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Iphone Apple Hardware

Apple To Launch Three New iPhones This Year: Bloomberg (bloomberg.com) 96

Posted by msmash from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.
Apple is reportedly building three new iPhones, though the one with the most new features might not launch until a couple of months after the others. According to a report on Bloomberg, Apple is testing three new phones that it plans to launch this fall, including two with the same screen sizes as the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The third iPhone, which may be named to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone's launch, is said to pack a new design with a stainless steel frame and curved glass. It's said to feature an embedded fingerprint reader and use OLED panels from Samsung and may have a screen that takes up most of the front of the smartphone's face. From the article: Apple also tested a more ambitious prototype with the same slightly curved front and steel frame, but a glass back with more dramatic curves on the top and bottom like the original iPhone design from 2007, one of the people said.
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Apple To Launch Three New iPhones This Year: Bloomberg More

Apple To Launch Three New iPhones This Year: Bloomberg

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  • Finally (Score:3, Funny)

    by 110010001000 ( 697113 ) on Tuesday April 18, 2017 @02:04PM (#54258367) Homepage Journal
    Finally I get to throw away my iPhone 8. It was getting pretty dated.

  • The big question is, (Score:5, Funny)

    by kaka.mala.vachva ( 1164605 ) on Tuesday April 18, 2017 @02:08PM (#54258401)
    Will they be courageous and get rid of the charging cable? Wireless charging only! Waterproof! All existing charger cables obsoleted in one swoop, new charging stations needed by the bedside, in the office, in the car - money, money everywhere.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by skipkent ( 1510 )

      You're scolding it wrong.

      • Getting excited about a new smartphone? What is this 2007?!

        How about something new and innovative?
        • New and innovative? Okay, how about a super courageous move of introducing a square headphone jack -- with rounded corners. That way at least you have to fuss with it a little bit to get it plugged in.

          Think of the money from everyone buying new headphones, ear buds, and accessories. Or at the very least buying a square to round headphone jack adapter or dongle.

    • Will they be courageous and get rid of the charging cable? Wireless charging only!

      For a moment I thought you were describing something Apple might do. But then this "wireless charging" sentence happened. See... the Apple thing to do is get rid of the charging cable so when the battery dies, you just buy a new phone.

      Convenience, capability, and capacity are not Apple's design goals or else they'd have user-removable batteries and slots for memory expansion. Nope. Style and flair and status are their design goals.

    • Will they be courageous and get rid of the charging cable?

      Personally I'm hoping they get rid of the user.

      Think of all the benefits: No need to charge a device, no need for it to ring, no need for it to work quickly, or to have a microphone, speaker, or any external hole at all. No more security risks, no pesky people replacing the finger print readers and then bitching for support. I really don't see the downside.

  • OLED sounds awesome (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Jobs would be proud. His influence will be felt for decades to come. What a journey is has been.

    • No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.

      • IN the end, all this exposes is that people are stupid and need even thier music to be organized for them, in the process losing all manual control. The ipod was a move forward, but it came with a heavy cost. The only thing wrong with this statement is that it underestimates how stupid and lazy most people are.

  • so to celebrate the anniversary of smart phones people are going to buy some "special" $1000 phone that will be worthless in less than 5 years?

    the stupidity continues

    • so to celebrate the anniversary of smart phones people are going to buy some "special" $1000 phone that will be worthless in less than 5 years?

      How much did you spend on your computer?

      How much will it be worth in five years?

      Then factor in that most people now use phones more often than computers...

      HMM.....

    • Re:buy a crazy expensive product to celebrate? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by kamapuaa ( 555446 ) on Tuesday April 18, 2017 @02:49PM (#54258675) Homepage

      I am not poor. If I really used it for five years....$200/year for a phone that I might use throughout the day is a bargain.

      If you are old and just want it for calling your grandkids, yeah sure, get whatever's cheapest.

