Apple Event - 7th September 2016

godtabh

water proofing would something I would be very interested in

IamMetaldave

The Space Black colour (if legit), Force Touch, internal upgrades (A10/Ram), Waterproofing. As I am on a 6 all of these are plenty of reasons for me to upgrade.

DubDJ

IamMetaldave wrote: »

The Space Black colour (if legit), Force Touch, internal upgrades (A10/Ram), Waterproofing. As I am on a 6 all of these are plenty of reasons for me to upgrade.

Most of these aren't things a normal user will notice or see any difference in. The usual speed increases are always expected. But compared to the 6s there isn't anything new that a user will notice and benefit from. There are probably a lot of changes but whether they're of actual use is another story.

New colours are nice but not something somebody will drop 750+ on, same with waterproofing. They are nice additions, but nothing that would encourage you to run out and buy a new phone for.

Anybody with an older phone than the 6 I could see upgrading, but even those on the typical two year cycle would think twice about this years iPhone.

murpho999

godtabh wrote: »

if the outside is the exact same as the iphone 6 i wont bother. I have the 6 plus. I think it would be hard to justify a change.

I actually don't get this.

So the most important thing for you as the outer look of a new model (which most cover in a case anyway), rather than new features and processing power?

godtabh

DubDJ wrote: »

Most of these aren't things a normal user will notice or see any difference in. The usual speed increases are always expected. But compared to the 6s there isn't anything new that a user will notice and benefit from. There are probably a lot of changes but whether they're of actual use is another story.

New colours are nice but not something somebody will drop 750+ on, same with waterproofing. They are nice additions, but nothing that would encourage you to run out and buy a new phone for.

Anybody with an older phone than the 6 I could see upgrading, but even those on the typical two year cycle would think twice about this years iPhone.

murpho999 wrote: »

I actually don't get this.

So the most important thing for you as the outer look of a new model (which most cover in a case anyway), rather than new features and processing power?

yes

davo2001

godtabh wrote: »

yes

Literally style over substance :rolleyes:

baby and crumble

For most standard users though, the small bump in specs expected this year won't be noticeable. So what if they want a nicer looking phone?

godtabh

davo2001 wrote: »

Literally style over substance :rolleyes:

How is it style over substance? The iPhone 6 is more than capable of doing what it does. The next iPhone will be the same. It will add some features I will use and ones no one will use but if its packaged the same way as the iPhone 6 what will be the draw?

murpho999

godtabh wrote: »

How is it style over substance? The iPhone 6 is more than capable of doing what it does. The next iPhone will be the same. It will add some features I will use and ones no one will use but if its packaged the same way as the iPhone 6 what will be the draw?

The new features, faster speeds and most importantly the better battery life.

The shape/look is secondary for me as they always look well and invariably it gets thrown into a cover.

Sad Professor

I might be wrong, but I reckon this may end up being one of the most well received iPhone releases among Apple users. Previous years have generally been hampered by excessive hype and expectations. But this year nobody is expecting much more than a 6se. It's a mistake to dismiss internal improvements. Nobody is going to scoff at better battery life or a better camera. The former is the biggest complaint about the iPhone and the latter is certainly its most used feature. Throw in twice the storage on the low end model and that's a significant saving for many users who don't need 64GB.

I'll also be very surprised and disappointed if wireless earphones are not included in the box. Generally speaking Apple don't abandon legacy technologies unless they have a replacement for it that allows them to paint the old technology as redundant. And as we've seen with mice and keyboards for the Mac, they have been keen to embrace wireless peripherals.

Anyway, I won't be upgrading my 6s either way. It's not even a year old. And I can't afford it.

murpho999

Do people want wireless headphones?

I lose enough of the corded ones, and I try to keep them connected to phone to prevent that. Wireless headphones just seem easier to lose.

IamMetaldave

Yeah, I think it'll be a nice change. I've been meaning to look into them for a while.

ucd.1985

maximum12 wrote: »

as the rumoured 7 is effectively the same phone body.

So you only upgrade when the phone looks different rather than what its capable of?

Sounds like you're only interested in upgrading when people can see you have the latest and greatest.

ucd.1985

mad muffin wrote: »

Looking like the 7 won't be either.

What are you basing this off?

