> The most impressive one is too expensive; the others aren't worth the upgrade.
Perfectly summarizes what Apple has been producing lately, and this isn't just exclusive to their phones. I wonder when they'll make something worth buying?
If you visit Singapore telcos (SingTel, StarHub, M1) physical store, you will see a signboard listing availability of iPhone models. For the past many years, the stocks for new models are generally "Not Available" during Christmas shopping season. So to buy iPhone at telco store during this period, you have to queue up before the store open in order to get the daily limited units released for sale. I just visited telco stores in a busy shopping mall this evening, and all of them listed iPhone X as "Available" for all color and memory size. This is clear sign that its not selling as well as expected here.
Most of the Telcos book and pay in advance to Apple for iphones. If stock is easily available means the telcos over estimated demand now it could be that sales are not as high as previously or Telco overbooked. Talking to people around me that use iPhones though most feel 8 is not worth upgrading and X is too expensive so many of them have gone for 7.
I don't pay much attention to this sort of thing in general, but with how often they're wrong about Apple, it makes me wonder if they're that inaccurate about everything else too
It’s particularly bad with apple because they’re highly successful due to or despite not following common business wisdom, and many analysts seem convinced it’s going to catch up with them any day now
I hadn't really thought about it but I suppose the current width is why I'm so comfortable typing on it coming from an iPhone 7. If I'd had the Plus, it might have felt like kind of a downgrade.
Hated every minute of my 7+, happy to have gone back to a sane size with the X. I could see how someone with insanely huge hands, or someone who needs a phone to "make a statement" wouldn't want something smaller, but for most of us, it's great.
someone with insanely huge hands, or someone who needs a phone to "make a statement"
Or somebody who prefers a larger screen and finds that to outweigh the drawbacks that come from it... I know lots of people with Plusses and none have particularly large hands and, more often than wanting to "make a statement", they count it as a drawback that it appears so large.
Yes, I have friends who liked the larger phone who (say) commuted on the train and did lots of reading with it. I never found it particularly easier to read on the larger screen, but to each their own. I wasn't trying to malign the phone as just for those looking to stand out, just that I felt there weren't many other advantages -- other than, in the case of the 7, the dual camera system.
that being said, the article is comparing it to 2015 which I think was consider an usually high outlier peak given the intro of the 6 and the large screen models
I'm on a 7, and it's nearly no improvement over my 6 (The only feature noticable is the better water sealing). Not looking to upgrade any time soon.
And unlike previous generations my last phone is still so good that after a battery change it will be a parent/sibling phone for 2 more years without problem. That means that they are less likely to get a new one too. They can drop their iPhone4S and take my iPhone6, instead of going to the store to get a 7/8.
I think this is great, and not surprising. There is a point when perf and features give diminishing returns and we are there. Good!
I went from a 6 to a 7+ and hated every day with it, the HugePhone thing is simply not for me. I felt the 6/6s/7 was a really stagnant period and the X is a huge step up. But if you were looking at the 8, yeah, probably not much reason to upgrade.
There is a lack of demand for innovation which means we are happy with the technology. I think it’s great. I mean it’s just a smartphone, if I can keep it longer and spend my money on some other innovation that’s cool too.
The 7 camera is significantly better than the 6 and almost worth the upgrade. But no headphone jack and no physical home button made be regret ever upgrading—I had damaged my 6 beyond repair. :( After my experience with the 7, I'm less enthused about replacing a damaged phone with the latest version.
> according to a survey of 300 iPhone buyers by technology-analysis firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners
Is 300 the right sample size? I recall reading that Apple sells over 500 iPhones every minute (on average), so I wonder if such a small sample is appropriate here.
It really depends on the sampling characteristics and the observed population distribution. If iPhone buyers are very consistent and follow a normal distribution, it could be ok.
The problem with the iPhone X is its only selling point is the huge screen. It looks cool, perhaps. But it doesn't really bring anything new or useful to the design, and requires so many compromises: the (less secure and less convenient) Face ID instead of Touch ID, no home button, all the basic OS functionality having completely different gestures or button sequences than before, the notch at the top covering the screen, reduced status bar size…
As someone who bought one for ARkit stuff, I was ready to have all the complaints you mention, but honestly they haven't turned out to be true for me. FaceID is more reliable than touch ID, and only 2 gestures really change. The status bar size is silly, but, the notch itself barely registers after the first few days of use.
