Are you disappointed that after sixteen months, Apple followed the iPhone 4 not with a radically redesigned iPhone 5, but a mere iPhone 4S?
You shouldn’t be. There’s a reason the iPhone 4S is just a slightly better iPhone 4, and it’s because Apple’s looking out for you.
That’s also the reason you should expect an iPhone 5S, iPhone 6S and iPhone 7S every two years, like clockwork.
Look, I think we all felt a tiny bit let down when Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S on October 4th. Forget the rumor cycle, which strongly implied that a proper iPhone 5 was coming… we’d waited almost a year and a half for a new iPhone, only to get the same model bumped up with an A5 processor and Siri voice control. The iPhone 4S felt anticlimactic after all of those months of rumors and anticipation.
But Apple knows what they are doing. In fact, despite our love of shiny new devices, it knows that you don’t really want a totally new and shiny iPhone every year. You want a radically redesigned iPhone every two years, right around the time your existing contract comes up for renewal.
Want to know one of the big reasons the iPhone and Apple always tops consumer satisfaction surveys? It’s because Apple’s not constantly making users feel like their devices are being made obsolete before their time. It’s because Apple makes sure no one ever feels left out.
Look at the numbers. Android smartphone owners are pissed at how quickly device makers are obsoleting their devices. People spend a lot of money on what they think is the newest and best phone, only to find that their smartphone is old hat a mere six months later.
That’s not a problem Apple or its customers have. By sticking with a yearly upgrade cycle and spreading out major updates every two years, you can be confident that no matter when you sign up for your iPhone, by the time your contract is up, your new iPhone will be of the very next generation.
Because Apple respects the two year upgrade cycle, if you picked up an iPhone at launch, you’ve been able to experience each major generation of iPhone for yourself: the iPhone, the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4S. If you started with the iPhone 3G, all you’ve missed are the 0.5 speed updates. No one gets left out.
So expect a radical new iPhone 5 around this time next year. It only makes sense. But after that, expect an iPhone 5S, and two years after that, an iPhone 6S. Apple’s established a pattern, and they want to make sure that every time they design a new iPhone, no one feels left out for long.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
257 responses to “Apple Didn’t Release An iPhone 5 This Year Because They Don’t Want Anyone To Feel Left Out [Opinion]”
“…only slightly better…” ?
Apple crammed in an entirely new CPU, doubled RAM, added iCloud and made the device stand-alone, gave you what is probably the only camera you’ll need from now on, and (oh yeah) finally opened the door to usable voice interaction.
And you’re disappointed because (let’s be honest) no one will be able to tell you’re using an iP4s instead of an iP4?
Talk about shallow (and incompetent.)
Honestly, I think Apple’s just b***s****ing, because customers who owned a 3GS would’ve felt extremely left out when the iPhone 4 was released. And to add insult to injury, their hopes of an even better, refreshed iPhone are crushed.
Good point.
Calm down Jerry, you meanie!
I never really thought about that, but when you put it in perspective and line it up with people’s jerky contracts, it makes sense. I can’t say I was UPSET over the lack of an iPhone 4 because I don’t have an iPhone – period (just the iTouch). FYI I have a Droid phone…I ordered the 4S for Sprint. My Droid was obsolete in a year when they turned the Evo into the Evo 3D less than a year after I got mine. Good article.
I’ve been saying the same thing all along!! And why can they make phones that last 2 years… iOS.
IPhone 4s is the fifth generation iPhone, so the next gen won’t be the iPhone 5, nor should the next generation iPhone be referred to that, it should be referred to as the iPhone 6.
This is exactly the reason I wasn’t disappointed about the 4S announcement. One of the worst feelings when you’re a fan and an early adopter is to feel obsolete because a new version is out months after you picked up your product. I’ve had my iPhone4 for a year and I still have two years left on my contract (yeah, we get screwed in Canada!). I would like to upgrade to a 4S but I’m not willing to re-start another 3year contract for it. I can wait another year for the iPhone5.
Well put. Original iPhone owners weren’t too happy that a year after the original iPhone, Apple released one with a new design, better performance, and 3G.
wouldn’t it be an iPhone 6? The second iPhone was the iPhone 3G, and the third was an iPhone 3GS, so the numbers should still make sense. The fourth iPhone was called an iPhone 4, so the sixth iPhone should be an iPhone 6, right?
That… actually makes sense!
Is this a non-story as much as I think it is?
Moral of the story: people shouldn’t pin so much faith on rumors, and then take offense when the rumors don’t pan out.
