This is what the iPhone 6S should have been

[Mlrollin91]

Apple could have put a bigger battery at any time.

Yes, it would have made the phone a bit thicker, but so what. (I know that would have been unpopular with some.)

That would have defeated the purpose of the 's' then by making the phone thicker and changing the body style. I'm sure the biggest reason why the 's' maintains the same body design is to save money as they can order two years worth of parts instead of one.

 

[eyoungren]

Apple could have put a bigger battery at any time.

Yes, it would have made the phone a bit thicker, but so what. (I know that would have been unpopular with some.)

It would have been unpopular with Tim Cook and Jony Ive and their management team and it's really only important what those decision makers think when it comes to the word 'could'.

 

[Paddle1]

That would have defeated the purpose of the 's' then by making the phone thicker and changing the body style. I'm sure the biggest reason why the 's' maintains the same body design is to save money as they can order two years worth of parts instead of one.

The 6s is thicker (and heavier) than the 6. Increasing the battery size may have made it incompatible with 6 cases/accessories.

 

[Mlrollin91]

The 6s is thicker (and heavier) than the 6. Increasing the battery size may have made it incompatible with 6 cases/accessories.

Well yes but what, a mm. All accessories still fit as you stated. So to my point they had to do this in order to maintain the current accessory line. The body was still the same design even if it was a tad thicker. This body is entirely different.

 

[UKFan643]

Apple could have put a bigger battery at any time.

Yes, it would have made the phone a bit thicker, but so what. (I know that would have been unpopular for some.)

Sure. They could make the phone 3 inches thick and make the battery last for days. But no one would buy it. This is a useless point.

 

[bufffilm]

Sure. They could make the phone 3 inches thick and make the battery last for days. But no one would buy it. This is a useless point.

You exaggerate much?

No one was advocating a battery that long!

 

[sbharj]

We have come to expect more as far as external/visual design change simply because that's how it has been in the past, but that doesn't really mean that's how it will always be or how it should really be, or that smaller external/visual changes somehow mean something negative in one way or another.

A very valid point
[doublepost=1474447817][/doublepost]

You exaggerate much?

No one was advocating a battery that long!

I think he was talking about girth ;-P

 

[Booji]

I'm a big fan of Apple's policy of keeping a consistent design. Even though each year the internals are all new, for the owners of last year's model, you don't feel that your phone is obsolete. It's a very customer-friendly approach.

 

[Steve686]

Wasn't the 's' a designation for 'speed'? I seem to remember this for my 3GS. Phil or Steve said this?

I could be wrong.

the only thing you could argue is that the 7 series camera has faster 'stops'.

 

[CEmajr]

Topic is a pretty inaccurate statement. With the way the iPhone 6 Plus struggled with performance right out of the box, I think the more accurate statement was that the 6S is what the 6 should have been. It basically took the 6 series and massively upgraded their performance, making it obvious that Apple cut some corners with the hardware of the 6 series, specifically the RAM.

Saying the 7 is what the 6s should've been implies that there was something wrong with the 6s, which there really wasn't any issue with it. The 7 is a different type of phone.

 

[bufffilm]

Topic is a pretty inaccurate statement. With the way the iPhone 6 Plus struggled with performance right out of the box, I think the more accurate statement was that the 6S is what the 6 should have been. It basically took the 6 series and massively upgraded their performance, making it obvious that Apple cut some corners with the hardware of the 6 series, specifically the RAM.

Saying the 7 is what the 6s should've been implies that there was something wrong with the 6s, which there really wasn't any issue with it. The 7 is a different type of phone.

6s had only one weakness...the battery.

Got only about 5 hours SOT. Never more.

This was browsing the Net and sundry other things...no background tasks running to retrieve mail, etc, BT off, and so on.

I configure my phone to run very lean. Battery life was the only subpar thing with this phone, and only with the 6s. The Plus was fine.

 

[C DM]

Topic is a pretty inaccurate statement. With the way the iPhone 6 Plus struggled with performance right out of the box, I think the more accurate statement was that the 6S is what the 6 should have been. It basically took the 6 series and massively upgraded their performance, making it obvious that Apple cut some corners with the hardware of the 6 series, specifically the RAM.

Saying the 7 is what the 6s should've been implies that there was something wrong with the 6s, which there really wasn't any issue with it. The 7 is a different type of phone.

But then that's implying that there's something wrong with numbered series and an 'S' series is there to fix that.

 

[mtneer]

..... Had Apple kept the jack, the 7 would have been (IMO) the finest phone for the ages.

.....

Until September 2018. Quite frankly if sufficient number of people were unhappy about how Apple is progressing, then there would have been crickets after the iPhone 7 announcement. Instead we get this mad scramble and many models are shipping out only in November! So Apple has no reason to change course.

 

[bufffilm]

Until September 2018. Quite frankly if sufficient number of people were unhappy about how Apple is progressing, then there would have been crickets after the iPhone 7 announcement. Instead we get this mad scramble and many models are shipping out only in November! So Apple has no reason to change course.

