Probably gonna upgrade from my iPhone 11 to a 16 Pro, seems like a good time to make the jump (also I'd need a battery replacement anyway and I rather spend that money on the new phone)
App support is forcing me. My iPhone 7 still does everything I need, but 3rd party developers have stopped supporting it. I don't mind if I stop getting updates, but some of these developers are blocking my use of existing apps with a full-screen modal, telling me I need to buy a new phone in order to continue using the app (FlightAware, for example). Perfectly good phone, probably going into the landfill, for no reason other than to appease app developers too lazy to retain already-working code for older devices.
The 7 is coming up on it's 8th birthday, on the bright side that's a pretty good run.
Is FlightAware blocking use of the app now? I assume it's because they've dropped support for iOS 15 (which can be a hassle depending on new APIs they want to use), not the 7 device specifically.
Yea, they likely want to move on from iOS15, which is fine[1]. But at least let existing users with the existing iOS15-working app keep using that app version. But no, instead, they issued a final "update" which does nothing but block iOS15 users with a full screen modal that you cannot skip (as far as I can tell). Totally overboard. I hope this doesn't start a trend.
1: I don't see what the big deal is to just put if statements around any iOS16-requiring new features, yet keep targeting iOS15. We did this all the time back when I used to write iOS apps.
Not a new trend. Many places I’ve worked at (whose business models center around iOS apps) routinely plan to drop old iOS versions, yearly, as the new ones come out.
It gets increasingly more expensive to support older and older iOS versions. These “new features” you’re talking about wrapping in if statements aren’t here and there. Many upgrades are pervasive, and would eventually make every file a branching mess.
Now, you could argue that that should still be the chosen route. I can empathize with that. I like software that just keeps working forever.
At the very least, when they stop releasing updates supporting older OS versions, they should at least leave the old apps already installed on the old devices alone to continue to work. I wouldn’t mind if I never get an app update again, but don’t send a final “update” that disabled the app and tells me to buy a new phone.
Agreed. There should be a warning to those that will be left behind soon, instructing them not to upgrade if they don’t plan on updating, or can’t update iOS.
Keeping my 12 Mini; I just ended up getting a 2nd-hand MagSafe battery. It’s small enough to have in a bag or pocket without a second thought, no cables to carry around and turns into a wireless charger when I’m not using it.
TIL. I owned an OLED phones since 2012 iirc but never noticed, or heard of anyone else noticing (on their or my device), any flickering. Will be taking my 980 fps slow motion camera to an OLED device near me soon!
Can't believe I haven't done it already actually. I've noticed that nearly everything in life flickers from microwaves (each digit is lit up sequentially! I can't believe we can't see this) to my LCD laptop screen (flickers in different colors! Red comes first, then green and blue, it's extremely obvious on the slow motion but, with my own eyes, I'll only occasionally catch a glimpse of red when I look away from something white that just turned on, and even then I'm not sure if I'm just seeing things), but the phones I looked at so far must have been LCD then
Regular LCDs like on macbooks (and I guess most laptops) flicker less. It is the drive for insane contrast ratios and pure black in phone screens that is driving OLED adoption.
I heard that it can be opposite in TV world, some backlit LCD panels flicker as hell while some OLEDs manage to flicker less but I never owned a TV to make observations
FWIW I don't think I have any sort of special sensitivity, I just don't like it and it annoys me whenever I notice it
If I was not using my phone in the dark at low brightness as much I would probably be fine with OLED...
Also maybe they made it better since first OLED iphones, but they never say anything about PWM in press releases and it is kind of expensive to just buy it to try and throw out if it still sucks.
LCDs are more accurate in low light, but OLED can reproduce readable text at lower brightness from its higher contrast
Swings and roundabouts… for some people the grey tinge and messed up gamma curve of low brightness OLED is unacceptable. For others text readability in darkness is key
There’s also the PWM argument which has been beaten to death
There is no pure black if you watch videos or read HN or use any site or app not specifically optimized for this. Got me thinking if manufacturers started this dark theme trend actually because for phone in bed types like me dim OLEDs suck to look at unless they are 98% pure black...
And if I have full screen glow anyway then LCD looks better due to less flicker.
Same here, satellite messaging alone is enough to get me on this upgrade cycle. Beyond that though I am quite content with my 11 Pro, though I am looking forward to some of the AI stuff.
I'm in the same boat, got a battery replacement last year and am struggling to justify the expense but the satellite piece + AI integration may clinch it
iphone 8 plus, bought refurb in early 2019. replaced the battery once (and got a replacement since the battery wouldn't pair). it's getting to be time.
usb-c is a big feature increment for me, and I need to finish the leap away from google voice, since I absolutely know they are not going to bother implementing RCS and will just shutter the service instead. LiDAR also seems extremely useful/cool. On the other hand, I was kinda hoping for thunderbolt support on the pro models eventually. Not sure if I will buy a refurb 15 Pro or a new 16 Pro Max or wait for the next cycle.
that's how you avoid e-waste for real and not as a fashion statement. simply consume less - and that includes not consuming a $300 android phone every 18 months, not just apple - and have it repaired when it needs it. with OEM parts that will last the long-haul and not something off amazon that will need to be changed again in 6 months.
Alrighties, thank you. It is expensive to me, I wish I could just do it myself. There are no Apple stores in my country. I may be able to take it to a store though and they may replace it for less than $99 but I am not entirely sure.
I upgraded from an iPhone Xs to an iPhone 15 Pro. The CPU speed was a major improvement to not have to wait for my phone any more, as well as better low-light photos.
At this point its just sad that its spec bumps on what imo is a pretty poor iteration of their own product. They had better ideas in the past that I wish they would rehash just for the sake of offering more skus to choose from vs "small and large." I liked 3d touch. I liked touchid. I liked having a headphone jack. I liked a small and lightweight phone. I liked a phone that actually sat flat on a table. It's just a shame that this is clearly never going to be made by them today, and being reminded of this through yet another paltry spec bump with stingy storage offerings that's been all too typical from this company with this product lately.
It sounds like you'd rather sacrifice Function over Form ... in which case - the iPhone SE checks most of your boxes.
Note: I don't disagree with what you're saying. But Apple also creates multiple models for different users desires, and it sounds like you're most closely aligned to the iPhone SE target market (not the iPhone base or Pro).
There is lots of things were competition is ahead of them or things they could improve:
- 90W fast wired charging, 80W wireless charging - many android phone have it
- reverse charging - so that in emergency when you forgot to charge airpods and you already outside you could charge a little bit enough for a run - again some androids have it
- stylus support - still would be nice to get apple pencil for some signatures etc
- fingerprint reader either under display or on side button like on ipad air - sometimes when phone is sitting on the table it's easier to unlock with finger than pick it up and point at your face then put it back (especially annoying for iOS devs)
- irda led for controlling air con in hotel - they have already IR blaster on front and maybe even on lidar that they could potentially hack it similar like they hacked screen for flash.
