First field report of iPhone X

Even though the overall tone of this review was upbeat and positive, it seemed that the baseline conclusion was: "hopefully we find a use for the minor iterative improvements that will make this more than just the next release in a series of underwhelming releases." For one of the first, selectively-chosen reviews of what is supposed to be a ground-breaking product, the article essentially told us 1) the pictures look better; 2) Apple finally imitated Samsung's Infinity Display; 3) my fingers learned new motions that were useless with other Apple products; 4) FaceID became familiar and even worked sometimes; 5) I could put my face on a pile of poo, which required some cool technology.

Not that those features or the article suggest the iPhone X is a bad product, or bug-ridden, non-usable, or anything else. But how in the world are people--is Apple--still not embarrassed pretending that this is a revolutionary device? Even if FaceID is intensely innovative and unparalleled new technology - that is just the feature that people use to get to the features they actually want to use. No one is going to buy a phone to play around with the unlocking mechanism, they buy it for what that phone can do for them once it's unlocked. Hyping on FaceID is like saying, "We are revolutionizing mobile computing by entirely overhauling the millisecond process by which you gain access to a slightly improved version of the product you already have."

I was an android early adopter who switched in 2012 - and I'll explain why.

At the time I had a T-Mobile G2 which was approaching the end of its natural lifecycle, I was also dissatisfied with the software quality of android overall - at the time I was looking for another android phone running stock android with a keyboard (something that didnt exist effectively), because the android on screen keyboard at the time was so awful - so I started looking at the iPhone - at the time I expected the same difficulties with iOS that I had with android (android always felt like it was half-done, for example non-scrolling context menu's that scrolled off the screen) - but I found overall that the software quality was just better with iOS - and added benefit is, my iPhone largely 'just works' - I spend all day repairing and building technology, the last thing I want to do is have to invest cycles to keep my own kit working.

With iPhone when it doesn't work (or has an issue), I take it back to the 'fruit store', and they make it all better, without me having to be much involved in the process - however with iOS this has happened precisely twice (once for a software bug, the other for a hardware issue), versus in two Android phones, I was performing a factory reset of the device about once a year due to software bugs (text messaging DB, apps that wouldnt uninstall, having to perform space management with a SD card and internal storage, email that would just stop syncing randomly, digitizer would stop working, etc), as well as a lack of updates to still new-ish hardware. While I realize with Google I have much more control and flexibility with how I can use my device, for me at least this added control is largely unimportant for my use case - yes there have been a few cases I wish I could do things with my iPhone that it doesnt do, but these are mostly edge cases, when I want to use my phone in a non-typical use case.

In addition with Apple, I know what the product they're selling is - and its not me. With Google, I've got a sneaking suspicion that I'm the product - don't get me wrong, I use Google, I like Google, but the relationship between Apple and I is much more clear cut. I also trust Apple as more likely to keep my data secure, and to stand at my side if someone (specifically the government) wanted at it.

> Because it can be unlocked in your pocket for SOS use cases.

I will constantly downvote comments that make this point because unlocking your phone in your pocket is not a feature, it's a painpoint.

> Because it can be unlocked under the table or at a very low angle to be used in places such as a restaurant, meeting room, theater etc.

Do you use your phone without looking at your phone? Back when phones had buttons perhaps, but on tactile device this is almost impossible.

> Becuase TouchID actually allows multiple users on the same device if if that is not an intended feature.

wat

Reactions to the last Apple event at my generally Apple-loving and Apple-hardware-heavy place of employment:

Apple Watch 3 — Holy crap that's amazing, I may get rid of my phone for this and just buy a nice stand-alone camera! Oh, you still need a phone. So much for that.

iPhone 8 — Meh. Not as big a jump as the 7. Looks... fine.

iPhone X, after the ultra-hype leading up the announcement — The hugely revolutionary, world-changing thing is a second, slightly better phone? Am I accidentally watching a parody?

iPhone X was especially a let-down after the almost-awesome but then totally-not Watch 3 thing—which was (the Watch 3, that is) still the most interesting thing they announced, despite being like 20% as interesting as it initially appeared to be.

... because it's dark and facial recognition is going to be problematic without an external light source. Or am I off-base?