Apple WWDC 2014 – iPhone 6/ iWatch? / iWotM8?

I’ll be watching with interest because what Apple does drives a massive part of what is considered “mainstream”.

But to be honest I’m not very excited about it all this time around.
Smartphone technology in general seems to have reached the “Meh” phase and moved firmly from revolution to evolution. I think it will likely stay that way until someone makes some very major advances in battery or display technology.

Though they just gave me a brand new 5 because of a dodgy battery

They changed the battery in my old one, I was holding out for a new phone 🙁

Smartphone technology in general seems to have reached the “Meh” phase and moved firmly from revolution to evolution.

Hasn’t it been like that since about 2009?

After 3 years my 4s battery is shot and it constantly thinks it’s plugged in to a speaker system, meaning it won’t play music out loud. Therefore I’ll be buying the smaller one ASAP and relegate the 4s to living on the speakers.

They changed the battery in my old one, I was holding out for a new phone

Did you have the dodgy power button as well?

Did you have the dodgy power button as well?

Yep!

Hasn’t it been like that since about 2009? smartphones came out

What’s genuinely been revolutionary since the first wave of smart phones?!

What’s genuinely been revolutionary since the first wave of smart phones?!

I’d say (for me) the last big revolution was the move to high pixel density screens, popularised by the “Retina” display on iPhone 4 (2010).

See I’d hardly say that was revolutionary. Looked prettier, but that’s about it. Didn’t enhance functionality in any meaningful way.

See I’d hardly say that was revolutionary. Looked prettier, but that’s about it. Didn’t enhance functionality in any meaningful way.

Tough crowd.

Apple – for folk who think Starbucks is a lifestyle choice ….

Apple – for folk who think Starbucks is a lifestyle choice ….

That’s so profound I’m going to have it etched onto the back of my iPhone 6.

I was hoping we may have moved past these tired old Apple vs Windows/Android/Aliens debates, or even the more redundant one about Apple products only being used by hipsters. I guess not. The bottom line is, you do not become one of the biggest companies in the world by only selling your goods to ironic beard wearing latte drinkers. That’s just being wilfully obtuse.

I’m excited about this one because for the first time since the 4 I’m going to buy it. Almost regardless of what they anounce, since my 4 is now physically falling to bits.

Previoulsy 4S, 5 and 5S have passed me by as I was still happy with my 4.

Whatever is in the 6 it will seem like a big step up from a 4yo phone but even more so if it’s got NFC payments, health tracking, saphire glass screen, a 13mp camera and all the other rumoured goodies.

See I’d hardly say that was revolutionary.

I was thinking in terms of something that radically changed the market and consumer expectations.

When Retina came out lots of Android ownerspeople opined that it was stupidly overkill. Then slowly all high-end smartphones went the same way (and beyond) because it turned out that people really really liked it.

And the waves from that are still being felt in other devices, even desktop PCs which had been stuck on a crappy dot-pitch for decades.

See I’d hardly say that was revolutionary. Looked prettier, but that’s about it. Didn’t enhance functionality in any meaningful way.

respectfully disagree – i came from a crappy samsung flip phone to a 4 and the difference in the screen was immense. so much so i started using the phone for a lot more than calls and messaging. i’d say it was revolutionary for me, but not necessarily for those who maybe had a 3gs or so.

the fondle factor was a revolution
the clever marketing to change the way individuals acquire phones was a revolution (ie swap from network subsidy to outright purchase over 2-3 year in a clever bundle, and swapping from £10/month tariff to what was at the time the equivalent of a business tariff)
everything else is pretty much an evolution

I will be buying an 4.7 iPhone 6 as soon as they are for sale. First time I will have bought a phone outright but I am done with being locked into contracts.

I’m hoping VEAP will be a way to discount it into effectively a monthly HP scheme with 20% off.. should be the cheapest way overall.

All I want/need is a 4TB iPod. Is there one of those coming out?

@brassneck VEAP ?

Surely must be time for iTunes to handle high res audio? Obviously not the killer announcement for this session though 😛

Interesting to see what Apple can do to differentiate themselves these days. Read an interesting article a while ago about how potentially dodgy the share price was based on their innovations. If Samsung/Sony et al are all doing a similar product (for less money) then apart from that ‘fondle factor’ you get with Apple stuff how is it going to go down with the shareholders.

Are they getting to a point like Microsoft where its seen as cooler not to buy the mainstream/default (Apple) product.

I don’t particularly like Apple products (too rigid in their way of working for my liking) but I always look forward to these announcements because Apple have been brilliant innovators and you knew that others, rightly or wrongly, would take their ideas and run with them thereafter.

Or at least they were until a couple of years back. So the question really is can they seize that back and bring out some new things that people beyond the ‘Must have the latest version of every Apple product’ group really clamour over.

For example, will the expected iWatch do something new or open up new possibilities or just do what the products already out there do a little slicker/looking nicer. If the later then that’ll be a sign that Apple really aren’t capable of being the same without God sorry, Steve at the helm.