- temperature sensor and humidity sensor
- IR temperature sensor for checking your body temperature or stuff you baking in the oven
- tiny thermal camera sensor for inspecting leaks in house for the winter
- microsd support (yes can dream can I?)
- any improvements for lidar quality or truedepth
- another programmable button on the left side for lefties
You might have clicked a notification on either device on accidently and set it the wrong direction.
When you first connect, the power capabilities are negotiated and usually the more powerful device takes on the "source" role while the other gets to be the "sink".
This can be dynamically controlled and switched back and forth so some devices have UI to select what to do.
> IR temperature sensor for checking your body temperature or stuff you baking in the oven
> tiny thermal camera sensor for inspecting leaks in house for the winter
So just a thermometer gun? It costs like $20-30 on amazon and I've never needed one other than in my home / kitchen. Why in the world do you want a phone for this haha.
If they are producing and selling it on amazon means someone buying it even if you don't need it. Body temperature check definitely would be handy. Those sensors definitely don't cost $20-30. I had CC1350 SensorTag and it already had that for retail price also around ~$35 (but altogether with 10 different sensors inside and that bought 10 years ago).
They also sell smart outlets, back massagers, and garden sprinklers on Amazon. That doesn't imply people would find them handy in their phone.
I think it'd be an easier pitch in the watch though as that's where they are already shoving most of the health sensors (and have wrist temperature monitoring already).
You can also read it in 2015 Tim Cook's 3D touch announcement voice or Zu announcing the ZTE device with a 3D screen in 2017 or whoever at LG announced the wide angle lens, got meh to bad reviews about it, and then it took off afterward anyways.
My point here is I'm not saying it can't ever be something anyone would want because of that rather something selling in another device on Amazon has no weight one way or the other on whether it'd be a good thing to add to a phone.
They could also take a step towards a more conscious engagement with the environment by allowing to replace batteries or other parts. That would win them a very good deal of press nowadays, even if it is not strictly tech-related.
Looks like they are super-uber risk-averse and there is 0% new ideas with these products.
I've never owned an Android but I'm extremely curious about the Pixel Pro 9 Fold. That would really change how I use a phone in my day to day life. Presumably, Apple will get around to doing it too at some point.
I got it last week and it's great. My main concerns were the older (pixel 7 generation) camera and the battery life. Both have exceeded my expectations, the massive screen is great for browsing and someone even got debian on there (https://old.reddit.com/r/PixelFold/comments/1fcn4du/fullblow...), and it's fairly thin and light even with a case on.
I just got one and moved to Android after being an iPhone user for like 10 years. This is the biggest leap in smartphones IMO, the big screen on demand is such a huge feature
The non-Pro models are still only 60hz? C'mon man, high refresh rate is hardly a luxury feature anymore. At least give them 90hz and reserve 120hz for the Pro models.
I used a 14 pro for 3 months before going back to 13 mini. The screen was definitely nicer on the former but I have no actual issues with the little one. Maybe because I don't wildly flick through social media feeds very much?
Literally anyone picked off the street will notice jumping from 60hz to 120hz after maybe, I don't know, 2 seconds of swiping around.
You have it backwards. Nobody is pro gaming on an iPhone. That high refresh rate doesn't have a real, practical purpose. It just looks really really good and immediately grabs your eye - it's candy.
The current top comment talks about how an average person "can't tell the difference between LCD and OLED" and I was shaking my head. While I got used to LCD again after having OLED for a few years, it took multiple months for me to stop noticing the faux-gray dark patches. It makes a real difference and you instantly see it when you hold phones side by side with a screen or picture that includes any dark section. If you know what to look for, you can also tell at a glance without a side-by-side comparison
> Literally anyone picked off the street will notice jumping from 60hz to 120hz after maybe, I don't know, 2 seconds of swiping around.
But frame rates? I was curious to see what the hype was about and walked over to the phones section in a nearby tech store when I was there to buy something unrelated. Side by side, I just cannot tell the difference. I'm swiping fast and slow but I cannot tell whether one is smoother or if that's my brain doing this placebo thing. I'd be very curious if I can tell in a blind test. Perhaps I could, but it's so close that I really don't see the point of making a big deal out of selecting for screen refresh rate, for myself at least
There are three types of people when it comes to OLED/fast refresh rates.
1) OMG! What an upgrade! I will never own another phone without this!
2) Eh, I see what the difference is. I don’t care/it isn’t worth the price.
3) What are you talking about? I don’t see any difference.
2 and 3 combined are probably the majority of people. The first post is literally about his girlfriend not noticing screen differences. There are plenty of people like that.
No, no there aren't because fast refresh rate is painfully obvious. I'm talking within a second, maybe fractions of a second, you will notice. Because every single animation is affected.
It's one thing to say it's a small change, or not a big deal, or not worth it (I'd even agree). It's another to say you can't notice it. No... you can definitely notice it.
I am happy with 60hz but I did stumble upon a 120hz phone the other week and it was instantly noticeably nicer, so much so that my next phone likely will be whatever iPhone has 120hz.
I guess they have more information about usage patterns than we do. Anecdotally, I have a 256GB iPhone, and I use it consistently for a whole variety of things, and my usage is just under 94GB. I'd bet that my 'normal' family members use a good bit less than that.
I'm going to downvote you because I don't know what you're talking about. My kids have 128GB phones and don't have any issues at all. They're also on our family plan with Google One for shared storage and we're still -- as a family of five where I personally have contributed about 100,000 photos (and some videos) over the past 15 years -- only at 1.2TB of consumed storage.
What are your kids doing that consumes so much local storage?
Yep. I'm in my early 40's, recently self-hosted Immich, imported the archive of photos and videos my wife and I have created since 2000, and we're sitting at 216,000 photos, 5000 videos, 650gb+ of data. 2000-2011ish was point-and-shoot digital + DSLR, then 2012-2024 has been the output of TWO CELL PHONES.
We aren't photographers, we just goof around, and our almost-teenaged son doesn't factor into those numbers.
The sheer volume of data created is just .. it's nuts. And there's another 300gb of data generated from all the metadata, sidecar, smart search, face detection! Imagine all that plus much more that Apple Intelligence generates.
Long gone are the days of just putting JPGs into a folder!
I see it was clear enough. We, my wife and I take many pictures and videos (4K 30fps) of our kids. My kids don’t use phones at their age. So our phone storage is always scary high.
