By SteveJack
The real reason why Samsung, HTC and the other Android phone assemblers have “decided” to offer ergonomically inferior large screen devices is simply because they need more room in the device’s shell to fit all of their off-shelf parts and enough battery to run that inferior hardware and the Android OS. Often Android handsets fail to make it through the day, even with all of that extra battery volume packed into oversized devices.
Unlike Apple’s iOS, which is created expressly for Apple’s custom hardware – A6, batteries, Retina display, etc. – Android’s UI rendering happens in the main thread of an app and Android’s UI rendering has normal priority, rather than given higher processing priority as in iOS. This is likely because Android began life at Google as a BlackBerry knockoff and quickly had a touch UI bolted on right after they saw Steve Jobs pull the iPhone out of his jeans’ pocket.
The Android handset assemblers and those who settle for inferior wares routinely tout giant screens as a “feature / advantage” over iPhones, but it is in fact nothing more than a cover to provide greater volume inside the shell due to their inability to custom micro-engineer anything close to what Apple can achieve. Note that even with their oversized screens, Android phones cannot seem to deliver all-day battery life. Note also that while making Android phones not just tall, but also pocket-bustingly wide, the Android handset assemblers strive to keep them as thin as they can manage, obviously because they believe there is some merit in the ability to provide a “thin” device. If bigger is better, why isn’t thicker better, too? Because neither too big nor too thick is best for a smartphone. Big enough to see, use, and carry in a pocket comfortably is what is the right smartphone size. In other words: Apple’s iPhone 5.
Apple’s A6 SoC is custom silicon, not an off-the-shelf part slapped into umpteen “Buy One get X Free” Android handsets. Apple’s iOS 6 is a custom OS X-based operating system, not an off-the-shelf handset OS slapped into umpteen phones and skinned in myriad, inconsistent, developer-vexing ways. Apple’s iPhone 5 is the world’s thinnest smartphone yet still outperforms every Android phone on the market in terms of speed, responsiveness, weight, screen quality, and battery life – not to mention ecosystem, including third-party support, vehicle integration, app quality, app library, and app developers.
The next time you hear an Android handset assembler touting a big screen on TV, the Net, or wherever, remember that they are forced by their business model to have that giant screen and, if they could, they’d rather produce a phone that can fit in your pocket, be operated with one hand, be remarkable thin and light, with a crystal-clear, razor-sharp Retina display, and run all day on a single charge, but they can’t.
Only Apple can.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
yep, tom tom maps definitely not off the shelf, uh, huh….
yeah, you tell them dumbshet. apple got tom tom chip from korea two. we makes all gratest chips. no iphone withouts korea.
funny! 🙂
What’s your point?
Yeah, TomTom makes the iPhone thicker! Lol You’re thick.
The comment about off the shelf was about the internal components of the iPhone. However, Apple merely licenses data from Tom Tom, they created the interface for that data (and the data from about a half dozen other source) from scratch. They didn’t use Tom Tom’s off the shelf interface.
TOM TOM is data! It is NOT the sort of thing that need to be tightly coupled as does the OS and HW. If the OS and hardware is done right the apps and data such as TOM TOM will take care of itself.
+1
Giant screen in your pocket = Loser.
Plastic = so 00’s. so cheap looking.
Android = Defragmentation + Messy interface + Evilness + Poor apps.
I’ve commented on this many times… The extra-large Android screen is just an excuse, disguised as a “feature,” for them not being able to miniaturize as expertly as Apple.
Then why does my girlfriend keep reminding me that size matters?
Because you’re lacking? Baaazing!
The correct term is “Bazinga!”
Size does matter! Foe phones it’s not bigness that matters….it has to be not too big and not too small. In your case size does matter but this time it has to be bigger.
Maybe I’m growing up, is SteveJack always this obsequious?
No wonder the fandroids accuse us of ‘drinking the Kool-aid’.
He’s partly right, but in normal reality a bigger screen is a good thing. Apple just admitted as much by enlarging the iPhone to the aspect ratio it should have been in the first place.
It’s the ‘android’ interface, cheap components and lack of attention to detail that suck. To call out their one big advantage as a detriment is absurd to say the least.
Freakishly big phones are not a plus. I seen a Samsung Galaxy S3 in the wild (it was plugged into a charger lol). It was ridiculously big… and dumb looking.
I can’t wait for the Galaxy S19 with the 19″ Screen and the built in Ballistic Nylon shoulder straps which add very little weight to the phone and make it so much easier to carry !
Funny. I’ll wait for the Galaxy 27 with retractable wheels and kickstand.
So out of date and out of step with the times.
Me, I’m waiting for the Galaxy C5 Starlifter equipped with four 43k lbf GE processors running typically at 7.7 centimach.
🙂
Having an enormous screen with a very low resolution doesn’t make a good feature. It makes the phone hard to use and stow in a pocket.
