March 15, 2016 Apple media event: iPhone 5se and iPad Air 3?

[Eug]

http://9to5mac.com/2016/02/02/march-15-event-4-inch-phone-new-ipad-apple-watch/

4" iPhone? I might be interested, but 1 GB RAM iPhone? I'm not interested. (I currently use an iPhone 5s, and all this would add for me is a faster CPU - meh - and Apple Pay.)

iPad Air 3? I suspect this will be 2 GB RAM, despite some claims it will be 4 GB. Either way though, no big urge to upgrade, as we already have two iPad Air 2s. Bought one in 2014 at retail, and then one in 2015 for $100 off.

Apple Watch? I don't care, as I still have zero use for Apple Watch.

 

[Midwayman]

Ipad 3
A9x, but down clocked from the pro and probably a smaller gpu.
2Gb ram
3d touch
Pencil support
quad speakers
Led flash

More or less what I would have expected if it were released this fall. Just timed not to step on the toes of the IPP.

 

[Eug]

A9x, but down clocked from the pro and probably a smaller gpu.

That would be an A9.

 

[Midwayman]

That would be an A9.

Right, but I'm thinking somewhere in between. They'll call it a X because its an ipad. I would be surprised if they just put the iphone A9 in there. Possibly an upclocked version of it, but I'd expect a beefier gpu to keep up the power per pixel. Maybe the PVR gt7800? Or a custom 10 cluster version.

 

[Red Storm]

Any possibility the Air 3 will drop the headphone jack and go waterproof like the rumors say for the iPhone 7?

 

[Eug]

Highly doubt it, but you never know.

 

[amyklai]

If the 4" phone had 2GB RAM, I'd be interested. Have an iPod touch, love the form factor.

iPad - don't care because I have an Air 2 which I intend to keep for the next 2 or 3 years.

Apple Watch - don't care because I'm not interested in smart watches at all.

 

[Oyeve]

Ho-hum.....

 

[Commodus]

Ho-hum.....

To be fair, the iPhone 5se isn't really aimed at you anyway -- you have an LG V10, if I recall! You're the sort who goes straight to the high-end model. This is more for developing economies and those people who won't get any phone unless it's free on contract.

 

[Eug]

I might wish there were an iPhone 7e for people like us. Latest technology but in a smaller form factor.

That said, it seems various sites have been targeting 4.7" these days as the effective minimum desirable size for smartphones, so in my experience reading the mobile net on a 4" iPhone is becoming increasingly difficult. I say this because that there are some sites that choose defaults for font sizes on their mobile sites that make them tolerable to read on 4.7" screens but very difficult to read on 4" screens. What's worse though is that some of them are encoded in such a way that pinch zoom doesn't work at all on these sites. This is brain dead site design IMO but nonetheless this has now become an issue.

 

[TheStu]

I might wish there were an iPhone 7e for people like us. Latest technology but in a smaller form factor.

That said, it seems various sites have been targeting 4.7" these days as the effective minimum desirable size for smartphones, so in my experience reading the mobile net on a 4" iPhone is becoming increasingly difficult. I say this because that there are some sites that choose defaults for font sizes on their mobile sites that make them tolerable to read on 4.7" screens but very difficult to read on 4" screens. What's worse though is that some of them are encoded in such a way that pinch zoom doesn't work at all on these sites. This is brain dead site design IMO but nonetheless this has now become an issue.

I can't stand sites that don't allow pinch-to-zoom, AND only have a desktop formatted webpage.

Anyway, on topic, I'm super interested in going back to a 4" display, though I hate the size of the 6s less than I thought I would.

 

[Oyeve]

To be fair, the iPhone 5se isn't really aimed at you anyway -- you have an LG V10, if I recall! You're the sort who goes straight to the high-end model. This is more for developing economies and those people who won't get any phone unless it's free on contract.

Other than the lgv10 I also have 2 5s, an iphone 6 and several ipads. I think they should re-introduce a 4" form factor but in a high end capacity, not in a budget capacity. many users would love the innards of a 6s+ in a 4" model.

 

[Eug]

Some are now claiming March 18th availability of the new products:

http://9to5mac.com/2016/02/12/iphone-5se-ipad-air-3-march-18/

iPad Air 3 to get Pencil and Smart Keyboard support, with an A9 variant, better camera, and rear flash. So for me, it doesn't really offer much... unless it comes with 4 GB RAM, which I'm not convinced it will get. Pencil and/or Smart Keyboard support will be a big boost for some people though.

No mention of 4 GB RAM though, and no mention of 2 GB RAM for the iPhone 5se either.

So, at this point, I'm more interested in iOS 9.3 than anything else.

Since my iPhone 5s' battery is acting up, I may end up just getting the battery replaced and wait for the iPhone 7, or maybe I'll just try to tough it out until October with short battery life.

 

[Ns1]

I would actually be so down for a second revision apple watch.

 

[Printer Bandit]

ides of march

 

[Rakehellion]

It would be nice if they made the phone thinner too.

 

[chin311]

If the 5SE whatever the hell its going to be called had similar specs to the 6S (mainly the RAM) I would consider jumping ship back to a 4". I miss that size but I'm not going back to constant reloads of 1GB.

 

[pcslookout]

Will Anandtech cover the March 15th event ?

 

[Red Storm]

Will Anandtech cover the March 15th event ?

I don't see why not? They've been covering the last several ones.

 

[pcslookout]

I don't see why not? They've been covering the last several ones.

Ok thanks!

 

[slashbinslashbash]

IMO the 6S is just about the perfect size. Maybe just a *smidge* too big. There is a balance of usability in both directions. It is easier to read a larger screen, but harder to use with one hand. I could see a 4.5" screen being absolutely perfect. It is hard for me to go back to using the iPhone 5. It just feels too small.

 

[Eug]

You can look forward to iOS 9.3... and the removal of navigation support with Apple Pencil.

That's right, you can no longer use Pencil as a replacement for your finger. That functionality, which currently exists in iOS 9.2, has been completely removed for iOS 9.3.

I must say, if I had an iPad Pro, this would royally piss me off. And it would also remove any little desire for the iPad Air 3 I might have.

 

[Ns1]

You can look forward to iOS 9.3... and the removal of navigation support with Apple Pencil.

That's right, you can no longer use Pencil as a replacement for your finger. That functionality, which currently exists in iOS 9.2, has been completely removed for iOS 9.3.

I must say, if I had an iPad Pro, this would royally piss me off. And it would also remove any little desire for the iPad Air 3 I might have.

LOL TF?


caps

 

[Red Storm]

So... Apple deems it was a bug or something? Lol why would they remove it?

Stylus/Pens need to be able to act as finger, it's really dumb when they don't behave the same. It's my one gripe with the Surface Pen, it behaves differently than your finger when doing stuff like selecting text, long pressing to right click, etc.

 

[Midwayman]

So... Apple deems it was a bug or something? Lol why would they remove it?

Stylus/Pens need to be able to act as finger, it's really dumb when they don't behave the same. It's my one gripe with the Surface Pen, it behaves differently than your finger when doing stuff like selecting text, long pressing to right click, etc.

The issue is an old one. They don't want a stylus as input. It leads to small complicated interfaces that you *need* a stylus to navigate. They want it to retain a touch friendly ui. Bet there will be a jailbreak tweak for it. I think its a dumb idea, and it going to royally piss off a lot of users who now are required to switch grip all the time.