“The iPhone 4S is what cruise control looks like,” Omar El Akkad reports for The Globe and Mail. “After a decade in the fast lane, Apple showcased a new smartphone, a new CEO, and a tacit admission that it can’t produce revolutionary products at the drop of a hat.”
“All eyes were on the world’s most valuable technology company on Tuesday as Apple revealed the newest iteration of the iPhone, which comes out in the United States, Canada and several other countries on Oct. 14,” El Akkad reports. “But while many fans and analysts were expecting the iPhone 5 – a faster, slimmer, entirely redesigned smartphone that would once again leave competitors in the dust – they instead got the iPhone 4S, a gadget very similar to the current model in design, but with a few new features and a brawnier processor under the hood.”
El Akkad reports, “‘Unfortunately for Apple, this is happening at a time when competitors are aggressively bringing new products to market with superior user experience in the form of wider and better screens, intuitive [user interfaces], and more integrated apps,’ said David McQueen, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media. ‘As a result, iPhone 4S could be the first disappointing device since the launch of the brand.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Please name one of these mythical devices that offer a “superior user experience” to Apple’s iPhone 4S with iOS 5 and iCloud. David McQueen is either an idiot or paid to spread anti-Apple FUD or both.
El Akkad reports, “Ultimately, it’s unlikely that a less-than-revolutionary product launch is going to persuade many Apple customers to switch to a different phone. In the short term, Mr. Cook’s wizardry as CFO likely ensures a long run of profitability for Apple, even if its hardware offerings stop improving by leaps and bounds. But the reaction to the iPhone 4S launch raises two important questions: How long before consumers start demanding the next industry-shaking iProduct, and can Mr. Cook deliver it?”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Sigh. This is what results from improperly managing out-of-control expectations. It creates openings that competitors, their PR firms, and their willing accomplices in the media can and will attempt to drive big fat trucks though. By not tamping down the “iPhone 5” hype properly, Apple set themselves up for a flood of this sort of FUDtastic crap.
Another prognosticator got their prediction wrong and is covering his tracks by claiming apple got it wrong. Just because apple doesn’t put out what he expected doesn’t deny their superior quality and innovation. Apple has been proving doubters wrong for how many decades now?
Definitely.
Remember all the “where’s the cd rom?” doubters when the MacBook Air launched?
Apple put the i in innovation.
Exactly. MDN should iCal immediate reactions to any Apple announcement, revolutionary or otherwise. And with Apple soaring at an all time high there are just that many more expectations and opions that turn out dead wrong.
The iPad was a HUGE disappointment immediately after announcement because the expectation was a MacBook Pro tablet.
Mac OSX was too Next and not enough Mac.
The intel switch was way too disruptive.
The original iPod was ridiculed.
I’m not sure how the 3GS was perceived. I can’t recall, but if the 4S is Apple on cruise control under Tim, then so was it under Steve with the 3GS. obviously that was wrong.
Then there are the examples you just brought up. The list goes on and on. It’d be much much easier to make a small list of where the post announcement naysayers were correct.
The G4 cube being too expensive maybe. And… um….the original iMac hockeypuck mouse…. there must be a few more.
You should include in your list the hyperactive tantrum that occurred in this site’s comments when the 2009 revision of the iPod touch didn’t include a camera.
——RM
If iPhone 4S is Apple on cruise control it has more to do with SJ’s limited time and energy in the last 12 months, and very little to do with Tim Cook’s abilities as CEO. I work in a cutting (bleeding) edge application environment and I shudder to think of the hours and pressure involved in getting Siri to the point it is now. If you want to call 20 hour days, 7 days a week by all hands (because I’m sure that’s what went into the final months of Siri development) “cruise control”, you’ll just be demonstrating how little you (along with these authors) know about application development.
I guess these writers imagine it takes only a few weeks for Apple to design, research and build a new phone. Cook has only held the reins for a few weeks and the iPhone 4S was completed under SJ’s reign. Come on you supposed techie writers, get a brain.