I'm at 166 GB out of 256 GB. Every time I upgrade my iPhone (average every 5 years), I get the most storage available (after learning my lesson on the iPhone 4) and it ends up being 4x bigger than before.
iPod touch (32GB), if you ignore this
iPhone 4 (16GB), 2010
iPhone 6 (64GB), 2014
iPhone SE 2nd gen (256GB), 2020
iPhone 16 (1 TB)?, 2024
Every time, I think "that's probably way more than I'll need", but I guess in 6 years or so I'll upgrade to the 4 TB model. Or wait for next year's model, maybe another SE will come out...
I wonder if storage needs have a very bimodal distribution.
Both my parents barely use the 64GB on their phone. The one that does photography, probably can't store all their photos on any iPhone, because it measures in the multi-TB.
I usually overbuy storage but after three years, I'm removing things like music and podcasts because it's completely full.
Every time I upgrade, I go and look at my storage and see that I’m close to my 256 limit, then I take a closer look and realize it’s my audiobook in podcast app taking up 40 to 50 gigs each. That plus a bunch of apps that I don’t actually use and could easily delete off my phone.
With iCloud and music streaming 128GB is enough for a lot of people. I know I still have quite a bit of room left on my 128GB iPhone 12, even with taking tons of photos and videos.
I still prefer the smaller form factor. Easier one-handed use, and less bulk in my pocket. I wasn’t going to upgrade this cycle anyway, but the larger size of both pro models has removed any inkling of the “well maaaaaybe” feeling that I usually get.
Why is that shocking? Delivering a base model with minimal specs and upcharging for the specs that power-users need is Apple's standard way of doing business. If you want to store more, you pay more, either by buying more expensive models, or by subscribing to iCloud.
This pricing strategy is intentional in the way it is limiting to encourage people to buy more expensive models.
They don't offer 128gb as the base tier because they think it will meet everyone's needs. They offer that as the base tier because they think it won't meet everyone's needs. An ideal pricing strategy captures as many sales as possible while also upcharging as many people as possible who would be willing to pay more.
Why would a storage capacity exceeding 128 GB be necessary? If more than 128 GB of storage is required, why not utilize an SD card or other storage solutions (e.g. HDD / SSD used for your desktop) for storing large files? Is there a practical use case where data needs to be stored and actively accessed on a device with such large storage? For instance, I have a collection of videos totaling approximately 30 GB in size. I should consider transferring these files to my HDD or SSD rather than seeking a device with higher internal storage capacity.
The more I watch, the sadder I get. It seems they've gone in the wrong direction. They have nothing to offer regular phone users, so they're targeting "creative professionals" with fancy features.
Lots of people have creative hobbies that involve their phone in some capacity—music and photography are common—and basically everyone takes family photos and videos with them, so new photo capabilities are always welcome even for non-hobbyist users. Personally, I think it’s awesome that my kids could borrow my phone and make their backyard movies a hell of a lot more “cinematic” than mine on the family camcorder ever could have been, even if I’d had some idea of what I was doing.
Several of the “AI” features looked like the kind of thing any phone will feel incomplete without as soon as I use them the first time, for normal-user use cases.
Plus, you’re on HN: your complaint about iPhones is supposed to be that they’re just “mindless consumption devices” for sheeple who want to drool at YouTube shorts, wildly worse for any conceivable creative or practical, serious endeavor than Linux phones or a Thinkpad, because you can’t get a root shell. You’ve gone entirely the wrong direction for this site, with your post :-)
I do a bit of creative audio work and consider my iPhone next to useless. iPads are useful in some contexts.
I've returned to the stone ages of digital tuners and metronomes for practice(1), and any recordings I make use a laptop. Not that there are good options for quick and dirty recordings, just that they're better than using a phone.
If I were making podcasts or something like that the phone would be a lot more useful, but for music, not so much.
(1) there was awhile back that my phone was integral to practicing music but now I can't use it at all, because every decent metronome/tuner app is trash.
For an increasing amount of people, "making music" is recording a tiktok of themselves singing or playing a guitar or recording themselves rapping directly into the phone mic for soundcloud.
Not trying to judge what counts as making music - just saying that the times are changing a bit and the GP probably wasn't referring to traditional DAW usage and stuff like that.
Isn't that sort of the point though? I'm a regular phone user, but boy when I was on vacation this year, my iPhone took some fabulous pictures with stunning colors. I'm sure way better than I would with a DSLR (given I have no experience with a DSLR and/or whatever post-processing/editing suites I'd need to go with it).
I totally buy into the "best camera you have is the one in your pocket" concept -- especially if that camera takes amazing photos without me needing to know how.
I do agree on the other features (or lack thereof), in general I only upgrade my iPhone for two reasons:
1. Newer/better camara
2. Old iPhone is getting long in the tooth (i.e. battery degradation)
I think the longest I went was maybe 3 years before the battery wouldn't really make it through the day.
I'll take a look at this one and if the camera is compelling enough, maybe upgrade (the 5x optical zoom might just do that for me).
The archetype of a smartphone is essentially mature at this point and has been for a while.
Innovations are either going to be aimed at improving niche uses, gradual enhancements on stats like power/cpu/display/photo-quality, or accommodating fashion trends like overall size or whether it's foldable.
The most original opportunity lately is generative AI integration and that's exactly what they put into focus for 2024.
As one of those users I'm still rocking my iPhone 11 and am perfectly content sticking with it The phone works. Telegram and Whatsapp works. Slack works. Safari still runs great on the web on the very few websites I use or browse. The longer I can use this without feeling "forced" to upgrade, the happier I'll be.
What apple offers me is peace of mind and stability. That's all I want from a phone.
I'm under no impression that my phone will continue to work until "the end of time", but if I can get 5-7 years out of a device then I think I got more than my money's worth. The last phone I had before this lasted 2 years before it became practically unusable.
Do people cringe watching laptop updates too? Only niche, power hungry users feel constrained by hardware limitations these days.
I do think some of the Apple Intelligence features are going to be pretty useful for regular folks. I also think it’s going to be the case that after a few years people will forget how limited Siri used to be while taking for granted the improved performance.
I was planning to upgrade this year, and probably still will, but honestly, the differences between the base model and pro model this year are fairly limited.
ProMotion, Always-on display, a bunch more resistant to fall damage, and a camera that is better, but doesn't look like a lot.
I'm a bit worried about the Apple Intelligence features, as they've been very prominent on WWDC, but were fairly toned-down today. Not much of it was shown, and they're delaying their arrival (notification summaries look great though, as a "little thing that matters").
I’m going to miss the blue on my 13 pro. I’m probably going for the ‘desert titanium’ as that at least has some color. Such a shame that they reserve the bolder colors for the non-pro line.
I‘m on a 13 Pro right now, and an iOS developer, so should have a reason to upgrade now. But the iffy situation with Apple intelligence in the EU makes me hesitate.
