Is the iPhone being left behind ?

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Just been into an O2 shop in London looking at the mobiles on offer. I've had an iPhone since they were first launched, up to the iPhone 4 which I've had now for nearly 3 years. Very disappointed with the same old look of the iPhone 5 etc so was going to wait to see if the iPhone 6 when ever it comes out will be a big improvement. I hope so as I was shown the new Sony mobile the O2 man had in his pocket, with it's 13 mgpx camera etc and It's such a better mobile than the latest Apple.He rated the iPhone way back at number 5 in the best phone category that's on the market, also owning an iPhone 5 which he now doesn't use any longer.
Do you think Apple is getting left behind ? We both agreed that they were.
 

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Do you think Apple is getting left behind ? We both agreed that they were.

Probably, but to me the better question is, "Do I really want to go where the others are going?"

- 13MP phone camera is a non-issue. I won't go into the entire discussion on how relatively unimportant MP spec is to photo quality. Especially since photography is not the main reaon I got my iPhone.

- What do the other phones do that your iPhone can't do, or doesn't do as well?

- How does the different interface play out in real life (assuming you actually want to use your device, rather than display it)?

- How does it fit into your overall eco-system? My wife and I have iPads and iPhones, and the ability to share purchased APPs (a significant investment to date) is a big plus.

Bottomline: Apple's competitiors aren't standing still (which is great, since it pushes Apple) but there is a lot more to the total equation than specs and features when it comes to purchasing a phone or any device for that matter. Best is what works best for me, and may not be best or even particularly good for you.

So again, is Apple being left behind . . . perhaps, but I am content for the nonce until I see the competition go someplace I really want to go. :)
 
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Specs don't mean squat unless the phone has the ability to use them effectively and efficiently. I'm not saying iPhone 5 is the best in the world, but it isn't wise to compare electronics in general based solely on MP and GB and GHz, etc. etc. Real-world performance is what matters.
 

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- 13MP phone camera is a non-issue. I won't go into the entire discussion on how relatively unimportant MP spec is to photo quality. Especially since photography is not the main reaon I got my iPhone.
If HTC is right, megapixels mean squat. They just outfitted their new top of the line phone with a 4 MP camera.

- What do the other phones do that your iPhone can't do, or doesn't do as well?
This is the argument I make for every smartphone on the planet. On the whole, each phone shares 95% of the functionality found on every other phone, albeit done and implemented differently. An iPhone does what an Android/WP/BB 10 phone does.

- How does the different interface play out in real life (assuming you actually want to use your device, rather than display it)?
This I think is a crucial point. The differences in usability are what separates devices today and whether or not the iPhone does it better is a subjective call. Some think it is leagues ahead of the competition in terms of usability, others don't. Neither side is right or wrong.

- How does it fit into your overall eco-system? My wife and I have iPads and iPhones, and the ability to share purchased APPs (a significant investment to date) is a big plus.
I'm not sure ecosystem is a huge issue when comparing Android or iOS (it does however when you bring WP and BBOS into the picture) but integration into a non-iOS ecosystem is an important choice. Although I don't think iOS devices integrate any better than, lets say, an Android device (in many respects) into the Apple ecosystem, certain devices do play better than others.

Bottomline: Apple's competitiors aren't standing still (which is great, since it pushes Apple) but there is a lot more to the total equation than specs and features when it comes to purchasing a phone or any device for that matter. Best is what works best for me, and may not be best or even particularly good for you.
Agreed. Specs mean nothing if they aren't used and used well. I can throw processor cores at a phone but if they aren't used with multi-core aware apps, they are relatively (operative word here) useless. And, like you said, even then, if it doesn't work well for you, it's the wrong platform for your needs. Just as Android is the wrong platform for many here, iOS is the wrong mobile platform for me. Does that mean I'm (or everyone else) wrong or right? Absolutely not.
 
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chas_m

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Very disappointed with the same old look of the iPhone 5 etc

So you think they should just change it for change's sake? Is that what you're saying?

In some superficial ways I think the iPhone 5 looks like an elongated iPhone 4, it's true -- TILL YOU PICK IT UP. Then you notice it weighs NOTHING and is HALF as thick. Suddenly it will seem very different, particularly if you have any appreciation for what it took to make all that happen.

Do you think Apple is getting left behind ? We both agreed that they were.

I don't agree at all. I think what you're experiencing there is that the competition is only just now (after several years) catching up to where you are with your iPhone 4 (which, let's remember, is nearly three years old!).

Apple's cycle is to try hard to get something right on the first go, then refine and refine and refine until they get to a point where it's either as polished as it will ever be (and is thus dropped) or they've done all they can in software and now it needs new hardware. This is why you only get one actual "all-new" model every two years or so instead of every two days as you do in the Android world, and yet ... somehow ... the iPhone doesn't seem to get out of date nearly so quickly. I guess having a device that "just works" can get boring in the same sense that a kernel panic is "exciting" but frankly I'll leave those forms of "innovation" to others.

I think you're also forgetting that hardware is only half the issue. From what I hear, iOS 7 (which is expected sometime this year) is set to be a big overhaul of the design, which in turn will make the hardware feel even newer. Android has IMO improved incrementally but is essentially as unchanged as many claim iOS is -- with the difference being that carriers and some manufacturers glom on their own junkware and skins, making different brands look somewhat different.

Then there is the issue of whether you'll ever be allowed to upgrade your OS version in Android ... for me, this is a showstopper flaw and what amounts to forced obsolescence. Maybe this isn't an issue and you're just mad for the latest shiny thing. It's an understandable impulse and perhaps Android would be a better fit for someone like you, since one of its genuine advantages over iOS is that it is endlessly customizable in appearance.