As the very happy owner of an iPhone X, I couldn't disagree more.
The (nearly) full screen display is fantastic. The notch and rounded edges don't bother me at all; it gives the phone screen an organic shape, previously only seen in sci-fi movies.
FaceID is fantastic; it's super reliable and incrdibly seemless. Touch ID was far worse.
Swipe motions instead of the home bar works great.
I've never been happier with a phone. Truely a phenomenal device.
Counter point: I haven't thought about Touch ID since picking up the 7 (my first iPhone). Screen is good. Camera is good. I don't use gestures. I have an extra $1000 in my bank account from not buying the X.
"Reliable" and "seamless" don't really go together when you're talking about a combination authentication/authorization mechanism.
To know you truly have the user's authorization to do something, there needs to be a discrete, conscious act. Touch ID had that. Face ID got rid of it. That's a net loss for users.
I guess it depends on what you want. For me, it means if I lose my phone I can be reasonably confident someone is not going to be able to log into it. It means I can leave my phone out on the counter and not worry about someone peaking at my incoming notifications, or snooping on my phone.
So for me, that's reliable enough.
The seemless part is when I'm using my phone, I barely notice that I'm authing it with face ID. So, pretty seemless.
I hate the freaking Face ID... With my iPhone 7 unlocking was second nature. Almost never had to enter the pin.
With the iPhone X I found my self, entering the pin at least 50% of the times. Usually when I'm in bed and this thing can't get a good shot of my face (because my face is smooshed into my pillow) or when I'm at work and I have the phone flat on my desk.
They can try to defend Face ID as much as they want but it's a total UX nightmare.
FaceID only fails for me when laying in bed and my face is half covered by the pillow. It works brilliantly while riding my bike. Yup, sunglasses, helmet, looking down at the phone while moving 15mph, flawless.
TouchID also almost always worked for me but failed when my hands were wet. My wife has endless problems with TouchID on her phone.
Face ID works perfectly for me every time. Sunglasses, hoodie, beanie (the unibomer look, basically) and it works perfectly.
The only annoyance is when it's laying flat on my desk and I want to turn on some music when it isn't currently playing, but I can just tilt it 30 degrees and it opens.
The swiping gestures on X also feel really great over trying to double click the home button all the time.
FaceID is a complete game changer IMO...a paradigm shift!
Not just for unlocking the phone but the fact all of my apps (banking, etc) also support it makes authentication be a problem of the past...all friction gone!
It’s amazing and can probably only be expierenced in person...which might be why sales have been weak.
> Not just for unlocking the phone but the fact all of my apps (banking, etc) also support it makes authentication be a problem of the past...all friction gone!
Those all work with TouchID too. But with TouchID I can add my wife's fingerprint, so when I'm driving she can unlock my phone and use it to do banking or set up the navigation for me or whatever. Or when I'm showering. Or bathing the kids. Or cooking, or working in the yard, or....
A paradigm shift indeed. Anyone can pick up your phone, point it at you, and then get access to all your apps (banking, etc).
I recently went to Disneyland and the way it works with normal passes now (not year round), is that they point an iPhone at you and take your picture. If you enter a new country, they take your fingerprint and take a picture of you. We are training people to use the two pieces of information that most companies and countries are now readily collecting from you, your thumb print and your face picture, as the password to your most sensitive information.
Absolutely cannot disagree more. It brings more real estate in a smaller package, it looks better, and it works better. The gestures are far better than the home button, and I adapted almost immediately (seriously, within 5 minutes). It feels far more natural now than the button ever did, and when I look at an older model it looks dated as hell.
This feels like the statement of someone looking for something to complain about rather than an actual user experience.
I am curious to see how this gesture based UI will be received.
Apple is probably the only company that can push such an UI (with people willing to take the time to learn it) but I have still rarely seen it work for normal users : if a button is not visible; it won't be used.
If I were to buy an iPhone X; I would just wait a generation or 2 for this notch to hopefully disappear (also hopefully to have a more resistant frame even though I doubt it will happen , form over function).
Where do you think they're gonna put the earpiece or camera if the notch disappears? You're either gonna have the notch, or a taller phone with a huge band of wasted real-estate. I think the notch was the perfect solution. shrug
> The problem with the iPhone X is its only selling point is the huge screen.
The iPhone X is basically an iPhone 8 Plus in a smaller form factor and a better screen. For those of us who don't like the larger form factor, it's ideal. Otherwise, I'd have to choose between a better camera and bigger screen, or the smaller phone I wanted. With the iPhone X, I don't have to choose. That's the selling point of the iPhone X – you don't have to make those compromises.
