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The 2020 iPhone SE

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Re: The 2020 iPhone SE

#231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just swipe left and right at the bottom of the screen (on the bar)— this lets you flip between apps in the order that they’re in the switcher. This means I very rarely actually enter the full multitasking switcher in normal use. Did Apple make this a all or nothing thing or do some of these gestures also work on home button devices?

All or nothing, IIRC. Home button devices do have a gesture to switch directly between apps (3D touch on the left edge of the screen), but I always found it difficult to activate reliably, especially with a case on my phone.

I haven't used a home button iPhone in a long time so I'm not sure about them, but home button iPads definitely support the X gestures.

Re: The 2020 iPhone SE

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve found it’s helpful if you make a slight half circle from the multitasking bar (whatever the bottom bar you pull on is called) to instantly go back to the last app. But it’s a memory game with what is on your app stack. Was Duo open last or email or calculator? If you aren’t sure you need to pull straight up into scroll mode... I don’t think there is a great solution to this, Apple has surely spent millions and m…

No half circle motion necessary. Just swipe horizontally along the home bar.

They're slightly different interactions and I (not the commenter you replied to) use both. I feel like the bottom swipe is a discrete action that takes you straight to the last app, and I use it when I'm very confident, like a one ⌘-tab with no hesitation.

The half circle is more like starting to activate the app switcher, but confirming the next/previous app immediately. The difference is that it gives you slightly more time to see what you're doing and you can bail out into the app switcher if you change your mind in the instant the apps come up. That's actually the only way I ever open the app switcher; I feel like the swipe up and hold is way too slow.

Re: The 2020 iPhone SE

#233
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fun fact: iPhone's buttons are not mechanical buttons starting with iPhone 7. The click you feel when you press it is just the taptic engine. If you have an iPhone 7 or 8, try turning it off and try to press the button.

Same with MBP touchpads which many people don't even realise since the feedback works even when the laptop is sleeping. It's a really weird experience when you actually turn it off and... nothing - you can't actually "press" it.

I remember pressing the home button on a powered off iPhone 7 a few times. It feels like attempting to take the last step in a flight of stairs when you miscounted by one.

Re: The 2020 iPhone SE

#234
post #13

I don't really see his attempts to use the new gestures on the old-design iPhone as proof that the new UI is better. People still tell me to "tape" long after it was obvious that DVRs are better. It's simply muscle memory. Still not sure that this my next phone though, probably going to stick with the old school SE. I had asked work for an upgrade, got the giant XR, and after five days put it right back in the box an…

> I don't really see his attempts to use the new gestures on the old-design iPhone as proof that the new UI is better.

Maybe it's better, maybe not. Maybe it's just different... but it's inconsistent.

Wife has my old 6S, I had an 8 that got downgraded to a 7 because it disappeared (lost or stolen), and an iPad Pro. There's the double-click/force-press on the side to bring up the app switcher that I can live with, but I always always pull on the right side to bring up Control Center in the iPhones.

It's infuriating, all the more that there is zero reason (technical, UX, UI) that Apple could not move the old devices to the new interaction model and make them consistent across all platforms, except:

- don't alienate people with old habits and TouchID phones (but... still having the double-click work doesn't prevent the slide from the bottom to work too, as long as the slide from top right is implemented)

- make a clear usage distinction between X/FaceID and non-X/TouchID phones (but... not devices! the TouchID iPads have it...)

The net result is that people with TouchID phones just have an inconsistent experience, which is what makes it terrible at the end of the day.

Re: The 2020 iPhone SE

#235

There's a good reason why Apple aren't making the small form factor phone lots of you are asking for: logistics. The new SE requires very little new manufacturing capacity. The case and probably battery are from the iPhone 8; the CPU/GPU/SOC and most of the rest of the electronics are from the iPhone 11; the camera still seems to be a slightly unknown quantity but the specs suggest it has a lot in common with the iPh…

> You couldn't combine the 11's CPU with the 5's battery - battery life would be laughable.

Do you have a source for that? It seems like many of the times Apple upgrades their chip, they advertise greater power efficiency. E.g. for the A13 (from Wikipedia):

> Apple claims the two high performance cores are 20% faster with 30% reduction in power consumption, and the four high efficiency cores are 20% faster with a 40% reduction in power when compared to the A12.

