So as you know, the iPhone 5 was unveiled recently in conjunction with the new dock connector and earpods, and other Apple product changes such as the iPod and iPod Touch. For a long time now, I've been extremely excited about Apple's upcoming release. It was one of the last things Steve Jobs worked on and I have to say, i'm disappointed. One thing I can say however, is that it was definitely somewhat of an improvement to the iPhone 4s.
As an fanboy of Apple, I've been quite supportive of them, especially with the billion dollar case against Samsung. I've made my point to friends in particular, arguing that although Samsung is not my preference, it is definitely on par with Apple in respect to the flagship phones they have released. One aspect that Apple has clearly beat Samsung in is their operating system's (OS) ecosystem. Apple's ecosystem, iOS, is quite large and stable. It's an efficient system that is secure but also simple. Samsung however, uses Android. Over the past years, it hasn't significantly improved is it's latest software is Jelly Bean aka Andriod 4.1. Samsung's flaw however, is the fragmentation of their OS. Apple releases a phone every year or so whilst Samsung releases a range of phones. By doing so, it is difficult to keep all the phones up to date running the same software. What this means for consumers is that some phones will have software that is 3 years old whilst others have the latest software. Even now, the Galaxy S3 is using software that is (almost) a year old. The latest Android OS is already out and the S3 is not reaping the rewards of using Jelly Bean. Even when it does get updated, it will take a while where providers have to approve of the update and some other stuff before actually releasing the update. It's quite a hassel. By the time the update is ready to go and released, another version will already be in the making and released very soon after that. At the moment, Andriod is currently fragmented into 3 main versions: Gingerbread (2010), Ice Cream Sandwich (2011) and Jelly Bean (2012). iOS differs from this as it has a universal update for every phone, no matter which generation, at the same time it is released. Currently, most phones run the last software because it includes enhancements and new features otherwise unavailable to the old software. Apple is preparing for a major software update across all phones soon and this will mean that most phones will be updated. You could argue however that Samsung has many products where Apple only has a few. But at the end of the day, you will have unhappy customers whether you do things right or wrong.
I think I went off track but I hope you get my point. Apple definitely has the key ingredients to have close to what they want - dominance in the smartphone industry by both market share and profit. They have the profit aspect but dominance in market share is extremely difficult. A reason for this is the pricing of their products. They make an extremely high profit off each phone they make. It only costs about $200 for all the parts in total and they're selling it for $799-$999, even though the increase in size only costs about $30 RRP.
Apple definitely made a good move hiring Steve Jobs back but it's unfortunate that he passed away since I can only foresee Apple's downfall. Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs. They've got different values, ideals and aspirations. Apple's success can solely be attributed to Steve. He did an amazing job with his attention to detail and innovation. Apples new direction may somehow bring more prosperity but at this point, I see no reason to believe they will. One of the major flaws of Tim Cook's leadership of Apple is the leaking of Apple's parts and other information before the actual product was revealed. It was around June and after where I first caught wind of a 4 inch screen, a new dock connector and a new back case. I'm extremely unhappy that it was leaked because I was expecting, in words of some technology post I read, Apple to revolutionise the iphone 5, not evolve it. Anyone can do that.
My dilemma here is that I need a new phone. I'm using a Nokia E5 which was released in late 2010. It's an old phone and I definitely need a smartphone such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5 because of all the features it has. It definitely would benefit me greatly as I need something that I can depend on to organise my life, which for me, a phone does better than a diary. I've tried using a diary but it was too small or too bulky to take everywhere with me. The reason I'm so tempted to actually buy an Apple product is because I use a Mac and it'd be perfect since my family uses iphones and it's a lot more convenient since iOS fits so well. The reason that i'm not set on getting now is because it's not going to be worth my money. Right now, I can purchase a Samsung Galaxy S3 16gb internal + 64gb external for a total of $600 which is $50 more than an iPhone 4s 64gb. The iPhone 5 64gb however, will cost $899 and in my opinion, it's not really worth the extra $299. I would be happy if I could get the iPhone 5 at around $800 but I know there is no chance of that until after Christmas, when there will be an increase in unwanted gifts meaning the price will drop. However, I do want a phone now. After losing my iphone 4s in March and getting the money back through insurance, I do think it's time. Right now, I wouldn't mind getting a S3 but I'll wait and make a decision within the next month.
I hope you guys aren't as indecisive as me when it comes to buying a phone.
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