Thoughts on Apple's new products?

FastEddieB

FastEddieB

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Fast Eddie B
Yesterday was the first Apple Event at the new Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple Park.

Highlights were an AppleWatch 3 with cellular.

4k AppleTV.

iPhone 8 and 8+ with mostly evolutionary changes, and...

The iPhone X with no home button, and FaceID taking the place of TouchID.

The watch is cool in that paired with their AirPods and Apple Music, one can stream about 14 million songs without needing their phone with them. First time I've seen a possible use case, though I'm still on the fence about needing a watch.

4K? With our aging eyes, meh. But its still the future, I suppose.

iPhone 8+ may be the one replacing my slightly aging 6+. Maybe by the end of the year now that my 6+ is paid for.

iPhone X I'm less sure about. I'd miss the home button and fingerprint sensor. Extra screen real estate is nice, but at what cost? On that topic, for a pocket computer that's used constantly, I don't think $1,000+ is totally out of the ball park. Keep a device a few years and its about $1 a day, not even considering what you can get selling the old phone on eBay or Gazelle.

Thoughts? Bashing is, of course, inevitable when Apple's involved, but can we at least try to keep this on topic?
 
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I'm preordering the X

Apple TV would be nice but I have the Roku 4k and think it is probably better
 
I'm no longer in the target demographic, so it's a solution in search of a problem for me.
 
GeorgeC said:
I'm no longer in the target demographic, so it's a solution in search of a problem for me.
Click to expand...
:yeahthat:

- Never imagined a need for 14 million songs on my wrist. Still can't.

- I don't own a TV of any kind. Have never quite grasped the concept of "reality" coming from a screen in the living room.

- I use my cell phone to make phone calls. Apparently that makes me an oddity these days. Earlier this year I reluctantly replaced my failed 4S :mad: with a shiny, new 6S. My highest hope is that sucker gives me 5 good years before it craps out. :p

- The ONLY reason I own an iPad is because I am a pilot (Foreflight user). :cool:

Nothing against Apple. I think they make wonderful products. But the more computers I have in my life (I also have personal and business laptops) the more complicated it seems to become.:(
 
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A Business Insider article: http://www.businessinsider.com/is-the-iphone-x-worth-1000-2017-9

"...is the iPhone X worth $1,000?

Before I answer that, here's my general philosophy when buying a smartphone: You should always get the very best phone you can afford. Your phone is the only thing you use all day, every day, and it's one of the few things in life where you shouldn't be thrifty."​
 
Still using an iPhone 4 and will not upgrade to anything else until it totally goes dead.

I'm trying to figure out who I need to impress. :dunno:
 
GRG55 said:
- Never imagined a need for 14 million songs on my wrist. Still can't.
Click to expand...

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.
 
FastEddieB said:
Thanks.

That does push me towards the "X".

But like I said, I'm in no rush. Looking forward to a trip to an Apple Store to see them side-by-side.
Click to expand...
I'm also nudged toward the X. I want the plus sized display, but not the biggest fan of the overall bulk. And with the price gap between the Plus and the X being sorta small when compared to overall price...

Current phone is a iPhone 5. And the 2 year contract with my carrier is over. So I wonder if they will once again do the subsidy if I renew that contract.
 
The glass back sounds like a problem. My phone requires a Defender case to survive as it is. My iPhone is a tool. My 7+ does everything I need it to and does it well.

Law enforcement will love the facial recognition. That'll make it simple to open your phone by waving it front of you. I'm not sure that's a good thing.
 
I'm gonna be the first person to get the X wooo hooooo
 
AggieMike88 said:
24 Things You Can Do in iOS 11 That You Couldn't Do Before
Click to expand...
Looks like Apple wants to take a bite out of PayPal and Facebook Payments....

9) Pay friends through a message

One of the smaller changes coming in iOS 11 is a new partnership between Apple Pay and the Messages app, so you can use the former right inside the latter. Mention an amount of cash in your conversation and the Apple Pay Messenger app pops up to complete the deal.​
 
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.
Click to expand...

