Why is AnandTech running damage control for Apple?

[Brian Klug]

Hey guys, I just wanted to stop in and comment that we're definitely not covering for or running any kind of damage control for Apple here. I can also guarantee that'll never happen. As others have pointed out we were first to numerically quantify the iPhone 4 antenna issue, but also were first to talk about the mitigation with the 4 CDMA and 4S.

In fact, I think if we didn't talk about lack of SVDO and SVLTE we'd be doing a huge disservice – it is a pretty common use case for CDMA subscribers. I should note that this was a pretty mainstream story yesterday, and NYT asked Anand and I for comment on the whole thing: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/iphone-5-calls-data/ so I thought it worth doing something longer and more technical about, just to explain why.

On a more personal level, I felt somewhat bad about not testing the Verizon model I saw in the demo room with a phone call to see if this worked at all, and wanted to follow up with this. I later placed a call on an AT&T model though, which as I noted drew some puzzled looks (imagine that, demoing a phone's actual phone functionality).

 

[Lyfer]

No one's forcing your browser to anandtech, go elsewhere.

 

[cl-scott]

No one's forcing your browser to anandtech, go elsewhere.

Just out of curiosity, how do you see this as any different from what you clearly think the OP is doing?

 

[ponyo]

Just out of curiosity, how do you see this as any different from what you clearly think the OP is doing?

 

[Ravynmagi]

I'm not buying an iPhone, but decided to read through the entire article just to see what this pro Apple media biased was about...

I didn't see it. The author of the article is reading some, no doubt very dry and long FCC documents, understanding it, and then explaining it to us in a way that makes sense. And did an excellent job. It looked like a great article.

 

[ThermalShark]

I'm going to leave the OP's post alone, and just say that as someone who spent about 2 years dealing with Apple on the business side of things... I wouldn't be AT ALL surprised if they are actually trying to manipulate stories being published.

Apple is fundamentally an anti-competitive, monopolistic, abusive, arrogant, and just downright nasty company. Apple thinks that they have divine providence or something to tell YOU how to run YOUR business, and when they snap their fingers, you are to be at the ready for whatever lapdog task they have for you. If you fail to do so quickly enough, or they're just bored, they will literally create some rule and then declare you in violation of that rule. They will tell you absolutely NOTHING about the rule, like where it is in the contract you have with Apple, or where you can find a written copy of the rule so you can bring yourself into compliance. It's their not so subtle way of telling you that you have displeased your Apple taskmasters.

I have no doubt they are using methods like this to try and "encourage" media outlets to publish only favorable articles. I can't say that every single article that is favorable towards Apple is a result of this policy, but I'd feel pretty secure in a wager that a great deal of them are.

As the saying goes: Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled discussion.

If what I've read is accurate, you and Anand are pretty tight, do you think Anand would be swayed by this kind of behavior from Apple or just run a story about how they attempted to intimidate him?

The only media outlet I'm aware of with problems with Apple is Gizmodo.

And to be brutally honest, your presence here, along with your custom title and job, concerns me significantly more than anything Apple is alleged to have done.

 

[Belegost]

I'm going to leave the OP's post alone, and just say that as someone who spent about 2 years dealing with Apple on the business side of things... I wouldn't be AT ALL surprised if they are actually trying to manipulate stories being published.

Apple is fundamentally an anti-competitive, monopolistic, abusive, arrogant, and just downright nasty company. Apple thinks that they have divine providence or something to tell YOU how to run YOUR business, and when they snap their fingers, you are to be at the ready for whatever lapdog task they have for you. If you fail to do so quickly enough, or they're just bored, they will literally create some rule and then declare you in violation of that rule. They will tell you absolutely NOTHING about the rule, like where it is in the contract you have with Apple, or where you can find a written copy of the rule so you can bring yourself into compliance. It's their not so subtle way of telling you that you have displeased your Apple taskmasters.

I have no doubt they are using methods like this to try and "encourage" media outlets to publish only favorable articles. I can't say that every single article that is favorable towards Apple is a result of this policy, but I'd feel pretty secure in a wager that a great deal of them are.

As the saying goes: Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled discussion.

QFT.

People worry about the abusive conditions Apple encourages in China. But no one seems to see the incredibly bad way they treat domestic suppliers.

Also, while Klug's analysis was overall good, it is lacking key information and from that arrives at an erroneous conclusion.

 

[pm]

QFT.

People worry about the abusive conditions Apple encourages in China. But no one seems to see the incredibly bad way they treat domestic suppliers.

Also, while Klug's analysis was overall good, it is lacking key information and from that arrives at an erroneous conclusion.

Could you elaborate on what key information is missing and why the conclusion is erroneous?

 

[pandemonium]

Huh? I thought the article was over-the-top technical, un-biased, and tactifully written. The title is even leading you to believe there's something missing with the iPhone 5, and Brian went through all of the steps explaining what's what and why.

I can certainly say I'm not a fan of Apple products, but I don't see how this was in any way siding with anyone other than the fans that read AT's reports, by being thorough and properly technical.

