Will Apple launch iPhone 5s in this year?

[Niclasmai]

[FONT=&quot]Rumors said that Apple will launch iPhone 5s in Aug.. Guys, let’s start a discussion whether Apple will launch iPhone 5s this year and what iPhone 5s is going to be?[/FONT]

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I'm hoping. The contract on my 4 is up in September and I want to score a 5 at the $100 price point instead of $200.

If they stick to formula, it'll probably just be a 5 with an upgraded SoC. Which would be fine by me.

They just changed the form factor last year, and Phablets don't fit in the pockets of most skinny jeans. (#lolapplehipsters)

There's some rumor site discussion of the types of wireless radios - apparently the current 5 doesn't work with a couple of the major providers in China, and that's a 700-million-subscriber problem that the 5S should probably address. (But none of that particularly matters to me. Heck, what limited traveling I do are generally s'mores and GORP-fuelled jaunts to places with no cell phone service at all. I don't even have a passport.)

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Is there any real question they will release an iPhone 5S this year? It seems obvious they will. Based on prior generations I expect a spec upgrade to the iPhone 5 design rather than something more radical.

 

[gevorg]

it will be 11.34% thinner, and some of the new iOS 7 features will come with planned obsolescence

 

[TheStu]

There will be a new flagship iPhone this year. Past that...

It will most likely retain the design of the existing iPhone 5. At most there will be minor tweaks, but I cannot imagine what those would be. It will be faster, last longer, and have a better camera. It will run iOS 7, which we can assume will mostly look like iOS 6, though I wouldn't mind seeing them rethink some of their paradigms and incorporate some features from the jailbreak community (Auxo is an awesome app switcher for example).

There will be those that will proclaim it to be the best phone ever made (and it will be awfully good). There will be those that will decry it as un-innovative, and will insist that the company is doomed due to the lack of Steve Jobs. Apple will sell a zillion of them, and continue to grow their small mountain of cash.

 

[TuxDave]

Maybe we should write down some odds on what we think it'll have.

It'll have an aluminum back (100%)
It'll run iOS 7 (95%)
iOS7 wil have a new exclusive program/app (100%)
It'll be bigger than the iPhone5 (10%)
They'll release TWO iPhone devices (5%)
iOS will not have a grid of apps as its homepage (1%)

 

[Rakehellion]

The fiver was kind of a disappointment. There hasn't been much of an upgrade since the iPhone 4 in 2010.

I think five inch screens are stupid, but give me 1080p anyway. The only reason all iDevices have been the size they are now is so they could fit in iPod docks. Now that the Lightning connector killed that, we can probably expect to see a bigger iPhone in the future.
There were rumors of a "Super HD" camera, and there is a Nokia phone with a 41 megapixel cam already out there. And I'm probably the only one in the world who cares about OpenGL ES 3.0.

We're halfway through the 5's development cycle and they still haven't fixed the maps app. This would never have happened if Steve Jobs were alive! (Thanks, Obama.)

And USB 3.0.

 

[TheStu]

The fiver was kind of a disappointment. There hasn't been much of an upgrade since the iPhone 4 in 2010.

I think five inch screens are stupid, but give me 1080p anyway. The only reason all iDevices have been the size they are now is so they could fit in iPod docks. Now that the Lightning connector killed that, we can probably expect to see a bigger iPhone in the future.
There were rumors of a "Super HD" camera, and there is a Nokia phone with a 41 megapixel cam already out there. And I'm probably the only one in the world who cares about OpenGL ES 3.0.

We're halfway through the 5's development cycle and they still haven't fixed the maps app. This would never have happened if Steve Jobs were alive! (Thanks, Obama.)

And USB 3.0.

Why do you need 1080p? Just to say that you have 1080p? Seeing a lot of visible pixels on the iPhone lately, are ya?

I don't think that Apple was limiting the size of the device because of docks, if that was the case, they wouldn't have switched to lightning, ever. I mean it's possible that they were trying to make it roughly iPod sized initially, but I don't think that it was so that it would work with docks or anything like that.

The 41mp camera on the nokia phone is a bit misleading. It took images that were effectively ~8mp in size, but was using 5 sensor pixels for each image pixel (or maybe it was ~5mp and 8 sensor pixels). Not entirely unlike what HTC has done with the One.

 

[Rakehellion]

Why do you need 1080p? Just to say that you have 1080p? Seeing a lot of visible pixels on the iPhone lately, are ya?

If they jump to a 4.5" screen, it'll make a nice difference. 720p would be half assing it in that case.

The 41mp camera on the nokia phone is a bit misleading. It took images that were effectively ~8mp in size, but was using 5 sensor pixels for each image pixel (or maybe it was ~5mp and 8 sensor pixels). Not entirely unlike what HTC has done with the One.

The quality's kind of crappy, but it definitely isn't 8MP. http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/27/nokia-808-pureview-first-sample-shots-feast-your-eyes/

Every digital camera out there uses a fancy interpolating algorithm to pretend it has a certain number of pixels, but hopefully Apple can squeeze some extra quality out of it.

 

[Tegeril]

they still haven't fixed the maps app. This would never have happened if Steve Jobs were alive!

What exactly is the benchmark by which you consider the maps app to be fixed? The underlying data has been under consistent scrutiny and updates from Apple and problem areas have been continually found to be improved as time has gone on.

Do they need to issue an update that says "Maps are fixed!"?

//worksforme

 

[Rakehellion]

What exactly is the benchmark by which you consider the maps app to be fixed? The underlying data has been under consistent scrutiny and updates from Apple and problem areas have been continually found to be improved as time has gone on.

Do they need to issue an update that says "Maps are fixed!"?

