Tim is teasing something new

[Vincent Hannah]

The thing that makes them unappealing to me is that every time you take it out of your pocket you have to fuck with it. Sure, you can use it as a “regular phone“ by leaving it closed and using the external screen, but that’s still gonna be a compromised experience compared to just using a normal phone at half the price.

 

[MacPoulet]

I largely agree, but if apple can work some sort of magic and give me an ipad that fits in my pocket, then I’d be interested, at least. The bigger the screen the better, given my vision.

The iphone form factor - tall and skinny - is really a vestige of a use case that isn’t that important for most people nowadays. How often does anyone hold an iPhone to one’s ear and use it as a phone, nowadays?

More of a wallet aspect ratio makes a lot of sense to me. And if I can unfold it and have an iPad mini, that might be pretty sweet. Of course it’s all in the execution, so who knows.

I still do, and I gotta say, iPhones make terrible phones. Sound quality from the earpiece is abysmal on the models we have at the house.

 

[Cmaier]

I still do, and I gotta say, iPhones make terrible phones. Sound quality from the earpiece is abysmal on the models we have at the house.

on the rare occasions i “call” people, I find facetime audio to be the way to go. Luckily everyone in my family has iphones so it’s an option for us.

 

[Jimmyjames]

I still do, and I gotta say, iPhones make terrible phones. Sound quality from the earpiece is abysmal on the models we have at the house.

Not my experience at all. Sound quality has been great.

 

[MacPoulet]

Not my experience at all. Sound quality has been great.

Interesting. I wonder if it's more a network issue with the carrier...

 

[rdrr]

Interesting. I wonder if it's more a network issue with the carrier...

That and if you are in motion going between towers.

 

[Cmaier]

early tests seem to show the C1 performs comparably to Qualcomm in terms of connection strength, but at significantly less power (around 20%). nicely done.

 

[theorist9]

The thing that makes them unappealing to me is that every time you take it out of your pocket you have to fuck with it. Sure, you can use it as a “regular phone“ by leaving it closed and using the external screen, but that’s still gonna be a compromised experience compared to just using a normal phone at half the price.

I hear you. If they still made a Mini-sized bar phone, I might prefer that to a foldable. But they don't, and I find normal-sized phones fit uncomfortably in my front pocket.

Thus, for me, it's a matter of picking your poison. Do I want a phone I have to screw with whenever I take it out of my pocket? Or do I want a phone that's continuously screwing with me when it's in my pocket? I'd prefer the former.

That's the downside of being in the Apple ecosystem. If you're not, and you don't like the computers or phones produced by brand A, you can still choose from brands B, C, D, E, and so on. But as a Mac/iPhone user, you don't have that option. I think that's why Apple consumers are particularly passionate about Apple's gear decisions—they have nowhere else to go if they want to stay in that ecosystem.

 

[theorist9]

Separately, about call quality:

FWIW, Consumer Reports directly compares smartphones for call quality. Their rankings include the iPhone 12 through 16. Nearly all the smartphones, including all the iPhones, get a 4/5. The exception are the Samsungs, half of which get a 5/5. So if you want top call quality, at least according to CR, you'll need to get one of those.

Of course, their ratings are all (sensibly) relative to the category. The fact is that all smartphones suck in call quality relative to a landline (I don't know how much of this is the smartphone and how much is the cellular connection).

That's why I keep my landline—so that when I'm calling from home I have a far better calling experience. It's particularly nice if you're calling someone else who also has a landline, in which case the clarity, and absence of static and obvious distortion, is downright luxurious compared to talking on a cell phone.

 

[Vincent Hannah]

I might make a cell-based phone call only a few times per year now. The other handful of times I need to talk on the phone I use FaceTime Audio, which usually has excellent quality (not to mention security).

 

[Citysnaps]

I hear you. If they still made a Mini-sized bar phone, I might prefer that to a foldable. But they don't, and I find normal-sized phones fit uncomfortably in my front pocket.

Same here, my current 16PM (and recent previous iPhones) as an example. Thus I'm looking forward to checking out the 17 Air when it's released.

