Next Apple iPhone should be smaller, with better battery, say readers

Smaller form factor. Better battery life. And more secure privacy controls.

Those are some of the highlights of your responses to our question – what new features do you want to see in the next iPhone?

Apple will unveil its 2019-2020 lineup Tuesday at a press event at its campus in Cupertino, with models that aren’t expected to be radically designed. 

Here’s what some iPhone customers would love to see: 

—”Longer battery life, smaller models (it used to fit in my pocket – those days long over), less expensive models, more easily accessed privacy widget so you can switch off all microphone and camera access on apps when not in use (less ability for third-party apps to spy on you), notifications when third-party apps are pinging your GPS coordinates and other data in the background to track you without your knowledge and/or ability to temporarily shut off GPS when you don’t actively need it.” – Leslie Morgan Nakajima

—”Wish Apple had alphabetical capabilities to find my apps. It would be so much easier. Samsung had it years ago!” – Barbara Ammann

—”Option to turn off pop up dialog box listing every nearby Wifi so I can walk down street listening to podcast without it constantly getting in my way 2) ability to change WiFi networks w/o having to go into settings (maybe touch & hold WiFi icon in control panel?) – Scott Marcus

—”iPhone must have: smaller form factor. I’m not getting rid of my iPhone SE until then.” – Barbara Korte

—”Battery life. Battery life. Battery life.” – Pete Halvorsen

Apple hasn’t disclosed the features of the next iPhones, but analysts expect the titles to be iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, with the Pro models offering three camera lenses, similar to the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Note 10 phones. The third lens is an ultra-wide-angle, which will help get more people in the shot for your selfie. 

“Apple will stick to its standard iPhone September launch formula: new iPhones with better cameras, especially better software to improve photography experience for everyone. Oh, and a bunch of interesting features such as longer battery life, new colors, or different finishes,” predicts Frank Gillett, vice president and principal analyst, Forrester Research. 

Apple’s iPhone sales are down this year, 15%, according to CFRA Research, as consumers started to balk at paying $1,000 for models. Apple has shifted much of its attention toward improving the lucrative “Services” division, which sells monthly subscriptions to iCloud storage, Music and coming later this year, a new streaming entertainment service, Apple TV +. 

At the event, beyond the iPhone, Apple is also expected to introduce the fifth edition of the Apple Watch, with this year’s model offering sleep tracking tools and to tout software upgrades for the phone, watch, iPad and computer, all of which will be released later this month. 

Readers, any hopes and dreams for the next Apple Watch?

In other tech news this week

YouTube settled with the FTC over privacy protections, agreeing to pay $170 million to settle claims. In response, YouTube says it will no longer show targeted, personalized ads to videos with kids context, using contextual ads instead. 

Facebook began rolling out a dating service. First announced back in 2018, it’s just starting to roll out here. You need to be at least 18 years of age, and sign up via the mobile Facebook app. Separately, the social network said it was considering hiding the numbers of likes your posts get from friends. 

Samsung said it would finally start shipping its controversial and ultra-expensive Fold phone. The company didn’t give an exact date for the U.S. launch. This is the phone the company sent to reviewers earlier in the year that began falling apart during the review process. 

This week’s Talking Tech podcasts

Stellar for longer travel stories

Loving the new Rode Wireless Go microphones

Spruce up your old iPhone instead of buying a new one

Make a photo book in less than 10 minutes

Finally, this week I weighed in one some cool new accessories to smarten up your mobile filmmaking skills, including the DJI Osmo Mobile 3 stabilizer, and the Rode Wireless Go microphone. Check out test footage of the Osmo, when paired with a Samsung Galaxy S10. 

Awesome!

Readers: 

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