Wasting all that space for the Home button was crazy.
Anyway, you're entitled to your opinion but please don't speak for everyone. My girlfriend and I love our X's. FaceID doesn't seem to work well when I'm in bed, but touch id was lot more painful. Now you can say "Hey Siri, open mail" without touching your phone.
My only real [iOS] complaint with Apple is that Siri isn't getting smarter. Amazon or Google is going to deliver the first voice UI:
The non-touchbar model has (IIRC) a weaker processor, and removes two of the USB-C ports for no reason aside from Apple's strong desire that you not buy it (instead paying way more for a Touch Bar you don't want, to get those two ports and higher speed back)
Plus it's still a little more expensive than the previous base model at launch, I think, despite being worse in quite a few ways.
True, but that worse processor and -2 USB-C ports that I would never use thanks to having to have a hub anyways saves $500. Enough to upgrade the processor to an i7.
> Plus it's still a little more expensive than the previous base model at launch, I think, despite being worse in quite a few ways.
Besides USB-C, what else is worse compared to the previous model? I had the model before, so not too familiar.
Mostly the lack of ports. We had to buy a ton of new monitors at work because most of our existing ones wouldn't work or didn't work well, even with adapters. If you travel with them you have to carry adapters, because there's only about a 1% chance any given monitor you need to plug into on the road is USB-C. Ditto anything else you might need to plug in. Including your friggin' iPhone. Chance of my doing that with my personal equipment, dropping hundreds on top of the (now higher) price of a new MacBook? Precisely zero. My 2015 will have to serve me until they get their shit together, most of my stuff is upgraded to USB-C anyway (guarantee that's more than 5 years off), or I give up and switch to Arch or something.
Some people love the keyboard, some people hate it, so call that a wash. I recently had to use a two-generations-ago MacBook keyboard (last model with an optical drive, I think) after getting very used to 2014+ and the current ultra-thin one, and... I actually liked that one better than both the newer ones, and I don't hate the newest one, it's just less nice to use than the one two generations ago. Also gets crippled by specs of dust, seemingly, which is annoying.
Yeah, all of that's fair. I would do the same as you, but my old one was on its last legs. In the end, I spent $150 on adapters and have been good to go on my personal setup since, traveling and at home. I'm sure this is a lot bigger nightmare at work.
To me in daily life, everything seems fine sans USB-C and touch bar. It's a one-time price hassle that sucks but in the end doesn't end the world. I travel with one adapter that has USB's, HDMI, and a USB-C on it and have yet to run into any issues with it. I wish Apple actually made decent hubs that didn't cost a small fortune, and I do hope they get their shit together next model as well.
I just think that the sky isn't falling. You said it was worse in quite a few ways, but I think it's really just 1-2 big ones that can be fixed.
> We had to buy a ton of new monitors at work because most of our existing ones wouldn't work or didn't work well, even with adapters.
The biggest issue is the adapter market is absolute shit. I got lucky with two good ones.
> I just think that the sky isn't falling. You said it was worse in quite a few ways, but I think it's really just 1-2 big ones that can be fixed.
Well, it was several ports they replaced :-)
But yeah, it's not that I think the new ones are junk or anything. I have one for work. It's fine if you have USB-C stuff with it and if making sure you have that crap is someone else's problem, and expense. There's just no way I'm paying more for one of them than the previous model, for my personal laptop, because I use every port on there all the time—except the Apple ones (lightning/displayport? I can never keep the names straight) and don't have a single USB-C device in my house. If the new model came with a really great multiport hub/dock thingy to get us through this (multi-year) port transition period that'd at least make it less off-putting.
It's possible that Apple has analyzed the market and done some research and concluded that what you want would not generate enough profit vs. their current offerings. Your money that they left on the table is most likely dwarfed by the new found money they are getting. At least, if their research is correct.
They are not strapped for cash but they evidently don’t think it’s worthwhile to build what you exactly want. They can’t meet all needs of all users. They already have a spectrum of products. It appears one more is not what they think is in their best interests.
Laptop sales have been declining overall since 2011. I’m not sure looking at unit sales declining is enough evidence that they have made a mistake. I got no dog in this fight. I don’t care either way but it seems foolish to think they haven’t thought things through. If they made a mistake, and they quite possibly did, they’ll try to correct it. In general assuming that personal tastes are normative can lead to incorrect conclusions. Put another way, Apple has way more data points to inform their decisions than you or I. Doesn’t mean they get right though.