I totally agree with your statement that “no one will be able to tell you’re using an iP4s instead of an iP4.” Good stuff.
The RAM is 512. At least spam correct comments.
This makes huge sense.
I think its partly due to that, but also due to the fact that it is very hard to innovate every 12 months. Bearing in mind you have to secure parts etc in that timeframe too.
I have no doubt that Apple have been working on the iPhone 5 since the launch of the iPhone 4 and the 4S is just to enhance/allow the iPhone 4 to stay current in the mean time. Thoughts?
3 year contracts?! Yikes! I thought two years was bad :(
What a bullshit statement.
i have two contracts with att, every year I just upgrade the opposite phone so that it’s 2 years in between every upgrade.
Well we know smaller .28 qualcomm chips are due Q2 of next year. This would theoretically allow LTE to be less power hungry, better battery…blah blah blah. Anyways, if this chipset is due Q2…..how will they possibly have enough time to go through engineering and design verification stages. I doubt a handful of months is all it takes.
yeah, there’s usually an option to sign a two year contract but that rases the handset price by at least $100. There’s a reason Canadian providers are called “the Cartel”
This article is pure bullshit, do you get payed for this shit?
I actually agree with you. That makes a lot of sense to me.
I actually agree with you. That makes a lot of sense to me.
Not so… people were still buying 3Gs iPhones from Apple after the iPhone 4 was available. Did you not notice that the 3GS is stilling being offered along with the 4S??
Nah, I think this is wishful thinking. I think Apple kept the same case design for practical reasons. As the iphone sale approaches 50M handsets per year, you just cannot roll out another new phone every 12 months. Comes with a new case you need to get new material, new process, and train people do assemble the phone. Basically the first 6 month is just playing catch up to meet the demand. If you have a new design every year, then the next 6 month you need to basically wind down the production to prepare for the new generation, just as your starts to reach full prod capacity. There are only so many companies in the world can produce the phone for Apple and meet the standard. The work load at Foxconn is already so large that the workers jumped off the fxxking building, if you recollect. Plus it is not the same phone. The inside of the 4s is all new, but whats the point of giving it a slightly wedged casing anyway? Just to shut up those pundits, while really not adding any additional values? The overhead comes with that is just too large, and you will end up having a lot more cusotmers disappointed because you cannot find a place to buy the new phone. It just does not make economical sense.
And what they call it matters why?
Could also be that they postponed a “iPhone 5”, because of Steve’s illness. They’ll launch it next year to show the world they are still able to wow and follow the spirit of Jobs ( even though he’s already deeply involved in the next iPhone). People have very high expectations of Apple to succeed after loosing a legend, and they’ll do so with the 5
Believe whatever you want to believe. It’s all business and maintaining profit margins. Why spend the R&D on designing and setting up manufacturing for a completely new iPhone when you can leverage the old design, save tons of money doing it, and still sell just as many. Furthermore you cost-reduce the old design increasing profit margin. It has nothing to do with “looking out for you.” If I were Apple I’d do the same thing. The only reason the competition is iterating so fast is because they have to. They need to give you a reason to switch to Android.
I agree with everything said in this article. I am honestly glad that Apple did not come out with an entirely new iPhone. That means that when the new iPhone 5 comes out, I’ll be able to get one without having to pay almost $700 :)
does that mean you pay for 2 contracts simultaneously?
Most of the Canadian carriers are “getting with it” and realizing that people want to upgrade before 3 years now. I’m with Bell, signed a 3 year for a 3GS, and I’m allowed to upgrade in a few months if I sign a new contract and get the “new customer” price.
While consumer satisfaction may be discussed regarding product roll outs, I don’t think it holds a candle to PROFITABILITY! Lets think about this, Apple has been making the same phone the same way for well over a year, now they change the guts a little bit but get to keep the assembly process mostly the same. If they went to a whole new phone (form factor), the costs would be much higher to redesign the manufacturing process from tip to tails meaning that sweet 30-40% margin would come down greatly in the short term.
I’m a fan boy and love all things Apple but I think some decisions, like a new form factor every year, just don’t make financial sense for the company.
Not only that, AT&T offered an upgrade from 3GS to 4 by simply extending out your existing 2 year contract to 3 years total (1 year passed since 3GS, you refreshed your contract to 2 years, you get a 4).
Well depends on how you look at it.
As you put it the next phone would be the sixth model of the iPhone yea.
