The End of the iPhone Upgrade? 71
An anonymous reader shares a New Yorker story: Ultimately, the iPhone 16 does little to meaningfully improve on the experience I had with the 12, besides, perhaps, charging with a USB-C, as my laptop does, cutting down on the number of cords I have to keep track of. Instead, the greatest leaps in Apple's hardware are largely directed at those niche users who are already invested in using tools such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. The company has announced that, within a month or so, the new phones will be able to operate its proprietary artificial-intelligence system, which means that users may soon be relying on A.I. to perform daily personal tasks, like navigating their calendars or responding to e-mails. The 15 and 16 Pros can take three-dimensional photos, designed for V.R., using the Apple Vision Pro. Thus far, I don't use A.I. tools or V.R. with any frequency and have no intention of doing so on my iPhone.
The fact that I do not need an iPhone 16 is a testament not so much to the iPhone's failure as to its resounding success. A lot of the digital software we rely on has grown worse for users in recent years; the iPhone, by contrast, has become so good that it's hard to imagine anything but incremental improvements. Apple's teleological phone-design strategy may have simply reached its end point, the same way evolution in nature has repeatedly resulted in an optimized species of crab. Other tech companies, meanwhile, are embracing radical departures in phone design. Samsung offers devices that fold in half, creating a smaller screen that's useful for minor tasks, such as texting, and a larger one for watching videos; Huawei is upping the ante with three folds. The BOOX Palma has become a surprise hit as a smartphone-ish device with an e-ink screen, similar to Amazon's Kindle, which uses physical pixels in its display. Dumbphones, too, are growing more popular by intentionally doing less. Apple devices, by contrast, remain effective enough that they can afford to be somewhat static.
The fact that I do not need an iPhone 16 is a testament not so much to the iPhone's failure as to its resounding success. A lot of the digital software we rely on has grown worse for users in recent years; the iPhone, by contrast, has become so good that it's hard to imagine anything but incremental improvements. Apple's teleological phone-design strategy may have simply reached its end point, the same way evolution in nature has repeatedly resulted in an optimized species of crab. Other tech companies, meanwhile, are embracing radical departures in phone design. Samsung offers devices that fold in half, creating a smaller screen that's useful for minor tasks, such as texting, and a larger one for watching videos; Huawei is upping the ante with three folds. The BOOX Palma has become a surprise hit as a smartphone-ish device with an e-ink screen, similar to Amazon's Kindle, which uses physical pixels in its display. Dumbphones, too, are growing more popular by intentionally doing less. Apple devices, by contrast, remain effective enough that they can afford to be somewhat static.
Same news as last year (Score:3)
Why is this even news?
The majority of Computers and Phones have been more then adequate for the majority of people for the past 5+, maybe 10+, years.
Meanwhile iPhone can't even add a proper superscript 2 or 3 to the keyboard to enter in math symbols... /s
Re: (Score:2)
There's been a weird bit of drama about this release for Apple. I don't have it in front of me but apparently T-Mobile made a statement like 'iPhone 16s are selling great and our stockholders are realy happy!' over a rumor going around that T-Mobile was taking a loss (or something like that) with them. It's the sort of thing that's affecting stock prices but I'm not sure why it's being mentioned here. (altho it is objectively fair to say the iPhone 16 is not an exciting release.)
Re: (Score:2)
Thank you for reminding me of this! My phone has been dog slow for months, and I kept thinking I should probably do a full backup/restore and see if that helps at some point. Turns out, it WAS being throttled due to the aging battery. Just ordered an ifixit kit for $23 to replace it :-)
Re: (Score:2)
Apple has now been caught removing a feature (promotion) with a update without notifying users before they update. Pro motion gives higher screen refresh rate (120hz) and the iOS 18 update limits the refresh rate to 80 Hz, supposedly to extend battery life. Here is a video showing the refresh rate being limited to 80 Hz. https://x.com/UniverseIce/stat... [x.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Correct link
https://x.com/UniverseIce/stat... [x.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Same news as last year (Score:2)
Re: Same news as last year (Score:3)
No doubt basic apostrophes and em-dashes in the above will make the amateur-hour Slashdot server spew mojibake all over port 80.