Similarly the A12:

> It has two high-performance cores which are claimed to be 15% faster and 50% more energy-efficient than the Apple A11

And A8:

> Apple states that it has 25% more CPU performance and 50% more graphics performance while drawing only 50% of the power of its predecessor, the Apple A7.

I've searched the web and can't seem to find any source that actually specifies power consumption of Apple's chips by generation, stretching from the A6 to A13.

So for all I know, the 11's CPU with the 5's battery might be far better, not far worse. It doesn't seem like any kind of law that newer processors use more energy. So only actual data will give an answer.

Re: The 2020 iPhone SE

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just swipe left and right at the bottom of the screen (on the bar)— this lets you flip between apps in the order that they’re in the switcher. This means I very rarely actually enter the full multitasking switcher in normal use. Did Apple make this a all or nothing thing or do some of these gestures also work on home button devices?

All or nothing, IIRC. Home button devices do have a gesture to switch directly between apps (3D touch on the left edge of the screen), but I always found it difficult to activate reliably, especially with a case on my phone.

it's funny, i actually really loved this gesture and was upset that it was removed from the new x-series phones, so much so that i emailed craig federighi about it and we had a back-and-forth about it, but ultimately he explained why they removed it and that it's unlikely to come back.

Re: The 2020 iPhone SE

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is an order of magnitude better. No. Its not. Theres one true way to press a button. Not the same with gestures. I'd be happy if they put 4 buttons in a row there. But I can live with one too.

I thought the same thing. Until I got an XS. Then was annoyed while I figured out the gestures. Now anytime I have to use a phone with a home button, it’s painful. Things are a lot easier now in ways I didn’t realize until I got used to them. I’m assuming you don’t use an iPhone without a home button. If you did and got used to it, I don’t think there’s any way you’d want to go back. (I’ve yet to hear anyone say they…

> I’ve yet to hear anyone say they wish the home button would come back

Easier, harder, better are all relative preferences. I have iphone 7 and my partner has the iphone 11 max. I use both mechanisms everyday and hate the gestures, the weight, the loss of one hand operation.

Re: The 2020 iPhone SE

#238
post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My iPhone SE got destroyed and I got a 7 to replace it since they wouldn’t give me another SE. The larger screen isn’t nicer and just makes the phone harder to hold. I actually feel like I have a harder time touching things accurately as well, I think the 7 detects touches at a different place on your finger. And of course I can’t use headphones, I ordered a dongle from newegg and waited weeks and now it hasn’t come.…

I've had smart phones for over a decade, and a mobile phone for 2, I can't think of any point when I've needed water resistance. I have however had a smashed screen once, and the bigger a phone is, the harder it is to hold, the more likely the screen will smash The old macbooks were great with the maglock power lead not pulling them off the desk. I believe new ones have downgraded the connector?

> The old macbooks were great with the maglock power lead not pulling them off the desk. I believe new ones have downgraded the connector?

I have been using this Magnetic USB C Adapter and am very happy with it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0816PV1YZ/

Re: The 2020 iPhone SE

#239
The obsession with this phone never ceases to amaze me. I'm really trying to get it but I think there's very vocal minority discussing this: american iphone fans.

I would never imagine buying a 64GB non-expandable phone with a single camera and such absurd screen for 480€ in 2020. New 128GB+sd slot s10e is around 450€ and that did small form factor _right_.

For a tech forum the iphone se obsession just seems so alien to the point where it all feels like astroturfing.

Re: The 2020 iPhone SE

#240

The obsession with this phone never ceases to amaze me. I'm really trying to get it but I think there's very vocal minority discussing this: american iphone fans. I would never imagine buying a 64GB non-expandable phone with a single camera and such absurd screen for 480€ in 2020. New 128GB+sd slot s10e is around 450€ and that did small form factor _right_. For a tech forum the iphone se obsession just seems so alien…

i'm not disagreeing with you but, replace "this phone" with "any iPhone" or "any Mac" over the course of post-OS X Apple history.
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