I agree with you Mike. Having read more than a few negative reviews of the event it seems either some commentators expected another set of “tech toys” to play with and/or some new sleek dress accessory to show off and/or a 4G device that Apple’s has said many time over was not ready for primetime. I want an iPhone to get my work done more quickly and easily. It’s a pragmatic thing. As a Sprint customer I’m most excited that I finally have a choice!
am I the only one who noticed that this “journalist” knows so little about Apple that he ot Cook’s previous title wrong?
Oppenheimer has been CFO for years…Cook was COO.
I noticed, too.
It’s never surprising when hack journalists mirror their ignorance and bias with an inability to report basic facts.
This is not the first product “disappointment” from Apple.
Many thought the iPod was a mistake.
The media had set expectations very high, the faithful had been hoping for a new revolutionary product that was going to change their lives, and all they got was a music player. Disappointment ensued. The media marked it as a failure for Apple and Steve Jobs.
Look back at many of the past Apple product announcements, you’ll see a pattern. The media tells stories to get hits, they don’t report the news.
Yes, remember these?
iPad is just a giant iPod touch.
But it does not have physical keyboard (on iPhone 1).
Check out the ‘Joy of Tech’ cartoon (on the left). Just priceless!
There is absolutely no mechanism that Apple could use in any meaningful way in order to prevent, or suppress, or counter rumours about their unreleased devices. When an iPhone 5 rumour took off, iPhone 4 was barely out. It was a fairly logical sequence, and no amount of “damage control” by any entity would have prevented that rumour from living the life of its own, which it did.
Apple will focus its advertising on SIRI, and the commercials will likely be ultra cool. The campaign should neutralise any negative effect of the unchanged body appearance.
“Apple will focus its advertising on SIRI, and the commercials will likely be ultra cool.”
I think its time for Apple to do a Super Bowl commercial, maybe two, one for SIRI, and another for iPad2.
I hope that MDN realizes that by “aggregating” the rumors, false stories and obvious link bait, it is contributing to the problem.
…and then, MDN turns around and blames Apple for not doing anything to “control” the Apple rumors. As if such a thing were actually possible.
Please, MDN, explain your “blame the victim” mentality here, because I really don’t get where you’re coming from.
Let them try.
It’s not what we wanted, but it seems like a good business decision. The iOS5 and iCloud package is enough to tide me over personally … I’m sure other ’s feel the same, yeah? The iPhone4 is maintains it’s lead over the market ( <–not an opinion, haters ), and come next year we'll see the redesign we were expecting.
If we thought there was hype for iPhone5 this year, think what it will be like next year.
"F#@%ing smart"
What kind of rag is this?
What a ridiculous, irresponsible, juvenile piece of whining pap!
@MDN Take – YES THEY DID. So, why is it so hard for you to just say that the singularly unimpressive, disappointing Tim hauled out a dud on his debut? Not that the innards aren’t impressive, but the reality is that most iPhone 4 users won’t really notice much difference in speed, picture quality, videos (a bunch of apps were already doing the video stuff now offered as built in app for the 4S) unless, that is, they want to carry on a weird conversation with their phone. The payoff was that we get the new innards AND a new phone. We didn’t and now we’re faced with the reality that the 5, when it comes out in a few months, will cost us a fortune when we pay the early termination fee to cast off the disappointing 4S.
Your statement is just absurd. The iPhone 4S is an entirely new phone, where EVERYTHING is better and faster. Plus, it has entirely new piece of software that comes straight from the science fiction. About the only unchanged thing is glass and metal case (the only thing that is really irrelevant).
Forgive me if this offends you, but your statement sounds like someone who doesn’t possess much intelligence. Or someone who has an Android phone…
“…someone who doesn’t possess much intelligence. Or someone who has an Android phone…”
Redundant.
I have an iPhone 4, and I’ll be getting the 4s.
You are wrong, just admit it.
