iOS Why Apple doesn't talk RAM, battery size, or clock speed

[t3chg33k]

But how can they. Everyone is going to use their devices for some common tasks and some tasks uniquely random to that user. I remember having to sell off my iPad within 3 days of buying it because it couldn't do the simple task of playing a file over network, even after spending 1000 bucks on software. Apparently the way Apple had implemented it, and hence all third party apps had to do it too, was to have a server app running on the hardware from which one was supposed to stream the data from. I think I had created a thread for this exact issue on TE back in the day.
Also, for me personally, ownership of the hardware and freedom to do with it what I want feels quite important. I guess it stems from the fact that I was always tinkering with Android phones and never running the stock firmware, as most of us on this forum would. I really had fun with the last iPhone I had - 4s,just because of the jailbreak. I remember using Gesture based navigation thanks to Zephyr nearly a decade ago. This is the power of open systems and something which I, personally, wouldn't like to give up.

I have been modding my Android phones for years and at a certain point I realised that it is not sustainable. Most OEMs do not provide proper updates and end up making the performance worse with subsequent releases as they are focused on that year's flagship. Open-source ROMs end up using blobs from other Android versions released by the manufacturer and they eventually cause lots of issues with camera and wireless performance, not to say a buggy nightly release from someone can start having adverse effects like battery drain.

You can never truly own your device. It is about the extent of illusion of freedom that you get and how much that matters to you. Eventually I turned to iOS because it just works. Most of the jailbreaking tweaks eventually made it to iOS as did Android features. Both platforms are pretty mature now but iOS with its ecosystem and optimisation simply provides a much better daily experience, especially as I care a lot about my privacy.

Having said so, I dumped Samsung's OneUI on my tab after a couple of months and switched to Lineage, simply because it is faster and I don't care about the camera or wireless performance on it as I mainly use it for reading and watching stuff. I simply don't think I would switch to an Android phone though as I have moved past mobile gaming and need the phone to do everything else really well.

 

[raksrules]

Even in my case, when I was younger, I used to install custom ROMs and such and loved tinkering with my android phone. But then came a point where I was tired of constantly tinkering in order to get best performance. I is it wanted something that always worked.
That's when I switched to iPhone and never looked back.
At this point in my life, I am not in mood to tinker and only want to utilize my hardware and software to its best potential. I don't even need latest and greatest, Case in point, I am still using iPhone 6S (not trying to point iphone longetivity) after 5+ years as I don't feel anything drastic would change in my usage patterns if I got iphone 12 today.
I had planned to actually buy the 12 but looking at price and not seeing point in buying It, I have channelized those funds to buy Macbook Air.

 

[booo]

There is a concept called MVP in the IT industry. (minimum viable product) which basically translates to release the product as soon as development is complete. even if it is buggy. because time to market is more important than stable and well tested product.

I have been modding my Android phones for years and at a certain point I realised that it is not sustainable.

This exact reason is why i moved away from modding the phones. To explain it a little better; Android has two things, a linux kernel and then the android ecosystem. The make a custom kernel for a ARM chip, you need what is known as BSP. Almost all the "flagship" phone manufacturers dont release their BSP for the phones. which means you cant really rebuild the Android from scratch. The modded ROMs that are released on the XDA are basically repackaged android system with same kernel released by the manufacturer. the problem with this scenario is that its buggy 99% of the times at the same time almost impossible to say if it is safe and doesnt convert your phone into one of the nodes in a botnet.

My most recent try in this regard was Moto G7 Power. needless to say, i failed compiling android for it and eventually gave up.

 

[t3chg33k]

There is a concept called MVP in the IT industry. (minimum viable product) which basically translates to release the product as soon as development is complete. even if it is buggy. because time to market is more important than stable and well tested product.

Insert a Cyberpunk 2077 joke here.

 

[Nalin]

Gone are the days when I got exited by running a new ROM or a kernel, most of time it made the performance worse then it actually was originally. The developer usually beta tests their software and users get all crazy over being a guinea pig for them. Performance improvement came at a cost, most of time it resulted in poor battery life. Under volting resulted in poor user experience, but improved battery life. In the end I realised that the best balance between the performance and battery life was already achieved in the original ROM.

 

[rdst_1]

I haven't felt the need to use a custom ROM for more than 5 years now. Everything works fine for me on Android phones as well. It just feels nice that I have that option if I need to.

 

[Kaleen Bhaiya]

Even in my case, when I was younger, I used to install custom ROMs and such and loved tinkering with my android phone. But then came a point where I was tired of constantly tinkering in order to get best performance. I is it wanted something that always worked.
That's when I switched to iPhone and never looked back.
At this point in my life, I am not in mood to tinker and only want to utilize my hardware and software to its best potential. I don't even need latest and greatest, Case in point, I am still using iPhone 6S (not trying to point iphone longetivity) after 5+ years as I don't feel anything drastic would change in my usage patterns if I got iphone 12 today.
I had planned to actually buy the 12 but looking at price and not seeing point in buying It, I have channelized those funds to buy Macbook Air.

