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Comment by squeaky-clean | Hacker News Reader

> What kind of feature do you to be excited to see in a product that is 16 years old?

The ability for it to replace a macbook air if you add a keyboard/mouse/screen for one. How about a 3d camera for integration with vision pro? There's still so much they can do.

Even the previous iPhone had lots of great actual new features. Always-on OLED display. Action Camera mode. Auto focus capable front-facing camera. Dynamic island. 2000 nit brightness capable screen. Satellite SoS. Car crash detection.

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> How about a 3d camera for integration with vision pro

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/12/23870546/iphone-15-pro-ma...

How can this not be rubbish? Your eyes are on average 6.3cm apart and these cameras on your phone appear to be about 1.5cm…

I don’t believe software can bridge that gap so I suspect it’ll look very strange when viewed in 3D…

Once every object in the frame is mapped to 3D coordinates, exaggerating the parallax is trivial (like rendering a video game for 3D glasses / VR), but to your point, figuring out what was behind those objects (to fill in the negative space that remains after translation) is a guessing game, equivalent to various smart fill / magic eraser features. Originally they used only context from the same photo, and nowadays they also use generative AI. Not always great results.

Only time will tell how well it works, are there other cameras with such small distances filming 3D video?

Keep in mind it also has a LiDAR sensor building a point cloud at the same time.

There are some small predators with excellent binocular vision who would like a word with you.

It's not about if predators have good eyes, it's much more about your brain expects to be processing depth information based on the difference between the two images (will having your eyes effectively 4cm+ closer together feel weird?). The images from each camera will clearly be different to your eyes but maybe your brain easily adapts.

Others have said there are algorithms allowing all the objects in a scene to be distorted/rerendered in such a way that this can be corrected for but I am extremely skeptical of this without evidence.

Phones are longer than 6.3cm, so put the other camera on the other end, with the added benefit of encouraging landscape-oriented images as well.

This isn’t a change in pace though is it?

The iPhone has had a tick tock cadence forever.

Keep in mind that you're commenting in the thread about the iPhone 15, not the iPhone 15 Pro. With your comment you're comparing the new iPhone 15 with the features of last year's iPhone 14 Pro. The Pro features are always more extensive, just as this year's. The following year, most of those features typically trickle down to the non-Pro iPhone.

> The ability for it to replace a macbook air if you add a keyboard/mouse/screen for one.

Whats the point? It wont be cheaper if you want usable input and screens. It will Take more space than a laptop wherever you decide to use it.

How do you use even an iPad + keyboard Combo if all you have is a chair?

They introduced LIDAR into the iPhone Pro 12 and every Pro since has had it. So if you want that 3D camera (which works great, btw) you gotta spring for the Pro.

Using your smartphone as your computer is one of the most “tested as a consumer failure in the market” features ever. Many have tried, all failed miserably. Convergence is cool on paper until nobody uses it because it makes no practical sense. Useful to give great tradeshow demos, and that’s it

This is like saying that nuclear fusion is useless, because all reactors have been a failure.

Just becauae you cant get it to work well, does not mean you can blame the consumer.

I'm not sure about the current distinction between iOS and iPadOS (Apple seems to periodically decide that these are the same things or different things depending on mood), but plug a mouse, keyboard and monitor into a modern iPad and you have... a surprisingly okay desktop for many use cases.

I've never been this consumer, but I imagine the hangup is that by the time you've added a keyboard and display to your backpack, you could've just added a laptop instead at a similar weight/size, and while the separate laptop means foregoing the continuity of state, you gain the ability to start your "large mode" session by merely opening a hinge, which is less friction (literally and figuratively) than docking disparate components.

I’m convinced phone-computer will never happen until a large holographic screen and a similar holographic keyboard.

I sometimes bring my laptop "just in case" when going to a friend's place.

If I could just plug in my phone to their USB C monitor that is already connected to a mouse and keyboard that'd be amazing for quickly using YOUR device.

Why would anyone need this? Because I could have my ssh keys and some software on it - sure I could have a bootable USB drive and try to boot their desktop (or laptop?!) from it... but that seems more involved than being able to converge your phone.

It's just that nobody nailed the software side of it. Apple could but they just don't care. Linux tried and they will keep trying

Samsung did it with DeX; so now you have your mobile OS with mobile apps inside overlapping, dynamically sized windows.

For emergency use, it is ok. For a prolonged one, a separate laptop is vastly better experience.

Microsoft pretty much did nail the software side of it, but nobody really cared.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/continuum

This is pretty much exactly what you're looking for. A phone OS on the phone, plug it in, get a desktop OS on a desktop. It worked pretty well, even for the limited hardware at the time.

If a device supports Displayport Alternate Mode on USB-C, there are docks that work like how you're imagining. But I do agree, for a lot of devices the mobile OS just doesn't really have a great desktop experience.

https://plugable.com/products/uds-7in1

>The ability for it to replace a macbook air if you add a keyboard/mouse/screen for one.

I fail to see how this is in any way an improvement over just buying a MacBook Air and having the screen, mouse and keyboard built in. Thew laptop is way more portable.

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