The way I look at it (and probably a lot of other people) the 4s is iPhone model 4.5, it’s a revision of the 4 and not a completely new. The obviosly didn’t have this system in place from the beginning but I think that’s what they’ll follow now.
Now I know what you might say, by that model wouldn’t the iPhone 4 be the third model (or second even as the 3g was also just a small hardware update)? Well yea, but they couldn’t call a new device the iPhone 3 when the already had a 3G and a 3Gs, it would have been confusing, just the same the first iPhone to have 4G won’t be called 4G it would be confusing (and they’ve abandoned that naming scheme).
did you see the preorder sales??? Talk about not making sense financially…
Why not just buy the front up front and then get a cheap “contract” that you aren’t bound to?
Not sure if that’s an option in Canada or the US of course but that’s what I’ve done.
Bought the iPhone 4 for about 600€ or something (the euro is a bit lower now than then) from my carrier and got a 10€/month contract, I’m not bound to anything and can cancel any time I want, I can also use these 10€ each month for calls, messaging or services such as a dataplan.
In the end this is over two years even cheaper than getting the phone for free with an expensive contract and I have the freedom to switch carrier if I’d want to.
What if… Apple never ment to release an iPhone 5 this fall ?
But wait a minute, the pattern which is described in this article, doesn’t match the reality. So far iPhone 4S is the fifth iPhone and next iPhone can’t be called iPhone 5, unless they change their pattern….
Let’s look at following numbers
1st phone of apple: iPhone Original
2nd phone of apple: iPhone 3G
3rd phone of apple: iPhone 3GS
4th phone of apple: iPhone 4
5th phone of apple: iPhone 4S
So if we follow this pattern next phones will be
6th phone of apple: iPhone 6
7th phone of apple: iPhone 6S
8th phone of apple: iPhone 89th phone of apple: iPhone 8S
So we will only have Even numbers for versions, if nothing is changed.
Depends on how you look at it. In my mind (and probably many others and Apples) the 4s isnt the fifth generation/model iPhone but a revision of the iPhone 4 hence the name 4s.
So why would the iPhone 4 have been the iPhone 3 then you might ask? Well the already used 3 in the name of the second one and it’s revision and using it again for the next generation would cause confusion.
But the preorder sales would have been the same, 4S or 5.
But now Apple gets to keep more money, because they didn’t spent too much making it.
Forget about that “didn’t want to make people feel bad” philosophy. How about giving us the latest, stable technology in a modern package. The entire line up is aluminum cases and the glass has been used since the 3G model. I was hoping for the unibody type case and was disappointed by the same old. The least that Apple could done was make it a little thinner. Do you think that Apple feels bad when RIM or others cut their staff in order to make the numbers better to the shareholders?
I think the next one will be called 4G!
that option is available but not a lot of people are ready to put down that kind of cash for a phone. Also some of the contract packages available are more advantageous than having no contract.
I don’t think the pre-order sales would be so high had it not been for Steve Jobs passing the day after announcing the 4S.
Your argument is flawed
2nd phone of apple: iPhone 3G
There is no iphone 5. The next iphone that will release is gonna be iphone 6, because it is the 6th iphone model. iphone=iphone 1. iphone 3g=iphone 2. iphone3gs=iphone 3. iphone 4=iphone 4. iphone 4s=iphone 5.
SOOO when we adopters of the 4s see a new iphone 5 with a new form factor next year, wont we feel screwed? This article only makes sense from the perspective of being on your specific buying cycle.
Amen
iPhone 3G didn’t stand for “Third Generation of the iPhone” it was an indicator of the new ability it had to run on a 3G wireless network.
This is the straw that broke the camel’s back. I’m going to delete Cult of Mac from my bookmarks.
Didn’t want anyone to feel left out? Mother of God that is stupid. Apple didn’t redesign the iPhone because they knew they didn’t have to. The sales of the 3GS and 4 pre-4S unveiling was all the proof they needed. There simply was not a need to give us anything superior with respect to hardware. The pre-orders of the 4S tell you anything that you need to know.
Goodbye Cult of Mac.
That’s crap. I’m not on a contract and can upgrade my phone whenever I like. I was fully prepared to eBay my existing 4 if the 5 came out. In the UK at least going off contract and buying the phone outright is pretty much the same cost as the contract subsidy, particularly when taking the resale value into account. Personally I’ll be holding on for a 5. That’s an Apple sale lost IMHO.
Maaaaaaaan, that would really fudge up a lot of peoples lives!
