Thoughts on Apple's new products?

flhrci said:
Those of us living paycheck to paycheck don't have the option to buy outright. I don't see things getting better for myself any time soon. I got locked into this situation because I did not realize what would happen and I fell for the upgrade every year thing. The timing for the new iPhone launch did not quite work out.

I am considering an iPhone 7 though which just got cheaper to lease and I can get an 8 in 12 months. By then we will know if there will be an 8S or not.
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If you want to get out of the paycheck to paycheck, as any financial planner will tell you. You need to trim something.
Often I have seen friends always getting the latest iPhone, has all sorts of cable options plus Netflix.... I recently helped a friend figure out how to drop 500 hundred a Month in costs between land line, cell phones, cable, Netflix and related. It will take about a year for the current contracts to run out but he has already dropped 300 and is waiting on the rest.
Five bucks here, ten bucks there add up fast.

Tim

Sent from my LG-TP260 using Tapatalk
 
I'm using a 6s. Thinking about rolling back to a voice only line with an appropriate phone when this one dies. Which will not be long. It's already showing the early signs of death.
 
I don't think I've ever bought a cell phone outright, athough I can afford one. It seems as if I always went with a payment plan, even in the days of old Nokia's that were $100-200. My current 6S has a couple months to go on the payment plan to Apple.
 
tspear said:
If you want to get out of the paycheck to paycheck, as any financial planner will tell you. You need to trim something.
Often I have seen friends always getting the latest iPhone, has all sorts of cable options plus Netflix.... I recently helped a friend figure out how to drop 500 hundred a Month in costs between land line, cell phones, cable, Netflix and related. It will take about a year for the current contracts to run out but he has already dropped 300 and is waiting on the rest.
Five bucks here, ten bucks there add up fast.

Tim

Sent from my LG-TP260 using Tapatalk
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Appreciate the advice., I am working on the trimming and also finding a higher paying job. Trimming easier, finding better job, much harder. As far as the phone goes, leasing a new iphone 8 would keep my cell bill the same.
 
flhrci said:
Those of us living paycheck to paycheck don't have the option to buy outright. I don't see things getting better for myself any time soon. I got locked into this situation because I did not realize what would happen and I fell for the upgrade every year thing. The timing for the new iPhone launch did not quite work out.

I am considering an iPhone 7 though which just got cheaper to lease and I can get an 8 in 12 months. By then we will know if there will be an 8S or not.
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Understand. Highly recommend not buying smartphones when living paycheck to paycheck. But folks can do as they please or need to do for other reasons.
 
FastEddieB said:
For me, it might be being on a long bike ride and deciding on a whim that a little Linkin Park might keep me motivated.

The ability to hear any song, any time, anywhere is kind of like a Holy Grail, but clearly not for everyone.

Stipulated, I can do that now, but not without carrying my phone with me. I can see how untethering from a phone is a big benefit for cycling, hiking, whatever.
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That's been available since at least 2014 with the Samsung watch.
 
denverpilot said:
Understand. Highly recommend not buying smartphones when living paycheck to paycheck. But folks can do as they please or need to do for other reasons.
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I read up on the new flex-lease that is available to em from Sprint. 18 months lease payments or six more payments and you own it. My current lease has a set dollar amount to buy the 6S so that is why I wanna get rid of it.

As for the iPhone X, there are many reasons not to buy it and I am sure the new high tech stuff will be on the other models in a year or 2. The 8 and 8+ has most of the new stuff now. I only care about the wireless charging and I don't care enoguh to buy the wireless charging adapter thingy since it won't come with the phone. I will charge the old fashioned way and I can wait on it.
 
flhrci said:
I read up on the new flex-lease that is available to em from Sprint. 18 months lease payments or six more payments and you own it. My current lease has a set dollar amount to buy the 6S so that is why I wanna get rid of it.
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What's the total price on the lease versus the cash price? Are the carriers still locking the phones to themselves vs buying at Apple?
 
denverpilot said:
That Apple isn't an innovator anymore and their watch announcement was a big yawner?
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Could be.

