Apple’s new iPhone 15 is an underwhelming ‘slap in the face,’ say disappointed fans::Apple unveiled its new iPhone 15 models this week, and some fans say they lack innovation.

  • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.fmhy.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    49
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    So what the fuck do you all want? It’s a phone. All the innovations that could be crammed into a candybar-style phone have pretty much been done.

    If you want real innovation that means a return to the early 2000s when there were tons of different form factors in the market. Sliders, flips, phones with full keyboards, etc. But that means you either need The Only Phone Manufacturer to produce more than one product line of phones, or it means you need to consider other options.

    There’s a LITTLE innovation happening- Samsung and Google are both using the new flexible OLED panels to make flipbook-style phones that look pretty cool. Motorola has one too that’s a flip phone style gadget, kinda square when closed but flips open to be a standard phone size. Sadly I don’t see any real contenders with a physical keyboard.

    • FaeDrifter@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’m also not convinced the new flip phones are the new way forward and not just a gimmick. Like we got a few years of rapid flatscreen TV development, and after it started to stall manufacturers tried to push it the 3D route, but it never caught on.

      I don’t want or need innovation in my phone or TV.

    • Nahvi@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Personally, I would like to see miniaturization become the the trend again.

      I haven’t been interested in a new release since phablets became the standard. I don’t need my phone to replace my PC. It just needs to be able to run a web-search in a pinch.

      I was really hoping the Apple Watch was going to be the next leap forward, but they were very careful about making sure most people didn’t replace their phones with them.

      • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.fmhy.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Interesting. Personally I was planning to buy a phablet for my next phone but they’ve gone out of style it seems and been replaced with folding phones.

        I would be interesting to see something with a rolled up slide out display like the Global communicator from Earth: Final Conflict, basically a slim stick of a phone with a larger display rolled up inside that can be pulled out as much as necessary for the desired screen size.

        • Nahvi@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          Sci-fi phones are the best. I like the slide ones alright, but I was always a huge fan of the mid-air projections. Seems like we are decent way off from either right now.

          Also, I keep hoping we get a short term pair of glasses or ultra light weight VR/AR goggles before we figure out projection anywhere tech.

          • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.fmhy.net
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            Very cool idea. Yeah real holographic projection is still a ways off, especially from a portable emitter. AR however is much closer. There’s an increasing focus on AR tech and making it smaller and cheaper- I saw a glasses the other day for $400 that projects a real 1080p screen onto your field of view and can talk to a phone. That stuff will only get better. The key is making it lightweight, have a long battery life, and fashionable. You also need some kind of separate input device, if you assume the phone remains in the pocket as a compute module. Or for those willing to accept a larger watch, perhaps the watch becomes the phone rather than an accessory to one. There’s of course issues of size, weight, battery life, etc; but as tech improves those will get better. And in theory, the main reason you don’t have the watch as the main phone is lack of screen size; if an external AR display was common that problem goes away.

            • Nahvi@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              perhaps the watch becomes the phone rather than an accessory to one.

              I was hoping for something like this when the Apple Watch came out, but they were clearly very against the idea.

              • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.fmhy.net
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                Screen and battery weren’t there for it. Still aren’t I don’t think unless you significantly increase the size of the watch to either be a real hockey puck, or more likely stretch it out to be both thicker (probably about 1/2" to 3/4" thick) and wider (I’m thinking 3-4") it’s gonna be an option anytime soon.

                • Nahvi@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  more likely stretch it out to be both thicker and wider

                  I think there would be a large market for a wide device that needed two wrist straps to hold it in place. Hard to tell sometimes though. It would either become super trendy or only for super nerds. Either way, I would probably scoop it up.

                  In any case, I am pretty sure the phone companies want us to have a watch also, not instead, and will suppress any development that changes that mentality.

                  • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.fmhy.net
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    I dunno. I think it’s the same issue with Google Glass, AR kits, and Bluetooth headsets. The vast majority of people aren’t interested in being quite so openly nerdy as to wear that constantly, and then a lot of the people who do wear it act like douchebags so then nobody else wears it because they don’t want to look like douchebags. That happened to Bluetooth headsets- what SHOULD have been an easy ‘wear always’ thing became a ‘I’ll act like a douchebag and yell into my headset in public places’ thing and then nobody wants to wear one when not on a call lest they be grouped in with the douchebags.

                    I like the concept of a 2-strap watch/phone, but I don’t see it having common appeal. That will also be heavy, and even a basic phone’s current weight will be felt a LOT more on the wrist than on the belt / in a pocket. Plus a watch gets exposed to a lot more damage as the user goes about their day so it will need to be a lot better armored (increasing bulk and weight) and also easy to repair.

                    You may though be right about the device makers wanting us to have two gadgets rather than one…

    • LurkNoMore@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I’ve no interest in a flip phone. Why? Why is my option a foldable screen, but no head phone jack? That’s not something I want, that’s something I need.

      • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.fmhy.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yeah I agree. It seems brain dead- you’re making a $1200 book-flip phone that opens up like a laptop to a giant screen, so you have tons of space for ports, and you can’t re-add the headphone jack? Seems overly focused on profits rather than usability.

      • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.fmhy.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Perfect example of the problem.

        CPU was lower-mid-range back in 2020, will be horribly out of date now. No 5G. No wireless charging. No detail on which Android version(s) it supports.

    • XIIIesq@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      You’re so right.

      I miss the days where the new phone came out and it had five brand new amazing features, but phone design has pretty much been perfected now and the only room for innovation is going to be on the software side of the UI and a better camera.

      It’s absolutely not worth paying $1000+ for the latest flagship anymore and it hasn’t been for years. Buy a $300 phone that came out a couple years ago, it’s the same thing.

      • SirEDCaLot@lemmy.fmhy.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        phone design has pretty much been perfected now and the only room for innovation is going to be on the software side of the UI and a better camera.

        Strong disagree.
        Phone design in one form factor has been mostly perfected, but even there room for innovation exists. More ports, more features- remember how the early Galaxy phones had IR blasters and headphone jacks? That could make a comeback. Or maybe make the phone 2mm thicker and put a battery that will last for days. Or make the phone 5mm thicker and put rubber padding around it so it’s indestructible even without a case. Or do like the old Compaq iPaq and make dockable modules that add significant functionality (week long battery, small projector, full HDMI/USB suite, etc).

        There’s a bit of innovation happening with other form factors- foldable screens are being used in the most boring and basic ways possible. I want to see something more like the Global Communicator from Earth: Final Conflict- little stick of a device that has a pull out video screen that can be pulled out to various sizes.

        I think there IS room in the market for innovation, it just requires companies that are willing to a. take the risk and b. commit to better software support than Samsung.