(although seeing the photo for this story makes me miss my 1st gen iPhone. I’m sorry I sold you! It wasn’t your fault. I am weak and fickle)
There would be such a backlash that Apple would not recover from.
Hmmm. Seems that opinion columns are now labeled as bullshit. Are you this closed-minded in the real world too? Do you pummel someone for expressing their opinion?
This is a stupid comment. You are arguing that CultofMac is wrong to put an unnecessarily *positive* spin on the reasons behind the iPhone 4s while simultaneously offering your own extremely *negative* spin on the same issue as some kind of obvious truth. Neither one is likely to be entirely right, and there is no rational reason for believing one over the other.
YAWN
Cult od Mac’s dire desperation to create news articles gets worse and worse.
I’m off.
That’s why it’s labeled “opinion”.
Yes this always bothers the hell out me when people the next iPhone the iPhone 5.
The only iPhone that has ever been named after it’s “generation” is the iPhone 4. There is therefore only a 25% chance that any succeeding iPhone will have a number that corresponds to it’s “generation.”
The most likely number for the next iPhone based on past names and numbers is still “iPhone 5,” but it could be almost anything. The strongest pattern in the numbers so far is as John suggested, the two year pattern of putting an “s” after the previous year’s model name.
Yes. Only slightly better.
New CPU? Well, it’s faster, but it does the same thing as the old one.
Doubled RAM? Sorry. It’s still 512MB like the iPhone 4.
Added iCloud? That’s part of iOS 5. (I have the GM running on my iPhone 4.)
Stand-alone device? That’s also part of iOS 5.
Better camera? Maybe, but the iPhone 4 camera still takes damn good pictures. iOS 5 makes the camera start-up time a LOT better too.
Usable voice interaction? Maybe you haven’t used the tools from Google or Dragon that do a good job of the same type of functionality. Remember, the iPhone 4 still has a version of Siri that runs as a separate application (at least until they unceremoniously pull the plug on the 14th — bastards!).
I don’t have any problem continuing to use my iPhone 4. Just because the 4S is out and is faster doesn’t mean my phone immediately starts to suck. With iOS 5, it feels like a whole new (and much faster) phone.
Talking about being shallow and incompetent? Look in the mirror.
Very hard to innovate ?! Are you kidding ? Did you even watch the event ? Just the Siri demo was far more impressive than any new industrial design. A new form factor is not innovation – it’s the software stupid…
Lady and gents, get a grip on your self. The iPhone 4 is not a crappy phone and you can upgrade to iOS 5 so what’s the problem? If you try to keep up whit tech every year or even 6 month, your in deep … iOS 5 is compatible with iPhone 3GS and up, iPod touch 3rd gen and up and alls iPad. Find me a phone maker that does that( even Android)
Because the next iPhone is iPhone 4G (for 4G wireless network).
If Apple release iPhone 5 right now, the name iPhone 4G cannot be use to market iPhone with 4G capability.
If “we follow this pattern” the next iPhone will clearly be an iPhone 5, not an iPhone 6.
You would fail at those pattern detection problems in a standard IQ test it seems. Also, believe it or not, 3 and 9 are not even numbers either.
If you think about it that way, it should’ve been the iPhone, iPhone 1.1, iPhone 1.2, and the iPhone 4 should’ve been the iPhone 2 because the hardware stayed basically the same. The iPhone 4S should be called the iPhone 2.1, and whenever they make a major change, then the “iPhone 5” should really be the iPhone 3.
The “pattern” is for order …. there is no iPhone 2, but actually iPhone 2 is iphone 3G.
The next iPhone will be iPhone 6 because that will be the sixth iPhone and calling iPhone 5 to the sixth iPhone will not make sense. Of course if they decide to change the pattern so “S” suffixes will mean like “half” ( i.e 4, 4.5 ) then iPhone 5 is possible.
Also, there is no 3 or 9 in my examples, those are orders, wher they have even numbers as their model names. iPhone 3 is called iPhone 3GS, iPhone 9 will be called iPhone 8S.
Makes sense. Apple figures that the middle class and the masses are still what make most of the consumer population. And yes, Apple is looking for its customers. and they know that consumers, even the mid-class and the masses, can be impractical. With this strategy, ip4 owners would be likely turned off w/ no redesign, hence, they would keep their ip4 and wait for the ip5. As for the rich folks, it wouldn’t hurt them a bit to still go for the update to ip4s, and even with no redesign, they wouldn’t be disappointed with the ip4s at all.