I’m gonna get a 6, the small sized one so it can fit in the back of my Rapha Jersey just fine fanx., I have a Gold 5s which I’ll sell..which I bought in March this year..

I have turned AppleBouy 😆

Which is worrying MrsBOuy 😛

I don’t particularly like Apple products (too rigid in their way of working for my liking) but I always look forward to these announcements

This +1. I haven’t had an Apple product for about 10 years when I had a 1st gen macbook, but as a fan of gadgets and technology still enjoy WWDC. Loads of cool tech being shown off by the best presenters in the tech world and to a load of mad nerds who hang on and cheer to every word. What is not to like about that.

EDIT: Having said that I’m more excited about the gifs of the crowd when the watch is announced that I am about the watch itself.

Never bought an apple product in my life their ethos just doesn’t sit right with me. However I did see an apple patent a couple of years ago that involved projectors and sharing screen space that I really liked.

When Retina came out lots of Android ownerspeople opined that it was stupidly overkill. Then slowly all high-end smartphones went the same way (and beyond) because it turned out that people really really liked it.

I dunno, I’ve been beating the drum of resolution > screen size since I was in short pants.

Can’t wait, really keen to see this iWatch (hopefully), looking forward to the keyboard update in ios8, interested to see the iphone 6, however it’ll be a year before I buy one when they can be picked up for £300, just bought a 5s using the same logic.

My 8yr old daughter looking forward to watching it with me too, she loves her ipad mini.

China Mobile appear to have leaked the specs early!

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2014/09/china-mobile-is-at-it-again-leaking-the-4-7-inch-iphone-6-specs/

A water/dust proof phone (which everyone has got) but with a super tought saphire glass screen is pretty ground breaking if you ask me.

I hope that they have something a bit more overwhelming than that. I don’t see a tough screen as being particularly exciting (I find screens last a couple of years without much issue as is).

jfletch – Member

A water/dust proof phone (which everyone has got) but with a super tought saphire glass screen is pretty ground breaking if you ask me.

nemesis, I took this to be sarcasm, I think….. ❓

Ditto 😉

Hopefully that’s just a fake release though and Apple actually have got more up their sleeves – something clever with Siri maybe?

Ditto

Hopefully that’s just a fake release though and Apple actually have got more up their sleeves – something clever with Siri maybe?

do real people actually use Siri?

That’s kind of my point.

I use google now as it does actually tell me useful, relevent or interesting things. I don’t talk to it, mind 🙂

Apple products recently have been more hardware driven than software (IMO but post iOS what have they done that no one else has?). If they can make the software do things that no one else has, that’s the USP.

If they can make the software do things that no one else has, that’s the USP.

I think Google is stealing the show in that respect these days.

I think Apple’s remaining USP is taking relatively complex stuff and decluttering/polishing/simplifying it to the point where my father-in-law can successfully use it. (e.g. think messaging, photo sharing, video calling, cloud storage etc)

Never bought an apple product in my life their ethos just doesn’t sit right with me

Is it the heavy use of aluminium or the chamfered edges?

I think Apple’s remaining USP is taking relatively complex stuff and decluttering/polishing/simplifying it to the point where my father-in-law can successfully use it. (e.g. think messaging, photo sharing, video calling, cloud storage etc)

Maybe but old men in cardigans ( 😉 ) aren’t sexy or going to keep Apple employees in polonecks and rimless glasses, are they? 🙂

@brassneck VEAP ?

Vodafone Employee Advantage Program – if your company use Vodafone, they usually offer 20% discount on your personal accounts, you supply an email address and employee code in store .. can usually be done on existing contracts too.

Until the pricing actually hits the website it’s difficult to say if it’s any cheaper than buying outright and using say GiffGaff, but for me Vodafone are the best voice/data option in general and I’d rather pay a couple of quid extra a month and be able to use it.

Maybe but old men in cardigans ( ) aren’t sexy or going to keep Apple employees in polonecks and rimless glasses, are they?

Why not, the people born in the 40s / 50s are the ones with the most disposable income these days according to the radio.. all about rampant house price inflation and final salary pensions.

You might be right but it seems like a pretty big shift in focus for Apple even if it is a fairly wealthy market. It’d be a shame if they just became a company that made things easier/smoother to use rather than real innovators though.

The iPhone 7?

I’m gonna get a 6, the small sized one so it can fit in the back of my Rapha Jersey just fine fanx., I have a Gold 5s which I’ll sell..which I bought in March this year..

I have turned AppleBouyGirl

Which is worrying MrsBOuy
FIFY

Not sexy, that’s true nemesis, but there is plenty of money in making technology accessible and vaguely understandable to fogies and arts students non-geeks. And it is something that Apple is (historically speaking) good at.

do real people actually use Siri?

I use it in the car all the time for looking up directions or sending texts.