iPhone 5

[This is The End]

Well, there should be a bunch of new in a few hours. Including the release date:

http://technology.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981626018

The long-awaited iPhone 5 release date announcement will soon be over since the Apple iPhone 5 event is just hours away. The event is
scheduled for tomorrow, September 12th, at 1PM EST, and Appleites are
excited to find out what the tech giant has planned. Will the 6th generation
smartphone feature many of the rumored changes? Is Apple going to début a new line of iPods alongside the new iPhone, including a new iPod Touch?

Besides new features and specs, fans are eager to find out how much the new Apple iPhone pre-order will cost and if the device will launch on September 21st as has been predicted. Obviously the handset will have iOS 6

The prices are almost guaranteed to mirror that of the iPhone 4 at launch. In other words, there will be a $199, a $299, and a $399 version. (With contracts of course...)

Also, that link above should be updated with news as it happens at 1PM EST.

Thankfully they are ditching the "no number" "just call it new" stunt that they pulled with the iPad "don't call it 3":

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/ph...iphone-5-release-date-news-and-rumours-721534

Apple has finally gotten round to sending journalists an invite to the launch of its new handset, with the iPhone 5 release date officially pegged for September 12. The shadow on the invite shows a 5, which almost definitely means Apple is to call its latest handset the iPhone 5 - so, no more 'new' then.

Tons of iPhone 5 information at that 2nd link.

------------

Just to start the trashtalking off, I would note that we all have been seeing for weeks (unless you completely avoid the news) dozens of articles about how the iPhone 5 will be a "catch up" phone.

Almost every new feature it will have is already on the Samsung phones (and other Android phones).

(Apple needs to hurry up and get those features out there so they can sue Samsung for copying them. )

Anyway, this new article sums up many of those features we have been hearing about:

iPhone 5: 10 Rumored Features You'll Already Find in Competing Devices

 

[Vermonter]

I'll buy one, but only because my three-year-old iPhone 3GS is starting to show signs of age. I figure it's time for an upgrade.

 

[This is The End]

I'll buy one, but only because my three-year-old iPhone 3GS is starting to show signs of age. I figure it's time for an upgrade.

That is a good point. It is my understanding that there are tons of 3GS users that skipped 4 and 4S completely.

Either they had 3GS since launch way back when (09?), or else they got it more recently in the 4/4S era because it was dirt cheap.

Almost all of them have been waiting for this day.

So add to that the die-hards that update ASAP every time there is a new version.... We are going to be looking at huge iPhone 5 sales numbers.

They need it.

Android/Samsung have been absolutely gobbling up the smart phone market share:

Android has nearly 70% of the smartphone market, half of which are Samsung phones. Apple has like 15% smartphone market share. So, AFAIK, Samsung already has more than twice the smartphone market share.

Anyway I wanted to check my numbers <snip>


Here's an article from 3 days ago. I was very nearly spot on:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/08/technology/smartphone-market-share/

Google's Android surged to a whopping 68% share of the global smartphone market last quarter. That's four times the 17% market share held by Apple, according to a Wednesday report from research firm IDC.

More specifically, IDC pegged Android's gain "directly" to Samsung, which represented 44% of all Android phones shipped during the quarter. That's more than the next seven Android vendors combined, IDC said. Samsung's Galaxy S III debuted late in the quarter to favorable reviews.

Apple is seriously hoping this (3GS users like Vermonter) is one of the reasons, if not the main reason, why they have been losing market share.

 

[WildCat]

I'll buy one, but only because my three-year-old iPhone 3GS is starting to show signs of age. I figure it's time for an upgrade.

You'll need to buy all new accessories too, becausa Apple changed the docking port on the 5.

Break out that wallet!

 

[kevsta]

the law of big numbers is kicking in for Apple now, they've come so far up that breathing is getting harder and they are fighting a technically superior enemy (The Gorg)

losing ground on O/S, input costs driving margin compression, and have never disappointed properly on earnings yet...

AAPL the big short, some day..

 

[BenBurch]

"Beleaguered Apple" - A meme I have been hearing for two decades now.

 

[kevsta]

"Beleaguered Apple" - A meme I have been hearing for two decades now.

AppleBugs are much funnier than goldbugs IMO, and I know quite a few of both.

 

[kajata]

You'll need to buy all new accessories too, becausa Apple changed the docking port on the 5.

Break out that wallet!

After five years they're changing the connector to make it a third of the size and make precious room, when every square millimeter counts, on the inside. It's a good thing. And you could always buy an adapter (rumored on MacRumors to be 10 bucks).

