The new iPhone 6 and iOS8 was released earlier in September and despite all of the resistance and dislike the uptake is amazing.
However there are a couple of things that are important and require a bit of looking into
1. Devices
Apple has always been a Device manufacturer and it has been selling software for some amazing but expensive hardware. This differentiated it from Microsoft, that were software manufacturer for all device manufacturers. Then with the introduction of Tablets and Phones, iPads and iPhones took over as more popular devices than the Apple Desktops ever did. To the extent that the latest devices, the iPhone6 are now as powerful and as expensive as desktops themselves. Macbook Airs and iMacs are in the same price range as these.
2. Display resolutions
The resolution of an iMac 21.5" is 1920x1080 which is the same as the resolution on the iPhone 6 Plus. The resolution on the iPhone 6 is 1334x750 which is similar to many Wintel laptop screens that were at 1344x768.
3. CPU
After Apple started its own line of CPU's modelled on the ARM processors, they have been able to create some amazing powerful mobile processors that are also energy efficient. When they created the A4 they opened the doors for these powerful processors. The A8 in the new iPhone6 are supposedly exponentially powerful in comparison to the A4 processor. From 4 to 4S, there was an approximate 20% increase in performance with the Apple A4 to Apple A5 CPU. Then with the iPhone5 and the A6 CPU it provided an improvement that was nearly double than that of the 4S. Then with the 5S and the A7 it upped the performance further to achieve about 75% improvement over the iPhone5's A6 processors and then finally with the iPhone6's A8 this has once again increased to approximately 25% over the A7. All of these CPU's were created on an annual basis between 2010 and 2014.
4. Price
While technology should become cheaper with every iteration but with Apple it has been the other way and no one seems to mind it. While the Windows Phones were in the range between $200-$800 and were the smartphones that actually did Word, Excel and Powerpoint and had touch screen capabilities. Now even after 10 odd years of that the prices are not going down.
5. Software
When Microsoft created the PocketPC, they had something that was modeled on the Windows CE system which was similar to something between windows 95 and Windows 98. But when iOS was released and created, it was a very basic software that was slightly better than the MP3 software available in earlier iPods. It was supposedly a touch screen iPod that could then play music and video. It has come a long way from that and one can bet that with Apple's processors and software, there might be a point of unification that might see a single OS for both the Desktops and the Mobile Devices.
Having presented all of those facts and the blatant truth that the iPhone 6 is a rather large device and expensive in comparison to the earlier models. With the annual upgrades of the CPU, OS etc it is nearly forcing users to spend $1000 every two years even though the hardware quality allows the same to last for at least 5 years or more.
My iPad 1 running iOS 5.x still works perfectly fine but is at the end of it's life cycle and cannot have any updates and the CPU on the same is not adequate to run the updated OS versions. The iPad 2 managed iOS7 but is soon falling off the update wagon with iOS 8, however these two devices are perfectly fine in great condition and would by an estimate run another 4/5 years (if the software do not require updates and thereby require a newer OS)
The new iOS devices are a good thing because they now have NFC, a larger screen, faster processors, larger resolution etc but the pricing and the life of these devices are factors that are not in favour but still there is no shortage of people lapping this up, rather than point fingers, I just got an iPhone6 4.7" on a plan and ordered an iPhone 6 Plus 5.5" on another, soon I will have the need to get an iPad Mini with Retina so that it has the A7 processor which would last the next two years or so.
The first radical change that Apple introduced with the Retina display was amazing, the graphics on a LCD/mobile device was no longer pixellated but crisp like it would be in print. The next change with the longer resolution of iPhone5 was a bit strange and honestly with the iPhone6 it is ... beyond words. It was really funny watching those with iPad Mini's stuck to their ears (sarcastically referring to the Samsung Galaxy Tab type Phablets) and now Apple has put them on to a similar offering. It might be a good idea for those that have large hands but for the majority that enjoyed using the iPhones single handedly and could reach all the corners of the screen, thing are a bit different now. Watching videos is however a pleasant experience on these large screens. Lastly since from the offerings from Apple, if you have to buy something that would last for a while, you have to choose top of the range which is an iPhone 6 Plus if you choose the 5S, you get a device that is inferior in terms of screen size, battery life, processor, etc.
From a developer's perspective there are other joys and pains with the new devices and OS. Add to that the new language Swift which makes it easier to develop with in comparison to learning and using Objective-C.
Apart from the continuing prestige of the Apple brand and Swift there are issues with the quality that is expected from Apple. Technologically there cannot be any complaints but there were lesser issues with Jobs at the helm than there are now. However till the next release, I shall enjoy my iPhone 6 plus when it is delivered soon.