> an iOS developer, so should have a reason to upgrade
Can't find the toot anymore but a recently popular one said that developers should be legally bound to 5-year-old hardware so that the resulting software works smoothly on all current systems and one is not forced to constantly upgrade just to keep a working system
I like this! As an iOS developer rocking an iPhone 11, I do find some comfort in knowing that a performant experience on my device suggests it will be a performant experience on others’
I think it is a good thing to delay arrival so they can get it right. I almost think playing it up at WWDC was intentional so that developers would care more about it.
I've had notification summaries turned on for at least a few weeks as part of the iOS 18 Beta and I can sadly report that they seem to be very very low quality.
On occasion they'll squash down something that is better read tersely, but I've overwhelmingly found them to make the content worse than simply reading the original text.
I was really hopeful about them going in, but it seems like it might need an iteration or two more.
I think that there are just very few notifications where a summary is the thing I want. Most of them I either don't care about at all or I want to see the actual text. Either it's important and the details matter or it's, like, a text from my wife and I want to read it in her voice and not a summary.
The fun of my family group chat is reading the messages from everyone.
Presumably the AI features getting widely derided at WWDC influenced the script. I’m totally fine with generative AI, but I cringed when I saw the images they generated for the demo at WWDC. Just awful stuff.
Interesting to see how they're marketing increasingly minor improvements as major breakthroughs.
16 Pro: Better camera, more zoom, dedicated camera button… isn’t that it?
WiFi 7, faster ray tracing, USB-C/USB 3? Hard to imagine many people really need that.
Have we witnessed peak Apple?
Apple Watch: minimal updates.
AirPods Max: new color.
AirPods: some minor tweaks.
ehhhh, maybe. they used to do small updates (other than CPU) and call it the "S" update; now they seem to keep increasing the number but doing similar small updates?
Wow they really didn't upgrade to the H2 chip! I preordered this without looking too closely as I've been waiting forever for an upgrade to buy this. Very strange.
I think there is still some room. For me screen technology would be an innovation. Envision a screen that is hybrid between eink and current OLED. Or Siri that is useful (I think thats what they are working on). Or envision other inputs other than your thumbs :-) Maybe ironed out version of what they developed for Apple Vision Pro in terms of eye tracking or some other inputs. So many ideas!!!
The same happened with laptops a long time ago. They basically do everything that's needed.
But in general I agree that the innovation output of Apple is really low compared to their size. But that seems to be the case for most of these mega trillion dollar companies. The bigger, the more conservative they get. But they are very good at making profits so it's all good as far as the CEO's bonus goes.
> The same happened with laptops a long time ago. They basically do everything that's needed.
And yet I would consider the M-chip Apple laptops to be a massive improvement.
Every year can’t have a huge paradigm shift, most users update every 2 to 4 years and so a bunch of small improvements can feel much much larger. Personally, I think releasing a phone every year is the right move even if the improvements are small.
For the phone we've settled on a current form factor of a slab of aluminum and glass. All changes are at the margins. A little thinner, a little lighter, a little better X.
Until some other form factor takes off, this is where we are.
It's like Call of Duty, you're not supposed to buy one each year and be amazed. Just wait two or three years and THEN you get a marginal improvement that means you can justify the purchase to yourself.
I don't see much to upgrade to but, if I didn't get a iPhone 15 Pro I would have probably gotten this. The new camera button is interesting and the gestures are nice.
Interesting to see all the rumors of a iPhone Slim / Air be nothing and I almost thought that they would do it on the Pro lineup.
So did they just give up on Blood-Oxygen sensing on the Watch? Thought it might be a good time to update my Watch 6 (black titanium) to a 10, since they brought back the black titanium, but they just have no answer for the blood-oxygen lawsuit?
The Samsung Galaxy Watch series still supports it, as well as blood pressure and sleep apnea (though you may have to hack it slightly to unlock those features in the US).
It’s been really crappy the entire time it existed, so it’s not a big loss. I have my watch on quite snugly (but not too tight), and fairly high on my wrist, and the stupid thing only takes maybe 3-5 measurements per DAY. Also, it cannot take measurements while exercising, or even moving.
Anecdotally I found it worthless anyway. I tried a variety of straps, tightness, positions, but I think the freckles on my white skin just confused it. Finger monitors consistently have it at 98%+. Apple Watch: “Your Blood Oxygen content is 85-100%”. Thank you Apple, very cool.
No real pattern to the large outliers, they’d happen at all times of the day, even with my girlfriend’s watch that I asked for a lend of.
No additional RAM? So 16 Pro is still using only 8gb? I was hoping to be able to run my own LLMs on device, but unless you're using micro sized models, it'll be practically impossible (or too slow for casual use).
Notably, only the pro models support USB 3. The base 16/16 plus are still on USB 2. This hasn't changed from the 15 lineup when they switched to USB-C.
It will be interesting to see how users will use the new dedicated camera touch control. Other phonemakers have tried it in the past (Sony Xperia comes to mind) but capacitative is probably the first. Also how developers will adopt for their apps. It is a small change but definitely differentiating for Apple at least for now.
There’s definitely a feeling that the Pro models are the actual model and the non-Pro is a bit closer to the old C/SE models. It didn’t feel that way a few releases ago.
I do love the colors on the regular models though!
I remember people lining up outside apple stores on the pre-order day. What has happened now? Have we seen the peak of smartphones until something new comes along and spur a new super-cycle?
i mean have you tried shipping familiar daily use hardware for 20 years? why the cynicism. this thing needs to be dependable, reliable. not introduce new fashion trend every year.
If you can get it earlier then when it will be shipped, I can see why people, anxious to get their latest phone, would line up. Regardless, the only thing I’m lining up for is ramen.
The 13 Pro had ProMotion, 14 Pro had Dynamic Island and Always On display, the 15 Pro had USB-C and the Action Button, the 16 Pro...has maybe slightly faster AI? 4k120fps video? USB-C w/ USB 3? Not things most people would care about.
ProMotion/Always On is still limited to the Pro models which is enough to justfy the upcharge, but it's a surprise they aren't locking a new feature this time.
The optical zoom on the Pro is so good! I often zoom in 3-5x and still get great results. I've gotten comments from people saying they thought photos of far off building features, etc, were taken with a DSLR.
It's a no-brainer to get the Pro for this reason, if you care about photos.
Really thought they'd upgrade from 12MP to 48MP on the telephoto. iPhone 16 Pro matched the Pixel's 5x optical zoom, but weirdly it remains stuck at 12MP.
It might be a 48MP sensor that produces 12MP readout after pixel binning. That's how the sensors on the Sony Xperia 1 work. Does Apple use Sony sensors? I vaguely remember that being a thing.
If image sensor / lens system quality are orthogonal to the final megapixel output, why bother with 48MP output JPEGs? They take up more space, so the practical benefit to smaller files is there.