Deadwards.com

Bluetooth headphones = not for use on flights (with most airlines). :eek:

baby and crumble

Deadwards.com wrote: »

Bluetooth headphones = not for use on flights (with most airlines). :eek:

That's the only real downside to them. I love mine, but I have bought over-ear ones that have optional wired functionality for planes and also when the battery runs out on long journeys (although mine last a full day in work with no problems at all).

seamus

murpho999 wrote: »

Do people want wireless headphones?

I lose enough of the corded ones, and I try to keep them connected to phone to prevent that. Wireless headphones just seem easier to lose.

Been using a bluetooth headset for 5/6 years now, definitely handy to not have a cable attached to the phone getting tugged on all the time. Especially running or cycling you can stick the device in any pocket or bag, no worrying about trying to route a cable to it.

Doylers

I have been using wireless in-ears every day now for a few months. There are still issues like if stuttering or if I hold the phone a certain way the audio will cut out. I must say I love how handy they are though, with no wires to be run up my shirt etc.

maximum12

Any wireless earbud recommendations ? What's the story with battery life ?

murpho999

maximum12 wrote: »

Any wireless earbud recommendations ? What's the story with battery life ?

Isn't it also an extra strain on the phone battery as well, which I find bad enough already.

DubDJ

All my audio is Bluetooth now. I've a speaker (Bose Soundlink mini 2), headphones (Jabra Move) and in-ears (Anker Soundbuds).

I'm happy enough with them all, but the Anker earbuds get roughly 5 hours battery and sound just ok. I just use them for running and cycling so I don't mind, they also only cost 20 pound.

Other than those the only other set I use are the Apple EarPods just because they were bundled in. So if they give me a lightning pair I'm fine with that.

Haven't noticed any major battery life effects either. 90% of the time I use Bluetooth audio now though.

Bluetooth has come a long way, especially since 4.0+. The range is mostly excellent too, and no hassle of wires. I very rarely charge them other than the in-ears.

Gumbo

maximum12 wrote: »

Any wireless earbud recommendations ? What's the story with battery life ?

I'm using Jabra Sport ones for nearly 2 years now.
There's many more, cheaper and more expensive.

Creamy Goodness

I'm more excited for this event than any other since the original iPhone.

Not because the phone is going to be groundbreaking (the market has matured), but I cannot wait to see how Apple tell their story. How will they stand up on stage and tell us why to buy this phone? (Apart from the usual speed bump/better camera/etc.) Why removing the headphone jack is good for us? It will go either one of two ways:

1. They paint a story of the amazing world of wireless everything, wifi, bluetooth, it's all rosey, and it helps with the water resistance.
2. They literally don't mention it at all, not one iota.

I'm leaning towards way two.

On the topic of the pre-packaged EarPods, these will be still wired and be a lightning connector, there'll be no adapter in the box. Shipping a converter in the box admits they are wrong. With the Macbook 12" does Apple ship the adapter in the box? Nope they charge you €89 for the pleasure, Apple will sell a 3.5mm to lightning adapter for €29.

I really hope Apple don't sell the story of bluetooth being the solution. Bluetooth is rubbish, It's slow and prone to disconnections and it's a known fact that the human body is a perfect shield for bluetooth signals. In January I bought a pair of Jaybird X2's they were €130 and sound worse than a pair of earphones you'd get if ryanair bundled earphones on their planes and bluetooth earphones are another device that give me battery anxiety, another thing I could do without. I'm hoping Bose come out with a lightning cable for my QC25 headphones.

What am I excited for? Excited for the bigger phone this time round, I was jumping to the Plus size even before the dual-camera rumours. I don't care about size anymore, I spend the majority of time on my phone the more screen, the better.

Dual cameras will be an amazing feature, the iPhone has always had a world class camera, there's a few different features they can implement with dual cameras it'll be interesting to see what they come up with here. I'm hoping this will be the biggest delight.

On the Apple Watch, I'm hoping for a massive speed increase, I want it to be the jump in comparison from iPhone 3G to iPhone 3G S. GPS will be useful, but in fairness I'd like a better speaker, it's amazing how bad it is for taking phone calls.