Yes, thank you! I couldn’t find a way to explain that without being complicated! (read my comment and the thread of even more confusing comments that came after)
No offence, and I don’t want to argue really, but you don’t make much sense here. “The pattern is for order”?? What?!?
If the pattern is 3G, 3Gs, 4, 4s, then the next number is far more likely to be 5 than 6.
Also, you said all the version numbers are even, but you include 3. 3 is not an even number.
Yea me too
I meant Order of generation. 3G is the second, 3Gs is the third, iPhone 4 is 4th, 4S is 5th, next is 6th, which can be just iPhone 6.
3 is the generation, not model name. I meant even for all model names in the future.
I don’t wanna argue, if you still don’t get what I mean, just ignore :)
Sorry John, everybody WASN’T disappointed by the iPhone 4S, and it is not just a “slightly better iPhone 4”. Twice the processing power isn’t slightly anything! And Siri is a miraculous AI system, not just a programmable voice command system like Android has. Mike Elgan’s recent article eloquently describes Siri, its background and it’s coming impact on the world. Apple is again leading the way towards a whole different paradigm of being able to actually talk with our computers and have them intelligently offer up solutions and do things for us–and who better to lead the program than the guy who formerly was the head of the US military AI development team. The world will change significantly and monumentally because of Siri, and this is just the start. Within 5 years it will be hard to remember not having a personal digital assistant who will remind you of and set appointments, and be your gofer for almost everything. Up the line, Siri will morph into the classic “talking house” meme that science fiction has been predicting for years, that will allow you to tell the house to set a particular temperature, turn lights, music and the TV on and off, make your coffee and even turn on the sprinkler.
I have this option as well but I have a business account with 8 accounts for employees. I always have an upgrade available. If an employee wants to complain because they have a free iPhone 4 instead of a 4S.
Then I’ll give them the address for the Apple Store or ATT store to get their own contract. $600+/mo for phone bills = yes I’m getting a new phone.
I like when moron jump ship from the site….see your Ric the Dic
who cares about the UK?
I was at an AT&T store and they were selling the older iPhones like hotcakes. People who did not have the iPhone were getting the 3GS and iPhone 4 as if there was no new iPhone in the pipeline. I agree with you. Even with the upgrades, the older iPhones are still very very good and there are a lot of people who will get those and get an instant upgrade.
My first iPhone was the 3G and I skipped 3GS and got the 4. Now I plan on skipping 4S and getting the 5 when it comes out. The upgrades to 4S are nice but I am very happy with my 4 and see really no reason to get rid of it.
My old 3G has been used to replace my mom’s old Motorola razor, (no data) and she loves it.
Oh please! Yet another “Apple is doomed” statement. And you’ve seen how true this has been every time in the past. Apple has more cash reserves than the US government. They top customer and tech support satisfaction lists all over the world and are admired and copied internationally. The general public loves Apple products as evidenced by sales–and they simply don’t make stupid mistakes. They’ve been setting the trends that the phone, music, laptop and tablet industries have been frantically trying to catch up to for years.
Chill baby chill, it is all good. :-)
I think it will be called iPhone Numbers don’t matter. Along with a statement saying if you only care which numbers follows the name iPhone, get a life and move on.
“Look, I think we all felt a tiny bit let down when Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S on October 4th. Forget the rumor cycle, which strongly implied that a proper iPhone 5 was coming… we’d waited almost a year and a half for a new iPhone, only to get the same model bumped up with an A5 processor and Siri voice control. The iPhone 4S felt anticlimactic after all of those months of rumors and anticipation.”
According to John Brownlee at Cult of Mac, you had to be high or stupid to expect an iPhone 5 (http://www.cultofmac.com/12060…. You should read his stuff.
1. it will be the iphone 6!
2. even though I don’t agree with it, lots of people DO think that apple releases a new obsoleting product all the time.
3. more like 3 weeks for the android users!
OK, the other reply didn’t make sense. If you think about it that way, the iPhone 2G, 3G, and 3GS should be the iPhone, iPhone 1.1, and 1.2 because the hardware stayed basically the same in those 3 models. However, because there was a big hardware breakthrough in the iPhone 4, that should be the iPhone 2, and the iPhone 4S should be more like the iPhone 2.2. Therefore, if there is a major change in the next iPhone, it would be called the iPhone 3. If you use that rule.
But I get the iPhone 5 idea too. It would make more sense to have an iPhone 4, a 4S and a 5 than a 4, a 4S and a 6. Right?