Well, Apple has given themselves an "out" recently by saying that "Jony's back!!!" Maybe, they'll change their minds on some of their recent design decisions.
I'm still powering through with a mid-2009 Core2Duo. I've wanted to upgrade for a while now, but just don't feel an unassailable 'oomph' to do it.
Lots of folks say the 2015 rMBP is the gold standard best laptop Apple has ever put out, and I can't disagree.
I'd drop some serious cash in a heartbeat for a brand new model that touches on those notes, but the new MBPs just are not even close to where they should be.
I used a 2011 MBP for 6 years until the GPU finally failed, and then downgraded to a 2010 MBP. For most things, I hardly notice any issues with it being underpowered, and I intend to keep using this indefinitely until it no longer functions and isn't easily repairable.
I'm unmotivated to buy a new computer I can't repair myself as easily or replace the batteries when they wear out, because I like using my computers for 5 to 10 years and run them into the ground.
Apple only charges $199 for a new battery for the MBP's not having user-replaceable batteries. Which sounds horrible until you realize a new battery for the old MacBooks was $129 (I've replaced a couple). So really, you're just paying an extra $70 and you're only going to need to do it once over the lifetime of your system, which should be 8-10 years. Not bad.
Apple has a long history of deprecating ports and peripherals ahead of the rest of the industry, potentially prematurely. Nobody should be shocked by this anymore, it's part and parcel of being a customer of theirs.
However, looking back, they have a pretty good track record regarding what they remove. Keyboards and mice didn't really need separate ports, floppy drives weren't all that great, and optical drives ended up gathering dust in a nice battery-shaped hole.
I don't quite get the USB port issue... the MBP has 4 of them.
They're type-C, but that's the direction all consumer electronics are headed in. All of my daily gear is USB-C now. It's a much more capable port in general.
And for legacy USB gear, you can either just swap out for a C-to-B cable, or get a small C-to-A dongle if the cable isn't removable.
I'd much rather have the extra type-C ports, myself.
The downside for me is the older ones can't drive high res displays at a decent refresh rate. I have a (single) 4k monitor for windows gaming, but I use it a ton with my (company) 2015 macbook pro for work/development, which works great so long as you use thunderbolt -> displayport.
Using my personal 2013 macbook pro (13in) with the monitor is a freaking nightmare. It just can't handle the higher res monitor, the mouse looks like its moving in slow motion. Same story on the 2015 macbook pro via hdmi.
This on its own will be a huge factor when/if I replace my personal laptop. I'm gonna hold on to it for as long as I can though...
You know, I felt the same way, when the new macs came out - then I thought about it - and I realized I've used the SD card maybe two dozen times over two laptops in 10 years.
Sample size of 1: the iPhone X is a huge step up from the 6+. FaceID is very nice to use, and the lack of a physical home button improves the ergonomics considerably.
Also agree. When I pick up my wife's phone to do something I find myself constantly triggering control center because the home gesture is so ingrained.
Ok, well, very few of my friends decided to get an X (because of price, some missing features etc.), some even switched to Android. Does me saying this add anything new to the discussion? Not really. I expect ycombinator to be more than just people contradicting each other with anecdotal data.
My "anecdotal" label was not about "my friends," but because I was not willing to provide a very, very, very long list of analysts consistently making incredibly poor estimations of Apple shipping volumes. It's a concrete enough history that I know I'm not alone in having seen it every year, but I don't want to spend the hours providing links to prove it.
Apple does not release shipment or sales numbers mid-quarter, and analysts have repeatedly demonstrated that they consistently misunderstand mid-quarter indicators of shipping/sales volume.
I'm granting the benefit of the doubt there. It's also possible that there's widespread market manipulation or deliberately-false headlines for clickbait, but I'll assume they're just consistently wrong.
I bought an iPhone X and it's my favorite iPhone I've ever owned. I've fallen (back) in love with the iPhone and can't quite explain why.
A big part of it, to be honest, was my dislike of my past few phones. The 6 felt like the PERFECT form factor and was a good step up from my 5S, but it unfortunately suffered from the battery issues Apple claimed "only" affected the 6S. Once the 7 came out I realized my 6 was 2.5 years old and was seriously showing the performance impact of an aging phone (typically I stick to a 2 year cycle). I couldn't bring myself to spend the money on a 7 which I felt was no real upgrade; the better camera on the 7+ was the only thing to get me to "jump". Everyone I know who owns large Android or Apple phones swears you'll love the big screen and never want to go back.