DubDJ

I think they will address dropping the headphone jack, I'd imagine they'll push the waterproofing and better audio quality through the lightning port as positives to outweigh the removal. I personally think if they just announced an increase in battery life people would forget all about it. Fast charging would be another welcomed feature. It really is a pain having to charge stuff so much. Battery life is the biggest thing holding tech back at the moment.

Oafley Jones

DubDJ wrote: »

I think they will address dropping the headphone jack, I'd imagine they'll push the waterproofing and better audio quality through the lightning port as positives to outweigh the removal. I personally think if they just announced an increase in battery life people would forget all about it. Fast charging would be another welcomed feature. It really is a pain having to charge stuff so much. Battery life is the biggest thing holding tech back at the moment.

The funny thing is that removal of the jack will probably result in worse audio for a lot of people. People by and large tend to use fairly cheap earphones. And if you think those are bad now just wait till you see what the cost of the extra components and integrated DAC will do to the quality in the lower end of the spectrum. Waterproofing is another red herring. I'd be amazed if Apple include an adapter let alone wireless buds. 29.99 adapters and 100 euro plus airpods are the future.

Sad Professor

If Jobs was still around I suspect Creamy Goodness would be right about them not mentioning the removal of the port. Jobs could sell ice to an eskimo and even he didn't waste time defending decisions like this. Even when the dropping of certain technologies was a few years premature, his attitude was always one of dismissal. It's old, it's gone, forget about it. He really only defended stuff when he had to, like the decision to drop Flash, which he knew could be damaging to the iPhone. But this is Cook so I expect he'll make a big deal out of the dropping of the port, pointing to how Apple is always the first to drop obsolete technologies, etc.

Either way, I don't think it matters how they address it. People will complain, their competitors will promptly drop the jack as well, and in a few years nobody will care.

Creamy Goodness

Sad Professor wrote: »

Either way, I don't think it matters how they address it. People will complain, their competitors will promptly drop the jack as well, and in a few years nobody will care.

Some have even done this based solely on rumours, that's if you count Motorola as a competitor :pac:

murpho999

Sad Professor wrote: »

If Jobs was still around I suspect Creamy Goodness would be right about them not mentioning the removal of the port. Jobs could sell ice to an eskimo and even he didn't waste time defending decisions like this. Even when the dropping of certain technologies was a few years premature, his attitude was always one of dismissal. It's old, it's gone, forget about it. He really only defended stuff when he had to, like the decision to drop Flash, which he knew could be damaging to the iPhone. But this is Cook so I expect he'll make a big deal out of the dropping of the port, pointing to how Apple is always the first to drop obsolete technologies, etc.

Either way, I don't think it matters how they address it. People will complain, their competitors will promptly drop the jack as well, and in a few years nobody will care.

I think this headphone issue is something different than what has gone before.

Dropping flash etc only had an impact on that device. Changing the charging port the same.

However, changing the headphone port means that the headphones that will ship with the phones can only be used with iPhone 7. Cannot be used with Apple Macs, iPads, other iPhones, other laptops, phones, MP3 players etc.

I think that impacts on too many people and devices and Apple will have to provide a solution for those.

IamMetaldave

Interesting angle here about the new tier of iCloud storage - 2TB. A possible 256GB of storage being offered?

http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/30/12720050/apple-icloud-storage-2tb-option-iphone-7-launch

Sad Professor

murpho999 wrote: »

I think this headphone issue is something different than what has gone before.

Dropping flash etc only had an impact on that device. Changing the charging port the same.

However, changing the headphone port means that the headphones that will ship with the phones can only be used with iPhone 7. Cannot be used with Apple Macs, iPads, other iPhones, other laptops, phones, MP3 players etc.

I think that impacts on too many people and devices and Apple will have to provide a solution for those.

This might be another argument for why the headphones should be Bluetooth, then people can use them with other devices out of the box. But even if they aren't this is far from being a deal breaker. People can just use regular earphones with their Macs, etc. And people wanting to use existing wired headphones with their iPhone can just get an adapter.

I used Flash as an example of an obsolete tech Apple dropped that Jobs felt obliged to defend in detail. Dropping the headphone jack is more comparable to the dropping of the floppy disk drive, DVD drive, Ethernet port, etc. All of which were extremely controversial at the time but were quickly forgotten about.