One of the big benefits of wireless charging for me is ability to keep the battery topped off. I have a wireless charger on my desk at work (office job), one in the living room at home, and one in the bedroom. So my phone is almost always charging/charged and still within reach. This means I never run low on battery regardless of how much I use my devices, since I am always near a charger. Plus, I would rather not have the phone in my pocket all the time (talk about radiation exposure risk).

As there is not a lot of sustained charging going on with my usage model, the heat generated is pretty minimal. The phone is definitely cooler sitting on the charger than in my pocket.

This might not be important to some, but I keep my devices a long time, and ports do wear out. They are a pain and expensive to replace. Wireless charging helps me greatly reduce wear on the port. I can also put the phone in something waterproof and still charge it.

I believe the wireless chargers I have take in 2A but supply 1A to the phone. It's adequate to charge phones quickly, not so good for charging a discharged tablet, but that takes a long time even plugged in.

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I am surprised people aren't more excited about the rumored sapphire glass. Gorilla Glass is kind of a big deal and sapphire is way better (my wife is a material scientist and she quantified it with fracture toughness and I believe Young's Modulus, aside from the scratch resistance from hardness that everyone knows about ) except for cost, which is not an issue for an Apple device. I actually think sapphire would be a huge improvement. I can stop using screen protectors and not worry about scratches.

It's not an argument, it's fact. If the Qi limitation is 5W and a device (i.e. an iPhone) can use more (6W), then your charge rate is at least 16% slower.

Again, there's no good reason for Apple to waste dev $ on a feature that would make the phone bigger, heavier, costlier, require different materials, and ultimately the vast majority of people don't care about. Instead spend that money on a better battery.

That depends greatly on the model; I've done it on a couple of phones and the cost of replacement parts on eBay ranges from trivial to annoying, and the difficulty of opening the phone ranges from "really horrible" (my wife's HTC One -- I didn't even want to try after seeing teardowns) to "pretty annoying" (my wife's older Nexus S, the only one where I was actually doing it to replace the power cord) to "pretty easy" (my Note 3.)

Getting a relatively common phone and one that's relatively maintainable is a huge plus in my book. iPhone replacement parts are very easy, but from friends who have repaired older ones, they definitely are not designed to be easily maintainable. Still, because they're so common as individual models local shops tend to get REALLY used to doing common repairs.

I would agree to the variation on degree of difficulty and expense. I have gotten really good at opening up Nexus 4's (my personal phone and the model I have start doing rehabbing work on), but the first couple I opened did not look good afterwards :o

Getting a mainstream phone is also a good idea. There are tons more available replacement parts, both OEM and aftermarket, as well as accessories. I had a really hard time getting replacement sim slot and case for my Blu Vivo.

To give some details on prices, iPhone 5 lighting connector flex cable is about $16, and Nexus 4 one costs about $18. Those prices don't seem to be moving down much despite the phones keep depreciating. I suppose those could fall into the annoying category, but considering the actual connector probably costs 25-cents, paying many dollars for the flex cable assembly feels expensive to me.

How often do you break them? Samsung parts may also be a little cheaper; the Galaxy Nexus (I miswrote "Nexus S" above) one was under $10, and it looks like a Note 3 port is under $10.

Replacing the whole inside back was about $20 when I dropped my Note 3 and shattered the clear camera cover -- I could have also just replaced that smaller unit for about $6 but was uncertain of how easy the replacement was.

I'm in the same place. I love my Note2. Best phone I have ever owned. Since AT&T pushed out the last update my phone life has been brutal.

I'm waiting for the September unveilings so I can decide between iPhone 6 and the Note4. I will also be leaving AT&T and moving to Verizon.

There are really clear pros and cons to both Android and Apple operating systems. As well as clear pros and cons to iPhones vs. Note.

I don't think I can go back to a small screen. I used a friends iPhone last week and my poor OLD eyes. I am excited about the potential of a large screen iPhone, as well as a number of the features and improvements rumored in the iphone 6

My Note2 has been a very powerful business tool. I run and edit powerpoint presentations and excel spreadsheets, multi-task etc. Google Now has become very useful for my day-to-day and travel routines. Wish I could financially justify a Note for business and iphone for personal.

The other factor for me is that it is also time for a tablet replacement. Currently have an Ipad. I think my phone choice may effect my tablet choice. I like having an android phone and a Ipad as I get to experience the best of both systems.

I will buy the new iphone if it has NFC and a bigger screen. I know a lot of you don't care about NFC and I used to think that way too until I got my Galaxy S5 a few months ago. Now I pay for most purchases (up to 100$) via my phone (my bank has a Mastercard PayPass app), I use my phone for public transit and to unlock the gate at my girlfriend's aparment complex. It is a great technology and I really want to see it on the next iphone. As for the bigger screen, anything below 5' is too small as far as I'm concerned.