Apple is playing this game fair, they give the hardware and appeal to the eye first, then they update the software after a year to make Santa look bad… The G and the S may interchange as we can see but both are here to stay (3G, 3GS, 4, 4S, 4GS?)… We can still buy iPhone 4 and update it to iOS 5, or buy(!) a 3GS, no one is left out…
Apple isn’t in the business of changing things every now and then to capture some attention, they do that only internally until they reach a conclusion and the design of iPhone and iOS is the conclusion… Apple is here to create habits which will last for generations and monetize them… Like the constant size of the keyboard in Macs… So iPhone is the hamburger of all phones, we will be telling memories about our first iPhone while our grandkids get theirs for the first time. Of course their iPhone in the future will be able redirect its speakers bass pressure to lift itself a millimeter of the table and hover slowly but surely to its owner who is at the other end of the table. :-D
Apple leaked iPhone 5 because they wanted to keep the hopes (of consumers and of investors) alive and this iOS 5 logo dropped in water even renders it more exciting… Waterproof iOS devices to come? With barometer sensor?
Siri is not voice control, it is something different, something that learns your voice, the words you use, the sentences you build, the date and timing of your question, duration of it, combines it with your location…
Give it enough computational power and it can understand your mood…
“-Siri, postpone tomorrows meeting to next week.”
“+Tomorrows meeting is postponed to next week the same day and time. You sound sad. You have never postponed such an important meeting. What’s wrong? C’mon!? You can tell me… I won’t tell anyone…?” :-)
It answers your questions and realizes your requests for now, someday it will answer ONLY to your voice to provide security too… It is going to be way more integrated than we can ever dream of… The security of Blackberry will look like piece-of-cake when compared to iPhone… Just wait until Apple makes its own internal security technologies mainstream…
I guess I am one of the odd ones because I was not disappointed with what Apple released.
Siri was cool yes, but similar features have been around on Android for 6 months. Siri takes it to the next level, granted, but I dont think this was the update that it was hyped up to be.
There is only so much you can do to change a smartphone every year. Two years ago (the dev cycle of the iphone 5 imo) we had the 3GS. A small by comparison update to the phone but the year after we had the iPhone 4. Every 2 years is when we seem to get the monumental update that we all seem to hope for EVERY year.
well… i have this rant about htc. but i am not that concerned on the hw side that much.
see, these oem guys put some stupid skin ontop of android, meaning they cant just release it right away even if google does. they have to update their skin first. example. my htc desire z got updated just recently, but gbread has been there for 9+ months. newer models got updated first. since there are about bazillion of htc phone models that a they are more than a baboon’s body hair, i doubt my dz will get the next os update. but 3gs will get ios5, just like 4s.
and google phones are even better! either only available in us, or deployment worldwide is soooo delayed.
hence i am considering 4s.
plus the fact that the guys at the telco where my inlaw’s iphone 4 came from didn’t give me a hard time when i requested for them to fix the home button. what do you know, they replaced the whole thing!
Do you even know why they called it an iPhone 3G to begin with? It’s because they introduced 3G technology into the second generation iPhone. The 3GS was an upgraded phone to that technology. The 3 in the name had nothing to do with the generation number, but merely a reflection of the technology that it had. The iPhone 4 is the 4th generation in the lineup. It wouldn’t make much sense to call the next generation of iPhone the iPhone 5 because it is the 6th in the generation. Unless they managed to introduce 5G into the world (EXTREME HIGHLY UNLIKELY), then I don’t believe you’ll see a 5 anywhere in the name of the next generation of iPhone.
i must add that for my case, staying with htc will definitely make me a “sheep”. they dont provide good support in terms of update, and they take eons to repair my phone (not replaced like apple does), and they provide a brick for a temporary replacement phone.
i cannot find a reason to stay in android, as motorola is just as worse, lg is the worst, and samsung is no better. staying will be the dumbest thing i could ever do, after all the crap these guys give.
you can keep being a sheep, an android sheep. i will not stay in this platform, will only come back when finally google bans the skins, thus making all phones google phones. these oems just stole my money. htc support – crap, moto support – crap, lg, sone ericsson, samsung – more horse crap.
i’m an apple fanboy! i was saying that there’s a new “best” android phone every 3 weeks and it sucks for the android users!