    • so to celebrate the anniversary of smart phones people are going to buy some "special" $1000 phone that will be worthless in less than 5 years?

      the stupidity continues

      In my market, the flagship devices (Galaxy/iPhone/Pixel etc) are about $1400 local dollars, and most people I know upgrade within 2 years as part of the their contract with the carrier. So this madness has already been normalised. Although I see some changes as the base tech becomes 'good enough', some people are starting to hold onto phones longer, and some are choosing mid ranges devices as replacements instead which are half the price (since a 2017 mid range is just as good as a 2015 flagship, which is a

  • Oh shit, "a refreshed user-interface" (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The article says, with emphasis added

    All the new iPhones will run iOS 11, a mobile operating system that will include a refreshed user-interface and will be announced in June at the company's annual conference for developers, according to a person familiar with the matter.

    This really, really, really scares me. These days, any time a UI is changed it often gets worse and worse. Just look at Windows 8. Just look at Firefox Australis. Just look at GNOME 3. Just look at MS Office. Just look at Android. Just loo

    • This really, really, really scares me. These days, any time a UI is changed it often gets worse and worse. Just look at Windows 8. Just look at Firefox Australis. Just look at GNOME 3. Just look at MS Office. Just look at Android. Just look at Slashdot Beta.

      You don't even have to look further than the last refreshed user interface from Apple! The flat, pastel look in IOS 7 and later is a big step back from the original classy UI.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by swb ( 14022 )

      I think you're mostly right, these days a "UI refresh" is more about creating a false sense of change than any serious functional improvement.

      Hopefully they've just overstated this and it's more about fonts or something.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by lucm ( 889690 )

      Why would you buy an iPhone in the first place? Nostalgia?

    • Problem is that people just have no idea about how to leave well enough alone. They think that people get bored looking at the same layout, and then apply changes that are majorly habit altering

      I myself have an iPhone 7, and since it has enough storage (128GB), I don't anticipate getting another one ever - until this phone dies. Only worry - that the iOS update would go all the way up to something like this. Once a sweet spot has been reached, leave it alone

    • hmm... I'm not sure I agree with you.

      Windows 8 was the best user interface I've ever seen. I absolutely loved it and it went downhill quickly as people like you complained they couldn't figure out how to use it and Microsoft responded. Then in Windows 10, they more or less killed all the best parts of Windows 8 and brought us back the start menu which frankly... just isn't as usable.

      Microsoft Office is bloody brilliant, their UI works absolutely fabulously and this is coming from someone who has been using

  • They continue to rake in profits. I was one of those who thought their pricey gadget regime wouldn't last this long. how wrong I was...

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Until there is a serious competitor that isn't Swiss cheese like Android, smart people will continue to buy iPhones regardless of the cost.

      I don't particularly like Apple, but nothing better has come along yet.

  • So for the 10th anniversary super-duper-special-expensive phone they're gonna use a screen made by their biggest rivals? Wha wha wha??

  • Courage (Score:5, Funny)

    by ilsaloving ( 1534307 ) on Tuesday April 18, 2017 @02:27PM (#54258525)

    For our latest model, we've done a great deal of market research and have learned that people don't actually use iPhones for anything. They just like walking around with the device in the hands, with the Apple logo clearly visible for strangers to see and thus validate the owners status as a hip and modern individual.

    As such, our newest model has no electronics or accessible ports of any kind. It is an ultra-thin slab of brushed aluminium with an attractive glass inlay. In the process, we've managed to increase battery life to infinite levels, so you never have to worry about your device failing on you just as your sitting down at your local starbucks to show off your superiority while you enjoy your vente soy triple-whip Kopi Luwak latte with cinnamon.

    --Apple

    (Before any apple fanatics have an aneurism, I have an iPhone myself. The above is just a joke. Relax. Breathe.)

  • Bah, Bring back the iphone3 (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Seriously the iphone3gs was the perfect iphone in the hand.

    If I could have one iphone it would be a iphone3gs with iphone 7 upgrades.

    • Seriously the iphone3gs was the perfect iphone in the hand.

      Yes, Donald; we're all very impressed that your hands are so big you can easily "palm" a golf ball...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by lucm ( 889690 )

        Seriously the iphone3gs was the perfect iphone in the hand.