Re: Same news as last year (Score:2)
Re: Same news as last year (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Itâ(TM)s completely insane how Slashdotâ(TM)s text processing doesnâ(TM)t support basic Unicode in the year 2024. Even the unmitigated binfire of a platform that is X â" formerly known as Twitter â" can handle it.
Yeah, it'd be pretty trivial to fix that for the handful of common symbols that cause people the most grief. I'd even do it for them for free just to not have to see that crap all the time. :)
Re: Same news as last year (Score:2)
VerbTeX lets you lay out equations on iOS. Itâ(TM)s free.
Re: (Score:2)
Interesting. Do the equations go into pictures, vector-gfx or actual markup?
Re: (Score:3)
Awaiting my downmod.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The author is an idiot. This is true of any mature product and category. You shouldn't expect to see exponential changes each year. Once a product matures the changes are generally incremental.
Look at TVs. They see incremental changes every model year. Much less frequently, something big like the change from 1080 to 4K comes along, but you shouldn't expect that kind of change every year.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not the phone (Score:3)
It's the personal status update.
The teens do not want to be caught dead with an iPhone 15 in school, even a pro max.
Re: (Score:3)
In my experience, the teens stopped caring a while ago. Maybe the people who were teens when the iphone 3 came out who are closing in on 30 now still care??
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Really? You'd have to look pretty closely to even notice the difference between a 15 and a 16 (especially with a case). I just updated from a 13 pro to a 16pro that I put in very similar cases. When I mailed my 13pro back for trade, I had to double check the side buttons to ensure I wasn't sending the wrong one back!
apple will cut off OS Updates from the older ones (Score:1)
apple will cut off OS Updates from the older ones faster then MS cuts off older hardware from windows.
Re:apple will cut off OS Updates from the older on (Score:4, Informative)
That would be a big change from current policy, and a change that would bring Apple closer to Android.
Apple routinely supports iPhone hardware for 5 years plus.
My ancient and revered XR will take the latest iOS - that's 6 years after the XR release.
It's big news when a high-end Android announces 3 years support guaranteed - at least that's what I recall about the Pixel a year or two ago.
It's like the emphasis on privacy - changing it would remove a big differentiator from Android, so they won't do it lightly.
Of course, if they "need the money since nobody's upgrading"...
Re: apple will cut off OS Updates from the older o (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Until last week I was still using an 6s (released 2015, purchased mid-summer of 2016). I was very impressed that it still received major iOS updates until 2022, and has received bug and security fixes ever since. This was such a refreshing difference compared to the updates for the original Galaxy S and the Nexus 5 I had used prior, whose updates were frustratingly short-lived (3 years in the case of the Nexus 5). When even the Nexus didn't merit any sort of long term support I knew that Android probably
Re: (Score:2)
and its literally trivial to look up the fact that phones from 2018 are supported in iOS 18 and thats the full new OS, they have been providing security updates to older phones going much further back. I would think someone on a tech news site would have looked that up before spouting off FUD but here we are. I notice you have no scorn to spare for the original poster.
oh who am I kidding, I know nobody on this site bothers to so much as google shit before they spout off and so do you.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
apple will cut off OS Updates from the older ones faster then MS cuts off older hardware from windows.
Maybe they'll reduce it from five years to four or some such, but the thing is that Apple makes way more money from the App Store than from hardware sales. Sure, they'd love it if every user bought a new one every year, but the real money is in the App Store. More to the point, the hand-me-down iPhones tend to go to kids and teens, who use more apps than older users, and in turn, spend more money on them. If Apple didn't keep supporting older phones, a vanishingly small number of those users would get new i
Lightning ghetto though (Score:2)
Thank the EU (Score:1)
It's amusing to me that the only upgrade of note to the iPhone for years is the one that they were forced to do against their will by an EU directive [graniteriverlabs.com].