Wow, you sure have nothing better to do than shit on other peoples comments, huh, AaronD12. TROLL
Apple is just following its normal cylce…no disappointment here!
well if you truly thought this why not go ahead and dismiss all the iPhone 5 rumors? seems like now everyone acts like they knew? like all the dummies that though apple would actually put out a cheap iPhone. whatever
This is real crap! R u serious? Talk about having your cake and eating it too. You write about apple always being on the edge, coming out with new and better products than it’s competitors. But when apple releases a shite upgrade, you claim they are throttling their innovations to make us feel better? And then to go further and say that competitors are alienating their base because they are innovating at a faster clip than apple Puhhlease! This makes ZERO sense.
Lol. Talk about blind faith. The public hasn’t even seen or used Siri yet and you are trumpeting it as a miracle. Seriously, I you’ve drunk too much of kook-aid…
Makes sense…
No reason to change it every single year.
Makes sense. Now if only the whole tech rollercoaster would slow down…
Apple followers can be sheep, too.
Agree, makes no sense! Let’s be honest. I love apple products, but let’s call a spade a spade. If you’re buying this then you’ve stopped thinking for yourself.
Most of this is pretty accurate. I wont buy an Android device for many reasons. The main one being that it will be obsolete in less than 3 months. Why would I want the Galaxy SII when the Galaxy SIII will be here for the holidays. I can deal with a year until my products successor is announced.
And lets be honest Apple didnt release the iphone 5 because they dont have to. Why skip the 4S when you can sell 1mm of them within 24 hours.
I have seen Steve Jobs’ 4 year plan and it looks like this.
Current revision: iPhone 4S
Next: iPhone5
Then: iPhone5S,
Then: iPhone6 (iPhone HD?),
Finally: iPhone6S, etc. etc. etc.
Apple made a huge leap this release by getting all 3 carriers on the same timeframe. Thats why we waited 16 months, so that ATT and Verizon could sync release dates. Now Apple can get back to the annual product release cycle they prefer.
This will be my first iPhone. I like the current iPhone design so also not disappointed.
An Apple sale lost? Somebody else was right there to take your place, and you’re a future Apple buyer so it’s not really a sale lost anyway.
It’s a bit true – not having all possible products available at once almost makes sense. But the fact that the state of phone technology is such that we no longer notice it. When it’s imperfect then we notice. It’s a phone and the current best offering from Apple – in one sense it does have everything you could want from a phone (except 3D – a gimmick anyway), and it will exist in its own class until the 5, regardless of what other companies produce.
In short you have to compare it not with the last iteration, but what was available 5 years ago (i.e. not an iPhone at all, and certainly not in this class)
That’s my point exactly. You can’t be writing that apple is putting out the most sophisticated and innovative products and when they clearly don’t (other phones, including what’s expected on the nexus prime are likely to have more advanced features) retrench and claim they are doing it so they don’t hurt our feelings or as you said “they don’t have to” which is worse b/c your intimating that apple is squeezing us for our dollar. It’s a bit of a cop-out. Pick a side or at least be honest with yourself.
Anyone who was expecting an ‘iPhone 5’ this year was an absolute fool. The 4S is exactly what I expected. Better even. The difference between the 4 and the 4S is far wider than the difference between the 3G and the 3GS. I only wish I was eligible for an upgrade. Looks like an iPhone 5 for me… next year?
I half agree with you. Lets face it technology is taking bigger leaps now compared to back then. Sure not much really happened between the 3G and 3GS but look at the state of things now. Android will freaking go Quad core in the spring and all their high end phones already use 1G of RAM. The only good thing about iPhones is that you know your phone will be obsolete in a year instead of 3 mos. If Apple keeps pace with Android Hardware and not goes through the incrimental steps then they won’t get left behind. Look what happened to Blackberry with their minor expensively updated phones. Good thing Apples App Store ecosystem is x100 better that Androids offerings but only time will tell.
That’s why I love Apple.
wow. I said all of this before Brownlee, and u just kept pumping out articles on why the Iphone5 was on its way. lol
apple… ALWAYS.
That is happening to me too. I own a 4 and although Siri looks really good, the price is just crazy to buy with no contract.
let’s wait for the iPhone 5, then.
I am FAR from the person who says Apple is doomed, especially for such a mistake. Don’t put words in my mouth.
However, my point was that no one would trust when new Apple products came out. Early adopters would be fewer and fewer and the Osbourne effect might start occurring if Apple did this too often.
History repeats itself. You could learn a little, Len, when you research the topic you’re speaking on.
I’m being a troll by stating facts? Who’s the troll now, “AaronD12isaTROLL”? Lame.
