Other Anyone else miss the iPhones released under Jobs’ leadership?

[Lynxpoint]

I do miss a few things from the early years of iPhone. I miss the simplicity of the lineup. I miss the size. I miss being able to lay the device flat on a table. I loved the feel of the 4 in my hand. The mini comes close to this, and for me is the 'peak iPhone' as of today, providing the simplicity of design and a size close to that of the 4, with a larger screen. When I got the 4, I felt that if it had a screen that covered the entire face, it would be perfect.

On another note though, I miss jailbreaking my phone to bring added functionality to it. But this of course came with its own compromises, which once I started to actually store sensitive things on the phone, such as credid card info, I stopped having an interest in jailbreaking. It reminds us of how limitied the phones used to be though... all the 'innovative' or copied from elsewhere (Android, Mac, Windows, wherever) suff that made the 4 shine came via jailbreak.

So overall... definitely some things preferred from the early years, and the 4 was definitely taking us to the next level at the time. Can't say that for anything from the 7 on has done that for me. I am still hung up on the fact that I will only do so much on a hand-sized screen, be it 3.5 or 6.5 inches in size. The advances for me are in how it ties into our lives. Checkin, emergency satelite, etc make the difference, but not at the price of carrying a large device (for me). I would rather have smaller, and maybe someday with added features (until a watch or something else takes over those rolls).

If they really want to impres me again though, they will introduce an iPhone that seamlessly functions as a computer - aka being able to do extended tasks on it like writing or phot editing. They try to make the iPad the computer replacement, but it is as easy to pocket as a laptop (more or less). If Apple could do it with the iPhone with the Apple magic they are known for, it would be amazing. or maybe not.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Apple's best hardware days are behind them. That's why they're "Apple Inc." instead of "Apple Computer, Inc."

1. They don't make a phone that fits in your hand anymore. The last phone that fit in your hand was the iPhone 13 mini. Last sold on September 12, 2023, three months ago.
2. They don't make a good mouse anymore. The last mouse from Apple with good ergonomics was the Mighty Mouse. Last sold in 2017.
3. They don't make a good MacBook Pro keyboard anymore. The last good one with decent key travel depth was the Retina MacBook Pro's keyboard. Last sold in 2015.

No one outside a small vocal minority cares about iPhone mini/hold in one hand phones. My daughter loves her mini, but it’s obvious consumers didn't want the phone. Apple would be still selling if people actually bought the smaller iPhones. For a company with deep pockets as Apple, iPhone mini was a terrible flop, they had to stop making them after two years.

 

[TechnoMonk]

The point my fellow iOS 6 admirers and I are trying to make is that Apple should've kept the same skeuomorphic design as iOS 6, but with all the functionality of the latest OS.

Just like iPhone mini, Skeuomorphic design is a vocal minority. Apple had to move on to flat design, especially considering the growth of iOS.

 

[Al Rukh]

Just like iPhone mini, Skeuomorphic design is a vocal minority. Apple had to move on to flat design, especially considering the growth of iOS.

Sorry, but what does the design have got to do with the growth of iOS?

 

[Naraxus]

Not really. What I DO miss are his keynote presentations. Watching a Steve Jobs keynote you got the sense that he truely believed in the product bring demonstrated. He'd show off/demonstrate as much as he could and then hand it over to Phil or Scott for more technical demonstrations. No matter how mundane or bad the product was, Steve made you feel like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. He made you believe in the product.

With a Cook video it's the complete opposite. He doesn't present himself as someone who cares about the product or service being demonstrated. He just gets up on stage and is like "Ok here's this thing that this person will show off." or "Craig will tell us about this thing." He doesn't demonstrate anything, it seems like he's being severely inconvenienced by it all and having to even do a presentation at all is beneath him.

It's sad really.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Sorry, but what does the design have got to do with the growth of iOS?

Pretty much everything. Skeuomorphic designs are excellent for getting people used to a new technology. iPhone revolutionized touch phones, it made lot of sense to go with Skeuomorphic design with something users can identify, and touch. At the same time, it became complex, and not the best use of a small screen space in a mobile device. Calenders looked good earlier in iOS but were not very functional. Flat design is lot cleaner, minimalist, and with well defined purpose.
I remember ios7 was bad because the Apps and iOS looked out of whack and confusing after the move to flat design. But it’s lot better now, after the initial learning curve.

 

[Al Rukh]

Not really. What I DO miss are his keynote presentations. Watching a Steve Jobs keynote you got the sense that he truely believed in the product bring demonstrated. He'd show off/demonstrate as much as he could and then hand it over to Phil or Scott for more technical demonstrations. No matter how mundane or bad the product was, Steve made you feel like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. He made you believe in the product.