Apple did two things. They kept the width of the phone the same (to make sure people could still get it into a pocket) and they gave it a very good resolution for it’s size. That makes for a good feature, the other, not so much.
the one X is 720×1280 @ 312dpi.. very low resolution? really?
Yes, for a screen that size it’s not great. The bigger your screen the higher you need your resolution to be. The iPhone 5 is only 4″ so it has a 1136-by-640 but at that size it gives it 326 pii.
In non phone devices this isn’t as much of an issue because you hold them farther away. Having a big screen close to you with a low resolution is not great.
In what reality is it a good thing if an ostensibly pocket-sized device has a screen so large that it can’t actually fit in your pocket?
I don’t think “obsequious” means what you think it means, Pedant. How embarrassing for a pedant…
Now regarding your point: A bigger screen means a bigger package; current Android phones are already impractically and unergonomically large. Those are definitely not “good things,” Pedant.
While this may be true, the Android manufacturers keep increasing the screen size as a “keep up with the Jonses” type of feature parity. They think this is one of the few areas they can convince people that they have an advantage over Apple.
keep up with… The jones’s? Like… Sean Connery and Harrison Ford?
Try Jim Jones…
Davie Jones?
Tom Jones
I love you SteveJack.
why is it that even after all apples success that macs only make up 23% of all pcs? Never heard so many im here running around like their shi& dont stink. What components do apple actually invent, make, or design? gpu? cpu? ram? screen? wireless tech? circuit board? glass? buttons? ill tell ya, not a dam thing. All they do is use whats already been invented from companys like samsung and tell the world “look at me look at me” Same as ford and gmh did to the guy who invented wind screen wipers. took him 30 years to get the credit. Apple just theive and say its their invention. Not everyone is as stupid as apple customers u know
Apple just theive?
Do you walk as stupidly as you write?
For a company that didn’t invent anything, they sure have a lot of patents…
“why is it that even after all apples success that macs only make up 23% of all pcs?”
It was 2% not too long ago. Thanks for reminding me how quickly Apple is tearing down the Windows monopoly. =D
As for the claim they don’t invent anything, they design their own motherboards and did extensive custom work on the A6, for starters. Oh yeah, they also invented the modern smartphone. But Little stuff like that probably doesn’t count.
I believe Apple said 27% Mac share (of sales) at the iPhone 5 event. That’s pretty amazing as far as I’m concerned. It was below 5% in the early 00’s, right?
Who else is over 20% of computer market?
23% is damn good, what are Dell or HP, or Lenovo, or whoever.
BTW, For all their Olympic sponsorship spending, Samsun isn’t even in the running in computers. Except maybe in Korruptea.
cozy… I think you mistook this website for the one you usually browse. This is not the Remedial Tech for Idiots website!
Several idiots on CNUT wants the Samdung phones to be even bigger. I think I know why. Most of these Freetards/Android and iHaters are out of shape buffoons! They are usually slobs and wear oversized pants and shirts that they never tuck in. Thus the extra material goes over the pants pocket hiding their stupidity of stuffing an oversized phone in their pocket. 🙂
Very good observation.. Lol
It’s so true! lol
I prefer the iPhone for many many reasons, but I’d prefer an iPhone the size of the Samsung S3.
I’ve played with the S3 and it fits fine in my pockets and I can use it one handed, so I see only upside in the size.
I guess really the downside to the iPhone is that it’s one size fits all. It would be nice if Apple provided multiple sizes
I can eat a cake one handed but a cupcake is perfect.
As someone who’s used both Android and iOS, I can saymthat both have their advantages. For iOS it’s a smooth, crisp interface that’s easy to use, packed with hardware that gets all jobs done, unless you have an old version, such as the iPhone 3GS. For Android, it’s customzation, and-oddly enough- fragmentation. Do you want something to browse the web? Have this! Oh, you want a heavy gaming device? Try this. It all depends on what someone’s personal preferences are. For tablets and me, I prefer Android. For phones, though…I don’t care which, but i’d slightly prefer an SIII over the new iPhone 5. However, it’s tied with the iPhone 4S and SIII.
@Xethaios: “For phones, though…I don’t care which, but I’d slightly prefer an SIII over the new iPhone 5.”
You haven’t had an iPhone 5 in your hands yet so I don’t think your preference is an informed one.
Not a peep out of BLN on this thread so far.
Because he won! He lobbied for a 4 inch screen for the longest time, and was bashed for it. Now we have a 4 inch screen.
Yeah, he kept upping the ante to 4.5, 5, etc. but that was just to get your goat, as my grandma used to say.
i noticed that too. He was ranting about how awesome the screen of the note 2 or something was recently. tisk
+1
I totally agree with this article since long time ago. The question is how to “educate” the customer to be aware of this big screen “feature” reality. It misleads the customer.