(My view on that frankly is that I wish I had that kind of time where I had nothing better to do than tweak my OS, but given the high functionality of the iPhone I'm prepared to deal with the "sameness" of its overall design. #firstworldproblems)

I have no doubt in my mind that some Android models have some features that are better or better implemented than the iPhone, particularly when we get towards the end of a cycle. But I think the stats tell the story: nobody has yet made a smartphone that beats the iPhone *hands down, no questions asked* and until that happens, it's probably smarter to stick with what's proven (and what one has invested in) rather than chase the shiny (and believe me, I'm weak for the shiny).

Macs, iOS devices dominating profits in low-margin industries | Electronista
 

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nobody has yet made a smartphone that beats the iPhone *hands down, no questions asked*
Nor has Apple made a smartphone that beats any other phone, to borrow your wording, hands down and no questions asked. Since I think my Nexus 4 is better than the iPhone is just about every way conceivable, consider a question asked.

As I mentioned earlier, "beating" another device is a purely subjective call. In light of that, perhaps you should qualify a statement like this with "for me...".
 
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I would say on an individual basis unless the phone lacks something you want that only the competition offers then yes but if it does what you need then no.
For me so far the iPhone 5 meets my needs and satisfies my wants.
 
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chas_m

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As I mentioned earlier, "beating" another device is a purely subjective call. In light of that, perhaps you should qualify a statement like this with "for me...".

Incorrect. This isn't about my preference at all; this is about reality.

The iPhone continues to be the single best-selling brand of smartphone by a significant margin. Android phones *in total* (400+ models from at least a dozen makers) outsell the three iPhone models, yes. But the iPhone way outsells the next best-selling phone, the Samsung Galaxy S III. That is not an opinion.
 

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Oh, so "beats" has everything to do with sales figures and nothing to do with usability and quality? No problem, I'll play that brand game. By that logic, GM makes the best car in the world, Lenovo beats everyone else at the computer game and no, Samsung is the largest brand (your word but I presume you meant model). And really, the back and forth between the Galaxy S line and the iPhone line is indicative of the problem in using sales figures as a metric for quantifying "beating."

Ford sells more cars than Ferrari. Does that mean that Ford builds a better car than Ferrari? Porsche? Lenovo sells more computers than Apple. Does that mean that Lenovo is better than Apple? In fact, should we look at how many Windows licenses were sold relative to OS X ones? I'm willing to bet that the sales figures there would suggest that the Windows brand easily beats the OS X brand many, many times over.

See the pattern here? The problem is simple - sales figures say absolutely nothing of "beating" the competition since "beating" them has nothing to do with volume. And, truly, if you want to play the brand game, the Android brand sells better than the iOS brand (again, your choice of wording, not mine). But really, if you want to stick with superficial arguments on the basis of sales figures, I won't argue that but such a concession says absolutely nothing about something "beating" something else.
 
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Dear Gentlemen, allow me to put in my two cents. I currently have the IPhone 3GS w/6.1.3. True iOS 6 is getting long in the tooth but it functions just perfectly. I would like something new and innovating but as long as it functions like it's should and for what it was designed for, I'm happy. I'm still thinking of getting the iPhone 5 or maybe wait until the next version comes out later this year. I think I'd get either one even if it's still running iOS6.
 
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Interesting reading. I guess saying another brand of mobile is better than an iPhone is like waving a red flag at a bull on here lol. Just as I thought most Apple users are quiet blinkered, I've been using Apple products since 1990, always got into loads of arguments with the Windows users at work. I can understand the people, like me, who have loads of Apple stuff like iPods, laptops etc who like just one set up for easy transfer of Apps etc, BUT... I was really surprised at how much better that Sony mobile was with the current iPhone 5. Go into a shop and check it out and see for yourself.

ps

@ Chas_m .......Quote.. It's an understandable impulse and perhaps Android would be a better fit for someone like you. End Quote

Like I said , I'm a very long time Apple user but the one thing that gets on my nerves is quiet a lot of Apple users can be quiet rude.
 
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I think a lot of people believe Apple should do the same thing the competition does spit a new phone out more than once a year which I find ironic because the majority of smartphones are 2yr contracts and a lot of whining takes place do to non-eligibility for early upgrade.
Sure somewhere some are eligible to upgrade as the months and weeks roll by but the masses are not.
 

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Interesting reading. I guess saying another brand of mobile is better than an iPhone is like waving a red flag at a bull on here lol.
Not necessarily. I'm more than comfortable saying that my Nexus 4 is a significantly better phone than the iPhone. I'll happily defend that position as well. However, I don't think it's the "best" phone (and I certainly recognize its faults including the lack of LTE which, although it doesn't bother me since I don't need blazing fast speeds to read the news, I do wonder why it isn't enabled since the hardware is there) since I realize that everyone has different needs or preferences. And this goes back to my earlier point - there is no one phone is categorically better than another. Cost, environment and needs all factor into a decision and since those factors are different for everyone, you get different preferences.

Like I said , I'm a very long time Apple user but the one thing that gets on my nerves is quiet a lot of Apple users can be quiet rude.
Quiet rude? Is that a new form of passive aggression? :p

I think a lot of people believe Apple should do the same thing the competition does spit a new phone out more than once a year which I find ironic because the majority of smartphones are 2yr contracts and a lot of whining takes place do to non-eligibility for early upgrade.
I'm not sure the argument around the iPhone looking old has to do with hardware. In terms of actual hardware under the hood, Apple's done a commendable job. The phone has plenty of memory and the processor is more than suitable for the job (as I've made clear in other threads, this race to cram as many processing cores into a phone is ridiculous). Rather, I think it is a software issue which doesn't factor into contracts at all (mostly since I realize that at some point, software cut offs also become an issue).
 

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