With a Cook video it's the complete opposite. He doesn't present himself as someone who cares about the product or service being demonstrated. He just gets up on stage and is like "Ok here's this thing that this person will show off." or "Craig will tell us about this thing." He doesn't demonstrate anything, it seems like he's being severely inconvenienced by it all and having to even do a presentation at all is beneath him.

It's sad really.

I think there are some pros and cons with the modern day keynotes. I can see Cook is willing to give other executives to shine on the biggest stage. I mean, back then we never knew the faces of those who put their graft in into products. However I feel like all these could be achieved in person; though it’s a bit awkward to have 5-8 different execs walk up and down the stage. Like I said in my other post, keynotes these days seem like a lengthy and overly glorified ads for products.

I do miss the live keynotes for sure.

 

[mectojic]

But even in the Steve Jobs days, older iPhones were available at a cheaper price point. People do seem to forget that. The iPhone 3GS was available when the 4 was out.

 

[ThomasJL]

Pretty much everything. Skeuomorphic designs are excellent for getting people used to a new technology. iPhone revolutionized touch phones, it made lot of sense to go with Skeuomorphic design with something users can identify, and touch. At the same time, it became complex, and not the best use of a small screen space in a mobile device. Calenders looked good earlier in iOS but were not very functional. Flat design is lot cleaner, minimalist, and with well defined purpose.

The argument in favor of flat design—that all people on the planet have experienced the visual cues of skeuompophism and thus don't need them anymore—is not only inaccurate, but also elitist.

There are many people on the planet who've still never used a smartphone. Even in First World countries, there are elderly people who aren't too familiar with smartphone use. Skeuomorphic designs help such people.

For children who've never used a smartphone, although they may not familiar with cultural objects from decades ago such as shiny stereo knobs, yellow notepad paper, roller meter counters, etc., it still is more intuitive to use than flat design. A bonus is that with such skeuomorphic design, children will be exposed to the sight of those cultural objects. Flat design is devoid of culture (much like Tim Cook, but I digress).

As for the Calendar app, it is 100% possible to have the exact same skeuomophic design as the Calendar app of iOS 6 while having 100% of the features and functionality of the Calendar app on iOS 17. It's exceedingly easy: just create skeuomophic graphics for the new features on iOS 17 that were not present in iOS 6. That is exactly what Scott Forstall did for the new features in iOS 6 that were not present in iOS 5, and for the new features in iOS 5 that were not present in iOS 4, and so on going all the way back to the very first iOS.

Minimalism is great for industrial design, not for user-interface design. Minimalism adds confusion to a GUI and slows people down. With flat design aka minimalism, we often have to tap around to find out what is interactive and what's not. It's not instantly recognizable.

As for the argument that since screens have gotten bigger so flat design is needed—that's inaccurate, too. Since screens have gotten bigger, there is even more room for skeuomophic design! In fact, skeuomophic design lessens the drab empty white space on the screen.

This is something pathetic: ever since the first Macintosh in 1984, Microsoft has copied Apple (and at the heart of that copying was skeuomophic design). But almost 30 years later, in 2013, Apple decides to copy Microsoft (and at the heart of that copying was flat design)! Leave it to Tim Cook to jump on the flat design bandwagon pioneered by Microsoft (with the introduction of the Zune in 2006, then the Windows Phone 7 in 2010, and then Windows 8 in 2012).

Under Steve Jobs, Apple innovated something so beautiful and filled with culture. Under Tim Cook, Apple copies Microsoft's soulless innovation.

And what is the point of screens getting higher resolutions if they are not going to be used with intricate graphics?

Playful graphics and intricate graphics make the user experience fun. For many people, their work and other tasks are already boring and mundane, so why not add a little fun to the experience? That's just one of the many benefits of skeuomophic design.

For the people that prefer flat design, consider this thought experiment: When skeuomophic design is taken to its maximum limits, what you get is iOS 6. When flat design is taken to its maximum limits, what you get is a non-GUI interface—just a command prompt and text-based interface.

 

[Bacong]

That’s still 7 phones!

I think the regular lineup should be 3 phones (small, medium, large), but all with the same specs (obviously cameras/batteries may be different due to phone size, but mostly the same), and then a budget phone. Last year‘s phones would sell to they ran out, but not stay in the lineup.

And I, personally, wish they’d be “pro” as far as internals, but aluminum to keep the weight down, with a mixing of the 11 pro body and current body (I don’t like the super squared body - much prefer the older style, but that’s just me).

Apple may offer 7 current SKUs, but a company like Samsung has at least six SERIES' of phones with differing models within.

