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wowman (82)Steve Jobs Leaves Behind Plans For 4 Years of iPhone Designs
Posted by Michael Nace on Saturday Oct 8, 2011 Under Apple News, iPhone 4S News, iPhone 5 News
Steve Jobs may have passed away, but Apple’s former CEO and visionary made sure to leave behind plans and concepts for four years worth of new products, including new iPhones.
The sadness and grief surrounding Steve Jobs’ death still looms large in the wake of his passing on October 5th. It has been a complex series of emotions for Apple customers over the past week: the mixed feelings over the release of the iPhone 4S, together with the loss of Apple’s CEO and pioneer, have left hopeful iPhone 5 adopters in a state of bewilderment, having expected this week — and the weeks and months to come — to be filled with the fresh, new experiences of a groundbreaking new iPhone, with no sense that Steve Jobs would ever really die.
There is no doubt that Jobs’ death has cast a pall over the release of the iPhone 4S. We have yet to receive any reliable word about initial pre-sales, but it can be assumed that the “sticker shock” of getting the iPhone 4S instead of the iPhone 5, together with Jobs’ passing, has undoubtedly had some effect on pre-orders. Anecdotally, we’ve seen it present on this blog’s comments.
While some are still contemplating whether they will invest in the iPhone 4S or not, still others are wondering what the future of the iPhone will be without Steve Jobs at the helm. If you are one of these people, fear not: Steve Jobs has left four years worth of plans for new Apple products — including new iPhone concepts.
In an article from the Mail, they explain that, “Despite knowing he was dying, Steve Jobs worked for more than a year on the products that he believed would safeguard the company’s future,” and that “Blueprints for new iPod, iPad, iPhone and MacBooks [are] in place” for four more generations of Apple’s groundbreaking products.
Obviously, there are no details to be had from these blueprints, which are most definitely vaulted away at Cupertino. But to know that perhaps as many as the next four iPhone models will have Steve Jobs’ fingerprints on them is incredibly reassuring — not only to investors, but to customers who believed in Jobs’ vision as well.
Another interesting revelation from the Mail article is that Jobs had “also been overseeing the development of the delayed iCloud project, which will allow Apple users to store their music, photos and other documents remotely and masterminding updated versions of the iPod, iPad, iPhone and MacBooks, ensuring at least four years’ worth of products are in the pipeline, according to Apple sources.” There is no indication that Jobs was heavily invested in the iPhone 4S product, but rather iCloud, which suggests that Apple will continue to develop and enhance the Apple ecosphere in ways that we cannot even imagine.
Steve Jobs Loved You
While it may seem sentimental and over-sensational to say, Steve Jobs had a love and commitment for you, the Apple customer, that is almost hard to grasp. Facing his passing from this world, and knowing that his legacy as a great innovator and leader of industry was intact, J0bs still sought to steer the direction of Apple’s products even in death. What would his motivation had been for wanting to do this? It isn’t as if he felt he had to preserve Apple Inc. from the grave — the company is more successful and solvent now than it ever has been.
No, Steve Jobs’ motivation was purely based on a commitment to his customers, and sense that his products made a positive impact in peoples’ lives. Sales gurus will tell you that this is the only way you can be a successful salesperson — to believe that your products make a difference. There is no doubt that the iPhone has had such an impact; the passion for the device on this blog is a testament to that.
So, it should be reassuring to iPhone users that, for the foreseeable future, the next iPhones will still bear the creativity, commitment, and quality that Steve Jobs came to embody as an innovator and public figure.
Knowing that Steve Jobs has left behind four years worth of blueprints and concepts for the iPhone, what do you think that the iPhone in 2015 will be like?
By Michael Nace
October 8th, 2011 at 10:20 am
Great blog! Certainly Steve Jobs was passionate about what he did and CARED about his customers which seems to be a rarity these days. Just the customer service alone proves that. I will be purchasing the 4S once it hits the stores. I’m going to take my flunky xenon phone and come out with a new iPhone to go with my Mac, ipad2 and nano. Thanks for all your excellent posts Michael. I’ve been reading this blog for over a year and have appreciated your insight.
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October 8th, 2011 at 10:22 am
Here’s to you Steve, as I post this from the phone you designed. We may not see another one like him one for a long time, folks.
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October 8th, 2011 at 11:27 am
Ok I lied…..I just pre-ordred it! LOL!
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October 8th, 2011 at 11:35 am
Wow Steve was an amazing guy for sure.
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October 8th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Apple is working on the next iphone yet!!!!
A hot comment -- What do you think?
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October 8th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
Exciting news! Anyway, I preordered my iPhone 4S yesterday. I decided that it was much better to upgrade than to spend another year with my slow iPhone 3G.
Also, fwiw this is my first comment but I’ve been reading your blog daily since I found it last spring. Thanks for all the great writing responsible journalism, so important in a world of rumor, speculation, and desire. I’m hooked and will continue to read (and, starting now, comment) for as long as you keep these blogs going.
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October 8th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Hey does anyone know if the AT&T iPhone 4 bumpers will work on the Verizon iPhone 4s?
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October 8th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
[...] the article here: Steve Jobs Leaves Behind Plans For 4 Years of iPhone Designs Filed Under iphone 4, Iphone 5 Tagged With apple news, creativity, iphone 4, iphone 5 news, [...]
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October 8th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
4 years/generations of designs?
I’m not sure I buy that. Things have been evolving rapidly especially in the mobile arena and you think someone is going to hit designs four years out? Only if you are planning a lot of “S” versions.