I can see the benefit there.

As a previous post alluded, it's partly a demographic matter. I was an early adopter of the Sony Walkman (anybody remember cassette tapes?) because it allowed me to listen to music while downhill skiing. I think I still have it somewhere in the basement in my collection of antique consumer electronics. :)
 
My thoughts? Overpriced and cumbersome to use.
 
FastEddieB said:
Yesterday was the first Apple Event at the new Steve Jobs Theater on the new Apple Park.

Highlights were an AppleWatch 3 with cellular.

4k AppleTV.

iPhone 8 and 8+ with mostly evolutionary changes, and...

The iPhone X with no home button, and FaceID taking the place of TouchID.

The watch is cool in that paired with their AirPods and Apple Music, one can stream about 14 million songs without needing their phone with them. First time I've seen a possible use case, though I'm still on the fence about needing a watch.

4K? With our aging eyes, meh. But its still the future, I suppose.

iPhone 8+ may be the one replacing my slightly aging 6+. Maybe by the end of the year now that my 6+ is paid for.

iPhone X I'm less sure about. I'd miss the home button and fingerprint sensor. Extra screen real estate is nice, but at what cost? On that topic, for a pocket computer that's used constantly, I don't think $1,000+ is totally out of the ball park. Keep a device a few years and its about $1 a day, not even considering what you can get selling the old phone on eBay or Gazelle.

Thoughts? Bashing is, of course, inevitable when Apple's involved, but can we at least try to keep this on topic?
Click to expand...
A buck a day? I buy a new Android phone roughly every two years and I cap the price around 200 bucks. That is roughly 30 cents a day and I still think it is way to much.

The newer auto updates and security problems keep making the phones slowwr, which is the only reason I buy a new phone. I do not want/need a 20mb camera which is basically the smallest camera on the phone these days.



Sent from my LG-TP260 using Tapatalk
 
Facial recognition in the 21st century is scary stuff. Now put it into a phone that offers to transfer money easily. Bad guy bonks you on the head, or worse. Holds your phone in front of your face to ooen it. Messages away your money. How is that a good thing?
 
Stewartb said:
The glass back sounds like a problem. My phone requires a Defender case to survive as it is. My iPhone is a tool. My 7+ does everything I need it to and does it well.

Law enforcement will love the facial recognition. That'll make it simple to open your phone by waving it front of you. I'm not sure that's a good thing.
Click to expand...

The glass back is not much of a problem. iphone 4 had that, never had an issue. I'd be more concerned with glass on the front :), but again, regardless of the bezel, the iphone has had full glass front since iphone 4.

As far as law enforcement, TouchID isn't any more difficult for them to use. I believe there is a feature in iOS11 that quickly disables TouchId/FaceId.

I'm still on 5S(for which i paid less than $300 with NO contract). Been pretty happy with it. iIve even repaired it a few times(screen #3 now). I'm not looking to upgrade for a while and i was not interested in 6, or 7, or 8 for that matter. But X sounds interesting. I want to see how well FaceID/No Home actually works in real life. Also, $1000 is a serious stretch.
 
Stewartb said:
Facial recognition in the 21st century is scary stuff. Now put it into a phone that offers to transfer money easily. Bad guy bonks you on the head, or worse. Holds your phone in front of your face to ooen it. Messages away your money. How is that a good thing?
Click to expand...
Yeah, but, but, living in the land of unicorns and fairies, we all know stuff like that could never happen. :cool:
 
Stewartb said:
Facial recognition in the 21st century is scary stuff. Now put it into a phone that offers to transfer money easily. Bad guy bonks you on the head, or worse. Holds your phone in front of your face to ooen it. Messages away your money. How is that a good thing?
Click to expand...

To be fair, once you're bonked on head, your fingerprint is also there for the offing.
 
azblackbird said:
Still using an iPhone 4 and will not upgrade to anything else until it totally goes dead.
Click to expand...

What are you going to do about the major carriers shutting down 2G/3G and the associated frequency re-farming?
 