I gotta say, I never liked the 7+. I kept expecting I'd get used to it and warm to it, but I never did. It was too big to operate with one hand, I always had to adjust it in my pocket to put my leg up to tie my shoes or get in the car or whatever, and the added screen size did nothing for me. Every time I picked up my wife's 7 I thought "this is more like it".
So I bought the X because I didn't want to pay MORE money and "downgrade" to the single lens camera on the 8; I felt like it was going to be let down. The X was a bit of a gamble. I was sure I'd miss the home button and touchID; I regularly used it to unlock my phone while lying flat on my desk and wouldn't want to pick it up to face me, but thought why not get a big screen in a small form factor?
The switch to the X was seamless. I have to say, within 5 minutes I had forgotten all about the home button, in stark contrast to all of the tech journos who said it took "weeks" to get used to. I'm in my late 30s so I'm well into my "I feel like a luddite" years, and it takes me seemingly forever to adapt to new technology, but the lack of a home button was a serious step up. Every gesture on the X feels totally natural and it all makes sense again.
The form factor of the X is amazing, it's perfect for me and what I want. The screen is brilliant, everything is just amazing. It's not enough to tell someone to switch from Android or from an iPhone they already like, but for the first time in years it feels like a serious step up in every way for Apple.
Another nice thing is, as someone who doesn't really like to stand out, in a black case (I use a QuadLock to attach to my bike handlebars), it looks like absolutely nothing. It's totally featureless on the front and it's a small-ish phone so it doesn't look flashy or draw attention to you.
What's the average upgrade cycle of iphone users? I feel like there's diminishing features in every new iteration of phones in general now. I have a few years old Xperia Z2 and have been looking at new phones in stores when I'm near one. Cool screen, this and that, but in general absolutely nothing that I would need to buy vs what I have, and I'm even inclined towards parting ways with cash for it - just can't find any valid reason.
I would imagine a lot of people are on 12 month upgrade cycles. Either going straight through the carrier's 12 month program, or the iPhone Upgrade Program.
In the US, most carriers push a 24-month upgrade cycle, and charge a lot more for 12-month upgrades.
Even the Apple Upgrade program is a 24-month cycle. Although there is no real penalty for upgrading after 12 months, there is a charge of more than $100.
Apple's getting lazy. Clearly drowning in money doesn't do much to motivate employees.
Given Apple's deep pockets and platform ownership, how is it that Spotify is still alive? How is it the Apple Maps is still lagging Google Maps so profoundly? Or that Apple can't muster any response to Netflix at all? Let's not even get into the farcical self-driving car project they aborted
Apple has now had years and unlimited funds to compete in these service markets, but still is behind. Tim Cook needs to do some exec shuffling, the company is coasting. Shareholders and analysts won't ask tough questions, everyone is making money and they don't want to jeopardize access
> how is it that Spotify is still alive? How is it the Apple Maps is still lagging Google Maps so profoundly?
It could be that tech expertise and data aren't fungible.
> Or that Apple can't muster any response to Netflix at all?
Nor have they mustered a response to Johnson & Johnson—hell, they haven't even overtaken Snapple, who are only the _third_ largest soft drink business in the US.
> Let's not even get into the farcical self-driving car project they aborted
Actually, let's. I'd love to hear what you know about it.
the cost of new phones has really changed my purchasing behavior.
when it was $200-$300 to upgrade with a contract renewal, I tended to get a new phone with every iteration, regardless of the new features or condition of my current phone.
Now that the latest phones are $700+, or $40+ per month with insurance, I evaluate the purchase in the same way I've always looked at new laptops/desktops. If the current model meets my needs and there are no new features I will get much value from, I have no interest in upgrading.
have others experience this shift?
the only new feature that has me interested in a the iPhone X is portrait mode in a smaller form factor.
The price hasn't changed, just your experience of the price.
I buy my phones unlocked for megabucks, and save $15/mo over 2 years (=$360), don't have to deal with carrier locking restrictions, etc. Then when I upgrade, I sell the old one.
I think people are just holding on to their devices longer. The mobile market is hitting that maturation point where people aren't upgrading the high-end models every 1-2 years, it's turning into more like the PCs, they'll upgrade every 3-5 years.