Lol iphones are trash now adays no nfc just not got lte i mean ios6 is ios 4 with abunch of old androud shit added to it iphone spec wise is just sad also you isheep are the craziest and most fanatic/blinded idiots i have ever seen.
Sometimes you just let stupidity speak for itself.
was he speaking English?
Is someone having trouble with their korean to English translation software?
I really hope you don’t get paid for your articles because you truly have no idea what you are talking about.
I…what? Really? It’s one thing to enjoy a smaller screen or a different UI, but mudslinging and blatantly lying to make your preferred product look good is disgusting.
First off, there’s nothing brilliantly micro-engineered about the iPhone’s innards. It’s A6 chip is produced by Samsung, the mobile division of which happens to produce the Galaxy S3, which is currently a solid alternative and strong competitor of the iPhone 5. Samsung also produces the iPhone’s Retina displays, which aren’t the sharpest or most advanced available, although they are quite nice.
How did the author of this article even get permission to post this bullshit? If you don’t understand that these major OEMs, Apple included, don’t make their own chipsets and components, why are you opening your mouth about tech?
Apple designed the A6 CPU. It may be built by Samsung to Apple specifications but it’s 100% designed by Apple. If you didn’t know, Apple owns a chip design company called PA Semi.
Apple gets it’s retina displays from LG, not samsung. They are the highest PPI smart phone displays used in any smart phone.
Also Apple engineered the way all of the components in the iPhone 5 fit together, it’s power efficiency and it’s highly sophisticated manufacturing process.
I have no doubt that it’s very well put together; the issue is the huge superiority complex and misinformation. There are Android and WP7 devices that pack components plenty tightly into the chassis; hell, look at the hardware on Oppo handsets. That’s a new level of amazing that sadly isn’t widely available in the US.
The iPhone is a well made, well-functioning device that suits the needs of its users well enough to inspire brand-loyalty, but contrary to the article, it does not in fact outperform all competition, no matter how badly you’d like to believe that it does. Boasts of thinness are now in millimeters, boasts of performance are exaggerated in a world of Tegra 3 superphones and a myriad of quad-core devices that all run at pretty much the same pace.
My issues aren’t with the device, they’re with the author’s bullshit. In the end, due to how ridiculously overblown the entire smartphone market has become, the only factor that really matters is that the iPhone 5 outperforms the iPhone 4s. They can make it thinner, they can make it lighter, but in a month so will every other manufacturer in the world. Apple is nice, but it’s not magic, and this article is a load of horse-shit.
Look, Mac Daily News is a bit (*) partisan. If you came here looking for a buyer’s guide to Android phones, you’re going to leave disappointed. I enjoy reading MDN skewering the idiots that try to paint Apple as the beleaguered also-ran. Apple’s always been cool. It’s just that they’re way cooler now and more effective than in the ’90’s. And they’re obviously more effective at rolling in endless piles of cash.
You don’t like SteveJack, we get it. We also suspect that you don’t admire Apple overmuch. But performance stats and hardware specs are soulless by themselves. The tech world is a gestalt that only finds its ultimate expression in the cash register. That is why so many who visit MDN are savvy, satisfied investors. And if Apple and the other companies are so close in stats and specs, there must be an extra factor to account for Apple’s undeniable success, and Kool-Aid explanations no longer convince anyone. Misinformation and arrogance don’t account for it. Call it magic…
Sorry but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. You claim these comapnies can make phones that are as well designed but they don’t. Some phones have a longer battery life, some have a bigger screen, some are lighter…etc. I have yet to see any phone that is as light, as thin, as high performance, with this battery life and this high if a screen PPI all in the SAME package.
It is obvious to me that there are more then a few smartphones out there, making up for their lack of tight industrial design by having cheap overly large cases, with cheap, low resolution screens.
Connor? Err, is it Patrick… people with two first names always confuse me.
Anyhow, have you been smoking your mother`s oregano again?
The iPhone’s innards *are* brilliantly micro-engineered. Its A6 chip is manufactured by Samsung but what does that have to do with anything? Is the assembly line worker in the BMW factory responsible for the car’s design and engineering?
And the iPhone 5’s display is NOT produced by Samsung. LG, Japan Display, and Sharp are the suppliers for that component. Those displays are, in fact, the highest quality and most advanced available. Stay informed–look up “in-cell touch sensing.”
Looks like another person trying to validate their choice again.
Then again, It’s not exactly unexpected coming from a fan site.
If they knew ARM CPU’s then they would have known that the A6 is as custom as the Samsung Exynos of which Intrinsity helped Samsung design then was later brought out by Apple. So pretty much the CPU core in the A6 is the exact same one found in the Exynos line of SoC’s from Samsung other then the different choice of GPU. At the end of the day it’s still just a CPU that runs the ARMv7 instruction set much like all of the current generation ARM licensed cpu’s made by everyone else.