Heck, we have no idea what display technology will be like in four years. For all we know we could all have flexible HD screens that are a hybrid of e-ink & LCD. Battery tech could make some major leaps, and for sure ARM SoC will be 100x from where they are now.
Ideas and products evolve with the hardware that enables the software to do more things, thus the iPhone was only possible because mult-touch capacitive screens had evolved over 30 years. I knew people less than 10 years prior to the iphone that had prototype HP mobile computers–the hardware just wan’t where it is today thus they were boxy and bulky. . .
I think this “4 generations out” is a pipe dream apple and apple fans are holding on too as if Jobs was able to manage apple from the grave.
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October 8th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
The word “designs” could have a different meaning. It could be conceptual. For example, the “design” for Siri has probably been in the pipes for quite a while by many companies. Voice recognition is something we have been plugging away at for a long time. This is how I understood it at least – that the designs were mostly conceptual or aesthetic. Apple is very artistic in their designs. I know one thing, I’d love to just take a look at whatever they’ve got.
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October 8th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
I think more along the lines of blueprints like the sketches from davinci. Technology that did not exist but turned out to be huge technological leaps forward when they were finally created. I think his vision for the future of his products will turn out like that. He had a keen sense for knowing where technology was going and how people would like to use it. I imagine nothing less than brilliance coming from these visions. Even if it’s only a dream, us Apple lovers are glad to hav them.
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October 8th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Mike,
I first and foremost want to thank you for the coverage you’ve given us on the iphone release. I’ve been reading it for months now on a daily basis! I have a question for you and all you Apple iPhone owners. This is going to be my first iPhone and I want to get it ASAP as I’ve been holding off on getting a new phone for months (my BB storm2 is as bad a phone as it gets right now). I was about to pre-order mine last night, but after asking the people at Apple’s livechat I found out the iphone would also be IN STORES on the 14th. Considering how much I want to get rid of my phone, wouldn’t it just be better to wait and get it right away rather than pre-order and have to wait for the delivery? I figured I’d ask you, who has experience with this as I don’t know if the stores usually run out of iphones on the first day (I know there are lines and such on release day, but never actually looked at whether or not they’ll have the supply to meet the demand right away). My plan was to just wait til next Sat. (the 15th) and get it at an Apple store near me. Thoughts?
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October 8th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
@ Xpple, Steve started designing the original iPhone about 3 years before it came out. Sure, there was a lot of research that had to be done in between but he knew how he wanted it to look. When it finally came out, it was completely innovative and everyone loved it. Steve knows how fast mobile technology is moving. He made some designs and came up with some ideas and as long as people like Tim Cook and Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall are still around, they can tweak it to go along with whatever the latest technological advancements are.
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October 8th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
I can see a film being made about all this.
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October 8th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
Here’s the thing, xpple – everybody related to every aspect of technology is working 4 years in advance. A battery manufacturer us not going to stumble across some new groundbreaking discovery, then release it in devices the same year. It takes years to develop. the technology we’re seeing now was most likely in Steve’s scope 4 years ago.
The trick for apple wil be to keep that momentum going. They’ll have to put all of their heads together to hope to be half the oracle that Steve was!
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October 8th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
@hugo
I’m not sure how the carriers are in you area, but we have dozens of stores for each carrier here. I would imagine between all of them, the apple store, and best buy all getting stock in on the 14th, surely you’d be able to find a phone at one of them.
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October 8th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
That’s what I’m banking on…I really don’t want to have this phone for another week if I can get the iPhone earlier
. There are plenty of Verizon stores and Apple stores around me (Southeastern MA), so I hope to be able to find one with a 32GB iPhone4S on the 15th.
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October 8th, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Hey Mike, continue doing what you’re doing. I think you should continue these blogs for every new, up and coming generation iPhone. I enjoy reading your articles and I visit the site daily. Keep up the great work! Steve Jobs was definitely the innovator of the decade and probably one of the best this century will ever see. Thank-you Steve … for everything.
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October 8th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
I really believe our kids are going to be learning about Steve Jobs in class among the other great inventors/innovators of history.
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October 8th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
I love the new logo, I hope they start using it. What a tribute.
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October 9th, 2011 at 12:08 am
Hey, will iPhone 4 cases work with the 4s? I mean, it’s the same size, but having a larger camera, wouldn’t cases cut the photo off?
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October 9th, 2011 at 2:12 am
The cases should fit, but I wouldnt buy one right away without testing the camera first. I may get a cheap case at first, then wait for some reviews to come out before I get a more expensive one.
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October 9th, 2011 at 11:52 am
I am not surprised that he had plans and everything for the next four years. He seemed like he was extremely dedicated. I think that all of you are right. He will be sorely missed and we will not see another like him again in our lifetimes….
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October 10th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
OMG “Steve Jobs Loved you”???
Get a grip on reality Mike.
It is sad when anyone dies.
It is not more sad because he developed a toy that everyone wants.
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October 10th, 2011 at 7:00 pm
I was at the Apple store yesterday looking at cases in preparation for my pre-ordered iphone 4s showing up on Friday and the employee I was talking to told me that the outer dimensions of the lens was to stay the same and only the inner dimension was to change. If you are concerned about the lens size, I did notice that all of the speck cases have a large opening around the camera and flash that would more than accommodate a larger lens if the Apple store employee turns out to be wrong. BTW thanks for the great blog Michael!!!! I have been following it for some time now and you are doing a great job!!
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