If it is indeed thinner it will fit great in the pocket of the shirts I like to wear everyday. And be much easier putting/pushing it in (with a grippy silicone case) and taking it out. As long as it has at least one decent camera it will be great using it.

 

[casperes1996]

Now there’s something in the air. M4 MBA inbound

 

[Cmaier]

Now there’s something in the air. M4 MBA inbound

My wife may be buying that bad boy. Though she could probably live with a weaker CPU. So we’ll see what costs what

 

[theorist9]

Same here, my current 16PM (and recent previous iPhones) as an example. Thus I'm looking forward to checking out the 17 Air when it's released.

If it is indeed thinner it will fit great in the pocket of the shirts I like to wear everyday. And be much easier putting/pushing it in (with a grippy silicone case) and taking it out. As long as it has at least one decent camera it will be great using it.

I see - you use your front shirt pocket, so you need a sufficiently thin and light phone, but can accept some length.

By contrast, I use my front pants pocket, so I need a sufficiently short phone (so it doesn't jam into my hip when I sit*), but can accept some thickness (light weight is still nice, though). Hence the 17 Air likely won't work for me.

*One of my colleagues doesn't have this problem, but he's built very differently from me.

 

[Citysnaps]

I see - you use your front shirt pocket, so you need a sufficiently thin and light phone, but can accept some length.

By contrast, I use my front pants pocket, so I need a sufficiently short phone (so it doesn't jam into my hip when I sit*), but can accept some thickness (light weight is still nice, though). Hence the 17 Air likely won't work for me.

*One of my colleagues doesn't have this problem, but he's built very differently from me.

That's it. Right now the camera bump sits above the top of my shirt pocket. And that's OK. It's something to grip when I need to pull it out to answer a call or make a photograph.

One plus of the snug fit and grippy silicone case is if someone tries to jack it out of my shirt pocket, especially at any angle greater than a couple of degrees, in sketch areas of San Francisco, it's really tough to get it out, and will give me a couple seconds to react accordingly. I've seen phones getting snagged out of front shirt pockets a few times - a dude will run by someone, grab a phone without a grippy case out of a shirt pocket, and keep running. Which probably means I'll need to keep my phone in my jeans pocket in questionable areas.

 

[B01L]

I largely agree, but if apple can work some sort of magic and give me an ipad that fits in my pocket, then I’d be interested, at least. The bigger the screen the better, given my vision.

The iphone form factor - tall and skinny - is really a vestige of a use case that isn’t that important for most people nowadays. How often does anyone hold an iPhone to one’s ear and use it as a phone, nowadays?

More of a wallet aspect ratio makes a lot of sense to me. And if I can unfold it and have an iPad mini, that might be pretty sweet. Of course it’s all in the execution, so who knows.

Folding iPhone/iPad mini, yes please...!

 

[casperes1996]

My wife may be buying that bad boy. Though she could probably live with a weaker CPU. So we’ll see what costs what

I’m currently advising a colleague on what to get his daughter for her study. Told them to wait because the new air is just around the corner. They want something at the price point of the current M2. I’m hoping for them that either the M3 takes that price point when M4 comes out or if they choose to keep M2 and cut M3 the M2 price hopefully goes down a smidge.

 

[Vincent Hannah]

The big question in my mind is not the M4 MBA announcement, but what takes the $999 price point. Will it be M3 or stay M2.

And will the $999 entry level price point even hold in the face of Trump’s new tariffs that go into effect today.

 

[casperes1996]

The big question in my mind is not the M4 MBA announcement, but what takes the $999 price point. Will it be M3 or stay M2.

And will the $999 entry level price point even hold in the face of Trump’s new tariffs that go into effect today.

Agreed that this is the most interesting part. Maybe M3 just dies and M2 stays at its price. Maybe M2 goes to 799 and M3 dies. Maybe M2 goes dodo and M3 is 999. I find it hard to speculate on this one. Heck maybe it’s just pure M4. Nothing else in the lineup starting 999. The base M4 chip has existed for a while now after all and rnd on the rest of the mba design and parts is probably already recovered.

 

[dada_dave]

iPad Air updated to M3. Interesting … possible sign of what the MB Air will do? (ie update to M4, M3 will stick around as base)