When it comes to exchangeable lens cameras (DSLRs/DSLMs), as you increase the number of pixels you very quickly reach a point where you're limited by the optical performance of the lens instead of the sensor. Lots of systems offer a choice between a 24MP and a high pixel count camera (e.g. Nikon Z6/Z7), and you'll find that the high pixel count sibling requires very good lenses to actually achieve a meaningful improvement over 24MP. For these cameras, common wisdom says to stay with 24MP apart from certain niche use cases.
In other words, I wouldn't expect a improvement in capturing actual 48MP pictures in phone cameras, apart perhaps from pixel binning to a smaller size and similar techniques.
Disclaimer: I haven't followed camera tech very closely recently, and I'm not an expert. Take my opinion with a grain of salt.
The previous model 15 pro already has 3x, so it’s a jump from 3x to 5x. Not enough for me to upgrade already, but a good feature if you like photography or videography.
Is this a real zoom or just a fixed lens with longer focal length? I have read that the 13 Pro does digital zoom between 1x and 2.9x and only at 3x the 3x lens kicks in. So if you have a 5x lens you get digital zoom over an even longer range. So you may end up with worse image quality over a wider range.
That is correct. I treat my 15 Pro like having a set of prime lenses at varying lengths, and so only use 0.5x (13mm), 1x (24mm), 2x (48mm, which is 12MP out of the main camera’s 48MP), or 3x (77mm). In theory, anything between 1x and 2x should be non-digital zoom, but a crop of the 1x 48MP sensor. Anything between 0.5x and 1x, over 2x and less than 3x, or over 3x is digital zoom (crop + upscale). (For the 15 Pro Max, and I assume upcoming 16 Pro models, replace 3x with 5x)
As far as I know, Sony is the only company making phones with “actual” optical zoom, and not just a bunch of primes.
I'd hope it's just a "set of primes" with interpolation/digital zoom between them. At least I wouldn't want to have something that I drop on the floor on regular intervals to have a movable lens assembly that needs micrometer alignment because it's 48mp spread out over just a couple of mm.
15 and 15 Pro both had USB-C. The 15 pro just has USB3 capable USB-C (15 regular was USB2 only). Seems like they're keeping that differentiation, which I suppose makes sense given the USB3 PHY is a considerable die cost.
If you’re using the phone to shoot ProRes video, it uses something absurd like 1GB/min of video… so, offloading that video via USB2 would be agonizing.
Some of the video modes are only available if you record directly to external media. 4k HDR ProRes 120fps isn’t going to transfer real time over usb 2.
It's not the phone size, its the reach for my fingers. I can't reach the top left corner with my thumb on these larger screens and UI/UX people keep putting the hamburger for the navigation in that spot.
I'm sure you're aware of this, but bringing it up in case you aren't. On newer Face ID models, you can swipe down on the bottom of the screen (the little grey bar) and it'll toggle the reachability feature so the top of the screen comes into the middle of the display. Basically shoving everything down.
I understand it's not ideal, but I find it a valuable feature when I must operate one handed and sometimes struggle with the same issue.
I've found that feature really difficult to trigger reliably without hitting buttons on the bottom of the screen if they're there. Maybe it's just because I'm on a 13 mini, and before that a 12 mini. But if an app has a bottom navigation bar, I've found it absolutely impossible to trigger reachability without also hitting the bottom navigation.
I did also set up an accessibility feature where you can map a handful of actions to a double or triple tap on the back of the glass, and I mapped double-tap to trigger Reachability. But it's not super fast and overall a bit of a downgrade from the double capacitive TouchID tap on older models.
I would be fine with the Pro models getting larger screens if they would shrink the standard phone. I'm still trying to survive with my 12 mini for as long as possible until the battery dies. I tried a standard iPhone 15 for two weeks last year and I wasn't happy with the larger size and returned it.
The mini was a great form factor, fits in more pockets comfortably and the whole screen is within reach of my thumb when using the phone one-handed.
More people want "all of the above" to be larger than want the smaller phone. It does leave those that prefer the truly small phones in a tough spot though, but they are a tiny percentage of buyers and only a fraction of that percentage actually dislike the other options vs would just use the mini when it's available https://www.macrumors.com/2022/04/21/iphone-13-mini-unpopula...
That said I wonder if they'll slip in a new mini model every once in a great while to give that group of users an option.
For me 60Hz on the base model is now a deal breaker. Even our daughter's 300 Euro A54 has a 120Hz screen (though not LTPO). Once you are used to 120Hz on a touch device, it's hard to go back (different on a relatively static computer screen, where I prefer having the high DPI of 5k 27"). So, it's iPhone Pro models until the base model gets >60Hz too.
I generally find the opposite. Experts know how to deal with limited memory. They benefit from more but they understand the tradeoffs. Non-experts get all kinds of bad experiences not realizing the issue is their machine is underpowered.
Maybe 8GB ram is enough for your mom but know lots of non-techies suffering with underpowered machines.
> Non-experts get all kinds of bad experiences not realizing the issue is their machine is underpowered
As always, it depends on how the machine is being used. The encompasses both intent and habits.
Someone who will install ad-spam toolbars will chew through all the memory in the world. That doesn't change the fact that they're largely using their device to e-mail, read news and occasionally open a spreadsheet.
The people I've seen with underpowered machines, wait 5 minutes for them to boot since they are both slow (celeron) and low-mem (so swapping 10-15 times while booting). They they take minutes to launch apps (like open a spreadsheet).
It doesn't matter than they're only using their device to e-mail, read news, and occasionally open a spreadsheet. In fact, reading news is arguably a memory and perf hog. 100s of large images, plus video, etc... taxes any low-powered/low-memory machine. It's bad enough on a fast machine that doesn't slow down but is still covered in ads on the news page. But it's horryfing on an under-powered/under-memory machine.
swapping on an m4 with a midrange pcie 4.0 SSD is quite different from swapping on a celeron with a low-end SATA SSD or spinning rust, plus linux/unix/macos is generally much better with swapping sensibly than windows.
believe it or not, an 8GB macos device is generally quite usable even if it's swapping, as long as it's apple silicon family. yes, it's not going to save if you if your working set is more than 8GB and you need everything in the set, but chrome/firefox do not actually need the 32gb you are probably giving them.
Might have been true 5 years ago, but I don't think this is true now. Base systems with nothing open are using 3+ gigs of memory. Web pages use a ton, but even fairly standard apps will use a gig or more (thanks, electron).
The end result is super slow loading as stuff is swapped, apps crashing (at least on Windows), tabs reloading when you don't want them to.
> Web pages use a ton, but even fairly standard apps will use a gig or more (thanks, electron)
She does most of that on an iPad. The computer is used for e-mail, filling out government forms and looking at spreadsheets. She needs a sturdy machine that works, simply, and doesn't need a lot of babying. A cheap, well-configured Mac running Safari with an ad blocker is just about perfect for that.