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
I'm really pleased that we're on a single charging standard now, there is one really ragged looking iphone charging cable in our car and I'm really looking forward to the day when my wife goes from iphone 14->16 and we can stop carrying around two sets of charging equipment everywhere we go. I never really took much of an interest in my wife's phone technology, but getting away from lightning cables is going to be a huge upgrade for our household.
Re: Lightning ghetto though (Score:2)
Why would she replace a 14 with a 16? Itâ(TM)s only a couple of years old max and itâ(TM)s still a good phone. Itâ(TM)ll be a good phone for years, and probably supported by Apple for another four years.
Re: (Score:2)
Almost as good like an Android (Score:2)
Joke aside, the Apple iphone has not innovated since 10 or more years, always a step behind the Android ecosystem.
Just look at IA today, Samsung had a better IA system than Apple just dream of.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Given that his sig's in French, I'm guessing it's "Intelligence Artificielle"
Surely your AI system could have told you that..
Re: (Score:2)
Your right, It's so easy to inverse this two letters
AI IA hA hA hI hI
Re: (Score:2)
As someone who migrated from Android to iPhone, that's not entirely true.
Yes, the iPhone is completely missing "computer" contexts like files. That's probably the one that irritates me the most - it's effectively impossible to manage the thing (your data) outside the context of the Apple cloud ecosystem. I hate that about it.
It also lags behind significantly in features.
Where it excels: battery life, stability, security (updates and design), and consistency.
It's like comparing a Tesla to a well maintained u
Re: (Score:2)
Whew, gotta wonder what that built-in app named "Files" does, then.
Re: (Score:2)
Files is literally an app on your phone.
Re: (Score:2)
10 years is a LONG time. It's not clear Android has innovated for 10 years or more either.
What I do know is that 10 years ago I tried switching to Android and it was awful. Apple phones required a lot less processor, resulting in longer battery life and faster charging. Took quite a while for technology to overcome that inherent disadvantage for Android. The constant spewing of ads, though, was a self-inflicted wound.
The only "IA" I dream of is none. Not how sure "better" is determined here.
Re: (Score:2)
Apple iPhones are primarily a cult following. Financially, they make no sense.
360 degree rounded corners (Score:2)
How old is the 12? (Score:2)
To paraphrase the quote:
"The fact that I did not need a replacement for the Samsung S4 when the display finally cracked after a fall, is a testament not so much to the phone's failure as to its resounding success."
Profit over functions (Score:2)
I just need one compute device. Stand alone, its a phone. doc it into a tablet case... its a tablet with extra battery capacity. Attach a keyboard... its a macbook with even more battery. Three uses, one really essential module. I upgrade the module when needed, don't need to update the other two.
Re: (Score:2)
That's great and all, but what if I want to make a phone call while docked?
They're better as discreet devices. Especially when you look at the marked capability difference between a 32GB MBP vs the current generation phones in terms of capabilities.
Most people don't want a phablet. It's the worst of both worlds.
"Cloud connectivity" is supposed to have (and largely has) eliminated the need for such a conceptualization: everything you need can be in all places at once.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
That's great and all, but what if I want to make a phone call while docked?
It is my understanding that Air Pods and Beats are popular device. Other manufacturers also make headsets. I have observed lots of people using Siri to make calls or send SMS. The biggest problem I can see is making a good interface that changes appropriately as different docks are used.
Samsung has a feature that allows a phone to act like a desktop if you plug in a docking station. I played around with the capability one evening, it seemed usable. My problem is that I already have a laptop that I us
not just iPhone, androids too (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. And that is actually a good thing. Technology can only mature if it is not changed all the time.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep, I have a Pixel 4a. When it dies, I'm more tempted to try to get another (probably refurb) 4a than whatever is currently being offered. I don't like the larger sizes of the newer models and the 4a does everything I need.
