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Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

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Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#71

Post by mikhailt »

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.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#72

Post by trendia »

abakker wrote: post #19
gnicholas wrote: post #17

> 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.

They don't even need to follow a normal distribution; the central limit theorem will apply to most naturally-occurring distributions.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#73

Post by ashark »

adjkant wrote: post #69
ashark wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#74

Post by dilap »

ben_jones wrote: post #40
dilap wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 p…

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.

I think I may have been somewhat of a special case for Touch Id -- I could never get it to work reliably for me.

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. :-)

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#75

Post by Aloha »

beamatronic wrote: post #21

I'll buy a $3000 MacBook Pro if you bring back USB ports, an SD slot, an HDMI port, a user replaceable battery. And the escape key. 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.

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.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#76

Post by glhaynes »

rconti wrote: post #46
jrs95 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#77

Post by dilap »

torstenvl wrote: post #57
dilap wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 p…

"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.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#78

Post by xbmcuser »

misframer wrote: post #5
jaxondu wrote: post #3

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 tel…

Couldn't they have gotten more of them too?

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.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#79

Post by rconti »

jakobegger wrote: post #66
whoisjuan wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 bu…

It really depends, I guess. 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.

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.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#80

Post by malyk »

whoisjuan wrote: post #34
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #18

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 sc…

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 bu…

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.

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