3GS -> 4 (faster, Retina, better build, 512 MB RAM)
2G -> 3G (faster, 3G cellular)
4S -> 5 (faster, bigger screen, aluminum, 1 GB RAM, LTE)
5 -> 5S (faster, fingerprint sensor, M7, 64-bit, 2 GB RAM?)
4 -> 4S (dual-core)
3G -> 3GS (faster, 256 MB RAM)

In the words of Anand:

"The iPhone 5s is quite possibly the biggest S-update we've ever seen from Apple."

Obviously, I agree. 😀

 

[JAG87]

I beg to differ.

I honestly can't believe that SoC benchmarks are the new way of measuring a smartphone these days.... how ridiculous. The average consumer, me included, couldn't care less about how fast the SoC is. As long as the UI is smooth, that's all the matters, and iOS is egregious at this already even on an old A5 SoC.

That's not to say that SoC speed doesn't matter, but in my view the hardware features that truly matter are: connectivity speed, battery life, display quality, and camera quality.

The 5S fails across the board in these. Connectivity speed? No improvement. Battery life? No improvement. Display? No improvement. Camera? Barely.

It's a well executed usability feature (Touch ID) that keeps this from being a complete utter failure in my point of view.

 

[Eug]

I beg to differ.

I honestly can't believe that SoC benchmarks are the new way of measuring a smartphone these days.... how ridiculous. The average consumer, me included, couldn't care less about how fast the SoC is. As long as the UI is smooth, that's all the matters, and iOS is egregious at this already even on an old A5 SoC.

That's not to say that SoC speed doesn't matter, but in my view the hardware features that truly matter are: connectivity speed, battery life, display quality, and camera quality.

I'm largely in agreement with you there. However, obviously the SoC makes a huge difference for gaming performance too. Also, Apple is starting to push the productivity and content creation apps with this SoC, although a lot of that push will be for the iPad 5.

The 5S fails across the board in these. Connectivity speed? No improvement. Battery life? No improvement. Display? No improvement. Camera? Barely.

The LTE band support has been improved significantly, according to reviews.

And the camera appears to be an enormous improvement, also according to reviews. Not only is the low light performance way better, the speed-related (and thus SoC-related) improvements are significant, including 10 fps burst mode, 120 fps for slo-mo, electronic image stabilization, etc.

No, it's no Lumia 1020, but the Lumia is more a point-and-shoot camera with a phone wrapped around it.

It's a well executed usability feature (Touch ID) that keeps this from being a complete utter failure in my point of view.

Like I said before, I think this is the best S update in the whole history of the iPhone.

 

[MrX8503]

I beg to differ.

I honestly can't believe that SoC benchmarks are the new way of measuring a smartphone these days.... how ridiculous. The average consumer, me included, couldn't care less about how fast the SoC is. As long as the UI is smooth, that's all the matters, and iOS is egregious at this already even on an old A5 SoC.

That's not to say that SoC speed doesn't matter, but in my view the hardware features that truly matter are: connectivity speed, battery life, display quality, and camera quality.

The 5S fails across the board in these. Connectivity speed? No improvement. Battery life? No improvement. Display? No improvement. Camera? Barely.

It's a well executed usability feature (Touch ID) that keeps this from being a complete utter failure in my point of view.

Utter failure? Reviewers would disagree with you. Improvements in SOC is a welcomed addition.

 

[TridenT]

I beg to differ.

I honestly can't believe that SoC benchmarks are the new way of measuring a smartphone these days.... how ridiculous. The average consumer, me included, couldn't care less about how fast the SoC is. As long as the UI is smooth, that's all the matters, and iOS is egregious at this already even on an old A5 SoC.

That's not to say that SoC speed doesn't matter, but in my view the hardware features that truly matter are: connectivity speed, battery life, display quality, and camera quality.

The 5S fails across the board in these. Connectivity speed? No improvement. Battery life? No improvement. Display? No improvement. Camera? Barely.

