Thoughts on the iPhone 4S
There was a time when tech used to get smaller and smaller, almost on a monthly basis. A decade ago, Samsung was leading the way with this in the mobile phone market with its iconic “washing machine” phones. As consumers began to demand more from their phones, they began to get bigger again, with Nokia releasing massive, heavy PDA phones, equipped with Internet access and email capability.
When Apple announced the iPhone 4S yesterday, I noticed a lot of comments about the lack of a larger screen. There has been a flurry of Android-powered devices come out of late sporting larger screens, but since when has Apple followed the crowd?
An iPhone with a larger screen makes little sense to me at the moment. If you look at the direction phones were going in ten years ago, smaller was better. Now it is about finding the perfect balance between form and function - something which Apple is a lot closer to doing than its competition. As consumers demand more multimedia, games and other features from their phones, screen size will invariably have to be upped, but I think the size of the iPhone’s screen is just about perfect, and I can’t much reason for apple to change it.
The Retina Display’s pixel density, the actual mobility of a mobile phone and the fact that developers build Apps to work with the iPhone’s screen size are just a few of the reasons I think it will stay around for now. That’s forgetting about the business end of it, and the fact that Apple will end up nailing down the price of its screens, thus improving profit.
I don’t want a bigger screen in my pocket, and those that want an iPhone with a larger screen should probably think about buying an iPad.
Unless…
Now, if Apple could make a device with roughly the same overall size, but with a five inch screen, it would be pretty cool to some. The fact we have the same form factor this time around follows the same pattern of the 3G/3GS, and it might be something Apple is looking to stick to. I suspect there was some issue with the 4S’ production, be it finalising Siri, or manufacturing issues which delayed the launch. It didn’t feel right that we got a phone with the same form factor as we had in mid-2010, over a year later and I personally smell a fish with the October launch date.
It would be a very “Apple thing” to do if they upped the screen size this time next year, or even earlier, to a five inch screen for the iPhone 5, but I don’t want to start speculating too early.
Apple is playing catchup in the mobile market, it always has been
Another gripe for many is that the iPhone is playing catch up in terms of hardware, and it’s amazing how many people forget that Apple has been playing catchup since it introduced the very first iPhone, which didn’t even have a 3G connection. Apple’s tech specs for its iPhone iterations have, throughout its history (minus the Retina Display), been pretty standard; there’s nothing truly amazing about the tech specs on the iPhone.
When the iPhone 4 was released, there was already phones on the market that had 10 mega-pixel cameras, but does that mean they take better photos? While other manufacturers throw in wonderful cameras, chip sets and even 3D capability, Apple has concentrated on getting the most out of what it has to work with, often with better results than its rivals. The 4S will have underwhelmed some, the instant drop in APPL stock went some way to prove this, but I very much doubt Tim Cook lost any sleep over it. I think I recall the same happening after the iPhone 4 was announced. Apple went gone on to sell millions of units and seeing its share price rocket again, to record levels.
The 4S is a compelling offering, and I will be investing in one, seeing as my current iPhone has been better days.
Many will accuse me of drinking the cool-aid, but the naysayers are out in force this time around, so I thought I would throw my hat into the ring.
What I will say, is that it’s nice that consumers push Apple to innovate just as much as its shareholders must. It is us, after all, that provoke innovation and changes. So keep complaining, folks.