These will always be improvements with every new iPhone.

But I truly believe the 6s will be considered a classic - last model to have the 3.5mm jack, great CPU/GPU, 2gb RAM, camera update both front and back. What more do you really need other than a little more battery?

Too bad that mine has a spider crack at bottom right corner. If not for that, I'd probably rock this phone for 3-4 years easily. (I stayed at iOS 9.0.2)

 

[Switchback666]

Well this is the same argument we had back in the 4-> 4s -> 5 transition.

 

[Brien]

The MacBook Pro has looked exactly the same since it was redesigned in 2008, and rumors are that it is just now going to get a redesign sometime in the next few months. The iPod (Classic) looked nearly the same for all of its existence (ignoring the second gen models with the 4 touch buttons).

Mature products don't get reinvented nearly as much. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple moves to a 3-year cycle for hardware design.

 

[VSMacOne]

Shoulda coulda woulda. It's easy to look back now and say this is what the 6s should've been, but it's not that easy. I don't think Apple has a track record for holding back features just for the sake of holding them back. Some of the things in the 7 were not technically possible on a mass scale a year ago. I think it mostly comes down to that.

 

[snowtrooper1966]

Well, if rumors are correct, we'll get a big design change next year. Will there be complaints then?

 

[pixel_junkie]

...Just a thought, this is really an "S" update. No physical change (apart from less 3.5mm aux). The camera and speed improved which is usually an "S" feature. This should have come out a year ago as the 6S... Dont get me wrong, it's probably the best iteration of the iPhone to date, but i feel kinda let down still...

This type of post seems to come up every-single-year. And it's legit from a consumer stand point... until you think about it and realize that Apple is running a business and as such, maximizing profit is #1 priority. It's in their interest to give you as little as they can while they maintain solid sales numbers. They made the investments years ago, now they are riding the wave. And they'll keep riding it as long as demand is strong.

People whine about stuff but keep going back. What do you expect?

 

[bkeller]

Umm, the iPhone 6S was a huge step up in performance from the 6. Massive step. It's incredible how they've managed such a big CPU/GPU jump again. Plus the 6S had a reinforced body to stop the bending.

The iPhone 7 is different. There's a big physical change in that it's properly water resistant. If it looks too similar, who cares. It's what's inside and what it does that counts.

Don't get your hopes up for next year. It'll likely be the 7S. Wait until 2018 if you're wanting an edge-to-edge display and the home button completely removed.

I think you are wrong, next years iphone is the 10 year anniversary of the first one......I'd expect a significant change.

 

[bufffilm]

I think you are wrong, next years iphone is the 10 year anniversary of the first one......I'd expect a significant change.

A redesign?...maybe. Better than 50-50 on that.

But will the 2017 iPhone be must-have? Apple would like you to think so.

 

[rkuo]

Until September 2018. Quite frankly if sufficient number of people were unhappy about how Apple is progressing, then there would have been crickets after the iPhone 7 announcement. Instead we get this mad scramble and many models are shipping out only in November! So Apple has no reason to change course.

Lots of people were unhappy with the upgrade, it's just that the carriers essentially gave the phone away and Samsung screwed up their big chance with the exploding phones. So here we are. No way I would have upgraded this cycle without the giant trade in credit.

 

[bufffilm]

Lots of people were unhappy with the upgrade, it's just that the carriers essentially gave the phone away and Samsung screwed up their big chance with the exploding phones. So here we are. No way I would have upgraded this cycle without the giant trade in credit.

The trade-in folks were happy to upgrade, I'd say.

Everyone else...I can't say.

 

[pixel_junkie]

SAMSUNG will step up their game (you can bet they'll scrutinize every little detail to death before release in the future, can't afford another issue of any kind or they will be put out of business). Google Pixel will be announced in 2 weeks which I think is going to be sweet. And then Apple taking an arrogant approach - changes are coming, you can bet on that.

 

[sbharj]

This type of post seems to come up every-single-year. And it's legit from a consumer stand point... until you think about it and realize that Apple is running a business and as such, maximizing profit is #1 priority. It's in their interest to give you as little as they can while they maintain solid sales numbers. They made the investments years ago, now they are riding the wave. And they'll keep riding it as long as demand is strong.

People whine about stuff but keep going back. What do you expect?

Thats not what the foundation of apple is (of course profit is a priority, but never at the expense of customer experience). Of course this Apple is closer to the John Scully Apple than the Steve Jobs apple so we can't expect much else.

And yes, you are absolutely right - we keep buying the products so they have no inclination to step their game up, but if i didn't want to buy it where else can I go not wanting to give up iOS.

Before one entered (and stayed) in the enclosed apple ecosystem because it was the best place to be, now many of us stay because we are trapped. I won't give up MacOS for Windows and can't go anywhere else for iOS, so i'm "stuck with whatever hardware they give me"