Re: (Score:2)
Too bad that Google decided to stop updating the Pixel 4a over a year ago. The hardware if fine but the software is now dangerous.
Google's short update period really does their customers a disservice. I no longer buy Android phones for the office, we simply have more problems with them and have to replace them more often, makes no sense.
Absolutely! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Isn't supossed to Windows 8 ou 10 the last version of Windows....
nice upgrade from 11 though (Score:1)
I went from an iPhone 11 to the 16, it was due. I really do like the additional action button and dedicated camera buttons. I use my camera a lot, so that was a nice addition. Probably a 14 or 15 upgrade to 16 wouldn't be as noticeable.
We'll always have cameras for a reason (Score:1)
A lot of the iPhone stuff is incremental release to release, but after a few years it starts to become a lot more compelling.
Going from a 14 to a 16 would bring you much better battery life and big camera improvements.
In general from release to release the camera updates are still usually worth looking at, sometimes they cause me to update yearly instead of bi-yearly.
I almost did this year for the 48MP wide angle (was 12 in the 15) but I figure I can live without it. I may change my mind later, right now I
Apple has mostly lagged behind in features (Score:1)
Agree (Score:1)
I'm stuck in my ways and thus don't see any (Score:2)
benefit from new technology. This is a nonstory.
At some point tech is in a final state (Score:2)
That changes on real breakthroughs, but before that value then comes from maintenance and durability. No idea whether Apple can deal with that. For another example, see, e.g., about 2/3 of Windows users still being on Win10. Clearly MS has trouble understanding what is going on and adapting to it. Obviously, they can essentially coerce people onto Win11, but that will cause a_lot_ of long-term resentment and will likely be counter-productive.
Longer Cycles (Score:2)
Longer upgrade cycles are now the norm for basically all computing devices (PCs, Smartphones, Tablets, etc.). I remember when I'd upgrade my PC every six months or so- and you'd actually get a noticeable upgrade doing that. Today, even a gaming PC will play the latest AAA titles for 5+ years. Computing continues to get better, but the differences are no longer so obvious to the end user.
I used to be on a 2-year upgrade cycle with the iPhone, but I have switched to 3 years. The limiting factor tends to be mo
Why have I upgraded? (Score:2)
Past reasons to upgrade:
Unusable battery life.
Manufacturer bricked device.
Phone company bricked device.
New functionality that was genuinely useful. This doesn't happen very often these days.
...laura
Lack of Imagination (Score:2)
Remember when articles had editors? (Score:2)
"teleological phone-design strategy"
Is there ANY other design strategy? Can you design any electronic device in a way other than for the purpose that they serve?
"....Amazon's Kindle, which uses physical pixels in its display."
Ooh!
This author is trying really hard to make people think he knows something.
Re: (Score:2)
That paragraph is contrasting the "teleological" iPhone with other brands' grasping for meaningful innovation through e.g. folding screens. Apple's upcoming AI smartphone features also arguably violate this principle, by adding features just to get on the bandwagon - I'm sure that will be litigated in many many articles to come.
Foldy McFolder (Score:1)
Are we entering a fold-off where they keep upping each other until they re-invent a Brise fan? It's like the blade count contest on face razors. People realized 5 blades was too expensive and unhelpful, so 2 or 3 is the norm again.
Pro and Pro Max (Score:2)
Apple has taught us that you can have all the features of the next year's phone by paying a few dollars more for this year's phone.
And sometimes better cameras, more storage, and better battery life. The Pro and Pro Max models are the real flagships.
I haven't always chosen iPhones, but I've had a 5c, an 11 Pro Max, and a 15 Pro Max.
This cycle was weird. I heard very little about the 16, and mostly heard about the 17.