I used to upgrade every two years but stopped that since I got my iPhone 5S, it's good enough for me. I didn't need anything until the battery life started to decline and when ATT had a good deal for two iPhones for price of one installment plan, I got an iPhone X. I would've stay on iPhone 5S for 5 years, no doubt. I suspect the same for X, I will be staying with it for 5 years.
So how can we explain that the delivery delay in most countries (apple.com) is very short? And was only a few weeks after the launch? Apple is very strong with financial: I suspect they replaced a decreased volume of sales by a higher margin per product.
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[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 191 ms ] threadPerfectly summarizes what Apple has been producing lately, and this isn't just exclusive to their phones. I wonder when they'll make something worth buying?
http://bgr.com/2017/12/18/iphone-x-sales-china-256-gb-quarte...
Or somebody who prefers a larger screen and finds that to outweigh the drawbacks that come from it... I know lots of people with Plusses and none have particularly large hands and, more often than wanting to "make a statement", they count it as a drawback that it appears so large.
Or just wait until next year, when they'll (probably) have an X Plus. Which will feel like a frickin' iPad.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/263401/global-apple-ipho...
Sales are still great, but the growth has become stagnant.
And unlike previous generations my last phone is still so good that after a battery change it will be a parent/sibling phone for 2 more years without problem. That means that they are less likely to get a new one too. They can drop their iPhone4S and take my iPhone6, instead of going to the store to get a 7/8.
I think this is great, and not surprising. There is a point when perf and features give diminishing returns and we are there. Good!
I don't understand how someone on hackernews can be excited about the stagnation of innovation... lol
Is 300 the right sample size? I recall reading that Apple sells over 500 iPhones every minute (on average), so I wonder if such a small sample is appropriate here.
It's the epitome of form over function.
The (nearly) full screen display is fantastic. The notch and rounded edges don't bother me at all; it gives the phone screen an organic shape, previously only seen in sci-fi movies.
FaceID is fantastic; it's super reliable and incrdibly seemless. Touch ID was far worse.
Swipe motions instead of the home bar works great.
I've never been happier with a phone. Truely a phenomenal device.
And yeah, the 7 is a very solid phone. But the X is really special. And I sold my 7 for $400, so hey, my bank account is only out $600 for the X. :-)
To know you truly have the user's authorization to do something, there needs to be a discrete, conscious act. Touch ID had that. Face ID got rid of it. That's a net loss for users.
So for me, that's reliable enough.
The seemless part is when I'm using my phone, I barely notice that I'm authing it with face ID. So, pretty seemless.
Touch ID often failed for me. Every time my hands were ever so slightly damp or sweaty, Touch ID failed.
Face ID almost always works. It works while running, while cooking, when wearing gloves, and even in the bath tub.
It does fail when I‘m wearing a dust mask, but it‘s probably not a good idea to bring the iPhone to the workshop anyway.
TouchID also almost always worked for me but failed when my hands were wet. My wife has endless problems with TouchID on her phone.
The only annoyance is when it's laying flat on my desk and I want to turn on some music when it isn't currently playing, but I can just tilt it 30 degrees and it opens.
The swiping gestures on X also feel really great over trying to double click the home button all the time.
Happy iPhoneX user here.
FaceID is a complete game changer IMO...a paradigm shift!
Not just for unlocking the phone but the fact all of my apps (banking, etc) also support it makes authentication be a problem of the past...all friction gone!
It’s amazing and can probably only be expierenced in person...which might be why sales have been weak.
Those all work with TouchID too. But with TouchID I can add my wife's fingerprint, so when I'm driving she can unlock my phone and use it to do banking or set up the navigation for me or whatever. Or when I'm showering. Or bathing the kids. Or cooking, or working in the yard, or....
I recently went to Disneyland and the way it works with normal passes now (not year round), is that they point an iPhone at you and take your picture. If you enter a new country, they take your fingerprint and take a picture of you. We are training people to use the two pieces of information that most companies and countries are now readily collecting from you, your thumb print and your face picture, as the password to your most sensitive information.
You have to be looking at the phone. How much that helps is another question.
Apple is probably the only company that can push such an UI (with people willing to take the time to learn it) but I have still rarely seen it work for normal users : if a button is not visible; it won't be used.
If I were to buy an iPhone X; I would just wait a generation or 2 for this notch to hopefully disappear (also hopefully to have a more resistant frame even though I doubt it will happen , form over function).