 

[Bacong]

Just going to leave these here…

2010 Email From Steve Jobs Confirms Apple Had Considered Launching an 'iPhone Nano'

An email from Steve Jobs surfaced as part of evidence of Apple's ongoing legal battle with Epic Games, has confirmed that in 2010, the company...

www.macrumors.com

In this one Steve Jobs email right around the iPhone 4 era, not only does he mention an “iPhone 4+”, but also an “iPhone nano” and a “lower cost iPhone to replace the 3GS.”

clearly, he was at least considering expanding the lineup.

But it wasn’t just the iPhone either…

Eddy Cue Worked to Convince Steve Jobs of Need for 7-Inch iPad in Early 2011

Back in October 2010, Steve Jobs appeared on an Apple earnings conference call to address the Android-based iPad competitors that were just then...

www.macrumors.com

Not only were they planning on expanding both the iPhone and iPad lineups under Jobs, but… just look at the iPod and the Mac lineup from 2010.
It was a sea of different options and screen sizes and different Intel processors.

People who think Steve would’ve just sat idly by while Samsung starts to dominate the market with massive screen phones like the GS3 and the Note2 and Note3 are living in fantasy land.
The demand for bigger screens throughout the 2010s was a very real thing, no wonder the best selling iPhones of all time were the 6 and 6+.

people are weird about things like this, haha.

it's totally conceivable that if steve jobs hadn't passed and was still running apple that the iPhone would be less popular than it is now. personally i don't think much would've changed; Jony Ive was still with Apple for almost another decade after Jobs' death, and we know how instrumental he was in the design of the iPhone.

 

[headlessmike]

The point my fellow iOS 6 admirers and I are trying to make is that Apple should've kept the same skeuomorphic design as iOS 6, but with all the functionality of the latest OS.

I'd argue that the design held it back too though. I'm sure that most modern features could have been implemented in some way, but breaking the skeuomorphic mold allowed Apple to reconsider how things are done and in that way actually end up with better solutions.

I feel similarly about the new System Settings app in macOS Ventura. It's far from perfect, but the old System Preferences was based on a grid design from more than 20 years ago, back when we only had a handful of features available. By the time we got to Monterey, there were so many settings in weird places that something had to be done. This becomes really obvious if you try using older systems like OS X Puma or Jaguar that had comparably simple preferences. The new version has its issues, but it brings some improvements as well.

 

[Populus]

I don’t miss the iPhones 3GS, 4 or 4S, because the 5 was better, the 5S with the revolutionary first 64bit SoC and Touch ID was even more revolutionary, and the iPhone 6 and 6S were great smartphones back in the day. Just like the 7 and the 8.

Then, iPhones got bigger, started to implement uncomfortable -for some- OLED screens, and the camera bulge got out of control, being absurdly big and protruding on the last couple of iPhone Pro models (14 Pro and 15 Pro).

So, well, we could say I miss a more compact form factor, LCD displays, and a smaller camera bump. That’s why I got the iPhone SE 3, and I expect it to last many years. If Apple releases a 6” iPhone SE 4 with an LCD display and a not-much-bigger camera bump, I’ll be the first in line to buy it. Otherwise… Maybe the SE 3 is my last iPhone.

Regarding the operating system, I’m pretty happy with how iOS looks and works nowadays.

I don’t know if that answered OP’s question, but that is my opinion.

 

[Charlesrfinal]

It's ok if you don't like choices and options.

As long as the rest of us don't have to live by that, I'm good with it.

 

[MBAir2010]

what's a phone?

 

[Zest28]

I miss it. Because I feel that my iPhone 15 Pro Max is a “spec bump” over my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Sure, dynamic island is new and a nice way to flex on people that I got the latest iPhone, but pretty much else is the same besides the specs.

With Jony Ive + Steve Jobs, the iPhone 15 Pro Max would have been a completely new design for sure.

 

[ThomasJL]

I miss it. Because I feel that my iPhone 15 Pro Max is a “spec bump” over my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Sure, dynamic island is new and a nice way to flex on people that I got the latest iPhone, but pretty much else is the same besides the specs.

With Jony Ive + Steve Jobs, the iPhone 15 Pro Max would have been a completely new design for sure.

Indeed. The iPhone 15 should be called iPhone 11ssss.

 

[Abazigal]

I believe another purpose of the base iPhone is to allow Apple to continue increasing the price of the pro iPhone models, without worrying that users would be priced out of the market.

If you only have 1 model each year, you are forced to set a middle-level price for it, which in turn limits what you can do with it. I think the reality is that as smartphones mature, Apple finds itself investing ever-increasing amounts of resources into increasingly-incremental improvements, and that's just what happens when you are trying to further improve on something that was already very good to start with.

 

[I7guy]

I miss it. Because I feel that my iPhone 15 Pro Max is a “spec bump” over my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Sure, dynamic island is new and a nice way to flex on people that I got the latest iPhone, but pretty much else is the same besides the specs.

