Phone hardware just isn't interesting, anymore. We've reached the point that personal computers reached a couple decades ago: They're all pretty good and not much different from the model released two years ago (though they are faster and have more storage and RAM).
Strange that even a hard-nosed tech site like anandtech can't resist the typical fetishiztion of buttons and whispered sighs of "So intuitive" and "designey!" Meanwhile, valid competitors like the Nexus or Samsung line-ups either get strict apathy or get criticized in a way that Apple is immune to (for example the Note's size being unacceptable yet the 6+ size being perfect). Or the Jobsian logic that the press repeats (size of iphone is perfect because of human thumb size) and then ignores when even Apple itself doesn't buy that argument anymore.
I think the world of tech reviewing proves how well marketing works, especially against those who often see themselves as resistant to it and self-declared rational/skeptical/intellectual thinkers. If anything, these types seem more susceptible to it for some reason.
I don't even really read reviews in a serious fashion at this point, except maybe at Ars. Reviews seem to be marketing vehicles, either consciously or sub-consciously on the part of the reviewer. Ars seems to be more even-handed than most and they try not to fall too deeply into the trap of bikeshedding or pandering for ad impressions. I can't be the only one unhappy with how these things are reviewed nowadays. It seems like the narrative of the "nerds have won" in regardless to tech is pretty disingenious. If anyone has won, its the marketers. The more you spend to promote your talking points, the more often those talking points will be believed or, at least, repeated. It doesn't seem anymore complex than that.
I'm also willing to concede that there's a subjective element here that makes reviewing of commodity tech almost like reviewing the arts. At a certain point performance, durability, etc are all fine for the top competitors and reviews just address things that are more subjective than objective for the lack of things to talk about. Mobile has certainly reached that space and the only rational move for these companies is to just invest more in marketing to make your 'SoC tied to a touchscreen tied to a mobile OS tied to an app store' look better than the other guy's 'SoC tied to a touchscreen tied to a mobile OS tied to an app store.'
Now the role of the reviewer is to communicate these marketing messages effectively.
I really don’t get why you think it’s not rational to care about these things. I really don’t get that. It is literally incomprehensible to me. Can you explain that to me?
Here's one: http://anandtech.com/show/8425/huawei-honor-6-review
Here's another: http://anandtech.com/show/8441/nokia-lumia-930-review/2
Commoditized parts don't get mentioned in reviews. (I don't know what USB driver is in my laptop because who cares? It's a commodity)
What is left, then, other than device ergonomics, appearance, and other things that differentiate devices?
It's frustrating. I have to grip the phone unnaturally so that I don't click both buttons at the same time.
What are you other three fingers doing? I tend to grip with thumb on the right edge, index finger resting on the back and last 3 fingers holding the right edge.
Are you an amputee?
Who cares about the box.
I'm just curious if the new size will be a good fit for me or not.
I realize that both incidents are my fault, but this phone is by far the most fragile iphone I've ever owned, out of 4. In the 10 days that I've owned it, I haven't changed any of my behavior and it already has been damaged twice. I'm pretty disappointed with the poor durability of the phone and am considering replacing it with my reliable iphone5, and waiting for the 6S which hopefully fixes these durability issues.
> the bending issue is very real
I'd suggest that the issue is that you're a guy who thinks sitting on $1,000 of glass and aluminium is a normal thing to do.
Granted, I don't this should be as big of an issue as some people are making it out to be, but I think the discussion should go beyond chastising owners for putting their phones in the wrong pocket. That's not much better than saying "you're holding it wrong."
If the back pocket is "not supported", that's fine, but when support is pulled on anything that people use, (however obscure or unwise its use may be), there's going to be friction.
This is where the marketing concept of "life-proof" comes from. Shit happens. Day-to-day consumer devices are going to get bumped, dropped, damp, sat on, etc. If the iPhone can't handle those things, the answer isn't "Be more careful you idiots", the answer is people will (presumably) stop buying them.
