the iphone guru

So now that the train wreck that is the iPad is behind us, we can all start making horribly incorrect predictions about what the next iPhone will be.  Here’s what I’m putting my money:

1. It will have a 3.8″ AMOLED display at a resolution of 960×640.  This will allow existing apps to run unaltered. It will be 3.8″ instead of 3.7″ so that its bigger than Droid and Nexus One.
2. Will use unibody construction.  I’m thinking Apple is all gung-ho on this now.  The iPad’s use of an aluminum  unibody shows they can get 3G running inside all that metal without a problem.
3. The new iPhone will be 3mm thinner, 6mm wider, 4mm longer.  This is to accommodate the larger screen and because thinner is inn-er.
4. All that thinness will come at the expense of battery life.  I don’t think we’ll get less battery life though.  I think we’ll get a battery with a higher energy density but a smaller mass leaving us right where we are now.
5. It’ll use the Apple A4 SOC underclocked a bit (mostly on the GPU side though). This is the same chip that the iPad is using.
6. 5MP camera, Xenon flash.  All pretty standard stuff.  But one little difference.  It’ll also have a rear facing mic for video recording!
7. There will be a 64GB model.
8. It will have a Micro-USB port to make all of Europe rejoice.  Notice that I didn’t say it won’t have a standard 30-pin connector too…
9. When Apple announces the iPhone 3GSS, they’ll also announce limited multitasking all the way back to the 3G.  It’s not going to be what you’d hoped for though.  Pandora will NOT be able to play music in the background.  You’ll be able to run Skype in the background, but not while you’re in a call.  So, lets say you’re in Evernote with Skype running in the background.  Skype will pop up an alert allowing you to switch to it to answer a VoIP call while putting Evernote to sleep.  Once Skype loads it will be able to answer the call.  You’ll have to stay in Skype while you’re in the VoIP call though.  Its psuedo multitasking.  It’ll do enough to satiate us for a while, and that’s about it.

So that’s what the new iPhone will have.  I don’t have enough room to go over what it won’t have.  But just so I’m not leaving you hanging, here is brief list:

1. Haptic feedback on the touchscreen.
2. PixelQi, Bridgestone, or Mirasol display.
3. Fuel cell, lithium air, zinc air, or other newfangled  battery tech.
4. LTE or Verizon.
5. Better call quality.

What does it all mean, Basil?

Well, it means that our phones still aren’t fast enough, or thin enough, or solid enough, or capable enough to focus on the basics.   Although all of the above improvements are cool, I would give up EVERY SINGLE ONE of them and keep the same old iPhone 3GS if it improved call quality and battery life.  I hope some day to be able to go on vacation (just a 3-4 day escapade) without planning which chargers I will need.  My nook will hold out for that long without too much of a problem.  My laptop will do 12 hrs on wireless which is good too (if you’re using a laptop for more than 12 hrs over 4 days on vacation, then you’re doing it wrong).  But my cell phone will need to allow for at least 18hrs of good solid use since I’ll be using it to find places and kill time while waiting in line with people I don’t much like talking to.

Oh, and when I place or receive a call, I’d like to be able to understand the person at the other end who happens to be on a landline.    Did I mention I want to do this while in a crowd of people?  They should also be able to hear me easily.  And whatever you do, don’t drop my call!

All the other stuff, I can do without.  If the picture of the hole in the back of my head is a bit fuzzy, I’ll live (yes it’s real, but all closed up now).

If I lose my game in Settlers of Catan because an important call comes in and they haven’t added autosave into the app, I’ll live.

If Matt whines to me about the yet another FPS on his 3GS that can’t quite handle the frame rate in some spots, he’ll live.

If I have screen envy from the guy next to me with a Droid or Nexus One, I’ll bust out my Archos 5 IT

Alas, we won’t get any of these things until after we’re done thinning, hardening, and accelerating everything else (so….never).

The Great iPhone 4 Concept Image : [Jim Young]