[ulkesh]

So the only compelling reason to upgrade from the 14 is...USB-C, where people are saying the 15 (non-Pro) runs at USB2 speeds?

This was one of the most lackluster Apple launches in recent memory. I long for the day when Apple actually innovated on this product line. Now they're simply treading water and only making good changes when forced to (EU requiring USB-C).

I will give credit where it is due for Apple -- the M2 MacBook Air is phenomenal, even as a software engineering platform. The form factor is fantastic, the weight is awesomely light, and it's a true joy to use. Sadly, innovation on macOS is about as bad as the iPhone, but I suppose I'm more okay with that because being my workhorse machine, I want predictable stability more than I want interesting features.

Edit>> I love how people are asking "what are you doing with data transfer anyway?" Such deflection of the principle of the issue, but keep on trying as if any answer I'd give would satisfy the question. I adore Apple products, I don't adore a clear stab at yet more greed from the company that has had the top market cap for years now. I'm intelligent enough to see this for what it is, and not simply dismiss corporate greed because some people may not use the device the same way as others. Putting USB3.2 in these phones is possible. Putting Thunderbolt in these phones is possible, though that comes with the Intel complication. The tech exists and has for many years now. They chose not to bother on the lower end phones so they could create yet more divergence between the product lines trying to create FOMO for people so they'll buy the higher end phone.

[noahtallen]

I mean, everything is "better". If cameras are important to you, you now finally have a bigger sensor that allows for 2x zoom at around the existing quality. The chip is faster and more efficient, so battery will get better too.

If you wait 2-3 years between phones, you get something that's more significantly better. I've seen tons of comments here and elsewhere saying the 15 isn't that compelling compared with the 14. Is it supposed to be? Updating your phone every year isn't that common IRL. This is more compelling for people coming from iPhone 12/13 or older.

[ajmurmann]

The changes between iPhone generations and phones in general used to be huge and always cause for excitement. IMO, it's a sign of maturity and welcome that phones are now making steady progress instead of frequent paradigm shifts. It felt like electric cars were in a similar state till quite recently where it felt like anything you buy will be quite outdated next year which is bad for a huge investment.

[nabakin]

> it's a sign of maturity

Exactly. It seems like a lot of people don't realize this. We will never get that insane rate of innovation in smartphones again. These small incremental updates are what we are getting for the rest of our lives. What innovation we brought in a year, will now take 10 years because smartphones have matured and unless there is a major paradigm shift, this is more or less the final version of smartphones.

The entire computer and internet industry has been maturing too. We are getting to the point where the only significant increases in processing power are coming from spending more on the silicon. Internet companies have secured their markets and it hasn't changed much in the past 5-10 years.

If you want further crazy levels of innovation, it's time to look elsewhere. Computers have had their time. Now it's time for the next big thing. Maybe that's AI, quantum computers, gene editing, or nuclear fusion. Hell I doubt it, but after some years maybe cryptocurrency will have a breakthrough and we'll go rushing back to it. This is a story as old as the wheel.

[ajmurmann]

Computers will continue to improve, but it's gonna be gradual which in itself can be incredible. I just bought my wife a tiny computer for $250 to play some old games via LAN together. The thing is ~1/4 the size of a mac Mini and faster than my old gamin PC from 10 years ago. Easy to cough at being faster than a 10 year old computer, but given the tiny size and cheap price, it's incredible! It's not as incredible as going from a bad camera in your phone to a camera good enough to not take a standalone camera on vacation, but amazing nonetheless. You only see it though if you actively take inventory of past improvements.

IMO, taking a look back and appreciating the sum of incremental improvements is something we should do much more of frequently in all areas of society and life.

[nabakin]

For sure. I think computers and the internet will continue to be more innovative than most other industries, but the rate will be slower than what we are used to.

There was a time when performance would double every couple of years, but now we see around 10% performance gains over the same amount of time. Nothing to scoff at, but not enough to drive as crazy innovation as was previously commonplace.

I wonder where the market will go after we've exhausted lithography.

[Terretta]

A bunch of their zoom comments appear to be the same thing as saying a DX sensor is a "zoom" of an FX sensor.

No, its a smaller rectangle around fewer pixels, which when shown the same size, looks zoomed in.

DX sensors are not "longer reach" than FX sensors with the same glass, they are cropped.

Couldn't tell from the pitch if that's what Apple meant, but it sure seemed like they meant it's cropped, not zoomed.

[n8cpdx]

Except it isn’t compelling to people with an iPhone 12 because we’re on the third S year in a row. Design hasn’t changed, camera bump has just gotten worse, yay USB-C but only nerds use that and everyone else will be pissed about needing new cables.

It isn’t compelling compared to anything after the 11, and they should be aiming higher.