Someday, the media will start reporting news, as in events that happen as opposed to things they want to happen. Why on earth would Apple put out a new iPhone with supposedly a new form factor just before the holidays, this would not give third party accessory makers time to make new cases, for example…
Apple did out do the competition again, its just under the hood. Would love to get my hands on a 4S but my ATT contract will not allow until Nov. 30th.
@MDN, agreed; the last couple of weeks they tried to hint/leak/threw-in the idea of a 4S, even officially with the iTunes beta, just wasn’t enough apparently. Maybe Mr. Gore could have slipped a bit more stronger hint.
I was disappointed for not having a Stevenote; but maybe that was more a hope than an expectation.
I still trust that Apple knows what it’s doing. Maybe the iPhone 5 isn’t ready, besides offering too many products will only confuse the consumer. Besides, an early launch in 2012 (say in March) will enable them to club the next iPhone killer the press will dream up.
Finally, the major bomb was the exclusion of Google from the Siri UI (dear Apple, please either buy Wolfram Alpha, or at least license it for life, before Google may just swallow it up).
I don’t think managing expectations has much to do with it. As long as writing FUD produces traffic, things like this will happen. Antenna-gate is a great example… there was nothing wrong with the antenna.. a fact made clear by the fact that apple did not change a thing about the antenna (aside from tweaking the “bar” indicator) and the problem magically went away. But there is nothing apple could have really done. Once that story got some traction, the internet dialed it up to 11 instantly. If apple leaked that there would be no iPhone 5 this year.. these articles declaring the death of Apple innovation would still be written. How could they not be? These are obviously not rational people. Apple changed everything about the phone except for the external case… and they still claim that apple didn’t do anything new.
I wonder how this author reconciles his conclusions with the fact that Apple released the 3GS after the 3G. Hmmm 3G -> 3GS -> 4 -> 4S. I wonder if there is a pattern here somewhere?
In the larger picture of things, you have to think that to some degree the issuance of an iPhone 4S comes from the carriers.
Carriers sign subscribers to a minimum 2 year contract. They don’t want a radically changed phone every year because they will get huge backlash from customers who can’t get out of their contracts.. either that or take a loss on amortizing the sale of the phone.
And to suggest that this is because Jobs left or Apple can’t innovate anymore is ridiculous. This is the exact same pattern that happened with the iPhone 3 … and that was when Jobs was still in full control and Apple was innovating in their “prime”.
The most logical thing I’ve read all day.
If Apple Wants to be a phone co ok otjers will take on.
the globe and mail trying to support rimm through apple FUD. Nothing here, move on.
I think the author wrote a GREAT article. Just think about it for a moment. Operating on cruise control Apple just introduced the most amazing handset this planet has ever seen. Think what Apple could do if it was really trying. : )
Amazing to watch mass hysteria and stupidity unfold. If Apple had called iPhone 5 instead of 4s nobody would complain.
Never mind Apple just delivered scifi tech with Siri, but hey…. Let’s freak out because it’s a 44444444!
Apple is going to clobber Android at all price points – FREE, $99, $199, $299 and $399. Game on.
The thing I don’t get about the repeated “Apple should have managed expectations and said there would be no iPhone 5” shtick is this – wouldn’t that only have caused the FUD to be spread sooner? That would have only meant that the stock would have taken a hit earlier prior to the announcement, and I *STILL* think people would have been disappointed with the 4S presentation.
I can imagine what the FUD machine would have put out there if Apple would have said there would be no iPhone 5. “Apple admits defeat, has lost to Android and can no longer innovate.” “No iPhone 5? Apple to exit the phone business?” Etc.
Face it, Apple has become the company “everyone” wants to see fail. This is also the reason why AAPL is being artificially held back from the price it should be at to properly reflect its value.
If Apple WOULD have called this phone the iPhone 5, then people STILL would have had a negative reaction – “It’s just a faster iPhone 4, not worthy of being called a NEW phone!”
Either way, the iPhone 4S will sell like mad.