 

[I4AT]

Hasn't simultaneous voice/3g always been a limitation of the Sprint network? Considering their lacking LTE coverage this probably only affects a very small number of Sprint users, I can see it being a larger problem for Verizon users though.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

If Anandtech was that kind of site you'd already been banned and this thread deleted. Try and ask a similar question on any other tech sites forum and see how it goes. That's why I have kept coming to these forums and reading Anandtech reviews for as long as I have.

 

[soccerballtux]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6295/...ous-voice-and-lte-or-evdo-svlte-svdo-support-

In the last several years I have gotten the impression that AnandTech is becoming the media mouth for Apple.

AnandTech can write whatever it wants and I can choose to read or not read it - this is not in dispute.

The articles of late IMO read more like sales presentations for the piece being "reviewed" and now with this article, I feel like this is straight damage control for Apple.

Am I the only one who feels this way? Perhaps it's just my interpretation and I am way off base. I welcome clarification and discussion on this. I am certainly not the decider of what the article absolutely is or is not.

I don't have any idea what you're talking about. To me he's just talking about the tech behind iPhone 5. Considering it's the device that sells the most, released by the company with THE most cash in the bank, a company that could fund NASA entirely from its PROFITs, I find their hardware decisions worth investigating.

 

[soccerballtux]

Unlike all of the other articles which just parrot Apple PR, this presents actual information to the reader that is factually true. Heck, this article from last year is more appropriate than ever: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4925/why-no-lte-iphone-5-blame-28nm-maturity

yeah that's a really good point. Anandtech is the only source of actual hardware information these days.

 

[BrightCandle]

They do similar levels of reviews for the top Android phones as well. I think Anandtech is actually one of the best places to come for detailed mobile phone reviews now, which is a real testament to the amount of effort and apparent lack of bias that goes into each one.

 

[KentState]

The original article about the iPad pretty much finished with everyone saying it was nice for a few days and then become a paper weight in the corner.

 

[PricklyPete]

I find it funny how much people want to hate Apple and there products based on their recent popularity. Just get over it and channel your hate into your purchases instead of trying to convince everyone of your meaningless personal preferences. This endless attacking of Apple ends up making you look insecure.

 

[Minerva]

Talk 'n surf is a huge deal for me. I tether frequently and being able to surf and talk or just take calls makes all the difference in the world. I wonder how many die hard iphone fans will flock to AT&T now!

 

[zerocool84]

Brian Klug is a very technical guy. I like him. He's not here to defend Apple, but just provide facts. I appreciate the information he gets because it's a technical perspective, and that's what I want.

People rarely get into root causes nowadays.

That's the main thing I love about Anandtech articles and reviews, they get extremely technical which you can't get anywhere else.

 

[dagamer34]

That's the main thing I love about Anandtech articles and reviews, they get extremely technical which you can't get anywhere else.

There even more valuable than that. Their reviews are the only one's worth reading several years later because they are full of technical information that is still relevant as opposed to subjective analysis that quickly becomes irrelevant.

 

[AkumaX]

i thought the review was technically awesome.
it wasn't damage control, it just shows the limitations of the chipset.
also shows a hint of whether T-Mobile's Band 4 LTE will be supported.. probably going to be a software update or jailbroken thing (but the hardware is there!)
for CDMA, they could have easily added another antenna/chip if they wanted to, but would probably have to sacrifice battery life... see below

Hasn't simultaneous voice/3g always been a limitation of the Sprint network? Considering their lacking LTE coverage this probably only affects a very small number of Sprint users, I can see it being a larger problem for Verizon users though.

Sprint has two phones on the market that can do simultaneous data/voice over 3G - the Evo LTE and Galaxy S3. They implemented something called SVDO which is basically 2 EVDO chips 1x and Advanced. They both should also support SVLTE (data over LTE and use 3G EVDO for calls). I think their past phones leveraged data over WiMAX and voice over 3G... but who has WiMAX, even after 2 yrs of deployment

 

[Anonemous]

but who has WiMAX, even after 2 yrs of deployment

Virgin Mobile does with unlimited 4G for 35/mo

 

[midwestfisherman]

WTF is the OP talking about?

 

[BenSkywalker]

After reading the article, it is absolutely a damage control piece.

Apple could have included the functionality, but instead chose form- this is how they always operate. I don't see why AT needs to run an article apologizing for Apple, seriously makes them look rather foolish IMO. If Apple can choose between a great feature, and looking pretty, they will *always* side with looking pretty if a choice must be made. It seems that their supporters are not only OK with this, but demand it, so why the apologist spin?

 

[dagamer34]

After reading the article, it is absolutely a damage control piece.

Apple could have included the functionality, but instead chose form- this is how they always operate. I don't see why AT needs to run an article apologizing for Apple, seriously makes them look rather foolish IMO. If Apple can choose between a great feature, and looking pretty, they will *always* side with looking pretty if a choice must be made. It seems that their supporters are not only OK with this, but demand it, so why the apologist spin?

o__O

O__O

O__o

 

[AkumaX]

is the new article about the A6 SoC "damage control" too?

>_<

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6292/iphone-5-a6-not-a15-custom-core