Since that's not possible right now, only compromises can be achieved.
So you don't have front facing speakers and have a notch in the screen.
Whether you are ok with this is subjective and I am not.
The iPhone X is basically an iPhone 8 Plus in a smaller form factor and a better screen. For those of us who don't like the larger form factor, it's ideal. Otherwise, I'd have to choose between a better camera and bigger screen, or the smaller phone I wanted. With the iPhone X, I don't have to choose. That's the selling point of the iPhone X – you don't have to make those compromises.
Anyway, you're entitled to your opinion but please don't speak for everyone. My girlfriend and I love our X's. FaceID doesn't seem to work well when I'm in bed, but touch id was lot more painful. Now you can say "Hey Siri, open mail" without touching your phone.
My only real [iOS] complaint with Apple is that Siri isn't getting smarter. Amazon or Google is going to deliver the first voice UI:
https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/voice-as-a-user-inte...
But no, why don't you just leave this money on the table instead and I'll make do with the 2013 model.
You go on ahead, Apple, wondering how to ignite more revenue growth.
I agree with the pain of USB-C, but one hub for home and one mobile adapter can solve all that. It's not as bad as people make it out to be.
Plus it's still a little more expensive than the previous base model at launch, I think, despite being worse in quite a few ways.
> Plus it's still a little more expensive than the previous base model at launch, I think, despite being worse in quite a few ways.
Besides USB-C, what else is worse compared to the previous model? I had the model before, so not too familiar.
Some people love the keyboard, some people hate it, so call that a wash. I recently had to use a two-generations-ago MacBook keyboard (last model with an optical drive, I think) after getting very used to 2014+ and the current ultra-thin one, and... I actually liked that one better than both the newer ones, and I don't hate the newest one, it's just less nice to use than the one two generations ago. Also gets crippled by specs of dust, seemingly, which is annoying.
To me in daily life, everything seems fine sans USB-C and touch bar. It's a one-time price hassle that sucks but in the end doesn't end the world. I travel with one adapter that has USB's, HDMI, and a USB-C on it and have yet to run into any issues with it. I wish Apple actually made decent hubs that didn't cost a small fortune, and I do hope they get their shit together next model as well.
I just think that the sky isn't falling. You said it was worse in quite a few ways, but I think it's really just 1-2 big ones that can be fixed.
> We had to buy a ton of new monitors at work because most of our existing ones wouldn't work or didn't work well, even with adapters.
The biggest issue is the adapter market is absolute shit. I got lucky with two good ones.
Well, it was several ports they replaced :-)
But yeah, it's not that I think the new ones are junk or anything. I have one for work. It's fine if you have USB-C stuff with it and if making sure you have that crap is someone else's problem, and expense. There's just no way I'm paying more for one of them than the previous model, for my personal laptop, because I use every port on there all the time—except the Apple ones (lightning/displayport? I can never keep the names straight) and don't have a single USB-C device in my house. If the new model came with a really great multiport hub/dock thingy to get us through this (multi-year) port transition period that'd at least make it less off-putting.
That suggests that the shitty keyboard (which improved mildly in 2017) is a not insignificant factor at the margins.
Lots of folks say the 2015 rMBP is the gold standard best laptop Apple has ever put out, and I can't disagree.
I'd drop some serious cash in a heartbeat for a brand new model that touches on those notes, but the new MBPs just are not even close to where they should be.
I'm unmotivated to buy a new computer I can't repair myself as easily or replace the batteries when they wear out, because I like using my computers for 5 to 10 years and run them into the ground.
However, looking back, they have a pretty good track record regarding what they remove. Keyboards and mice didn't really need separate ports, floppy drives weren't all that great, and optical drives ended up gathering dust in a nice battery-shaped hole.
They're type-C, but that's the direction all consumer electronics are headed in. All of my daily gear is USB-C now. It's a much more capable port in general.
And for legacy USB gear, you can either just swap out for a C-to-B cable, or get a small C-to-A dongle if the cable isn't removable.
I'd much rather have the extra type-C ports, myself.
Using my personal 2013 macbook pro (13in) with the monitor is a freaking nightmare. It just can't handle the higher res monitor, the mouse looks like its moving in slow motion. Same story on the 2015 macbook pro via hdmi.
This on its own will be a huge factor when/if I replace my personal laptop. I'm gonna hold on to it for as long as I can though...