But remember, there were MP3 players before the iPod, smart phones before the iPhone, tablets before the iPad, and so on.

Apple has a way of jumping in just after a technology has appeared on the market, doing it arguably better, not first.

But I agree they may be slipping. We'll see.
 
I work on an iPhone app for a living - we just installed the iPhone X emulator last week. That "notch" at the top of the screen is going to be an interesting challenge...

All of our screens have wording and functionality cut off at the top:
upload_2017-9-16_10-25-58.png

If an app is not specifically updated for iPhone X - chances are there's going to be something wrong with it.

Just hope that the developer for every app you use is still in business...
 
I could have bought the phone outright, but if T-mobile (or ATT) is going to give me a 2 year interest free loan with no pre-payment penalty, why not take it? If there was even a small amount of interest to be paid I wouldn't do it.

Then we have my father who has had a 4 (not even a 4s) for who knows how many years on Verizon. He has over paid enough for at least 2 if not more new phones by now.


denverpilot said:
* I don't rent phones. If I can't afford the silly thing outright, I don't buy it. Makes life a whole lot simpler. Installment payments on a phone sounds like heading over to Rent-A-Center for a couch to me.
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denverpilot said:
What's the total price on the lease versus the cash price? Are the carriers still locking the phones to themselves vs buying at Apple?
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Total price on lease at 24 months is price of phone, $699ish. At 18 months it is $538.
 
FastEddieB said:
Could be.

But remember, there were MP3 players before the iPod, smart phones before the iPhone, tablets before the iPad, and so on.

Apple has a way of jumping in just after a technology has appeared on the market, doing it arguably better, not first.

But I agree they may be slipping. We'll see.
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Tablets before iPad, really? News to me.
 
deonb said:
I work on an iPhone app for a living - we just installed the iPhone X emulator last week. That "notch" at the top of the screen is going to be an interesting challenge...

All of our screens have wording and functionality cut off at the top:
View attachment 56427

If an app is not specifically updated for iPhone X - chances are there's going to be something wrong with it.

Just hope that the developer for every app you use is still in business...
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Foreflight? Aeronautical charts could be a problem. Hadn't thought about it.
 
When you think of how tiny the "ears" are on either side of the notch, I think the whole concept is kinda dumb.

A thin black border at the top to house the sensors and lenses would be way more elegant.
 
flhrci said:
Total price on lease at 24 months is price of phone, $699ish. At 18 months it is $538.
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https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/flip-phones

22ce010e-a401-4b65-a1b5-f3c440634797_1.096716edef10b868e139a579665b8d3c.jpeg
 
FastEddieB said:
And your point is?
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Information. You said,
The ability to hear any song, any time, anywhere is kind of like a Holy Grail, but clearly not for everyone.

Stipulated, I can do that now, but not without carrying my phone with me.
Click to expand...

So I assumed you didn't know that you could already do that today.
 
FastEddieB said:
But remember, there were MP3 players before the iPod, smart phones before the iPhone, tablets before the iPad, and so on.
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Pre iPod MP3 players had awful playback times and didn't have a hard drive. Diamond Rio was the only one worth buying. Apple innovated heavily to make a pocket sized player with a spinning hard drive in it that could last a day on a charge. And Jobs absolutely hammered his vision into the record industry execs who didn't want to allow him to sell individual music tracks. That was a "big deal" back then. Major innovation and a vision for where the tech would create sales.

Same with the iPad. He refused to make giant phones, keeping the phone a phone size and then he could blow up the screen size and make a tablet. iPad 1 was REALLY heavy and clunky. But he could steal the phone OS and make the thing. So he did. Very innovative.

AppleTV busted open a new TV streaming market that didn't exist at the time, too. The first one was horribly clunky being it was just a Mac mini with special software on it. Innovative. Risky.

