“I was enjoying the iPhone 5c web page where you can experiment with the phone/case color combos,” Ken Segall writes for Observatory. “It’s very nicely done.”
“Suddenly I was aghast — a chunk of the word ‘iPhone’ can be seen through one of the holes in the case,” Segall writes. “While some will say “big deal,” those who love Apple’s taste and values will feel like they got punched in the stomach. Clearly someone fell asleep at the wheel. It not only looks like a mistake — it looks ugly. And ugly has no place in Apple’s world. ”
Segall writes, “You can either write it off as a momentary lapse, or you can take it as terrible warning sign. Or maybe this just proves that while Jony Ive is in charge of hardware design and software interface, he doesn’t get invited to the accessory meetings.”
Much more about the positives and negatives from Apple’s September 10th event in the full article here.
John Brownlee writes for FastCompany, “Apple is known for its rigorous, iterative testing process. For every product Apple releases, it likes to brag a hundred products get thrown into the bin because some small, niggling detail was wrong. How, then, could the iPhone 5C get manufactured in bulk without anyone at Apple ever actually putting one on an iPhone 5C to see how it looked? Because that’s the only explanation that makes sense to me considering what the iPhone 5C case looks like when used with an actual iPhone 5C.”
Brownlee writes, “Here’s my specific complaint. On the back of every iPhone, Apple prints some text… If the iPhone 5C case merely hid this text, I’d have no problem with the design. Nor would I have much of an issue if a little window had been left open for it, or at least the word “iPhone.” They could even have moved the polkadot grid to the top of the case instead of the bottom and I’d be fine. What is mystifying to me is the way the polkadot grid of the iPhone 5C case half-obscures, half-exposes all of this text. It looks terrible, like a Playskool fishnet stocking that has been sloppily pulled over a sign.”
“So when you put on an iPhone 5C case, your iPhone doesn’t say iPhone on the back. The ‘iP’ and ‘e’ are obscured, as is the very top of the ‘h.’ So instead of ‘iPhone,’ it says ‘non,'” Brownlee writes. “Which is exactly what some token Frenchman working within Apple should have said when he saw this thing actually pulled onto an iPhone 5C for the first time.”
MacDailyNews Take: Jobs would have caught this one, too.
Apple’s fanatical attention to detail needs work and vigilance lest it be lost forever.
Attention to even the most minute detail is why Apple stands apart. Lose that and you’ve lost it all.
It’s a slippery slope, Apple. Pay attention!
Here’s a 5-minute quick and dirty revision we whipped up. Compare it to Apple’s half-assery:
iPhone 5s case as revised by MacDailyNews
(Of course, there is additional text and FCC info on the bottom of real iPhones that would need to be addressed, but we’re not getting paid to fix Apple’s mistakes and you get the idea anyway. If we spent another whole 5 minutes on it, it would be better than Apple’s case currently.)
I’m glad that I’m not the only one that was delisturbed by this. I came across this in the exact same way. I couldn’t believe it. Attention to detail is one of the things that has always drawn me to Apple, but those days are gone. Steve didn’t leave the sales guy in charge. But I don’t think the operations guy will be much different. It’s such a strange company… I’ve never seen a company so driven to wring ever dollar they can out of their customer, and yet they don’t seem to give a damn about the shareholder. 20 years from no, Apple will be a case study in how to kill the golden goose.
Definitely a design oversight.. But guaranteed apple has already heard about it..
To fix the problem is basically a none issue and can done overnight.
I hope apple will Immediately correct the problem . dump the old inventory. take a hit on the cost of what has been made ..
Anyone who likes the look of those cases on those phones IS NOT going to notice or even care about some of the lettering being visible.
Give me a break! You say the cases are ugly and you’d never use it, but then complain about it as if it would completely ruin the entire design aesthetics of your phone. That’s known as just looking for something to complain about.
Seriously, a non-issue. Apple has been about the phone not the case. And honestly, apple’s design make more sense visually speaking than MDN’s mock up.
That was the first thing I thought of when I saw all the holes at the bottom of the case! I didn’t even have to see one on a phone. Pretty sure Apple would’ve known this as well, and chose to push it through anyway.