Regardless, I will have mine tomorrow so coming from 4s my biggest shock will be size. I am assuming the new processor will make iOS 8 feel "snappier" as it has dogged my 4.
Size comparison site I found useful http://www.piliapp.com/actual-size/iphone-6/
"I fed my phone to my dog! Can I have a new one?"
"I dropped my phone out of my car! Can I have a new one?"
"My phone fell into a commercial smoothie blender! Can I have a new one?"
It's extremely frustrating that when I and my friend told this to others, we get accused of lying. Granted that in the large scheme of things these are anecdotes, but it's still not a lie. The phones bend when you keep them in your front pant pocket, a handful of people have reported this.
http://www.phonecruncher.com/news/2576225/apple_bans_german_...
I was pretty entertained by the second comment, which I think has the highest density of Apple hatred the web has thus far witnessed.
And if you can't have a hobby then being irrationally angry on the internet will do instead.
Judging by scope, being irrationally angry on the internet seems to be a hobby unto itself.
He posted the exact same comment in the 6+ companion review, disappointing.
"it is truly unbelievable how a company, formerly known for its remarkable design, dares to put out such a crap ton of shit"
Then he / she goes on to describe how, in his opinion, apple has failed.
You tend to get so much of the latter on HN, so reading that guy's comment is almost refreshing :)
But, at the end of the day, fussing over curvy edges, chevroned pixels, and extreme CPU and GPU performance is irrelevant to me. I bought the iPhone 6, but then I took it back and returned to my Nexus 5. I just can't justify spending over $700 (upgrade fees, contract, etc.) for a phone that does nearly everything my current $350 phone does.
I'm sharing this because I hope that some people will avoid this mistake. They're taking advantage of the denomination effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denomination_effect), and I got sucked into it too. For most of the people reading this: your current phone is just fine, save your money and use it for something more important.
Anybody who actively uses their phone, particularly the Camera, CPU and GPU capability, definitely stands to see a pretty big improvement if they upgrade every three years, and definitely every four. The jump (for me) from the 3GS to the iPhone 5 was massive, particularly around the camera. The shutter is incredibly fast on the iPhone 5. And the Games/Display also were a pretty big leap forward.
Anybody who is currently on an iPhone 4 can definitely justify moving to the iPhone 6 if they are an active user, and I would even suggest there might be value for 4S users.
I'd concur with you that iPhone 5 users can probably wait another round before seriously considering upgrades though, and obviously iPhone 5S users under contract (unless they have some really huge need for the large screens), don't have any need to update anytime soon.
All this is predicated on you owning your phone. Obviously anybody stuck in a contract with the carrier in which they are "subsidized" should just upgrade every two years and re-sell your phone.
[Edit - I just checked out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexus_5 - The Nexus 5 is less than a year old and already has a 4.9" display. Unless you are a professional phone reviewer, I'm not sure what would motivate you to pick up an iPhone 6. Returning it was almost definitely the right decision]
I went from a 4 to a 5S, and was very happy, but I'm not sure that I'd have bothered if I had a 5, or even a 4. Phones don't generally need to be upgraded every year, and most people don't do this.
I feel that most phones these days have pretty adequate cameras for their most common use-cases (Instagram, facebook, some holiday/party snaps, etc.).
For any other use-case a proper camera is the way to go in my opinion.
I see this sentiment batted around quite a bit these days. Just because nobody has revolutionized the smartphone in the past few years doesn't mean it's not possible.
To pick three innovative features that have made it into real smartphones, you can look at the Samsung Galaxy Beam pico projector, Jolla's 'The Other Half', and the YotaPhone E-Ink backscreen. Some would argue that these are gimmicks, but isn't all innovation a little gimmicky before it reaches mass market adoption (I'd argue camera phones were in this category originally, and they certainly aren't gimmicks anymore).
Jolla's The Other Half is especially interesting, as it allows for people to personalise the functionality of their phone (along with the look). Whether it takes off or not remains to be seen.