Face it, if steve jobs was still in charge… And he introduced the 4s yesterday… The blogs would have said the 4s was awesome.
Blogs created the “iPhone 5 or apple is doomed” media FUD.
The 4s will be great, android will fall on it’s face again.
Strangely enough, you’re probably right that if Jobs presented this exact same phone, most outlets would have said it was great.
And I definitely agree that Android will continue to fall on its face (at least until it is completely removed from sale).
How on Earth could they call this a new phone?No new buttons, no swoopy cool graphics, no knurled diamond pattern on the back? It looks just like an iPhone 4 to me. I am really disappointed. I really wanted something different from them, maybe a flip phone. I am so mad at Apple for not living up to my expectations that I am going to the mall to get myself one of them Motorola phones.
Don’t worry, I have it on good authority that the new iPhone PAPR is going to come out and will be a super thin flip phone. It will make the Moto RAZR look like a brick.
OOOOO ,I cant wait. Thanks for the heads-up on that. Do you know if its going to be auto-bending using that Liquid Metal I heard so much about?
Not even Apple can deliver a revolution with every product upgrade. Today’s disappointment is little different from that when the iPhone 3 was replaced by the 3GS and not a “4”, or when the iPad 2 wasn’t a radical enough improvement to the iPad. (I wanted better resolution. C’est la vie.) Grow up, people.
The people who got it wrong were the rumour mongers. Anybody who claimed a new shape phone was imminent was talking complete nonsense and whenever they next make a prediction, they should be reminded of their previous track record. MDN should play it’s part and link to previous predictions whenever any analyst makes new predictions.
Apple’s basic concept is that an iPhone consist of a touch screen and a single button, with a few minor buttons for secondary functions. Any new phone would also fit in with this concept, so why is it necessary to make a totally different looking case when the major changes are all internal ?
Apple’s launch was two pronged. One is a price war, with users now able to get a free iPhone with a contract and better models at very attractive prices. This will diminish the temptation for people to settle for an Android because it’s initially a bit cheaper.
The second prong was the Siri voice control. This appears to be working as well as Apple implies, unlike so many previous voice control systems which have devalued the notion of voice control. It’s a feature which people will need to try for themselves to fully appreciate it’s worth.
It’s a bit like how new converts to Macs initially refuse to believe that there is no OS X malware, but when they use a Mac, they start to realise that it really is true. We have had voice control dangled before us for well over twenty years and it simply hasn’t been good enough, which is why you rarely see it being used. It will take time for people to appreciate that Apple can deliver what others only promise.
One word: iPad.
Settle down, MDN. Settle down.
Has anyone else noticed that the press, after a show or presentation, almost unanimously says it didn’t live up to expectations? That’s become par for the course. Never mind that the 4S had everything in it we expected out of the rumored 5 (A5, 64GB, 8MP camera) except a shape change and a bigger screen (both of which were just rumors).
Personally I blame Al Gore 😛
iPhone 4S is quite an advancement. It has two cores instead of one, significantly better graphics, significantly better camera, both CDMA and GSM in one device, the ability to run Siri and much more. It just happens to look like the previous iPhone. If Apple had changed the glass back to a silver metallic back and called it “iPhone 5,” reporters like this would be saying how great it is…
But Apple tends to NOT play games like that. Instead, Apple took the phone that consumers collectively viewed as the best (and most popular) smartphone in the world, even after it was on the market for more than one year, and made it MUCH better.
As for the screen, the Retina Display is great and there is still no other screen like it on any other phone. The problem with making the screen even slightly larger, such as to 4-inch…? There are two ways. (1) Make it bigger and keep same resolution. Then, the screen would be less “Retina” and that not be a good thing, a downgrade. (2) Keep same pixel density, and make it bigger. Then, iOS and developers would need to accommodate an entirely new screen resolution, for a very small subset of iPhones. Fragmentation for such a small increase in screen size is not worthwhile.