It's a well executed usability feature (Touch ID) that keeps this from being a complete utter failure in my point of view.

I'm not trying to be an apple apologist here but:
Battery life seems alright to me (Sure, who wouldn't want more?). I'm on an old iPhone 4 and as long as I don't have Google Maps running the whole time (That app literally makes my phone too hot to hold sometimes) then my battery life is usually pretty good. The new iPhones are supposed to be better than mine. I don't know how much an S4 gets but it can't be 2x as much, can it? I don't know how the display could get better (More pixels is not going to make it better, regardless of what Samsung will try to sell you. It's already beyond what your eye can discern!). Camera improvements seem substantial. 10FPS burst, 120fps slo-mo, better processing, larger sensor, etc. I would have liked it if they went with a 5 megapixel sensor and had much larger pixels instead, but whatever.

I don't think Apple has "failed" here. It's an S upgrade. At this point, we can expect certain kinds of features to come now with S upgrades. The 4S has Siri. The 5S has Touch ID. No idea what the 6S will have.

 

[JAG87]

I'm not trying to be an apple apologist here but:
Battery life seems alright to me (Sure, who wouldn't want more?). I'm on an old iPhone 4 and as long as I don't have Google Maps running the whole time (That app literally makes my phone too hot to hold sometimes) then my battery life is usually pretty good. The new iPhones are supposed to be better than mine. I don't know how much an S4 gets but it can't be 2x as much, can it? I don't know how the display could get better (More pixels is not going to make it better, regardless of what Samsung will try to sell you. It's already beyond what your eye can discern!). Camera improvements seem substantial. 10FPS burst, 120fps slo-mo, better processing, larger sensor, etc. I would have liked it if they went with a 5 megapixel sensor and had much larger pixels instead, but whatever.

I don't think Apple has "failed" here. It's an S upgrade. At this point, we can expect certain kinds of features to come now with S upgrades. The 4S has Siri. The 5S has Touch ID. No idea what the 6S will have.

Think about how much better it would have been if it had:

1. Cat 4 LTE 150 Mbps, and 802.11ac (more for power efficiency than anything).
2. 1.5-2x stamina because of larger battery (see below)
3. Somewhat larger (say 4.5") IGZO LCD
4. OIS and out of the box support for 1080p60 at 30+ Mbps

Let's just say that if it had all of the above, I'd probably line up at the Apple Store tomorrow. Of course if it had all that, they would have nothing left to put into the 6. But it irks me because everything above is easily doable right now. But whatever, I guess that's Apple, they can stay slightly behind the curve and still keep their customers happy because of how well iOS works.

 

[Eug]

1. It would have been nice, but definitely not a deal killer.
2. That'd be nice. I could stand a unit that was 1 mm thicker.
3. If it was 4.5 I might have been disappointed. I would likely be happy with say 4.2-4.3, but 4.5 is getting too big for my tastes, unless they somehow magically eliminated the bezel . For the 6 I hope they keep the 4" and then offer something bigger with it side by side.

If anything I'd prefer USB 3, with flash speed to make USB 3 useful.

 

[JAG87]

1. It would have been nice, but definitely not a deal killer.
2. That'd be nice. I could stand a unit that was 1 mm thicker.
3. If it was 4.5 I might have been disappointed. I would likely be happy with say 4.2-4.3, but 4.5 is getting too big for my tastes, unless they somehow magically eliminated the bezel . For the 6 I hope they keep the 4" and then offer something bigger with it side by side.

If anything I'd prefer USB 3, with flash speed to make USB 3 useful.

Considering iCloud backups, iTunes Match and Photostream, I really doubt Apple is putting any focus into that.

I agree with you that too large of a screen is not ideal, but I think up to 4.5" is a size most people can live with, even those with small hands (I have fairly small hands and short fingers).