One thing I'm disappointed with is that the screen is only taller and not wider as well. I don't know if this was done for old app compatibility or what but I loved the proportions of the 4" screen on my Droid X (though I hated the phone).

 

[TheL8Elvis]

That is a good point. It is my understanding that there are tons of 3GS users that skipped 4 and 4S completely.

Either they had 3GS since launch way back when (09?), or else they got it more recently in the 4/4S era because it was dirt cheap.

Almost all of them have been waiting for this day.

So add to that the die-hards that update ASAP every time there is a new version.... We are going to be looking at huge iPhone 5 sales numbers.

They need it.

You are kidding, right ?

 

[TheL8Elvis]

Thankfully they are ditching the "no number" "just call it new" stunt that they pulled with the iPad "don't call it 3":

Stunt ? How many other apple products are numbered ?

imac ? ibook ? macbook ? powerbook ? mac mini ? ipod ? air ? no,no,no,no,no...

iPad and iPhone are the outliers.

 

[Wudang]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/12/iphone_five_reasons/

" Owning it will mark you out as an easily-led simpleton - and worse, the purchase will undermine western democracy." Classic calm balanced stuff from el Reg.

 

[Soapy Sam]

I'll buy one, but only because my three-year-old iPhone 3GS is starting to show signs of age. I figure it's time for an upgrade.

Spend your money as you wish- but if a 3 year old product is showing signs of age serious enough to need replaced, should you not possibly consider a different manufacturer?

And if the "signs" are not serious enough to warrant replacement, then why would you do so?

 

[Darat]

I was hoping for something astonishing, or really innovative and this doesn't deliver that. For me it's like the S3, nice phone but just a tech refresh dressed up.

 

[TheL8Elvis]

Spend your money as you wish- but if a 3 year old product is showing signs of age serious enough to need replaced, should you not possibly consider a different manufacturer?

And if the "signs" are not serious enough to warrant replacement, then why would you do so?

Showing signs of age != need replaced

Mobile technology has changed and improved drastically over last 3 years.

 

[Quinn]

Spend your money as you wish- but if a 3 year old product is showing signs of age serious enough to need replaced, should you not possibly consider a different manufacturer?

I took "signs of age" to mean "lacking in features that are now commonplace." That's how I feel about my 3GS, and why I'll be replacing it with a 5.

 

[TheL8Elvis]

I took "signs of age" to mean "lacking in features that are now commonplace." That's how I feel about my 3GS, and why I'll be replacing it with a 5.

I will be upgrading 2 iphone 4's.

Why ? Because in the US, phone carriers suck. I don't get a discount on my carrier for having an out-of-contract device, or a device I own personally. There is no good reason *not* to take advantage of the subsidy provided by the carriers

 

[kajata]

I was hoping for something astonishing, or really innovative and this doesn't deliver that. For me it's like the S3, nice phone but just a tech refresh dressed up.

I've read some interesting columns on tech blogs recently saying that maybe we've entered the period of incremental changes instead of astonishing leaps forward from one gen to the next.

and ETA: The three things you probably would notice the most have gotten pretty big bumps...faster chip, bigger screen, 4G

 

[The Dark Lord]

LTE, meh, Samsung and others have been selling LTE phones for over a year. 4 inch screen? Meh, Samsung and others have been selling phones with 4 inch or larger displays for over two years.

 

[kajata]

LTE, meh, Samsung and others have been selling LTE phones for over a year. 4 inch screen? Meh, Samsung and others have been selling phones with 4 inch or larger displays for over two years.

So what could they have added that would have wowed you?


and don't say "Jelly Bean"!

 

[CynicalSkeptic]

I've read some interesting columns on tech blogs recently saying that maybe we've entered the period of incremental changes instead of astonishing leaps forward from one gen to the next.

I'd argue we've been there since before the first iPhone came out.

Blackberrys Palms and Windows CE smart phones could perform all the functions the iPhone did and more (MMS & Video were not built in to the first iPhone). They just didn't do it as nicely. The appearance of the iPhone was the huge leap. Eliminating the keyboard and stylus, introducing gestures instead of taps, multitouch... I wouldn't call and of those individually astonishing leaps. I guess all combined in one device did make it a fairly big leap, but the core functionality (phone calls, text messages, email, web surfing and listening to music) were all things people could do on existing smart phones and even many (what we now call) feature phones. And as each new version of the iPhone comes out has there really been any huge technology leap? Siri doesn't count; it was avaialable as a download prior to the 4S release (though they disabled the old version after the 4S was released).