I’ve actually come to the conclusion that a laggier worse phone display is a feature, not a bug. Quicker response times = more addictive with little to no upside in productivity.
That’s not wrong, look at America, very tasty food and very unhealthy people. In Switzerland the food is no where near as tasty and the people are healthier and in better shape.
I don’t know what Switzerland you are talking about, only 12% of the population is considered obese so I don’t see how over half the men here are obese.
America doesn't have a monopoly on particularly good food.. We have a lot of junk and fast food and cities that are only usable by car which I think are the real issues.
Surely that's a joke, what special need could possibly call for requiring more than 60fps (calling it a dealbreaker)? It's nice to have but... it's like having a slightly faster CPU or cellular modem that lets pages load 2ms faster, sure it's nice but... a dealbreaker? Why?
I'm pretty sure what OP meant is "once you try high refresh rate, you can't go back". I had the same feeling many years ago as an android user. And more recently after switching to an OLED monitor.
Well. I used to think the same but I found myself got used to the 60hz display within a week again. It's true it's annoying for the first few days but you know, mankind is an adapting animal.
I read that sentiment often. But I am able to switch between my 60 Hz iPhone 13 and 120 Hz iPad Pro without issue. iPad Pro switches from 120 Hz to 60 Hz when low power mode is activated. I notice the switch but I easily adjust and not think about it.
I understand 60 Hz being “a deal breaker” for gaming and VR applications, but on a battery-constrained mobile phone that I carry everywhere? No thanks. I’d rather have more battery life or less weight in my pocket. 60 Hz is more than adequate.
Isn't the difference minimal, particularly with LTPO that can go down to 1hz? Of course this is assuming you aren't gaming at 120hz but rather doing more casual tasks.
Are there new hardware features announced for the 16 Pro? Apple definitely would love to add an exclusive feature but it seems like negligible pickings. The "Fusion" or "tetraprism" camera is the only other one that comes to mind.
Fundamentally Apple wants to leverage their supply chain to maximize shared parts between the Pro and base iPhones. Lack of hardware innovations makes it hard to create product differentiation.
I agree but I already planned to upgrade to a 16 Pro up from my 12. Biggest thing I’m looking forward to? Battery life.
In the announcement they said “big boost”, and looking at the comparison page I will go from 17h video playback to 27h. That’s not even including the battery degradation I built up in the last 4 years. I’m practically going to double my battery life.
This isn't related to the user update cycle discussions, just pointing out it's odd that Apple has always locked a new feature/hardware to a higher SKU to help price discriminate but here it's weaker.
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[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 338 ms ] threadIs FlightAware blocking use of the app now? I assume it's because they've dropped support for iOS 15 (which can be a hassle depending on new APIs they want to use), not the 7 device specifically.
1: I don't see what the big deal is to just put if statements around any iOS16-requiring new features, yet keep targeting iOS15. We did this all the time back when I used to write iOS apps.
It gets increasingly more expensive to support older and older iOS versions. These “new features” you’re talking about wrapping in if statements aren’t here and there. Many upgrades are pervasive, and would eventually make every file a branching mess.
Now, you could argue that that should still be the chosen route. I can empathize with that. I like software that just keeps working forever.
(I often use it on low brightness in dim ambient light)
also: burn in
Can't believe I haven't done it already actually. I've noticed that nearly everything in life flickers from microwaves (each digit is lit up sequentially! I can't believe we can't see this) to my LCD laptop screen (flickers in different colors! Red comes first, then green and blue, it's extremely obvious on the slow motion but, with my own eyes, I'll only occasionally catch a glimpse of red when I look away from something white that just turned on, and even then I'm not sure if I'm just seeing things), but the phones I looked at so far must have been LCD then
I heard that it can be opposite in TV world, some backlit LCD panels flicker as hell while some OLEDs manage to flicker less but I never owned a TV to make observations
All phone OLED exhibits this, though iphone is one of the more egregious ones.
I saw a couple mentions of this today that I’d never heard of before. Do you know if there have been any studies (preferably double-blind) into this?
FWIW I don't think I have any sort of special sensitivity, I just don't like it and it annoys me whenever I notice it
If I was not using my phone in the dark at low brightness as much I would probably be fine with OLED...
Also maybe they made it better since first OLED iphones, but they never say anything about PWM in press releases and it is kind of expensive to just buy it to try and throw out if it still sucks.
I'm curious, why? I hate the whole screen glow of LCD in low light, much preferring the pure black of OLED.
Swings and roundabouts… for some people the grey tinge and messed up gamma curve of low brightness OLED is unacceptable. For others text readability in darkness is key
There’s also the PWM argument which has been beaten to death
And if I have full screen glow anyway then LCD looks better due to less flicker.
usb-c is a big feature increment for me, and I need to finish the leap away from google voice, since I absolutely know they are not going to bother implementing RCS and will just shutter the service instead. LiDAR also seems extremely useful/cool. On the other hand, I was kinda hoping for thunderbolt support on the pro models eventually. Not sure if I will buy a refurb 15 Pro or a new 16 Pro Max or wait for the next cycle.
that's how you avoid e-waste for real and not as a fashion statement. simply consume less - and that includes not consuming a $300 android phone every 18 months, not just apple - and have it repaired when it needs it. with OEM parts that will last the long-haul and not something off amazon that will need to be changed again in 6 months.
But in comparison it would be also more than half the price you could sell an iPhone 11 nowadays
Note: I don't disagree with what you're saying. But Apple also creates multiple models for different users desires, and it sounds like you're most closely aligned to the iPhone SE target market (not the iPhone base or Pro).
- 90W fast wired charging, 80W wireless charging - many android phone have it
- reverse charging - so that in emergency when you forgot to charge airpods and you already outside you could charge a little bit enough for a run - again some androids have it
- stylus support - still would be nice to get apple pencil for some signatures etc
- fingerprint reader either under display or on side button like on ipad air - sometimes when phone is sitting on the table it's easier to unlock with finger than pick it up and point at your face then put it back (especially annoying for iOS devs)
- irda led for controlling air con in hotel - they have already IR blaster on front and maybe even on lidar that they could potentially hack it similar like they hacked screen for flash.
- temperature sensor and humidity sensor
- IR temperature sensor for checking your body temperature or stuff you baking in the oven
- tiny thermal camera sensor for inspecting leaks in house for the winter
- microsd support (yes can dream can I?)
- any improvements for lidar quality or truedepth
- another programmable button on the left side for lefties
- 250GB storage by default
- 12GB RAM
- bluetooth 5.4
- thread protocol support like HomePod
When you first connect, the power capabilities are negotiated and usually the more powerful device takes on the "source" role while the other gets to be the "sink".