I own a Moto X. Best. Phone. Ever. I'm a huge Android fan but I think competition really helps the smartphone market (everyone wins, the manufacturers and the customers). One thing that I would really want Apple to do is open the phone up and stop locking it down like the Gestapo (sorry, I had to steal that from another poster in FT). That's the one thing that's driven me away from Apple for a long time. For example, to transfer anything to the iPhone (if possible!), you need to go through the piece of sh#t that is iTunes.

Then, every iPhone's homescreen looks almost exactly the same (the biggest "customization" you can do is change the wallpaper). My Moto X is modded with Nova Launcher, Swiftkey, etc and it won't look like anybody else's. Granted they are doing this with iOS 8 but the improvements are miniscule.

This has been mostly about software. For a hardware example, the screws on the iPhone are patented by Apple so anyone who makes a screwdriver to open it can be sued. ...? Make the battery replaceable, let users add a microSD card. Apple probably won't do this though.

====WARNING: These opinions are my own. Slight Apple bashing ahead. If you like Apple, stop reading NOW.====

Most users of Apple products probably won't care about this TBH; and their biggest fanboys will probably complain about the choices if not applaud Apple for their "revolutionary" move. :D

If Android phones worked with iMessage and FaceTime, I would switch in a heartbeat.

(Oh and Passbook is nice, too, but nowhere near as critical.)

What about PhotoStream? Yeah those are the reasons that I am going to switch back to iPhone 6 from my Note 2. The last 3 years, I had been cut off from my family's photo sharing and group conversation.

Question is, is iPHone just of appeal to Apple eco-system users.

I prefer the iPhone now because having one company responsible for hardware and software provides a tighter more integrated experience.

I'm looking forward to iOS 8 with better third party integrations.

Well there are reports this morning that they will be using an NFC chip from a company called NXP.

Imagine if they got a useful mobile payment system going so that Americans don't have to wait until the banks issue true Chip and PIN cards to use them overseas.

The terms of most of my credit cards say no bonus points when using NFC/mobile wallets. :(

Every card that I've received in the last 1.5 years has had the chip, and they do work in Europe (and oddly enough at my local Walmart).

But chip and PIN cards are rare, so far.

There are plenty of old and new US credit cards that don't have chips. I'd say they're still the majority, in fact, although they are becoming more common.

Only to Americans.

I was just in Scandinavia and NFC was in use in many places - particularly places that offered paper tickets - Subways, trains, sporting venues - used NFC (so quite a few Android devices observed).

It was also fun without a Chip and PIN card... (Good thing is that my Visa ATM card worked any place that took a card with a magnetic strip)

Jim

You mean like Google Wallet and ISIS have been offering for years now? I made my first contactless payment using my phone back in 2012. But I'm sure Apple will be able to "reinvent" it.

Yeah but those things never took off.

Google caved to Verizon, keeping off Google Wallet off Verizon Android phones for awhile at least.

There were MP3 players before iPod and smart phones before iPhone.

And tablet PCs before iPad.

Merchants value iPhone users more than Android users.

Hey don't sell Apple short. They're about to invent the >5" smartphone this week. :D

Not all merchants. Only Starbucks, Banana Republic and other hipster friendly stores.

The demographics of iPhone users are different than that of Android OS users (and the gap may have even widened over time). The iPhone users tend to be wealthier than the Android phone users. That has an impact in how merchants find value in marketing to customers.

I use public transit a lot in Scandinavia, but are you sure the phones' own NFC feature was being used to pay for all of that? Lots of people store their transport cards to be affixed physically to the phone or the phone case/holder. And mobile phones in some places get optically scanned for a ticket.

My sense is that Apple is losing some of its glam (despite its demographic advantage in some ways) but that the hamster wheel will keep getting used. Becoming more vested into an electronic ecosystem increases the costs of migrating out and into another.

I was iOS for 5 years (new phone each year), Android for the last 2 (GS3, Note 3, Nexus 5 for international travel).

I'm going back. Being a Mac guy, I'm just tired of working so damned hard to get my stuff into my phone. I moved solely for a bigger screen. I love being able to change out my batteries and will miss a lot of what Android brings to the table. But I'm moving back.

(I've already sold our 2 Nexus 7 tablets cause I found myself reaching for my iPad Air 95% of the time. I bought my wife an iPad Air with the proceeds.)

I just hope the 5.5" model is announced next week or I'll have a tough decision to make.

On Topic -- I've had no problem using apps at Starbucks or any other merchant that supports them on either iOS or Android.