//worksforme

Just last night I was in the car searching for a gas station and it showed me that the closest one was a few blocks away. But then I happened to look over and see that there was an Exxon about 50 feet to my left. Then I looked down at my phone and saw that it was actually on the map, but didn't show up in my search.

In iOS 5, it was trivial to switch between car, public transit, and foot for directions. Now you have to cancel the search and start over to change transit method. Bad, bad interface design. Also, it still doesn't show transit lines for subway stations. I filed a bug report for this in iOS 6 beta and it's still open.

"Fixed" would be at least as good as iOS 5.

 

[TheStu]

Just last night I was in the car searching for a gas station and it showed me that the closest one was a few blocks away. But then I happened to look over and see that there was an Exxon about 50 feet to my left. Then I looked down at my phone and saw that it was actually on the map, but didn't show up in my search.

In iOS 5, it was trivial to switch between car, public transit, and foot for directions. Now you have to cancel the search and start over to change transit method. Bad, bad interface design. Also, it still doesn't show transit lines for subway stations. I filed a bug report for this in iOS 6 beta and it's still open.

"Fixed" would be at least as good as iOS 5.

Ok, I understand your point, but that was a crummy example. The only thing that needs to be fixed in the scenario you laid out is you. There was a gas station 50 ft away and you hadn't noticed it yet?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Google Maps took three years to figure out that my house exists.

There's always going to be discrepancies.

 

[Rakehellion]

Ok, I understand your point, but that was a crummy example. The only thing that needs to be fixed in the scenario you laid out is you. There was a gas station 50 ft away and you hadn't noticed it yet?

Probably because I was looking at the road. And the other mapping problems are pretty relevant too.

 

[TheStu]

Google Maps took three years to figure out that my house exists.

There's always going to be discrepancies.

Google and Bing both think that the dead end of the street next to my apartment connects through to the next block over. Apple Maps gets it right.

The flipside of course is that at the other side of my street, Apple thinks that I can only turn right. I can, in fact, also turn left.

Probably because I was looking at the road. And the other mapping problems are pretty relevant too.

J'accuse! If you were actively driving and looking at the road, why were you using your phone!! Ha!

I mean whatever. If Apple Maps doesn't work for you, then don't use it. When I had a 4, I used Google Maps for audible turn by turn.

 

[Rakehellion]

J'accuse! If you were actively driving and looking at the road, why were you using your phone!! Ha!

I dunno, lol. :whiste: Listen, if it's a few feet away and I should be able to see it, then my computerized navigation device should certainly be able to find it.

I mean whatever. If Apple Maps doesn't work for you, then don't use it. When I had a 4, I used Google Maps for audible turn by turn.

I love the turn by turn, but the search is hell. If you type something in the search bar and hit enter without using autocomplete, the usual behavior is that it'll give you some location that's a hundred miles away. Frustrating as hell.

Google Maps is worse. Just bring back iOS 5.

 

[Tyranicus]

For the most part, I like Apple Maps. My only real complaint is that it doesn't automatically detect your location on launch. If you search for something without hitting the little button to detect your location, it will show you results near the last location it detected. I was talking to a friend about this, and he thinks it's a good thing that let's you control where you're searching, but I disagree. If I was 100 miles away two weeks ago and haven't used the maps app since, it should not assume I am still in that location.

 

[xian37]

if Apple will launch an iPhone5s this year, it would be bad for me. since we just bought an iPhone5 last month.

 

[JavaMomma]

I don't get all the hate for Apple maps, it's better then the old Google Maps.
New Google Maps can't find my house I put my (1.5 year old) postal code in for my home address and it thinks I am somewhere completely different.

New Apple Maps can figure out where I live and has turn by turn directions and that seems to work well the few times I've used it. I don't care about foot-traffic and transit, nobody walks in Canada, snowed today again

 

[dawks]

Apple Maps should technically be improving all the time, even if we don't see direct updates pushed out to the user. The Maps app is just an interface to a backend database, and for the most part its really the back end data that sucks. Adding transit is something that we'd need to see an app update for and I guess they just aren't ready for that.

In my opinion, a 5S update to the hardware just wont cut it this time. The iPhone needs a bigger screen model, and NFC to remain competitive. And iOS needs some big changes. With Forstall out and Ive in charge of software now, hopefully we'll see some 'innovations' even if they copy Android in some way.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Without a doubt Apple will release both an iPhone 5S and iOS 7 this year.

 

[Rakehellion]

In my opinion, a 5S update to the hardware just wont cut it this time. The iPhone needs a bigger screen model, and NFC to remain competitive. And iOS needs some big changes. With Forstall out and Ive in charge of software now, hopefully we'll see some 'innovations' even if they copy Android in some way.

I don't get NFC. So I can use it to trade playlists and get served ads. Why would I find this useful? Why not use the faster, longer range Wifi or one of the thousands of social apps out there?

 

[dagamer34]

I don't get NFC. So I can use it to trade playlists and get served ads. Why would I find this useful? Why not use the faster, longer range Wifi or one of the thousands of social apps out there?

Here's why NFC (done correctly) is useful: http://pocketnow.com/2013/01/02/nfc-use-cases

 

[pukemon]

I don't get NFC. So I can use it to trade playlists and get served ads. Why would I find this useful? Why not use the faster, longer range Wifi or one of the thousands of social apps out there?

I think the main "real" use for NFC is as a means for payment, which is how it's commonly used in S Korea and Japan. Integrating this with Passbook would make sense, but the infrastructure needs to be there in order for it to be useful.

 

[Syrome]

I believe Apple will launch the iPhone 5S around August/September for sure. Every year they come out with a newer upgraded iPhone so it makes perfect sense that they would. I mean there really isn't a reason not too.