This can be dynamically controlled and switched back and forth so some devices have UI to select what to do.
> tiny thermal camera sensor for inspecting leaks in house for the winter
So just a thermometer gun? It costs like $20-30 on amazon and I've never needed one other than in my home / kitchen. Why in the world do you want a phone for this haha.
I do think I've found the perfect car for you: https://tenor.com/view/homer-simpsons-car-gif-8120474
It would be nice to have constant monitoring against a baseline as well, to alert people when a fever might be breaking out.
I think it'd be an easier pitch in the watch though as that's where they are already shoving most of the health sensors (and have wrist temperature monitoring already).
My point here is I'm not saying it can't ever be something anyone would want because of that rather something selling in another device on Amazon has no weight one way or the other on whether it'd be a good thing to add to a phone.
Looks like they are super-uber risk-averse and there is 0% new ideas with these products.
Yes, this is the first thing I look for in a smartphone. Maybe next year, Apple?
This is just Apple maximising profit as usual, pushing people up the endless tiers of their product families.
I suspect everyone who upgrades from a $150 120Hz phone to a new iPhone will be thrilled.
You have it backwards. Nobody is pro gaming on an iPhone. That high refresh rate doesn't have a real, practical purpose. It just looks really really good and immediately grabs your eye - it's candy.
> Literally anyone picked off the street will notice jumping from 60hz to 120hz after maybe, I don't know, 2 seconds of swiping around.
But frame rates? I was curious to see what the hype was about and walked over to the phones section in a nearby tech store when I was there to buy something unrelated. Side by side, I just cannot tell the difference. I'm swiping fast and slow but I cannot tell whether one is smoother or if that's my brain doing this placebo thing. I'd be very curious if I can tell in a blind test. Perhaps I could, but it's so close that I really don't see the point of making a big deal out of selecting for screen refresh rate, for myself at least
1) OMG! What an upgrade! I will never own another phone without this! 2) Eh, I see what the difference is. I don’t care/it isn’t worth the price. 3) What are you talking about? I don’t see any difference.
2 and 3 combined are probably the majority of people. The first post is literally about his girlfriend not noticing screen differences. There are plenty of people like that.
No, no there aren't because fast refresh rate is painfully obvious. I'm talking within a second, maybe fractions of a second, you will notice. Because every single animation is affected.
It's one thing to say it's a small change, or not a big deal, or not worth it (I'd even agree). It's another to say you can't notice it. No... you can definitely notice it.
What are your kids doing that consumes so much local storage?
We aren't photographers, we just goof around, and our almost-teenaged son doesn't factor into those numbers.
The sheer volume of data created is just .. it's nuts. And there's another 300gb of data generated from all the metadata, sidecar, smart search, face detection! Imagine all that plus much more that Apple Intelligence generates.
Long gone are the days of just putting JPGs into a folder!
If I was betting, most people likely pay for a cloud storage solution and don’t use the majority of their device storage.
iPod touch (32GB), if you ignore this
iPhone 4 (16GB), 2010
iPhone 6 (64GB), 2014
iPhone SE 2nd gen (256GB), 2020
iPhone 16 (1 TB)?, 2024
Every time, I think "that's probably way more than I'll need", but I guess in 6 years or so I'll upgrade to the 4 TB model. Or wait for next year's model, maybe another SE will come out...
Both my parents barely use the 64GB on their phone. The one that does photography, probably can't store all their photos on any iPhone, because it measures in the multi-TB.
I usually overbuy storage but after three years, I'm removing things like music and podcasts because it's completely full.
Those who go heavy on the video vs those who don't.
They, unlike us, also know what 256GB of storage actually costs but somehow that's not reflected in the price difference either
128GB is plenty for me.
This pricing strategy is intentional in the way it is limiting to encourage people to buy more expensive models.
They don't offer 128gb as the base tier because they think it will meet everyone's needs. They offer that as the base tier because they think it won't meet everyone's needs. An ideal pricing strategy captures as many sales as possible while also upcharging as many people as possible who would be willing to pay more.
But also I just checked and I have 128GB and its fine for me.
is there a word for this...marketing inflation in lieu of innovation.
apple used to be a tech company supported by marketing. now its a marketing company supported by tech.
I plan to get a regular 16, for the reasons you mention. What regular features would you want to see?
Several of the “AI” features looked like the kind of thing any phone will feel incomplete without as soon as I use them the first time, for normal-user use cases.
Plus, you’re on HN: your complaint about iPhones is supposed to be that they’re just “mindless consumption devices” for sheeple who want to drool at YouTube shorts, wildly worse for any conceivable creative or practical, serious endeavor than Linux phones or a Thinkpad, because you can’t get a root shell. You’ve gone entirely the wrong direction for this site, with your post :-)
I've returned to the stone ages of digital tuners and metronomes for practice(1), and any recordings I make use a laptop. Not that there are good options for quick and dirty recordings, just that they're better than using a phone.
If I were making podcasts or something like that the phone would be a lot more useful, but for music, not so much.
(1) there was awhile back that my phone was integral to practicing music but now I can't use it at all, because every decent metronome/tuner app is trash.
Not trying to judge what counts as making music - just saying that the times are changing a bit and the GP probably wasn't referring to traditional DAW usage and stuff like that.
I totally buy into the "best camera you have is the one in your pocket" concept -- especially if that camera takes amazing photos without me needing to know how.
I do agree on the other features (or lack thereof), in general I only upgrade my iPhone for two reasons:
I think the longest I went was maybe 3 years before the battery wouldn't really make it through the day.I'll take a look at this one and if the camera is compelling enough, maybe upgrade (the 5x optical zoom might just do that for me).
Innovations are either going to be aimed at improving niche uses, gradual enhancements on stats like power/cpu/display/photo-quality, or accommodating fashion trends like overall size or whether it's foldable.
The most original opportunity lately is generative AI integration and that's exactly what they put into focus for 2024.
What apple offers me is peace of mind and stability. That's all I want from a phone.
They’ll literally make your beloved iPhone 11 obsolete in a year or so, deliberately.
Those are not real competition to the iPhone in any meaningful way.
A "niche audience" is inflating the point.
The same thing occurred with GNU/Linux desktop.
I do think some of the Apple Intelligence features are going to be pretty useful for regular folks. I also think it’s going to be the case that after a few years people will forget how limited Siri used to be while taking for granted the improved performance.
ProMotion, Always-on display, a bunch more resistant to fall damage, and a camera that is better, but doesn't look like a lot.
I'm a bit worried about the Apple Intelligence features, as they've been very prominent on WWDC, but were fairly toned-down today. Not much of it was shown, and they're delaying their arrival (notification summaries look great though, as a "little thing that matters").
