Apple’s One Big Design Flaw
There’s no denying that Apple makes beautifully designed products. From the simplicity of the Mac Mini to the impossibly tiny iPod Shuffle, Apple wins design kudos for form and function all time time.
But there’s one big flaw in Apple’s design of the iPhone and iPad that still hasn’t been fixed — the onboard speakers.
On both the iPhone and iPad, the speaker is located on the rim of the product — which means that when you’re looking at the screen and listening to audio, the audio is shooting out away from you. This isn’t a problem for audio that’s recorded at decent levels, but so many videos out there (especially those on YouTube) are recorded with levels that are way too low. Cranking up the volume doesn’t help.
I often end up having to hold my iPhone in this position:
Although silly looking, this actually increases the volume significantly. On my audio test, cupping your hand in front of the speaker increased the decibel level from a peak of 70db to a peak of 78db. Since dB levels are logarithmic, this is quite an increase in the volume.
All Apple would have to do is locate the speakers on the front to provide better quality audio. (Misdirected audio also tends to drop a lot of the high-end frequency ranges, making the audio also sound muddier and duller.)
I’ve MacGyver’ed a solution for my iPad — tin foil (folded over several times to make it thicker) taped to the back and shaped in the same hand-cup form. It’s goofy looking, but works like a charm and makes listening a much better experience.
Griffin, which makes excellent ‘iProduct’ accessories, has an acoustic amplifier that looks great, but isn’t quite portable. ThinkGeek has come up with a simple but awesome solution — the iPhone Audio Booster is a simple piece of plastic that clips onto the bottom of your iPhone and essentially forms a plastic cup that does the same thing. Genius. And only $8.
Still, the right solution is for Apple to simply locate speakers on the front. Steve? Please?
N.B. On the iPad, speakers on both ends would also be good to provide stereo listening. But I’ll take what I can get. 
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June 14th, 2010
Just posted: Apple's One Big Design Flaw. http://todmaff.in/appleflaw
#apple #iphone #ipad #design #fail
June 14th, 2010
The position of the speaker is also annoying when you're trying to play a game on the iPhone. When you hold it in a horizontal position, one of your hands often covers the speaker, which in my experience, ends up muting the sound.
I also find it difficult to take a picture with the iPhone using one hand. I find the place where they put the “take picture” button to be very awkward to hit with your thumb. This is even more challenging when you're taking the picture in Canadian winters and your thumb is already starting to go numb. This could easily be fixed by making it so that tapping any part of the screen takes the picture (or tapping and holding).
Brian.
June 14th, 2010
Good points. The “Camera Genius” app (http://www.codegoo.com/) is a great alternative to the on-board camera. It turns the whole screen into a “take picture” button. There are alternatives, but Camera Genius has a bunch of other really great tools.
June 14th, 2010
Cool, I'll check it out.
June 14th, 2010
RT @todmaffin: Just posted: Apple's One Big Design Flaw. http://todmaff.in/appleflaw
#apple #iphone #ipad #design #fail
June 14th, 2010
I thought the built-in Camera app had an option for using the whole screen as a shutter button. Maybe I'm mistaken, but lots of other photo apps for the iPhone do.
I suspect the speaker positioning may be a consequence of (a) trying to keep the front of the phone as gewgaw-free as possible, and (b) simple space considerations in trying to cram everything in there.
June 14th, 2010
I like the principal but cutting into the glass screen to provide speaker access could cause a major weakness in this essential part of the iphone, particularly as it would need to be at the edge of the screen?
Better to use earphones?
June 14th, 2010
I think that if you're going to complain about it, you need to come up with an actual solution.
Should they put the speakers behind the glass? This would obviously mute them.
Should they cut holes in the glass? This would reduce structural integrity, and cause the glass that is between the hole and the edge of the phone to break easily & often.
I agree with your complaint about the volume, but I don't know that Apple can actually fix it. What would you suggest that they actually do to address the issue?
June 14th, 2010
I'm pretty sure it's (b).
June 14th, 2010
Of course, if it's just one person, earphones are the right solution. But sometimes you circumstances negate that possibility — listening with others or, in my case, listening to podcasts while soaking in the tub.
June 14th, 2010
I wonder if the whole screen couldn't become a speaker. We've seen many flat speakers used to direct sound in the past. It might serve as a form of tactile feedback as well.
Hmmm must right email to Steve now….
June 15th, 2010
Apple’s One Big Design Flaw – There’s no denying that Apple makes beautifully designed products. From the simp… http://ow.ly/17JP9z
June 15th, 2010
Apple's One Big Design Flaw (audio, speaker placement) from @todmaffin http://ow.ly/1YuMz #iphone #ipad #design #fail
June 19th, 2010
There's already a speaker in the front that punches through the glass. It's the speaker you use when you are on a phone call without using headphones. Why don't they use that one?
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