 

[Childs]

4. OIS and out of the box support for 1080p60 at 30+ Mbps

Out of curiosity, why is this important? Thats higher than most blu-ray spec movies.

 

[TridenT]

Out of curiosity, why is this important? Thats higher than most blu-ray spec movies.

Slo-mo-ish 1080p movies, I guess.

Does anyone know if AT&T stores will have 32GB gold iPhone 5Ses? Do I have to go to an Apple store in order to buy one?

 

[Childs]

Slo-mo-ish 1080p movies, I guess.

Does anyone know if AT&T stores will have 32GB gold iPhone 5Ses? Do I have to go to an Apple store in order to buy one?

1080p60 isn't slow mo, thats playing 1080p video at 60fps. And my Lumix G6 for example, doesn't even record 1080p60 at 30Mbps...I think its 27Mbps. Playback of 1080p60 with a bit rate of 30Mbps just seems like overkill, especially when its a 4" screen. Maybe outputting to a TV, but then you can do half frame rate and half the bit rate or less and still get good results.

Dont get me wrong, that would be great if a phone could do that, but it seems like an odd thing to ask for.

 

[TridenT]

1080p60 isn't slow mo, thats playing 1080p video at 60fps. And my Lumix G6 for example, doesn't even record 1080p60 at 30Mbps...I think its 27Mbps. Playback of 1080p60 with a bit rate of 30Mbps just seems like overkill, especially when its a 4" screen. Maybe outputting to a TV, but then you can do half frame rate and half the bit rate or less and still get good results.

Dont get me wrong, that would be great if a phone could do that, but it seems like an odd thing to ask for.

1080p60 could be cut down to 1080p24. And then, it's slo-mo-ish... Anything above 24/30 is going to be territory for use as slo-mo.

 

[Childs]

1080p60 could be cut down to 1080p24. And then, it's slo-mo-ish... Anything above 24/30 is going to be territory for use as slo-mo.

Not really. I use 1080p60 reduce motion blur. Anything with lots of motion can benefit from a higher frame rate. But anyways, I dont see why an iPhone would need to play 1080p60 at 30Mbits. You play back 1080p30 (10Mbps) at 50%, and its slowed. Or 10%. Whatever. But 1080p60 at 30Mbps or higher just seems like overkill for a phone. A user typically wouldnt even encode at those settings unless the source was significantly better. Viewing it a phone defeats the purpose, unless you want to use an external display of some kind.

 

[TridenT]

Not really. I use 1080p60 reduce motion blur. Anything with lots of motion can benefit from a higher frame rate. But anyways, I dont see why an iPhone would need to play 1080p60 at 30Mbits. You play back 1080p30 (10Mbps) at 50%, and its slowed. Or 10%. Whatever. But 1080p60 at 30Mbps or higher just seems like overkill for a phone. A user typically wouldnt even encode at those settings unless the source was significantly better. Viewing it a phone defeats the purpose, unless you want to use an external display of some kind.

It's probably just that the exposure times are lower from recording 60fps is what lowers the blur. (Probably 1/120th a second versus 1/48th a second)

And, yeah, I think 1080p60 is overkill for a phone. 720p120 is nice, but I don't think I'll ever use it. When they get to 1080p240, that'll be cool. That's at least five years down the road.

I still want to know if AT&T will have iPhones.

 

[Childs]

It's probably just that the exposure times are lower from recording 60fps is what lowers the blur. (Probably 1/120th a second versus 1/48th a second)

And, yeah, I think 1080p60 is overkill for a phone. 720p120 is nice, but I don't think I'll ever use it. When they get to 1080p240, that'll be cool. That's at least five years down the road.

I still want to know if AT&T will have iPhones.

Well, if he was referring to recording video 1080p60 at 30Mbps, I can see why that would be wanted, but most DSLRs dont even record at that. Expecting that in the 5s is a reach. 720p120 is a gift, but I doubt thats anywhere near 30Mbps. I was just curious how he would use that feature on the 5s.