I know it’s your opinion, but it’s way more than a spec bump between the iPhone 11 and iPhone 15. The similar dimensions of the phone do not mean it’s an 4th generation “s” model,

With Jony Ive + Steve Jobs, the iPhone 15 Pro Max would have been a completely new design for sure.

No it wouldn’t.

 

[d5aqoëp]

The only thing I hate is the insane upselling Apple do to sell their Pro models. The standard non-pro models are so watered down with every passing year that one might as well get an Android which does Wifi7, 120Hz display, 10Gbps type-c with even more fancier camera setups. That too at lesser price. Covid and chip shortage also taught them to recycle their old SOCs into newer non-pro models.

While Jobs would agree to do this or not is not even a question 10 yrs after his death, the mathematical models, human psychology, sales data all point to one thing: Apple is still on the right track and this is what people want... more confusing options so that they overspend.
1. Bought a non pro model and realise that you need those missing features... so sell it at a loss and get the costlier pro model
2. Bought a pro model because "full-send" mentality because they don't care if they need pro features or not. They just want the best possible thing Apple has to offer due to peer pressure/self satisfaction

Either ways, Apple wins. So thinking about Steve Jobs is irrelevant.

 

[eatrains]

It's ok if you don't like choices and options.

As long as the rest of us don't have to live by that, I'm good with it.

And what choices and options do we have today? Huge and huger phablets.

 

[freeagent]

Not really.

My first iPhone was a 4S. My 14 Pro is an evolved version of that phone.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

The lineup was very compact - two to three storage options and comes in two colours. That’s it. Along with the skeumorphic design of iOS, the entire experience, for me, was enjoyable. iOS was limited but it performs at its best at what it’s designed to do. I’ve never clamoured for a software fix when iOS 6 dropped in 2012.

These days we have an ‘iPhone for everyone’ approach. It made Apple a lot of money and in my opinion, this would be Cook’s legacy - making Apple products mainstream. In contrast to Jobs’ approach of making the best products for those who are loyal to Apple and believe in their process.

However, such mass appeal comes with a price. People are hesitant to upgrade to new OSes, Apple releases some new features but also introduces tens of bugs which may take days to months to fix, a bloated product lineup that lacks focus - the blatant removal of previous Pro iPhones to ensure it doesn’t undercut the latest Pro models but they’re happy to keep last year’s or the year before’s base iPhones. The product lineup may generate a lot of revenue but from an Apple sheep, it seems very ‘out of focus’. I’m not saying we should move backwards. But I long for the day where iOS fixes all the bugs for inconsistencies from previous years and perhaps introduce a much condense product lineup that benefits the users such as - not having a 14 Plus and a 15 Plus available side by side in their official stores.

No. The latest iPones are quite superior.

 

[ThomasJL]

In many ways, the iPhone 4 was Peak iPhone, and Peak Apple.

Sure, newer devices are more technically excellent - with faster processors, larger, brighter screens, multi-lens cameras complete with LiDAR that take cleaner shots in more conditions. But none of them have the “wow factor” that the iPhone 4 had. It had flaws (glass back, antennagate, etc), and it was expensive, but it was beautiful. A true work of art that blew away anybody’s expectations of what a smartphone could be.

And yeah, no iPhone since has been able to do that again. I’d go so far as to say no Apple product has even come close.

You bring up an excellent point.

One of the biggest reasons why no other Apple product has come close was because the iPhone 4 was the first Apple with a Retina display.

It was precisely because of skeuomophism that the Retina display impressed so many people. The skeuomorphic design of iOS 4 showed the fine detail of the high resolution graphics inherent to skeuomorphic graphics, and thus clearly revealed what the Retina display was capable of.

Now imagine if the iOS 4 version that shipped with the iPhone 4 had flat design instead of skeuomorphism. People would not have been wowed so much because the flat design doesn't make it obvious what the Retina display is capable of.

Flat design doesn't make it obvious what the Retina display is capable of.

I mean, just look at the flat design buttons on iOS 7 and everything after. It's unclear what is and is not a button because it's just text. The back-buttons look like a text less-than sign:

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There's not such a huge visual difference between the iPhone 15 Pro's flat design back button that looks like a less-than sign, and an actual less-than sign on one of Apple's low-resolution displays that they sold in the early 1980s to accompany the Apple II.

The Apple II's all-text/command prompt OS, Apple DOS, is pure flat design. Is that still considered progress in 2023? Is it good for iOS to look like Apple DOS? Well, that's what Clueless Cook thinks.

 

[kitKAC]

And what choices and options do we have today? Huge and huger phablets.

iPhone Mini's were choices, and people rejected them. So...