Honestly I was more excited about the whole new ios 5 coming out than the anticipated iphone 5. I guess for those who have been using jailbroken phones it’s no biggie, but for those of us who haven’t like myself, the new ios is a huge deal.
i like this
Hue??? get a grip, what is good about iphone 4S seriously shitty siri? Samsung surpassed smart phone sale over iPhones globally, can apple invented anything but coping and refining desingns? Dare to match up GSII or some of HTC, LG and Moto’s.Tell me what did they invent but if you don’t know their history well don’t jump up here or stay with your iPhone 4 or S, who cares iphone4s? teens and ignorant smart phone users, Seriously you fan boys!
is the worst excuse ever from a hurt fanboy. Really? Do you honestly believe that Apple or any other technology company chooses to release a product inferior to its competition only not to hurt the feelings on the customers? Are you serious? Why don’t you donate your property to charities not to hurt the feelings of poor people?
Totally!
Apple didnt bring out the iphone 5 because it did not need to do it. They are selling every iphone 4 they have the capacity to make. They really are not competing with andriod or anyone else. they are competing with themselves. They needed a new model to sell at a slightly higher dollar amount to offer to new and existing customers and then save the world changer for next year when innovation by competitors are starting to dig into their ability to sell un-discounted phones.
Apple can’t come out with a new iPhone design every yr. They need at least 2 years r&d for that. That’s why they always do an incremental update. Many tech companies do this even car companies. They will add a few bells and whistles every year while they are working on a new design for the yr after. It was obvious to anyone who understand the business model & Apple’s history. People foolishly brought into the rumors but all you had to do was look at their other products. The Air, MBP, iMac etc.. They are all given incremental updates then after couple years a new design. It also makes sense in that people with 3gs are ending their contracts & can get the new 4s and people with 4 (like me) contract will end by the time iPhone 5 comes out. Apple executives know what they are doing so people stop whining about iPhone 5 already.
New CPU – twice as fast!
New GPU – up to seven times faster!
iCloud – true point
Standalone device – true point
Better camera – do you understand what he means by the only camera you’ll ever need? As in, another device you don’t need to carry around!
Siri – If you mistook this for a clone of Google or Dragon’s tools, then you – I am sorry to have to say this, but it’s true – are an idiot or a troll. Also, the Siri app is nowhere near as advanced as the new one, and keeping it up will mean they have to keep their servers running, since the old phones aren’t powerful enough. That is a privilege, not a right, don’t get pissed that they pulled the app.
If you expected another -scope, -meter, -whatever, then I’m sorry you are disappointed, but that doesn’t make it a minor upgrade.
Dude, calm down fanboy.
hurt fanboy? Why are you on an Apple ‘fanboy’ website? This is good marketing by Apple.
So I take two things from this concept. 1. Skip the 1.0 version of major updates and wait for the one with the S, so Id get the most powerful version of that design. 2. I’ll be expecting an iPad 2S next year rather than a 3.
I wish it was the iPhone 5 but im not due for an upgrade till next December… I am not at all impressed with the iPhone 4S and if it was time to upgrade I wouldn’t even bother it’s not worth the money spent on it honestly.
Faster Processor big whoop
8MP meh I have a 12MP Camera
Siri just another way to make you look like a nut talking to your phone lol
Not worth it at all… I’ll wait for the iPhone 5
Thank you fuxl, thats exactly my point.
and what about evryone abroad COM itself says apple makes big bucks abroad so what about non-americans where they don’t want to tape you to your phone chew you up and spit you out like a sour fruit?
there is no reason for apple to take a year and a half for the 4s. and its a stupid arguement to say that its good to release devices with small upgrades, apple shouldnt inhibit their products so people dont feel bad
This is very nicely reviewed and after the successful launch of the apple i phone 4s i am waiting too much desperately for the apple’s i phone 5, 4s has many nice features in it a better camera which really tells us that what is meant by High Quality photos or High definition pictures, & the application Siri is the best application i have ever seen in my whole life, i wonder what will be i phone 5 is containing for us?
Buy Mobile phones
i do not like that idea who cares if the andriod company or watever r gettin pissed off i think u guys should release the iphone 5 and 5s my b-day iz comin up and i waz hopin to get the new iphone and no one iz left out im so mad rite now im goin to be 10 years olds and all i want is a new iphone
Why should the next iPhone be called ‘iPhone 5’ if ‘iPhone 4’ was the fourth generation? The next one should be ‘iPhone 6’.
I totally agree with what apple is doing
Please want phone5
Will 2012