        Yes, Donald; we're all very impressed that your hands are so big you can easily "palm" a golf ball...

        What is this fixation with his hands? Do liberals have a thing for fisting, or are you just unable to find something relevant to complain about?

    • Seriously the iphone3gs was the perfect iphone in the hand.

      If I could have one iphone it would be a iphone3gs with iphone 7 upgrades.

      Did the iPhone 3 GS have the amount of storage that an iPhone 7 has - like 32GB? Usually, the reason an iToy can't be upgraded is the storage. I had a first generation iPod Touch (8GB) that stopped at iOS 4.3, and my iPad Mini, which has 16GB, has stopped at iOS 9.3. I have an iPhone 7 w/ 128GB, and I don't think there will be an iOS version that it won't support.

  • Happy Lucky Gold 8 Phone (Score:4, Interesting)

    by monkeyxpress ( 4016725 ) on Tuesday April 18, 2017 @02:36PM (#54258581)

    This will be huge for Apple because of the Chinese market (and their love of the number 8) and the 10th anniversary thing in the USA. Even if it is an iPhone 7 in a shinier case with 50% whacked onto the price, they will sell millions of the things.

    I'm not expecting any real innovation though. Apple was always more marketing than tech, and it seems that part of the business has rather predictably eaten the engineering department in recent years.

  • They will be called:

    iPhone 7S (same as 7 but with processor upgrade)
    IPhone 7S Plus (same as 7S Plus with slight upgrades)
    iPhone X Anniversary (same size as 7S Plus, with fullscreen OLED, wraparound glass, different metal case, no physical Home button)

    • So, still nothing that satisfies my requirements (must fit in my shirt pockets). Maybe I'll get an SE while the getting is good.

  • I doubt it. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by bobm ( 53783 )

    Anyone remember when Osborne Computers made the mistake of announcing computers before they were ready and pretty much tanked the company?

    I guess that is no longer a concern, what I see Apple doing is - don't buy a Samsung since we have neat new stuff that will probably never come out.

    I see this as an attempt to dampen the Samsung hype going on with the S8.

    I'm not needing a phone for awhile and still use wired headphones so I'm not really on Apples radar anymore.

    • "probably NEVER"?? (Score:2, Informative)

      by SuperKendall ( 25149 )

      I guess that is no longer a concern, what I see Apple doing is - don't buy a Samsung since we have neat new stuff that will probably never come out.

      Why would it not come out? At this point Apple has a proven track record of delivering new phones each year like clockwork. They've been reported to be working on edge to edge screens for years now. I see no reason to think they would not come out with new phones, and it's beyond obvious they would do something special for an anniversary phone.

      and still use w

    • Anyone remember when Osborne Computers made the mistake of announcing computers before they were ready and pretty much tanked the company?

      That wasn't what tanked them. What tanked them was that some idiot quite high up in the company discovered that they had huge numbers of motherboards for the old model lying around that were useless for the new model, and since he hated to waste the money that these motherboards cost, he ordered their manufacturing to turn them into computers. Which were unsellable, because the new model _was_ released.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by camh ( 32881 )

      Apple haven't announced anything. In fact, they specifically declined to comment. Making parallels to Osborne does not make sense in the absence of an Apple announcement.

  • I've heard one model is going to be called "iPhone Edition".

    Is it just me, or is that a wrong usage of the word Edition? It's like nobody at Apple noticed they're missing a word in there - or they're even more afraid of Tim Cook than they were of Steve Jobs. I mean, shouldn't there be a modifier in front of it? iPhone Special Edition, iPhone OLED Edition, etc?

    Coupled with the official apologies for the trash can Mac "Pro" ("Pro" my ass, eh Phil?), rumours of touch ID being at the back of the phone or even d

  • For some reason I'm not that enthused. Not sure why. I mean, I had an iPhone 5, then got a 5 SE.

    And, in case you think I hate Apple, I have an Apple II+ and a Mac SE as well as iMacs in my garage.

    Wake me when they listen to the customers.

  • So pretty much two phones for everyone that needs to upgrade, and one for the Samsung fans. Sounds fair.

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