The only thing better than the competitor is the video quality. There is nothing really great about the product otherwise. All the other features have been on other/better phones in the past. No expandable memory and no headphone jack is what keeps me from the apple product line. 64gb for $999 is insane considering I will have 320 GB and an S pen with a bigger and better display for $930.
 
The good news is unlocked/refurbed SE's are getting close to the $200 mark.
 
Stewartb said:
Facial recognition in the 21st century is scary stuff. Now put it into a phone that offers to transfer money easily. Bad guy bonks you on the head, or worse. Holds your phone in front of your face to ooen it. Messages away your money. How is that a good thing?
Click to expand...

You folks in Alaska sure run with a rough crowd. :D
Good thing you have guns. ;)
 
AggieMike88 said:
This I'm not to concerned about since I always listen via BT headphones.
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The thing I don't respect here is the fact that after the acquisition of Beats headphones Apple went wireless in an effort to sell new headphones to people. Just like limiting the memory of the device, I don't get fooled easily.
 
I have an Galaxy S5 it is 4 years old now I think and still working fine. The kids and wife have iphones. All of the iphone 5s we bought at the same time have had to be repaired or replaced all went bad about the same time. Coincidence? I think not. My daughter is shopping android phones now that Daddy isn't buying this one. Hard to justify the cost.

Purposefully got the wife the same phone as the kids so I could let them do the tech support for her. Will probably get her an SE soon hers is on the fritz again.
 
asicer said:
What are you going to do about the major carriers shutting down 2G/3G and the associated frequency re-farming?
Click to expand...
It's going to be a few years yet before they totally phase out 3g. Once they have solid 4G coverage, then I'll make the switch.
 
Also interesting that Apple finally decided to include OLED for the first time. This isn't new tech and they could have included it years ago. The keynote said finally there is a good enough OLED to be in an IPhone. Well they don't even have the best OLED in the new phone so that's a little misleading.
 
NJP_MAN said:
The thing I don't respect here is the fact that after the acquisition of Beats headphones Apple went wireless in an effort to sell new headphones to people. Just like limiting the memory of the device, I don't get fooled easily.
Click to expand...

Reminiscent of the outrage when the iMac came out without a floppy drive!
 
FastEddieB said:
Reminiscent of the outrage when the iMac came out without a floppy drive!
Click to expand...
Or when on the iPhone3G they left off the ability to shoot video but included it on the 3S. Very intentional way of making people feel the need to upgrade annually.
 
NJP_MAN said:
The thing I don't respect here is the fact that after the acquisition of Beats headphones Apple went wireless in an effort to sell new headphones to people. Just like limiting the memory of the device, I don't get fooled easily.
Click to expand...
FYI; I never liked Apple's earbuds... wired or wireless.... I really like the on-ear Urbanear Hellas

https://www.urbanears.com/ue_us_en/hellas
 
AggieMike88 said:
FYI; I never liked Apple's earbuds... wired or wireless.... I really like the on-ear Urbanear Hellas
Click to expand...
I'm still using the A20 without Bluetooth music. Need to have a headphone jack for those bad boys. Also need to be able to charge it simultaneously during those 8-12 hour legs so no lightning dongle for me.
 
The last two watches seemed like gimmicky toys to me. If it can now make calls and text independent of the phone and is waterproof that changes the game a bit. I wonder how the carriers will handle it- will it need it's own plan and phone number or can you share it with your phone?

I like the idea of wireless charging- we have tangles of charge cords in a few places that it would be nice to just replace with a pad.

The X is interesting, I'm honestly surprised it took apple this long to get rid of the home button. The devil will be in the details on this, if it works reliably to swipe up every time I'm fine with it. If not booooo. Same with the facial recognition, will it work most of the time or will it be like the fingerprint reader I have now with a 50/50 chance of actually unlocking the phone.

I don't get the obsession with emojis. I was still around when we did it all in ASCII and that was sufficient. The current ones are just an annoyance for me when I accidentally switch to that keyboard.

Either way my 6S still suits me fine. I usually wait until a phone either dies or starts becoming irritatingly slow with current software before I upgrade.
 
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