I think the screen will eventually go to 4-inch, but Apple is not going to do it until iOS provides built-in “resolution independence.” Then, the user can smoothly adjust the GUI to accommodate their individual preferences (including differing eye sight and finger tip size), like the Mac OS X Dock. Native Screen resolution and pixel density becomes irrelevant. iPhone (and iPod touch) with Retina Display and A4, or better, will be supported. At the same time, iPad can go to two distinct screen size options, also without causing platform fragmentation. Apple will provide APIs for developers to fully support this new capability in their apps.
You sir, can see clearly in a world full of poop. ALL of your comments are top notch and have more thought behind them than 90% of the rest of the people here. Thanks for calling out the screen resolution conundrum. People really think more screen is better, no matter the resolution implication. “oh I gotta have a bigger screen”.
Well, thanks for trying to make iPhone users feel better about their small-screen inadequacies. But the fact of the matter is that slightly larger screens are better for many people. And by choosing not to offer such an option now, Apple is very much behind the competition in this regard. When Samsung releases their new phone six days from now, it will feature the same pixel density as the iPhone 4S, but in a much larger screen size. If Android can do this, so could Apple if they choose to. For crying out loud, if they can integrate the most awesome AI voice system in the world, surely they could figure out a way to deal with different screen sizes. They just haven’t put it on their priority list. And by neglecting it, they are now very much behind the competition when it comes to display size offerings.
It’s quite obviously the “Android” players can basically do whatever they want to their fragmented mess of a platform. They have no real “ownership” of the platform; they are just in it to make a quick buck, and will jump ship to another platform if the “grass is greener.” Apple is not so careless and cares deeply about the long-term viability of iPhone. Apple has ownership of the iPhone platform, and it shows.
iPhone as a platform has very little no fragmentation, except for that which is caused by older hardware that is no longer supported with the newest software due to hardware performance. For example, the original iPhone can only run up to iPhone OS 3.1.3, not iOS 4 and certainly not iOS 5. So old hardware causes a small amount of fragmentation.
But on Android, it seems like every NEW piece of hardware from every maker causes fragmentation. That affects developers and user satisfaction. An iPhone 3GS may be older tech, but it can run most of the iOS software. No headaches for developer or customer. In contrast, a brand new Android phone may not be able to run the latest version of Android or a desired app.
In the presentation, I think Tim Cook said that 96% of iPhone customers were “Very Satisfied” or “Satisfied.” Nothing else came close. NO ONE needs to “make iPhone users feel better” about their iPhones. They already feel pretty good about their choice, and that’s certainly not going to change with iPhone 4S.
Dear MDN:
Please provide a logical, rational explanation for how, precisely, Apple could have “managed” the “out-of-control” Apple rumors.
Please also provide credible evidence of how they’ve been able to “manage” such rumors in the past to prevent disappointed reactions to product introductions such as, say, the original iPad.
I look forward to your calmly reasoned arguments in response to my query, as opposed to the whiny, petulant, foot-stomping spoiled-brat tone you’ve been showing us up to this point.
Thanks!
Amen!
What I find absolutely amazing is the reaction to no iPhone 5. It seems America’s appetite for news that arrives in the form of “what if” is insatiable. Just a few years ago, Apple was being criticized for upgrading products every year. What was the consumer to do? I just bought this and now it’s out of date! Damned if you do and, damned if you don’t. This upgrade seems logical and methodical from a company everyone else is trying to emulate and catch up to,(read Samsung here). Perhaps attention should be focused on facts. Do you remember reporting in the good old days when facts actually mattered. It seems the press lives to speculate and in the process literally mis-inform the masses who are now taking this information as fact. Wake up people, start paying attention to what you’re reading. If it starts with should, could, if, might, in my opinion, chances are, you’re reading crap from people that are trying to draw more attention to them than what’s really happening in the world around them.
Y’know, I’m actually glad that that new phone is the 4S. Two reasons: lowered excitement means it’ll be easier for me to get one, and I happen to like the iPhone 4’s form factor.
——RM