Me.com did "cloud" before anyone had coined the term. It was clunky and bad but it led to iCloud eventually. Innovative. Risky.

Every announcement came with a barely working but working new thing that nobody had seen before.

What have they innovated since he died? They've fiddled with the size of the devices and added a fingerprint reader. Oh and a "pencil"... hello Wacom in 1995.

There's no risk in their product lineup anymore. Cook will never take any real risks. What's the promise of something truly new behind iPhone X? It's a big nothingburger as the kids would say.
 
Lindberg said:
Information. You said,


So I assumed you didn't know that you could already do that today.
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Well then, thanks.

My post was speaking towards my particular situation, which involves being pretty heavily wedded to the Apple Ecosystem, with which I'm overall pretty satisfied. I'm aware that Apple gets regularly leapfrogged by its competition - which is a good thing. Competition improves the breed.

Still wavering on the watch. It would by fine for dog walks and bike rides and the like, but one hitch is no camera - so I still might want to schlep my phone along, in which case the watch doesn't add a lot.

Overall, right now I have no real need to spend money on new Apple devices, so I'll wait and see - I want to play with an iPhone 8+ and iPhone X side-by-side when such is possible. My 6+ is paid for and soldiers on admirably, so no rush there. If the iPad Mini gets discontinued, I may spring for a "Last Edition" for plane use. 4K TV holds no great appeal right now, so our current AppleTV is fine.

Lots of folks rave about their AirPods, so I may give those a shot soon. Other wireless Bluetooth solutions have been workable, but not ideal.
 
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It may matter to only a small group, but the ability to do Amazon streaming in HDR may be enough for me to get one. Only other streaming players to support Amazon HDR are the top model Rokus and they have been getting many complaints...shame since I've had 2 prior Rokus that have been fantastic

If Amazon ever certifies its new Webapp for my Vizio p- series* for HDR then I won't need the Apple TV, unless the Apple-only content ends up being worthwhile.

* Too much of a thread sidetrack for detail, but P-series has no built in apps. Was cast only for first year and no Amazon due to Amazon/Google corp issues. Vizio added a webapp interface that runs cast apps off its servers and sends the display the URL to play. This supports Amazon but not HDR yet.

denverpilot said:
AppleTV: No point anymore. Get a Roku or an Amazon Fire TV, they're doing it much better. Or DIY it with Plex. Way behind.
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Sure are a lot of anti-technology people on this thread about technology. I would suppose they are the same people that don't want to give up their round gauges for that new fangled glass cockpit garbage, and wonder why they need WAAS when their ADF still works.
 
Groundpounder said:
Sure are a lot of anti-technology people on this thread about technology. I would suppose they are the same people that don't want to give up their round gauges for that new fangled glass cockpit garbage, and wonder why they need WAAS when their ADF still works.
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For me it's not that I'm anti-technology. It's that the incremental improvement in technology isn't worth the money. I can sell my 6S for $200 (a guess) and buy an X for $1000. I would rather spend the $800 on other things. Granted, people might think the other things I want to spend my $800 on are foolish too, but I think you can see the point.
 
Everskyward said:
For me it's not that I'm anti-technology. It's that the incremental improvement in technology isn't worth the money. I can sell my 6S for $200 (a guess) and buy an X for $1000. I would rather spend the $800 on other things. Granted, people might think the other things I want to spend my $800 on are foolish too, but I think you can see the point.
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Fair enough. But I think my comment was more directed at the "my flip phone works just fine" crowd. There isn't much your 6S can't do that the X can.

Also, if I didn't get my Note 8 for what is going to end up being $200 or so, I don't think I would have gotten it.
 
Groundpounder said:
Fair enough. But I think my comment was more directed at the "my flip phone works just fine" crowd. There isn't much your 6S can't do that the X can.

