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New iPhones coming

13K views 37 replies 14 participants last post by  inmymind 
#1 ·
Apple's new phones are scheduled to be announced on 12 Sep. Anybody thinking about getting a new phone? It looks as thought the new flagship iPhone is going to be priced over $1000, so that's clearly out for me.


The rest of the line (rumored to be called the 7s and 7s Plus) will likely be around $800-$900.This is still pretty steep, but the Samsung and Google phones cost that also.


I'm thinking to get the previous model when the price drops in two months or so to replace my three-year old phone. An iPhone 7 Plus will do me fine. It would have four things I would like to have: slightly larger keyboard for my clumsy old fingers, enough memory to get all my music on, better camera, and better battery life on a charge.


I really like the Motorola G5 phones (at $300 or so), but the thing that keeps me from getting one is that the ones they sell here in the US don't have NFC (Near Field Communications), which means I couldn't use my phone to pay for things at stores. I've gotten accustomed to zipping through checkout lines with a button tap to pay from a debit card, not to mention the massive security improvement over plastic cards.
 
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#27 ·
I wouldn't panic over the Vietnamese hack. They are suspiciously vague on details, but admit their hack was delicate and time consuming. It presumably required a very detailed 3D scan of the subject's face which few of us would cooperate with. And there are questions about whether they turned off having FaceID check for active eye movements.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-vietnam-hack/vietnamese-researcher-shows-iphone-x-face-id-hack-idUSKBN1DE1TH

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/11/hackers-say-they-broke-apples-face-id-heres-why-were-not-convinced/

This may be a genuine hack, but it isn't clear it is doable in the real world,

A more legitimate worry (IMHO) is that apparently close relatives (not just twins) with similar face structures can reportedly beat FaceID in some cases. That is definitely real, and for many people is a genuine worry.

https://www.wired.com/story/10-year-old-face-id-unlocks-mothers-iphone-x/

Having said that, I must agree that there is nothing on the iPhone X that anyone must have. I'm okay with spending the money for it. People who have more sense than I do may be fine with the iPhone 8 or an earlier iPhone, especially if they don't depend on the phone for a camera. I'm still happy with mine, even if it isn't life changing. I'll try to be back tonight and post more after using the phone for over a week.
 
#28 ·
More on using the new iPhone for over a week:

In short, I’m happy with the phone. The biggest negative is not just the learning curve of difference from my iPhone 7 Plus, but the fact that I have a nice iPad Pro that still uses TouchID, and still has the gestures we’ve been using for several years makes switching back and forth a little tough to get used to. The gestures are the problem more than TouchID vs FaceID.

FaceID works well, and is generally more convenient than TouchID, but it does have glitches more often in regular use. Not often enough that I’m crying to go back, but often enough to be a noticeable difference. The one thing more reliable is the problem of having damp hands when using the fingerprint. TouchID was famously useless in that situation, but that problem has gone away. The features that dim the phone screen when you’re not paying attention, and turn down ringers and alarms when you are paying attention work very well, but aren’t huge advantages.

The famous OLED screen is fine, but I don’t routinely notice it as better than LCD screens. Black areas  are dramatically darker,  it otherwise I don’t notice a difference most times. One place I do notice is reading in the Kindle app with white text on black background. That is better.

I don’t like the length to width ratio of this screen as well as the classic screen, but it isn't really a major problem.

I do like the smaller size a lot! This is probably the best thing about the phone compared to my Seven Plus.

Cordless charging works great! I bought an inexpensive base that works well, I’ll post a link to it. Though I suppose any compatible wireless charger will do. I haven’t used any of the fast charging options, and don’t need them, so I can’t speak to the fast charging feature.

As I mentioned before, I am happy with my purchase, but don’t feel it is a huge step up from my iPhone Seven Plus. Unless you desperately want smaller dimensions with a huge screen, I imagine the Eight or Eight Plus would compare even more favorably and still  at lower cost. Because of the cost of repairs to screen or body, I recommend AppleCare with either the X or the iPhone Eight.


 
#31 ·
Just to mention a couple of things:  Battery life & wireless charging.

DH got the X, I didn’t plan on upgrading from my 6S Plus, but AT&T had an offer for a free 8 with the purchase of the X. So we paid $10/month to upgrade the free 64g 8 to the 256g 8+ for me. He’s loving his X, I’m loving my 8+.

We’re both really happy with the greatly improved battery life on both, especially the X. He streams a lot of podcasts and radio. He’s been using his phone more than usual because he teaches classes about iThings and wanted to be able to provide info. He’s gone all day, every day without needing to charge, and one night went to bed with 77% battery remaining. I’ve gone through most days without needing to recharge but I don’t get the kind of battery life he does. (Then again, he doesn’t play Candy Crush.)

The other thing we really like is the wireless charging, especially on the nightstand. It’s so convenient to just lay it down (or pop it on a stand) and even more convenient if a call or text comes while you’re sleeping - no fumbling with the cable. And for me, I work from home and take a lot of photos with my phone. I can have it topping off on the charger, and still easily grab it to take pictures. We’ve now got 4 different wireless chargers, all were under $15.

All in all, we’re both very happy with our new models.

ETA:  Can’t say I’m thrilled with the ? in place of the apostrophe that’s happening on Kboards though! 

 
#33 ·
I was going to try to get another year out of my 6, but I'm not sure it's up to the task. 

One of the things that has kept me from ordering an X (other than the price) is that I've seen reports that the OLED screen is triggering eye strain and/or migraines in some users.  And, being a migraine sufferer, I'm kind of leery.  On the one hand, I want to avoid any possible new trigger, but on the other hand I know there are always people out there who find "something" wrong with any new technology. 

So, have you had any problems?  Do you stare at the screen for long periods (games, movies, reading) that would probably trigger an issue?

Honestly, if we could still buy the 256K 7, I would probably just get that to get by until the technologies under the X mature for a year or two. 
 
#35 ·
I do more web surfing and gaming on my X than I should, and I’ve never had any migraine or headache issues. I’m not as enchanted with the color of the display as many reviewers, but it is certainly a fine display. The one thing that impresses me is how truly BLACK the blacks are.

A further update on FaceId after over a month of use—I’m quite content with it, though there are glitches. When I hold my phone in landscape mode, FaceId always fails. I still have annoying failures from time to time, usually because I’m holding the phone too close to my face. The whole process works better than fingerprint ID did for Apple Pay. I occasionally had embarrassing failures or slow approval on my iPhone Seven Plus, but it almost never fails to work smoothly on the new phone. FaceID usually checks me out before inputting my passwords that I’ve stored, which is a security improvement, though occasionally it seems to omit checking for no reason I can see. Overall I’m content with FaceID, but if I could keep the smaller size of my phone, I wouldn’t complain about going back to fingerprint ID.

Other than that, I do like the smaller size of the phone, and am quite happy with the new phone. It didn’t change my life or anything, though!
 
#36 ·
I got the new iphone and so far I am actually very happy with it. I had to get a new one because the battery on my old one (3 years old) did not even last one day. If I have been on my phone for about 1 hour battery would be down to like 40%! Really hope that this won't be the case with the new iphone.
 
#38 ·
it's getting exciting! the phone is soon to be announced...

However, the nomenclature at Apple is really bad. For X, XR, XS and 11 I really needed to be able to put them in a chronological order without looking them up. With the iPads I'm getting out completely anyway. I'd prefer to have a year (e.g. early/mid/late 2020), but I realize that the marketing department cries out because such technical terms are not suitable for headlines. A middle way would have been good, e.g. consistent numbering
 
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