It's hard to say absolutes about the future.
It's always tricky anticipating the point of sufficiency. Probably because it's a moving target.
Besides I'm not sure that the iPhone was such low hanging fruit. It probably cost Apple a tonne of R&D and effort to research and build and was ahead of its time by at least a good couple of years.
Nvidia clearly wants to license it out and I think Apple would be the best one to take advantage of it. Apple seems to be pushing the GPU side of their SoCs quite a bit.
From what I understand of the technology it was built with efficiency from the ground up as opposed to the nVidia tech of the time such as the TNT and Geforce which were designed for raw performance.
Good article about it: http://www.anandtech.com/show/558/4
I think Videologic/Imagination Tech patented the heck outta a lot of the techniques they came up with so wouldn't be surprised if they're ahead of the pack on efficiency.
This is surprisingly ignorant from Anandtech. Surely they know better.
While Apple raced to win the spec war (I say that tongue in cheek, but the truth is that Apple tries really hard to give you bragging rights, buying the biggest PowerVR designs, jumping on incomplete ARM specs, etc), going to ARMv8 far before her peers by creating a derivative of early A57 designs (much like Qualcomm did with Krait, getting in early on the new A15 design), every other vendor has been soberly pursuing ARM A57 at their own pace: It isn't like there is some great lack of performance in competing devices, and this simply isn't a critical thing, so there seems to be no great rush.
The Tegra K1 Denver will be the first salvo from alternatives, and early indications are that it will provide pretty extraordinary performance, and presumably we'll search for ways of using that power productively.
Looks like I've stepped into the distortion field, where Apple is both uncatchably ahead of everyone, and simultaneously not even trying.
are you posting this from bizarro world? apple is the one tech company that does not advertise tech specs. they mention them in the keynotes and move on. as if you ignored thousands of articles about this very fact. amazing.
Apple makes a really big deal about their cores and GPU, as they have every right to (they're pretty great). Quite aside from their keynotes that focus extensively on this, on the product page you learn, right near the top, about the A8 64-bit processor and M8 coprocessor, as if these facts have any relevance to an end user. They're bragging points. Apple talks about their 64-bit advantage ad nauseam.
They absolutely brag about their chip. They boast specs (as they boast "retina" displays and thinness and grams and materials).
Wait, you think ARMv8 was incomplete when the 5S came out? What on earth makes you think that?
Also, it's clear that they DON'T try all that hard; they could have used the six-core variant of the PowerVR used here, at the cost of battery life.
> going to ARMv8 far before her peers by creating a derivative of early A57 designs
Hrm? Cyclone isn't particularly similar to A57. Also, if they'd wanted A57, they could have just implemented it; it was available in the right timeframe.
No it wasn't. A57 wasn't actually done when Apple outed Cyclone. Apple clearly ran with early aspects of A57 (your disingenuous misreading about ARMv8 being ignored). At exactly the same timeframe, nvidia, Qualcomm, and others had as many details of A57 and ARMv8, and none of them ran with it. Indeed, nvidia and Qualcomm are just getting to 64-bit parts, doing a pretty good job with their existing architectures.
Apple wanted to be first, and they pounded every bit out of 64-bits in their marketing. But here, again, we have to pretend that reality isn't as it actually is.
Also, it's clear that they DON'T try all that hard; they could have used the six-core variant of the PowerVR used here, at the cost of battery life
This is absurdity theater. Apple has chosen higher bin/tier PowerVR parts than her peers for virtually every single generation. But because they didn't choose even higher we are to believe that they don't try hard? Do you actually look at the benchmarks, or just continue on with a ridiculous narrative based upon preconceived notions?
He mentions it on the third paragraph.
"As I discuss in the iPhone 6 Plus review, going by Consumer Reports' data it seems that there is a weak point near the bottom of the volume rocker, although it's far less likely to be an issue on the iPhone 6 due to its smaller size."
http://www.phonecruncher.com/news/2576225/apple_bans_german_...