[nardi]

My notes on the upgrade from 14 to 15 I took during the announcement:

  * Twice as bright screen
  * Dynamic Island
  * Smaller bezel
  * Contoured edge
  * New better plastic back
  * Big camera improvements
   - 48MP main camera vs. 24MP
   - Faster focus
   - Much better telephoto
   - Improved portrait mode
     * Better color
     * Better low-light performance
     * No shutter lag
     * Turn on portrait mode after the fact
   - Smart HDR for better lighting
  * Live voicemail transcription
  * Longer battery life?
  * Satellite emergency / roadside assistance

[xvaier]

The back is made of glass not plastic, as mentioned on their website.

https://www.apple.com/ca/iphone-15/specs/

[charrondev]

From what I understand the battery life is equivalent (they seem to have shaved some weight off instead?) and the live voice mail transcription works just fine on my iPhone 13 Pro with the iOS 17 beta.

[BizarreByte]

This just doesn't seem like very much. Phones have plateaued and it would be nice if we (and the industry) could acknowledge that.

[elliotec]

What more do you want? What would make you say otherwise?

[BizarreByte]

I don't want anything more, quite the opposite. I think the yearly release cycle is nonsense given the lack of returns.

[rahkiin]

What do you even use usb data transfer for? I have only ever used it for development which was quick enough with Lightning (also usb 2.0)

[prepend]

I use it for backing up and restoring my phone to disk. It takes forever with these big drives so transfer rate is really nice.

I don’t do it frequently, but when I do I want it to take as short a time as possible.

[darren_]

You can still backup iPhones to your desktop instead of iCloud. At least for now.

[r00fus]

Unless you simply don't trust Apple's security promises (in which case why are you using Apple devices), iCloud backup is now E2EE encrypted [1]. A bit of wringing to turn it on, but totally worthwhile.

[1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303

[brantonb]

There are differences between iCloud and local backup. For example, iCloud backup doesn’t backup your Notes or Health data but local backup can. Sync != backup — without a backup, if you sync a bad change you’ve lost the data.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204136

[r00fus]

Both of these are stored in iCloud (if you enable) and are backed up in the cloud (and E2EE). All other large repositories of data are not sourced from my Apple devices

[zorrotorro]

Why would one even bother with that when you have like... a cable at hand and disk space.

Though recently simple things as copying files have been a challenge.

[pertymcpert]

You still need to back up your disk somewhere right? Disks age and fail.

[zorrotorro]

You backup the disk to more disks. Isn't that how it's done?

[Aerbil313]

Related, but why phone disks don’t age and fail? Simply because of low r/w?

[58028641]

It is only E2EE if advanced Advanced Data Protection for iCloud is enabled.

[ulkesh]

Whatever I please. It's irrelevant what I may use it or not use it for.

The point is that the technology now is far past USB 2 (and has been for some time despite Apple's persistence on using Lightning with such slower speeds) and the only reason they have for not putting USB 3 in the 15s (non-Pro) is greed. They were forced by the EU to convert to USB-C, so it looks to me as if they did the absolute minimal amount of work and effort to be any more consumer-friendly than they have to be.

[gpt5]

You are attributing malice, but they explained things pretty clearly in the presentation.

They are reusing the SoC of the 14 pro in the 15 (as they always do), which doesn't support USB 3. On the 15 pro they have support for USB 3, and you can bet it will propagate down the iPhone line next year.

[r00fus]

The state of the current extraction-based economy is such that you have to differentiate Apple's greed (less cutting edge usually, costs more) vs Google's greed (wants to track you all the time).

I'd rather the up-front greed that may force me to pay for a Pro model rather than the ongoing & increasing greed.

[Dylan16807]

Maybe not "malice" exactly, but Apple has been obnoxiously anti-USB-3 on iPhones for many years. Not only could they have planned ahead for the port change, they could have been supporting it over the lightning port.

It was especially bad when they added prores without a way to offload footage at a reasonable speed.

And there probably is an element of spite where they don't want the upgrade to USB 3 to come too directly aligned with the USB C switch.

[Johnny555]

>I love how people are asking "what are you doing with data transfer anyway?" Such deflection of the principle of the issue

I think it's a legitimate question from people trying to understand the use case -- I haven't done a USB data transfer with my phone in years. I wouldn't want to pay even $5 more to get faster cabled data transfer.

[tomaskafka]

Imo it's finally offering a bit better image quality than 5 year old 12mpx sensor overprocessed into watercolor. At least I hope, iPhone 13 pro photos become a badly prompted stable diffusion once zoomed a bit.

[whatyesaid]

Apple products have always been overpriced, don't make excuses for it in previous years. And this mindset of upgrading every year is quite diseased.

[jmye]

Not disputing your point of view, but wasn’t this always the case at some level? The <version> to <version>S was, to my memory, never that big, so you were really looking at two year cycles for major updates.

No comment on whether the 13->15 jump was big enough to be worthwhile, just that I think that’d be more comparable than the 14->15 jump.

[bdavbdav]

What are you doing with USB data on it?

[mortureb]

Better cameras, faster processors, capable GPU, titanium case, better OLED screen with higher max brightness, satellite emergency assistance. As far as the philosophy of incremental improvement goes that’s pretty good.