Also the reason why iPhones seem to last longer then Android devices is that iPhones CPU’s are underclocked (compared to their Samsung Exynos cousins) and also they picked a different (more restrictive) method to handle multitasking which pretty much just hibernates a app if it’s not running in background (only Apple apps are allowed to run in background) while Android does true multitasking like Linux does.
The innards to the iPhone 5 are pretty much the same innards you would get on other devices (HTC,Samsung, LG) like a Qualcomm based LTE chipset, Samsung fabricated NAND , RAM and CPU but with a LG display. Apple doesn’t actually BUILD any thing you know, They just buy parts and get Foxconn to assemble them
I just wished they knew what the hell they are on about before saying stupid shit.
How about you stop talking out your ass..
But he’s right. Apple doesn’t make hardware; they box it and market it. The same goes for every OEM; there are companies that make chips, companies that produce chassis, antennae, ect, and then are the big names we give our money to.
No matter the high and low points of any phone, the brand had little to do with it.
True that. Typical illiterate droidtard trying hard to show off his ignorance.
plus0ne:) Taxico –
It is funny that apple releases 1 phone a year. The rest of the pathetic skamdroids have to release a phone every week just to keep up. “winning” !! such kooks.
I love it when someone says that Apple doesn’t build iPhones. Yes, their outsourced factories in (mostly) China build them. That’s true for the other phones too. Apple’s designs are what count, and they tend to be quite good.
The A6 is a completely custom CPU, designed and engineered entirely in-house by Apple.
Any app can run in the background, not just Apple’s apps. For examples, see the many third-party GPS apps and any app that plays streaming audio.
Apple “just buys parts,” ickyboo? Good one! Apple buys fabrication and assembly services for its custom designed and engineered components and devices. That’s a big difference you that need to understand, ickyboo.
this guy is funny. I guess that he is another mindless fanboy. everything apple no matter what it is, this kind of guy just buy. without doubt. so pathetic. don’t justify iphone. you’d better admit that iphone is inferior to S3. it’s not just screen size. dumbass. for international version (american fuckers don’t get quadcore. pity), it’s even much faster than US version (only dual core), and longer battery life. powerful 4G LTE network. true is true. but apply sheep and fanboy don’t admit. I think that they look zombies.
edward, all versions of the S3 are significantly SLOWER than the iPhone 5. For example, see anandtech’s Sep 19th SunSpider JavaScript benchmark test.
What the hell kind of miniature clothing do u sheep wear that you cant fit anything larger than an iphone in your pockets?
edward aka brian aka whatever. It’s very entertaining to read the posts of butt-hurt droid tards posting on a pro mac site. Scoreboard. Look up at it.
My guess is, after reading most of the posts, that Samsung employs a room full of minimum wage teenagers, whose sole job is to troll the most popular mac sites and engage people in inane pissing contests over – wait for it – a phone.
Come on people – if you don’t respond to them, then they have no one to play with.
That’s my 2 cents.
Feeding iTrolls is fun!
I’m with Conner, etc. or whoever. This article is full of shit. The reason there are so many large screen Android phones is because it’s become the norm. HTC started doing it and differentiated themselves and then everyone else, except for Apple, started doing it. But guess what? Apple’s now doing it! So is Apple a copycat? He pal, 4″ isn’t 4.5″! Ya, but it’s still a lot bigger than 3.5″ and many smartphones are actually 4.3″, much closer to 4″.
The GSIII is actually lighter than the iPhone 4S and has a screen that is a full 22% bigger. So no, it is not the case that there’s so much more internal stuff that they need to make the phone so much bigger. Open the phones, study the components, and then finally shut up.
Well I am a big Apple fan but I am not sure I agree here.
Checked out a GS3 the other day. Big screen but surprisingly thin and light. Did not use it – just played with it a bit. Impressed me as a knockoff – but not clunky.
I think SteveJack jumped the shark on this one.
Apple has great design but they aren’t the only company that can lay out a schematic and have a circuit board built. Considering the amount of chips that Samsung makes for Apple you’d have to be a loon to think that Samsung is using ‘off the shelf’ components with nothing custom fab’ed for their own devices.
Software integration and Apple likely has an edge, not because Samsung, HTC or the other myrid of Android device makers can’t customize the OS to the hardware, but in my opinion none of them spend much time doing so because they are constantly cranking out new devices.
Apple does pay attention to detail like no other company and that is very apparent when comparing their products.
This article has a few facts but is mostly just the usual drivel from MDN – big on hyperbole and short on the truth –
Just out of interest Samsung in those latest notorious press ads claim the Galaxy S3 has a higher res screen, longer battery life, standby time and talk time (albeit in a heavier/larger package I know). Anyone have hands on information that contradicts that, as it would conflict with much of the the core argument of this article.?