Oh my God. OH MY GOD! Apple put the fine print _on the back of the device_, where no one would see it? What a bunch of screw ups. As a shareholder, I will push for all fine print to be placed on the front of all devices — AND IN LARGE PRINT, too. /s — for those who need to be told
Wow…the outrage by Ken Segall over something so trivial is astounding. Is that all you have Saruman?! And MDN backing up the hyperbole is even more flabbergasting. This forum, which has already been trending down into the abyss from the proliferation of standard trolls, polititrolls, and just plain idiots, is now suffering from hypersensitivity. Oh my gosh, part of your “iPhone” is showing!
I really can’t believe how shallow and superficial some people have become. There are some things that actually matter…
It is called fsck up, and listening to Ive’s stoned speech on the subject of design makes you cringe, dude, duuuuude, duuuuuuuuuuude, a first year design student lazy ass would not show this idiotic net
as a finish product
Hold on a second! Does anyone remember the Powerbooks from the late 1990s? People were complaining for several generations directly to Steve Jobs at unveilings that when opened the Apple logo was upside down. Jobs made some smart comment about it being right side up when you looked at it before opening it. Then later acknowledged to the audiences glee that they (even) got the logo in the right direction (I believe on the Ti Powerbook unveiling). So, the point is: It’s a matter of perspective. And, before we all go wacky thinking things were ideal under Steve Job’s watch and tutelage let’s try to remember that all things Apple design-wise have had their evolutions or even outright failures at times. My guess is, this is likely to be fixed at sometime with only those critical eyes, as seen here, really noticing.
If you’re really knit picking, take a look at all of the inconsistencies in the MacOSX UI and start there…
Apple just doesn’t seem to know how to do cases, somehow. The examples are numerous.
— The “bumper” cases for the iPhone 4 that nearly everyone agreed were inferior to third-party cases.
— The “smart lids” or whatever the hell they call them for the iPad, which MDN repeatedly complained about in their takes. I think the complaint was that they attracted dirt and came off too easily.
— Remember “iPod socks”? Those were laughed at and disappeared fairly quickly.
For whatever unknown reason, making cases just seems to be one of Apple’s weak spots.
You’ll also notice in the keynote as Phil Schiller introduces the cases, the images shown are clearly of the cases ON the iPhone 5c, but don’t show the logo/text underneath them. Someone either noticed and edited it out for the presentation or those are early design images and it truly was a slip-up.
Either way, it was the first thing I noticed when the case was shown and I thought to myself, “Wow…Apple has always paid attention to details like that. What happened?”
Segall writes, “You can either write it off as a momentary lapse, or you can take it as terrible warning sign. Or maybe this just proves that while Jony Ive is in charge of hardware design and software interface, he doesn’t get invited to the accessory meetings.”
I’m glad that I’m not the only one that was delisturbed by this. I came across this in the exact same way. I couldn’t believe it. Attention to detail is one of the things that has always drawn me to Apple, but those days are gone. Steve didn’t leave the sales guy in charge. But I don’t think the operations guy will be much different. It’s such a strange company… I’ve never seen a company so driven to wring ever dollar they can out of their customer, and yet they don’t seem to give a damn about the shareholder. 20 years from no, Apple will be a case study in how to kill the golden goose.
Did Apple even make that case?!
Definitely a design oversight.. But guaranteed apple has already heard about it..
To fix the problem is basically a none issue and can done overnight.
I hope apple will Immediately correct the problem . dump the old inventory. take a hit on the cost of what has been made ..
The only people who would hate on this are those with trypophobia.
These phones are clearly for a younger generation of Apple users who like these puke colors. If Apple can sell a ton of them good for Apple.
Not the point, but thanks for playing.
Apple has pretty much always made crappy cases for its phones. Who cares? That’s te job of third parties.
Anyone who likes the look of those cases on those phones IS NOT going to notice or even care about some of the lettering being visible.
Give me a break! You say the cases are ugly and you’d never use it, but then complain about it as if it would completely ruin the entire design aesthetics of your phone. That’s known as just looking for something to complain about.