Apple does not release shipment or sales numbers mid-quarter, and analysts have repeatedly demonstrated that they consistently misunderstand mid-quarter indicators of shipping/sales volume.
I'm granting the benefit of the doubt there. It's also possible that there's widespread market manipulation or deliberately-false headlines for clickbait, but I'll assume they're just consistently wrong.
A big part of it, to be honest, was my dislike of my past few phones. The 6 felt like the PERFECT form factor and was a good step up from my 5S, but it unfortunately suffered from the battery issues Apple claimed "only" affected the 6S. Once the 7 came out I realized my 6 was 2.5 years old and was seriously showing the performance impact of an aging phone (typically I stick to a 2 year cycle). I couldn't bring myself to spend the money on a 7 which I felt was no real upgrade; the better camera on the 7+ was the only thing to get me to "jump". Everyone I know who owns large Android or Apple phones swears you'll love the big screen and never want to go back.
I gotta say, I never liked the 7+. I kept expecting I'd get used to it and warm to it, but I never did. It was too big to operate with one hand, I always had to adjust it in my pocket to put my leg up to tie my shoes or get in the car or whatever, and the added screen size did nothing for me. Every time I picked up my wife's 7 I thought "this is more like it".
So I bought the X because I didn't want to pay MORE money and "downgrade" to the single lens camera on the 8; I felt like it was going to be let down. The X was a bit of a gamble. I was sure I'd miss the home button and touchID; I regularly used it to unlock my phone while lying flat on my desk and wouldn't want to pick it up to face me, but thought why not get a big screen in a small form factor?
The switch to the X was seamless. I have to say, within 5 minutes I had forgotten all about the home button, in stark contrast to all of the tech journos who said it took "weeks" to get used to. I'm in my late 30s so I'm well into my "I feel like a luddite" years, and it takes me seemingly forever to adapt to new technology, but the lack of a home button was a serious step up. Every gesture on the X feels totally natural and it all makes sense again.
The form factor of the X is amazing, it's perfect for me and what I want. The screen is brilliant, everything is just amazing. It's not enough to tell someone to switch from Android or from an iPhone they already like, but for the first time in years it feels like a serious step up in every way for Apple.
Another nice thing is, as someone who doesn't really like to stand out, in a black case (I use a QuadLock to attach to my bike handlebars), it looks like absolutely nothing. It's totally featureless on the front and it's a small-ish phone so it doesn't look flashy or draw attention to you.
Even the Apple Upgrade program is a 24-month cycle. Although there is no real penalty for upgrading after 12 months, there is a charge of more than $100.
Given Apple's deep pockets and platform ownership, how is it that Spotify is still alive? How is it the Apple Maps is still lagging Google Maps so profoundly? Or that Apple can't muster any response to Netflix at all? Let's not even get into the farcical self-driving car project they aborted
Apple has now had years and unlimited funds to compete in these service markets, but still is behind. Tim Cook needs to do some exec shuffling, the company is coasting. Shareholders and analysts won't ask tough questions, everyone is making money and they don't want to jeopardize access
It could be that tech expertise and data aren't fungible.
> Or that Apple can't muster any response to Netflix at all?
Nor have they mustered a response to Johnson & Johnson—hell, they haven't even overtaken Snapple, who are only the _third_ largest soft drink business in the US.
> Let's not even get into the farcical self-driving car project they aborted
Actually, let's. I'd love to hear what you know about it.
when it was $200-$300 to upgrade with a contract renewal, I tended to get a new phone with every iteration, regardless of the new features or condition of my current phone.
Now that the latest phones are $700+, or $40+ per month with insurance, I evaluate the purchase in the same way I've always looked at new laptops/desktops. If the current model meets my needs and there are no new features I will get much value from, I have no interest in upgrading.
have others experience this shift?
the only new feature that has me interested in a the iPhone X is portrait mode in a smaller form factor.
I buy my phones unlocked for megabucks, and save $15/mo over 2 years (=$360), don't have to deal with carrier locking restrictions, etc. Then when I upgrade, I sell the old one.
I used to upgrade every two years but stopped that since I got my iPhone 5S, it's good enough for me. I didn't need anything until the battery life started to decline and when ATT had a good deal for two iPhones for price of one installment plan, I got an iPhone X. I would've stay on iPhone 5S for 5 years, no doubt. I suspect the same for X, I will be staying with it for 5 years.
I wish they'd make a smaller version of it.