Also, if I didn't get my Note 8 for what is going to end up being $200 or so, I don't think I would have gotten it.
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Some people only want to use a phone as a phone and don't care about the other functions. I know someone (not elderly) who does not own a cell phone at all. I discovered how inconvenient that is when I tried to meet her in a busy place. How did we do it before? LOL.
 
flhrci said:
Appreciate the advice., I am working on the trimming and also finding a higher paying job. Trimming easier, finding better job, much harder. As far as the phone goes, leasing a new iphone 8 would keep my cell bill the same.
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Yes, but keeping the iPhone 6 or getting a $200 Android phone will lower the bill. That is my point.
The cost per year for a top of the line cell phone runs around $200-$300 a year after trade-in or lease. While a mid tier phone will often run $100-$200 a year; the bottom end will usually be closer to $50.
The initial cost of the iPhone 8, is rather steep, when you can wait a year and save a fair amount of money.
This is part of why I switched from buying the $1000 Nokia Communicator down to a $200 Android I usually get a year and half to two years out of.

Tim
 
Groundpounder said:
Sure are a lot of anti-technology people on this thread about technology. I would suppose they are the same people that don't want to give up their round gauges for that new fangled glass cockpit garbage, and wonder why they need WAAS when their ADF still works.
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Pilots do tend to be more pragmatic than most people. If you don't need some whiz bang smartphone you don't need it. Probably saves some money for those fancy avionics too.
 
I'm not against piston airplane avionics technology... I just don't think they're worth what they're asking for.

But I don't agree that being price sensitive makes one anti-technology, be it cell phones or hoity-toity screens in an under-powered personal use piston airplane.
 
tspear said:
Yes, but keeping the iPhone 6 or getting a $200 Android phone will lower the bill. That is my point.
The cost per year for a top of the line cell phone runs around $200-$300 a year after trade-in or lease. While a mid tier phone will often run $100-$200 a year; the bottom end will usually be closer to $50.
The initial cost of the iPhone 8, is rather steep, when you can wait a year and save a fair amount of money.
This is part of why I switched from buying the $1000 Nokia Communicator down to a $200 Android I usually get a year and half to two years out of.

Tim
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True. I. Could also get an iPhone 7 and lower my bill to although not that much. Still have not pulled the trigger.


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Does anybody run GP on the regular iPad models, or mini 4? I know on my mini 2 it pushes the CPU to the max.
 
teejayevans said:
Does anybody run GP on the regular iPad models, or mini 4? I know on my mini 2 it pushes the CPU to the max.
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Runs fine on my LG K20, and on the Samsung Galaxy S4. (The S4 was a loaner).

Tim
 
I see people burn tons of money per month on cell phones and expensive plans they dont need. No reason to spend more than 20-30 per month on a cell phone plan. Buy the phone outright, you don't need the latest model.

Phone 0-$200 , lots of people give them away.

There are lots of plans out there, check Ting if you want ATT.

Personal i use Google Fi. I pay an average of $25 per month.

Don't stream music or videos while on the go, sign on to a wifi hot spot.
 
FastEddieB said:
To be fair, I think most of these devices spend most of their time doing things other than making calls. I know mine does.
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Yeah, I would say 90% of my phone time is not talking. Work email, news, tethering, etc., it's an amazing tool

I have a Pixel now and love it. Apple makes a solid product, they're expensive but if people buy it then clearly they're that valuable to their consumers
 
Neither AT&T nor Costco carry the iPad mini. This one fact leads me to believe that Apple plans to deep six it.
 
Android Reports says the Pixel 2 XL 128GB due on October 5th will be $949 or $34 over 24 months.

I'll be in line online for that one.

My Nexus 6 is still perfectly fine. I'll sell it.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk
 
mikea said:
Android Reports says the Pixel 2 XL 128GB due on October 5th will be $949 or $34 over 24 months.
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Ok, Google has gone "good value" to "simply insane". My iPad Pro 10.5 256GB with Cellular was only $879. And it was overpriced.
 
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