I don't know but I was trying to get the maximum from my cousin's 6s upto 5 years. He gave two phones to his uncle and aunt and both had average daily use(fb,whatsapp, youtube). But in both the phones battery took a bad hit and in other one even the screen was not responsive. I was left disappointed. If this 5 year support was by any other company, I wouldn't make an issue. But this is apple. I expected it to last atleast 5 years. Now, cause of this both have come back to Android system as they didn't want to spend a bomb on battery and screen.
How is your battery holding up? I agree battery degrades overtime be it any ecosystem. But the battery dying out within minutes after 4 years makes me think twice if I were to go for iphone after shelling out this much money.
The iOS experience was also ok. Maybe it could have changed if I had formatted it as it was only 16 gb variant. It was slow but smooth, no jittery stuff or lag. Maybe its just how apple approach UX. Or maybe I need to get a hold of new iphone to see the changes.

 

[Nalin]

Almost all the "flagship" phone manufacturers dont release their BSP for the phones. which means you cant really rebuild the Android from scratch. The modded ROMs that are released on the XDA are basically repackaged android system with same kernel released by the manufacturer. the problem with this scenario is that its buggy 99% of the times at the same time almost impossible to say if it is safe and doesnt convert your phone into one of the nodes in a botnet.

This!
What they did is to remove the blobs that was given by say OnePlus for example and replaced it with AOSP or nexus blobs from Google. This is what they claimed improved performance but I simply can't testify that. The reason being that it never became as stable as the original. They spent most of the time optimising it only to realise later that original was better indeed. I don't visit XDA these days, but back then I was really active there.

 

[raksrules]

@Tejas01

I am using a replacement battery. I am ok spending 2K on 3rd party battery even if it works for 1 year. At least this way, I can extend life of a phone i am used to.
If my 6S chugs along, I may not even get the iPhone 13.

 

[alekhkhanna]

Seems like all of us have been in the same boat. I, too, did a lot of modding and ROM/kernel flashing (anybody remembers Franko's kernel ? ) etc, but eventually as life catches on, you just want something that works. Happy with the Pixels so far. P2XL gave such a solid performance that I never wanted to move away from that ecosystem, and hence after much deliberation, the P4a. Like Apple, it just works.

 

[booo]

There is a running joke at work about google software (kubernetes in this case) that google always releases their software as opensource so that general public can test it for them.

Anyways, On the topic of specs; anyone excited about pine phone running kde plasma? https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/

 

[rdst_1]

I think this video encapsulates a lot about what an Android user goes through when switching to an iPhone.

 

[alekhkhanna]

Amazon.in

This is Microsoft's competitor - same price segment, almost similar specs - for Air.

Look at the stark difference. Almost none of the daily use or semi professional apps will work on it.

Specs don't matter. Optimization and execution does.

 

[Nalin]

Anyways, On the topic of specs; anyone excited about pine phone running kde plasma? https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/

Nope, I was more exited about XPS 13 Developer Edition that has built in Ubuntu and is supported officially. But after seeing M1 performance, that thing has become obsolete for me.

I think this video encapsulates a lot about what an Android user goes through when switching to an iPhone.

Agree on all the points mentioned in the video, but if you are already using a Mac then incentives outweighs the negatives.

Amazon.in

This is Microsoft's competitor - same price segment, almost similar specs - for Air.

Look at the stark difference. Almost none of the daily use or semi professional apps will work on it.

Specs don't matter. Optimization and execution does.

Microsoft doesn't have Rosetta, may be in future they can develop their own translator but no point buying it until then.

 

[alekhkhanna]

Microsoft doesn't have Rosetta, may be in future they can develop their own translator but no point buying it until then.

Exactly my point. Nobody other than Apple has been able to make a workable real time emulator for x86 apps. That, combined with their custom silicon, is a real stamp of their mettle.

Windows tried it so many times - RT and whatnot. None were even ready for primetime, but were still sold. And nobody cried foul.

 

[red dragon]

Nobody cried because nobody probably bought those things.
I played around a bit with the M1 Air today, mostly browsing and some minor photo edits in the Photos software...it's truly something...I've never experienced anything like this...but my exposure is limited, never tried any gaming laptops and really powerful ones.
But I'm very familiar with TOTL MB pros, Airs, a very powerful iMac, and 2 trash can Pros, but this experience is different. I can not describe it in words. This is almost anticipates your next move!!
If Logic Pro issues are fixed ( it's very much usable, but like other Macs) I'm going to buy the MBP for sure ( and live the dongle life happily)
I only tested logic earlier and thought it's all hype, but it's not. Apple has done an incredible job after the 16 inch MBP. And considering the performance, the price is very much justified ( price here, not Indian price)
Bravo Apple!! You disappointed a lot with the headphones, but this thing is just amazing!!

 

[Nalin]

Exactly my point. Nobody other than Apple has been able to make a workable real time emulator for x86 apps. That, combined with their custom silicon, is a real stamp of their mettle.