Even as an Android fan, I'm amazed you stayed away for 2 years. I don't think Android makes much sense at all for Mac users.

As a happy HTC one user, I'm actually looking forward to seeing what will be released.

My contract is up next year and if it's a 4.7" - 5" screen and priced right (I can live in hope..) then I might be persuaded to make the move.

It's not that I'm unhappy with android, but with some manufacturers bring out headline models twice a year, different skins, different quality builds etc it's becoming hard to find what I want - solid build, good battery, great camera, top of the range screen and knowledge that update will continue in a timely manner for the two year contract.

My current HTC one ticks most of the boxes expect for the camera. Samsung builds are rubbish (my partner has an S4 and has had a list of problems). Sony have, what should be, an Iphone killer but I hear a lot of lag and picture quality problems. So next year it will probably be Iphone unless HTC sort the camera problem.

Serious question - what did you do on the iPad that you couldn't do with the Nexus 7, and what vintage of Nexus 7 do you have?

I am the opposite and use my Nexus 7 almost exclusively vs my iPad 3 and iPad Mini. I find moving data on to the iOS devices (this extends to my iPod Touch) to be too much work (requies a PC) and getting content off it to be impossible (I don't have a paid file manager app on iOS, so it's possible that's a solvable problem).

I have two Nexus 7 2012 (WiFi and 4G) plus an iPad 3 and iPad Mini (WiFi and LTE), so definitely not an Apple hater, just distaste for some of the inconveniences.

I am a PC user so don't know how much having a Mac makes things easier, maybe iTunes works much better on MacOS (it stinks on Windows).

I'm with you, I still find my 2012 N7 to be a lot more user friendly than the Ipad. I do miss some of the better content (I subscribe to a magazine and their interactive version is only on Ipad) but the Ipad mini just seems a bit awkward to me.

What kind of stuff? Surely even a Mac has drag and drop?

Simple stuff like movies, TV shows, and music. With iOS, that's just checking some boxes in iTunes and syncing. Using TuneSync and other apps and having to remember how to do these things that, in my mind, should be mostly automatic....I guess I'm just tired of it and want to move on.

Files on and off? Dropbox is good enough for that. I have a paid file manager, too. It's a fixable problem.

The Nexus 7 (2013) had just gotten slow -- I bought an iPad Air and it's a screamer. Perhaps it's the years of using iPads, perhaps it's the bigger, brighter screen, I don't know.

I'm mostly a web/email guy when it comes to content on tablets and phones. And I've said this before (maybe earlier in this thread, apologies), but I haven't yet found an email client that holds a candle to iOS Mail. I've tried about 6 different Android ones and they're all terrible in some way.

But it's going to be a 5.5" screen, or I'm waiting till that one comes out. I don't hate my Note 3, but it's time for me to move to a new cellular provider, so I'll need a new phone in the next few months when I do that.

What Apple has is the force others to adopt standards it proposes. Even though there may be more Android users, the market is more fragmented. Thinking about how various carriers disabled Google's mobile payment options out of fear that it would compete with their rival option. Apple speaks with one voice and has more ability to impose top down standards. You can debate whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. I'm tilting towards "good."

I am also a die hard android fan boy who will move to iOS as soon as there is a 5.5 inch iPhone 6

People are already standing in line outside the Apple Store in NYC (for publicity purposes - I guess I'm aiding and abetting).

I guess I'm in the minority because I like the size of the current iPhone. It's easy to carry in my shirt pocket or a jeans pocket. Anything bigger wouldn't work for me. Whenever I see someone using one of those huge phones, it reminds me of "Get Smart" and Maxwell's shoe phone. And, no, I'm not interested in carrying around a "murse". :D

I wear khakis (or similar casual trousers) rather than jeans, but I have no trouble keeping an 8" tablet, let alone any phone in my pants pocket.

My Galaxy Note 3 is a little too tall for most of my shirt pockets, but for a short term place to put it fits fine even in dress shirts with narrower pockets. (Could also leave it with the video camera going, if I needed to :D )

But yeah, iPhones... better for guys with skinny jeans. :D

Impress a lot of women? :D:D

*LOL*

That'd be some odd anatomy to have it on the outside of your thigh. :D

iPhone 6 will probably not impress female celebrities at this time... just saying. :rolleyes:

I think some of them will like it just fine.

Should have better camera and of course the bigger screens should appeal to certain narcissistic tendencies exhibited by the selfies trend.

I also like the current size. I'm hoping they trim the bezels/surrounds and keep the physical dimension of the complete hardware very close to the 5. At one point, bezel-less was a rumor with a very, very minor width increase.



http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new...s_no_bezel.jpg