My iPhone Predictions 2011
2011-10-03 16:07:06
Based on everything I've read and seen, here are some predictions for the iPhone announcements at Apple tomorrow:
1. There will be a new iPhone, and it will be called "iPhone 5."
Why? They've been working on it for over a year; there's no way they'll come out with an "iPhone 4S" after all this time. Also, if they release iOS 5 but not iPhone 5, that will just confuse the heck out of regular people. You know, the people who go to the Apple store and buy iPhones.
2. iPhone 5 will look visually distinct from iPhone 4. I love the iPhone industrial design, and can't imagine how it could become more elegant, unique and iconic. But Apple will come up with something, and I have little doubt that my precious, beautiful iPhone 4 will seem a little dated and clunky by tomorrow afternoon.
3. iPhone 5 will have a number of better specs: faster CPU; more available storage; probably a better camera. Everybody I talk to hates how slow the iPhone camera is to initialize, and Apple is certainly aware of this annoyance. The biggest improvement to the camera that they will talk about will be 1-second startup.
4. They will have figured out radio and antennae stuff so there is one and only one model of iPhone (albeit in different storage capacities.) You'll be able to buy one phone and activate it on either AT&T or Verizon (or Sprint, eventually). In nerdy terms, this means the phone will support both CDMA and GSM phone networks. It will no longer be carrier locked, since there are no longer any exclusivity arrangements with carriers.
Why? While most consumers could care less about being able to switch carrier to carrier, it vastly simplifies the choices presented at the Apple store or on the Apple store web site. Right now (in the US, at least) you have 2 carriers, 2 colors and 2 sizes: eight possible phones to choose from. Apple (and anybody really clever about closing a sale) wants to reduce the number of choices. This will cut the choices to size and color only. And maybe they'll drop color out of it for a while: only black?
I can't wait to see what they come up with.
UPDATE:
1. WRONG.
2. WRONG.
3. CORRECT.
4. CORRECT.
I am still going to buy one, of course. The camera startup alone is worth it to me.