Windows tried it so many times - RT and whatnot. None were even ready for primetime, but were still sold. And nobody cried foul.

They only released M1 when they can ship Rosetta with their machine, Microsoft kept selling these ARM devices thinking that app ecosystem will pick up, but that clearly didn't happen. It's just a fancy Chromebook with Microsoft logo.

Nobody cried because nobody probably bought those things.
I played around a bit with the M1 Air today, mostly browsing and some minor photo edits in the Photos software...it's truly something...I've never experienced anything like this...but my exposure is limited, never tried any gaming laptops and really powerful ones.
But I'm very familiar with TOTL MB pros, Airs, a very powerful iMac, and 2 trash can Pros, but this experience is different. I can not describe it in words. This is almost anticipates your next move!!
If Logic Pro issues are fixed ( it's very much usable, but like other Macs) I'm going to buy the MBP for sure ( and live the dongle life happily)
I only tested logic earlier and thought it's all hype, but it's not. Apple has done an incredible job after the 16 inch MBP. And considering the performance, the price is very much justified ( price here, not Indian price)
Bravo Apple!! You disappointed a lot with the headphones, but this thing is just amazing!!

Wait for the M1X release, this is just a low end chip that doesn't even need active cooling. It will blow M1 out of water.

 

[t3chg33k]

Exactly my point. Nobody other than Apple has been able to make a workable real time emulator for x86 apps. That, combined with their custom silicon, is a real stamp of their mettle.

Windows tried it so many times - RT and whatnot. None were even ready for primetime, but were still sold. And nobody cried foul.

The thing is Apple did not make an emulator but rather a translator, so that all the x86 apps still run in native ARM code, albeit with a long first-launch delay and without any optimisation. Apps coded natively still offer better performance but even the translated performance is fine for every day usage.

On the other hand, Microsoft is obsessed with emulators for some reason on every platform, be it Windows or Xbox. This is the reason that Microsoft is struggling with performance in addition to the Snapdragon chips being not up to par with Apple's. This simply indicates another level of discordance between what the priorities are for different companies.

 

[Muathaz]

Everybody already knows that Apple builds an optimized OS for their hardware. That still is not a good enough reason not to give out specs. In fact, if I had built something so optimized I would prefer to give out specs and show that our system runs on so little and gives out insane SoT on such a small battery. It is very obvious, why they don't give out those specs. IMO, it is because then they will have to justify the high prices for their phones.
If this reasoning was true, then why do they list the specs for their laptops. Even the laptops are running proprietary OS which is fully optimized for their hardware, so even there, they shouldn't feel the need to give out the specs.

This is what I believe is the reasoning behind Apple's choice of hiding the specs. They believe that their users aren't savvy enough to not get pulled into the spec war. They believe that they will lose some users who will question the low specs and high prices and jump ship.

You should be smoking something to believe Android has better hardware than an iPhone. uhm uhm, brain of the phone, cpu says hi. rumors has it A14 is already faster than *upcoming* 2021 snapdragon 888. pls don't tell me a tech nerd like you don't care about benchmarks.

Qualcomm Discloses Snapdragon 888 Benchmarks: Promising Performance

www.anandtech.com

Ahem, even A13 is faster in single core.
maybe high school kids argue over how much ram and megapixels their phone has. it doesn't mean shit. oh maybe the group of people who are easily gullible by those chinese phone manufacturers who release a phone everyday bringing new colors and an extra gb of ram.
my 10k phone has fOuR cAmeRas. iPhone has 2 costing 10x more, LoL suCh loSerS and sheEps.

Only decent user experience available on Android is Samsung. But even then their camera software and Exynos chips sucks ass even today. Don't even talk about Oneplus and pixel stock android beta testing software. I had a Oneplus 7 pro last year.

Why is there a need to list out specs for a laptop?
Because there exists a thing called CTO where one can modify the components according to his/her need and budget and there are multiple variants of the hardware inside. Whereas on a phone they don't offer an option to choose what amount of ram or cpu they want.

Seems like all of us have been in the same boat. I, too, did a lot of modding and ROM/kernel flashing (anybody remembers Franko's kernel ? ) etc, but eventually as life catches on, you just want something that works. Happy with the Pixels so far. P2XL gave such a solid performance that I never wanted to move away from that ecosystem, and hence after much deliberation, the P4a. Like Apple, it just works.

exactly. tbh it was exciting to try new kernels and ROMs every now and then not after a certain point in life. Also iOS then was seriously restrictive, you couldn't do anything on it, even download a document and save from the web. No netflix, prime, no spotify, no proper video player nothing. there's no way a normal young guy could simply live on an ios device then. android was much much superior in every way (except security perhaps?) then.

 

[raksrules]

Not sure what's the age of many of the guys above this post are, until 29 years of age, I was tinkering with Android phones and felt little exiciting.
I am 37 now. I don't have time or energy and will to play around with phones. Just want something that works Eveytime I pick it up. iPhone is servicing exactly the way I want and I am happy. I don't even have latest, I have a 5 year old 6s.