iPhone 5 Release 10/4!

[TXCyclones]

"It's been 16 months and all you've got is an A5 processor in the existing iPhone 4," said BGC Partners' analyst Colin Gillis. "It's a mild disappointment, but they're still going to be selling millions of units."

Best tweet of the day, "Please note I will be selling some 'S' stickers for $0.99 so iPhone 4 owners have a cheaper upgrade option."

[isubeatle]

i want to wait for the 5, but my 3GS is pretty much on its deathbed. So i'll most likely be stuck having to get the 4S now

[BigBake]

Funny things is that it was the media (blogs, tweets) that push rumor mill into ludicrous speed.

If you look at the lifecycle of this phone the release of a 4gs is a normal step.

[alarson]

Funny things is that it was the media (blogs, tweets) that push rumor mill into ludicrous speed.

If you look at the lifecycle of this phone the release of a 4gs is a normal step.

I think thats pretty big spin to put on it. To not have LTE is pretty lame for a device and a manufacturer that bills itself as selling the best product out there.

Fact is, apple used to lead the way on phones, and the rumors are still based on them doing just that, but now theyre just playing catch-up, so they dont live up to the rumors.

[Cloned4Life]

I think thats pretty big spin to put on it. To not have LTE is pretty lame for a device and a manufacturer that bills itself as selling the best product out there.

Fact is, apple used to lead the way on phones, and the rumors are still based on them doing just that, but now theyre just playing catch-up, so they dont live up to the rumors.

Best in class screen technology and resolution.
Best in class camera.
Best in class capacitive touch screen technology
Best in class mobile gaming.
Best in class hardware.

Remind me again what Apple is catching up to?

*Note: I'm an Android user and always have been. Currently using the Droid Incredible 2. Thinking about making the switch to iPhone 4S if iOS 5 meets my needs - The new notification center, while obviously not perfect, and mostly stolen from Android/Palm, will be a huge indicator for me.

[3TrueFans]

I'm a Sprint customer so I'm pretty psyched about it whether it's a 4S or a 5, now if only my contract was up sooner...

[aeroclone]

I think thats pretty big spin to put on it. To not have LTE is pretty lame for a device and a manufacturer that bills itself as selling the best product out there.

Fact is, apple used to lead the way on phones, and the rumors are still based on them doing just that, but now theyre just playing catch-up, so they dont live up to the rumors.

The lack of LTE should come as no surprise to anyone. Apple has always been late to the game on adopting new network technologies for the iPhone. If you remember back to the launch of the original device, they brought out the most data-centric phone the world had ever seen and it only ran on the AT&T Edge network even though 3G networks and 3G smartphones were already fairly common. The whole reason the second gen iPhone was called the 3G and not the iPhone 2 was to pimp this "revolutionary" now several year old feature.

Also, this makes sense from a supply chain perspective. The new iPhone 4S is a world phone, with both GSM and CDMA radios. This will allow Apple to setup a single assembly line and stock a single SKU that can be provided not only to the 3 US carriers, but to all of their international carriers as well (thought I saw somewhere that it was over 70 by the end of the year). This simplifies production, forecasting, and is an overall financial benefit to teh company.

To offer 4G, you would have to add an LTE chipset to Verizon and ATT devices even though ATT doesn't have a single LTE market launched yet, and the Verizon network while growing isn't in a lot of places yet. And what about Sprint? Do you create yet another model for WiMax that once again isn't in a lot of areas yet? And I have no idea what the international market looks like for 4G, since the US iPhone market is only a fraction of the market that Apple plays in. You likely have a mix of LTE, WiMax, and 3G only carriers there as well. Either way, you are adding a great deal of complexity to your supply chain with several different iPhone variations, or you put LTE hardware in each device even though a minority of your users will actually have access to the service. Both options are negative to the bottom line. And this doesn't even address the technical issues of battery life or the need to possibly update applications to utilize 4G.

It just makes a lot of sense for Apple to wait until there is a much higher market penetration with LTE to try to make the jump. It would be much more natural for Apple to make the leap to 4G in another year. I've been really surprised with how many "experts" have been predicting some sort of LTE/WiMax iPhone this year, as it just isn't a fitting move for Apple right now. Seems like a lot of the iPhone prognosticators out there have about as much insight on the situation as the conference realignment bloggers.

[Cloned4Life]

The lack of LTE should come as no surprise to anyone. Apple has always been late to the game on adopting new network technologies for the iPhone. If you remember back to the launch of the original device, they brought out the most data-centric phone the world had ever seen and it only ran on the AT&T Edge network even though 3G networks and 3G smartphones were already fairly common. The whole reason the second gen iPhone was called the 3G and not the iPhone 2 was to pimp this "revolutionary" now several year old feature.

Also, this makes sense from a supply chain perspective. The new iPhone 4S is a world phone, with both GSM and CDMA radios. This will allow Apple to setup a single assembly line and stock a single SKU that can be provided not only to the 3 US carriers, but to all of their international carriers as well (thought I saw somewhere that it was over 70 by the end of the year). This simplifies production, forecasting, and is an overall financial benefit to teh company.

To offer 4G, you would have to add an LTE chipset to Verizon and ATT devices even though ATT doesn't have a single LTE market launched yet, and the Verizon network while growing isn't in a lot of places yet. And what about Sprint? Do you create yet another model for WiMax that once again isn't in a lot of areas yet? And I have no idea what the international market looks like for 4G, since the US iPhone market is only a fraction of the market that Apple plays in. You likely have a mix of LTE, WiMax, and 3G only carriers there as well. Either way, you are adding a great deal of complexity to your supply chain with several different iPhone variations, or you put LTE hardware in each device even though a minority of your users will actually have access to the service. Both options are negative to the bottom line. And this doesn't even address the technical issues of battery life or the need to possibly update applications to utilize 4G.