Can't find the toot anymore but a recently popular one said that developers should be legally bound to 5-year-old hardware so that the resulting software works smoothly on all current systems and one is not forced to constantly upgrade just to keep a working system
Not a serious proposal but it did give me pause
On occasion they'll squash down something that is better read tersely, but I've overwhelmingly found them to make the content worse than simply reading the original text.
I was really hopeful about them going in, but it seems like it might need an iteration or two more.
The fun of my family group chat is reading the messages from everyone.
Have we witnessed peak Apple?
Apple Watch: minimal updates. AirPods Max: new color. AirPods: some minor tweaks.
Wow they really didn't upgrade to the H2 chip! I preordered this without looking too closely as I've been waiting forever for an upgrade to buy this. Very strange.
How about running a normal OS without artificial restrictions, so that you could completely replace your laptop/desktop?
But in general I agree that the innovation output of Apple is really low compared to their size. But that seems to be the case for most of these mega trillion dollar companies. The bigger, the more conservative they get. But they are very good at making profits so it's all good as far as the CEO's bonus goes.
And yet I would consider the M-chip Apple laptops to be a massive improvement.
Every year can’t have a huge paradigm shift, most users update every 2 to 4 years and so a bunch of small improvements can feel much much larger. Personally, I think releasing a phone every year is the right move even if the improvements are small.
Until some other form factor takes off, this is where we are.
The yearly thing is to scam superfans.
Interesting to see all the rumors of a iPhone Slim / Air be nothing and I almost thought that they would do it on the Pro lineup.
https://www.techradar.com/phones/iphone/apple-could-deliver-...
Comparison page lists the "Blood Oxygen app" for the S6 through S8, but S9 and S10 both just have "-" for that comparison section like the S5 has.
https://www.apple.com/watch/compare/?modelList=watch-series-...
EDIT: Another difference between them is the Vitals App description removing the blood oxygen reference.
S10: "Vitals app featuring heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, and sleep duration"
S08: "Vitals app featuring heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, blood oxygen, and sleep duration"
https://www.apple.com/sg/watch/compare/?modelList=watch-seri...
https://www.patentlyapple.com/2024/07/while-apple-has-update...
Edit: if you go to the comparison page, it lists the blood oxygene app for the 10 and the Ultra 2, so great :)
Here's one thing I saw about it:
https://www.patentlyapple.com/2024/07/while-apple-has-update...
No real pattern to the large outliers, they’d happen at all times of the day, even with my girlfriend’s watch that I asked for a lend of.
I do love the colors on the regular models though!
We order online from the comfort of our homes and still get the phone on launch day?
The 13 Pro had ProMotion, 14 Pro had Dynamic Island and Always On display, the 15 Pro had USB-C and the Action Button, the 16 Pro...has maybe slightly faster AI? 4k120fps video? USB-C w/ USB 3? Not things most people would care about.
ProMotion/Always On is still limited to the Pro models which is enough to justfy the upcharge, but it's a surprise they aren't locking a new feature this time.
It's a no-brainer to get the Pro for this reason, if you care about photos.
In other words, I wouldn't expect a improvement in capturing actual 48MP pictures in phone cameras, apart perhaps from pixel binning to a smaller size and similar techniques.
Disclaimer: I haven't followed camera tech very closely recently, and I'm not an expert. Take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Is this correct?
As far as I know, Sony is the only company making phones with “actual” optical zoom, and not just a bunch of primes.
Each model now has a different display size.
You can choose between 6.1", 6.3", 6.7" and 6.9"
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Apple-iPhone-13-Pro,A...
I understand it's not ideal, but I find it a valuable feature when I must operate one handed and sometimes struggle with the same issue.
I did also set up an accessibility feature where you can map a handful of actions to a double or triple tap on the back of the glass, and I mapped double-tap to trigger Reachability. But it's not super fast and overall a bit of a downgrade from the double capacitive TouchID tap on older models.
If it helps, the Pro is only increasing by a few mm in height and depth, not width.
[1]: iPhone 13 Pro specs: https://www.apple.com/by/iphone-13-pro/specs/
[2]: iPhone 16 Pro specs: https://www.apple.com/ca/iphone-16-pro/specs/
The mini was a great form factor, fits in more pockets comfortably and the whole screen is within reach of my thumb when using the phone one-handed.
That said I wonder if they'll slip in a new mini model every once in a great while to give that group of users an option.
My mom doesn't need more than 8GB RAM. Overengineering is still bad engineering.
Maybe 8GB ram is enough for your mom but know lots of non-techies suffering with underpowered machines.
As always, it depends on how the machine is being used. The encompasses both intent and habits.
Someone who will install ad-spam toolbars will chew through all the memory in the world. That doesn't change the fact that they're largely using their device to e-mail, read news and occasionally open a spreadsheet.
It doesn't matter than they're only using their device to e-mail, read news, and occasionally open a spreadsheet. In fact, reading news is arguably a memory and perf hog. 100s of large images, plus video, etc... taxes any low-powered/low-memory machine. It's bad enough on a fast machine that doesn't slow down but is still covered in ads on the news page. But it's horryfing on an under-powered/under-memory machine.
believe it or not, an 8GB macos device is generally quite usable even if it's swapping, as long as it's apple silicon family. yes, it's not going to save if you if your working set is more than 8GB and you need everything in the set, but chrome/firefox do not actually need the 32gb you are probably giving them.
https://www.amazon.com/HP-Students-Business-Quad-Core-Storag...
Grandma, on a fixed income, buys the $249 machine.
The end result is super slow loading as stuff is swapped, apps crashing (at least on Windows), tabs reloading when you don't want them to.
She does most of that on an iPad. The computer is used for e-mail, filling out government forms and looking at spreadsheets. She needs a sturdy machine that works, simply, and doesn't need a lot of babying. A cheap, well-configured Mac running Safari with an ad blocker is just about perfect for that.
Just pulled it up on my (16GB) Mac. 300 MB.
Note that she's manipulating, like, a spreadsheet for the rotary.
It is a joke, right?
Sent from my iPhone 15 Pro
Fundamentally Apple wants to leverage their supply chain to maximize shared parts between the Pro and base iPhones. Lack of hardware innovations makes it hard to create product differentiation.
Heck, even the A18 Pro chip seems a marginal upgrade over the base A18 chip: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/apples-a18-chip-desi...
In the announcement they said “big boost”, and looking at the comparison page I will go from 17h video playback to 27h. That’s not even including the battery degradation I built up in the last 4 years. I’m practically going to double my battery life.
https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/?modelList=iphone-16-pr...
Better ultrawide, but from the comparison page on Apple’s website it would appear the main sensors on both are the same?
Always On is on the base model this year too
Always On depends on ProMotion for 1Hz refresh.