There would be a more in-depth review of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus and comparison soon.
However there are a couple of things that are important and require a bit of looking into
1. Devices
Apple has always been a Device manufacturer and it has been selling software for some amazing but expensive hardware. This differentiated it from Microsoft, that were software manufacturer for all device manufacturers. Then with the introduction of Tablets and Phones, iPads and iPhones took over as more popular devices than the Apple Desktops ever did. To the extent that the latest devices, the iPhone6 are now as powerful and as expensive as desktops themselves. Macbook Airs and iMacs are in the same price range as these.
2. Display resolutions
The resolution of an iMac 21.5" is 1920x1080 which is the same as the resolution on the iPhone 6 Plus. The resolution on the iPhone 6 is 1334x750 which is similar to many Wintel laptop screens that were at 1344x768.
3. CPU
After Apple started its own line of CPU's modelled on the ARM processors, they have been able to create some amazing powerful mobile processors that are also energy efficient. When they created the A4 they opened the doors for these powerful processors. The A8 in the new iPhone6 are supposedly exponentially powerful in comparison to the A4 processor. From 4 to 4S, there was an approximate 20% increase in performance with the Apple A4 to Apple A5 CPU. Then with the iPhone5 and the A6 CPU it provided an improvement that was nearly double than that of the 4S. Then with the 5S and the A7 it upped the performance further to achieve about 75% improvement over the iPhone5's A6 processors and then finally with the iPhone6's A8 this has once again increased to approximately 25% over the A7. All of these CPU's were created on an annual basis between 2010 and 2014.
4. Price
While technology should become cheaper with every iteration but with Apple it has been the other way and no one seems to mind it. While the Windows Phones were in the range between $200-$800 and were the smartphones that actually did Word, Excel and Powerpoint and had touch screen capabilities. Now even after 10 odd years of that the prices are not going down.
5. Software
When Microsoft created the PocketPC, they had something that was modeled on the Windows CE system which was similar to something between windows 95 and Windows 98. But when iOS was released and created, it was a very basic software that was slightly better than the MP3 software available in earlier iPods. It was supposedly a touch screen iPod that could then play music and video. It has come a long way from that and one can bet that with Apple's processors and software, there might be a point of unification that might see a single OS for both the Desktops and the Mobile Devices.
Having presented all of those facts and the blatant truth that the iPhone 6 is a rather large device and expensive in comparison to the earlier models. With the annual upgrades of the CPU, OS etc it is nearly forcing users to spend $1000 every two years even though the hardware quality allows the same to last for at least 5 years or more.
My iPad 1 running iOS 5.x still works perfectly fine but is at the end of it's life cycle and cannot have any updates and the CPU on the same is not adequate to run the updated OS versions. The iPad 2 managed iOS7 but is soon falling off the update wagon with iOS 8, however these two devices are perfectly fine in great condition and would by an estimate run another 4/5 years (if the software do not require updates and thereby require a newer OS)
The new iOS devices are a good thing because they now have NFC, a larger screen, faster processors, larger resolution etc but the pricing and the life of these devices are factors that are not in favour but still there is no shortage of people lapping this up, rather than point fingers, I just got an iPhone6 4.7" on a plan and ordered an iPhone 6 Plus 5.5" on another, soon I will have the need to get an iPad Mini with Retina so that it has the A7 processor which would last the next two years or so.
The first radical change that Apple introduced with the Retina display was amazing, the graphics on a LCD/mobile device was no longer pixellated but crisp like it would be in print. The next change with the longer resolution of iPhone5 was a bit strange and honestly with the iPhone6 it is ... beyond words. It was really funny watching those with iPad Mini's stuck to their ears (sarcastically referring to the Samsung Galaxy Tab type Phablets) and now Apple has put them on to a similar offering. It might be a good idea for those that have large hands but for the majority that enjoyed using the iPhones single handedly and could reach all the corners of the screen, thing are a bit different now. Watching videos is however a pleasant experience on these large screens. Lastly since from the offerings from Apple, if you have to buy something that would last for a while, you have to choose top of the range which is an iPhone 6 Plus if you choose the 5S, you get a device that is inferior in terms of screen size, battery life, processor, etc.
From a developer's perspective there are other joys and pains with the new devices and OS. Add to that the new language Swift which makes it easier to develop with in comparison to learning and using Objective-C.
Apart from the continuing prestige of the Apple brand and Swift there are issues with the quality that is expected from Apple. Technologically there cannot be any complaints but there were lesser issues with Jobs at the helm than there are now. However till the next release, I shall enjoy my iPhone 6 plus when it is delivered soon.
There would be a more in-depth review of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus and comparison soon.
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