It just makes a lot of sense for Apple to wait until there is a much higher market penetration with LTE to try to make the jump. It would be much more natural for Apple to make the leap to 4G in another year. I've been really surprised with how many "experts" have been predicting some sort of LTE/WiMax iPhone this year, as it just isn't a fitting move for Apple right now. Seems like a lot of the iPhone prognosticators out there have about as much insight on the situation as the conference realignment bloggers.

Some good points here. Anyone would thought this new iPhone would be LTE obviously wasn't paying attention.

[alarson]

Best in class screen technology and resolution.

At a certain point, you really dont get much more bang for your buck on screen tech. Ive seen iphone and ive seen other screens from Samsung\HTC, both look great, but no huge differences.

Best in class camera.

An 8mp camera, big deal. A good 8mp camera for sure, but still not a huge deal. My 18 month old incredible has one of those. Not really huge differences.

Best in class capacitive touch screen technology

And this does exactly what better than any current android phone?

Best in class mobile gaming.

The most overhyped thing out there imo. What's the use when on any phone, even an iphone, your battery will fry quickly with high powered games.

Best in class hardware.

Pretty much comparable to Samsung\HTC's current top offerings, and will likely be surpassed when they release their updates by the end of the year.

Remind me again what Apple is catching up to?

Pretty much everything in iOS5 is catch-up\copycat.

Off the top of my head, in todays presentation i saw Google latitude features, google voice actions, wireless syncing, etc. Still no widgets.

[alarson]

To offer 4G, you would have to add an LTE chipset to Verizon and ATT devices even though ATT doesn't have a single LTE market launched yet, and the Verizon network while growing isn't in a lot of places yet. And what about Sprint? Do you create yet another model for WiMax that once again isn't in a lot of areas yet? And I have no idea what the international market looks like for 4G, since the US iPhone market is only a fraction of the market that Apple plays in. You likely have a mix of LTE, WiMax, and 3G only carriers there as well. Either way, you are adding a great deal of complexity to your supply chain with several different iPhone variations, or you put LTE hardware in each device even though a minority of your users will actually have access to the service. Both options are negative to the bottom line. And this doesn't even address the technical issues of battery life or the need to possibly update applications to utilize 4G.

With talk that Sprint is going LTE soon, it might make more sense to put in the LTE hardware.

Sprint 4G Strategy And Network Conference Call Scheduled For October 7 - Android Life: An Android Community Blog

If i recall correctly (its been awhile), there was some design into the WiMax network to be compatible with a future LTE upgrade.

[aeroclone]

With talk that Sprint is going LTE soon, it might make more sense to put in the LTE hardware.

Sprint 4G Strategy And Network Conference Call Scheduled For October 7 - Android Life: An Android Community Blog

If i recall correctly (its been awhile), there was some design into the WiMax network to be compatible with a future LTE upgrade.

All the more reason to wait. By the middle of next year, you will have a greatly expanded Verizon LTE network. The ATT LTE network will also be up and running. We will have to wait and see what Sprint comes out with on Friday, but there have been a lot of rumors. It would be much easier for Apple to wait and release a single LTE model next year and give the technology more time to mature.

[stateofmind]

So my work phone contract is up on Oct. 19th. I'm on a Sprint plan, and can get a new phone after only 12 months. I was hoping for the iPhone 5 for these reasons:
Bigger screen to come close to my EVO. (Didn't happen)
iPing app, which is only available to Apple. This is a big deal to me as I think it will help my son and I tremendously. And it's worth it for him, no big deal if I get better.

So, my question to you all. What would you get on Oct. 19th, based on what is out there available for Sprint?

[Krug]

Best in class screen technology and resolution.
Best in class camera.
Best in class capacitive touch screen technology
Best in class mobile gaming.
Best in class hardware.

Remind me again what Apple is catching up to?

*Note: I'm an Android user and always have been. Currently using the Droid Incredible 2. Thinking about making the switch to iPhone 4S if iOS 5 meets my needs - The new notification center, while obviously not perfect, and mostly stolen from Android/Palm, will be a huge indicator for me.

Have not seen the GSII yet have you? Even the apple crazy site Engadget said its better then anything out now. It blows away the Iphone screen.

Im going to wait and see how the Nexus Prime turns out.

[Cloned4Life]

Have not seen the GSII yet have you? Even the apple crazy site Engadget said its better then anything out now. It blows away the Iphone screen.

Im going to wait and see how the Nexus Prime turns out.

Yep I've seen the GSII screens and read every article/review I can find on them since the European version came out several months ago. Samsung's screen tech is great, there is no doubt about it, but it's not on par with Apple's.

And this is coming from a guy who really, really wants a GSII and is pretty excited about the Prime.

[TXCyclones]

They tried. While rumors were escaping of a prototype iPhone, even spy pictures/cases/etc, I think Apple tried to "leak" their own rumors about it being just the iPhone 4S.

Somewhat disappointed, but it was to be expected. The iPhone 4S makes the more logical sense, given that so many people have picked up the iPhone 4 this year already.

Siri does look pretty cool though. I wish it wasn't just for the 4S...

I've been reading/viewing the propaganda/editorials on Siri most of the afternoon now. IF it works the way they show, I'm very enthused about this. It may actually save my life since I'm still dumb enough to read and text while driving.