Seriously, a non-issue. Apple has been about the phone not the case. And honestly, apple’s design make more sense visually speaking than MDN’s mock up.
MDN, you’re the one that’s slipping.
You’re holding it wrong.
You’re supposed to put your finger over the hole.
That was the first thing I thought of when I saw all the holes at the bottom of the case! I didn’t even have to see one on a phone. Pretty sure Apple would’ve known this as well, and chose to push it through anyway.
Oh my God. OH MY GOD! Apple put the fine print _on the back of the device_, where no one would see it? What a bunch of screw ups. As a shareholder, I will push for all fine print to be placed on the front of all devices — AND IN LARGE PRINT, too. /s — for those who need to be told
Wow…the outrage by Ken Segall over something so trivial is astounding. Is that all you have Saruman?! And MDN backing up the hyperbole is even more flabbergasting. This forum, which has already been trending down into the abyss from the proliferation of standard trolls, polititrolls, and just plain idiots, is now suffering from hypersensitivity. Oh my gosh, part of your “iPhone” is showing!
I really can’t believe how shallow and superficial some people have become. There are some things that actually matter…
It is called fsck up, and listening to Ive’s stoned speech on the subject of design makes you cringe, dude, duuuuude, duuuuuuuuuuude, a first year design student lazy ass would not show this idiotic net
as a finish product
Wow, MDN, nice case. And super bold to declare it’s already better than theirs.
Hold on a second! Does anyone remember the Powerbooks from the late 1990s? People were complaining for several generations directly to Steve Jobs at unveilings that when opened the Apple logo was upside down. Jobs made some smart comment about it being right side up when you looked at it before opening it. Then later acknowledged to the audiences glee that they (even) got the logo in the right direction (I believe on the Ti Powerbook unveiling). So, the point is: It’s a matter of perspective. And, before we all go wacky thinking things were ideal under Steve Job’s watch and tutelage let’s try to remember that all things Apple design-wise have had their evolutions or even outright failures at times. My guess is, this is likely to be fixed at sometime with only those critical eyes, as seen here, really noticing.
If you’re really knit picking, take a look at all of the inconsistencies in the MacOSX UI and start there…
Ti Book unveiling video:
Crowd jeers as Steve Jobs shows the Apple logo finally in the upright position when the machine’s lid is open at approx. 95:04 min. mark.
Apple just doesn’t seem to know how to do cases, somehow. The examples are numerous.
— The “bumper” cases for the iPhone 4 that nearly everyone agreed were inferior to third-party cases.
— The “smart lids” or whatever the hell they call them for the iPad, which MDN repeatedly complained about in their takes. I think the complaint was that they attracted dirt and came off too easily.
— Remember “iPod socks”? Those were laughed at and disappeared fairly quickly.
For whatever unknown reason, making cases just seems to be one of Apple’s weak spots.
——RM
I agree that these cases should be “recycled”. Not the apple way. Someone screwed up here.
Being a designer I noticed it straight away and I thought that it was wrong.
Personably I would have designed the layout of the circular holes to not show the name.
It’s little thins like this that make a big difference.
Why can’t people there are a billion customers for this
This is version 1- looks at the technology acquired
“With those new iPhone 5c cases, clearly someone at Apple fell asleep at the wheel”
“With this headline construction. someone at MDN could not rephrase properly” 😉
WWWD? Ask the Woz!
The case is optional. You have to pay more to buy it. So don’t buy it!
There will be other third party cases. So if you don’t like it go buy a Samsung; but stop the ranting on such a trivial matter.
Based on a webpage?
Has any noted Apple has canibalized the case market?
You’ll also notice in the keynote as Phil Schiller introduces the cases, the images shown are clearly of the cases ON the iPhone 5c, but don’t show the logo/text underneath them. Someone either noticed and edited it out for the presentation or those are early design images and it truly was a slip-up.
Either way, it was the first thing I noticed when the case was shown and I thought to myself, “Wow…Apple has always paid attention to details like that. What happened?”