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Apple Debuts iPhone 17

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Re: Apple Debuts iPhone 17

#261

Post by hbn »

erikw wrote: post #32

I'd be curious to understand their rationale for not making a small, reasonably priced phone like the iPhone SE used to be. I probably will be leaving the iPhone ecosystem the next time I have to buy a smartphone (even though I use a Mac, iPad, and Airpods, which all work together really well) because I'm uninterested in using a large phone. Thinking through my own use case, I just use my phone for messaging, maps, a…

The point of the SE line was never to provide a small phone, it was to provide a cheap phone. The first SE reused their manufacturing process from the 5/5s, and the later SEs used the chassis they were using from the 6 to the 8.

Re: Apple Debuts iPhone 17

#262

Post by dmonitor »

simmerup wrote: post #223
Tankenstein wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Foldables need to have very thin construction as when folded, you essentially have two phones on top of each other. There's speculation online that the air was launched off the back of their internal foldable R&D.

Which is mad becausw the Chinese are already making super thin foldable phones for consumers Another area where we're falling behind in tech

That's just par for the course with Apple. Late to the party, but they tend to nail it when they show up

Re: Apple Debuts iPhone 17

#263

Post by GeekyBear »

lm28469 wrote: post #239
GeekyBear wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is odd that you've long been able to buy a cellular iPad but not a cellular MacBook. Perhaps people who buy a MacBook are likely to have an iPhone in their pocket that will function as a hotspot and iPads are much more often used by people who are otherwise outside of Apple's ecosystem?

> Perhaps people who buy a MacBook are likely to have an iPhone in their pocket that will function as a hotspot You don't need an iphone, even a $50 phone will hotspot just fine. How many people travel with a laptop but no phone ?

Apple cares about ease of use.

If you are signed into the same Apple account on your iPhone and your MacBook, the iPhone shows up as a WiFi network option you can select without having to do any additional configuration.

It's one of those "It just works" continuity features, like sharing the clipboard between your Mac and iPhone without needing to configure anything.

Re: Apple Debuts iPhone 17

#264

Post by catgirlinspace »

m463 wrote: post #208
Macha wrote: post #138

I'm actually considering buying myself an iPhone for the first time. I have basically two priorities when buying an phone: 1. Freedom. I should be able to build and run apps on it without the platform holder having a barrier on it. 2. Privacy. The phone shouldn't be an object to track me for better ad sales or any other purpose. Of course, priority 1 has until recently always led to Android while priority 2 has alway…

Thing is, privacy with apple is a marketing term. if apple offered actual privacy, you could: - find out what/when apps are running - find out who they are talking to - prevent it, including apple if you want and apple has all kinds of nonsense like deep links (apps can intercept links), bluetooth beacons (apps can talk to stuff in a store/location), and lots of other stuff behind the scenes. You can't find out if it…

If you go to Settings > Privacy & Security > App Privacy Report you can see domains contacted by an app, which apps contact a specific domain, and data and sensor access logs. Can also export it as a JSON file.

I think the data and sensor access logs is a newer feature since I don’t think I’ve seen it before, but network activity has been in there for at least a few years. The network activity is also only domains and ip addresses, nothing about protocol or what data was sent unfortunately.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102188

Re: Apple Debuts iPhone 17

#265

Post by fluidcruft »

homebrewer wrote: post #260
fluidcruft wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has something changed in the Apple ecosystem to put item one anywhere near the table? Let's be very clear here: all Google has announced so far is that installing apps from anonymous builds is going to be taken away and only if you want your phone to be considered "certified". Let's not get drawn too far into hysteria.

In some regions of the world a phone that is not considered "certified" by Google is only useful as a paperweight. For example, I wouldn't be able to interact with government services or use any banking with such a phone. (Notice the any and with — no, I can't switch to another bank except by emigrating somewhere, and banks are only available as mobile applications. No web.) So unless you're willing (and can afford!)…

Or... you just register with Google and sign things using your own keys to authorize them before sideloading. Or setup an LLC or whatever and register that entity with Google or whatever.

Re: Apple Debuts iPhone 17

#266

Post by mschaef »

prmoustache wrote: post #211
mschaef wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of it's size, some of it the fact that the camera is a second device, and some of it's workflow. I tried a Sony RX100 (1" sensor) when they first came out, optimistic about the possibility of using it for 'general purpose' photography. After all, it's small enough. The problem was, it's a second device to carry around and keep charged. Then once you capture the image, it's largely stuck on the device until you f…

The RX100 has had wifi transfer since the 3rd gen. I understand the "second device to carry around" but it isn't a real point for baby pics you might take at home. A ridiculous number of times I have no idea where I last put my phone anyway and sometimes have to make it ring from kde connect on my laptop so it is not like a smartphone is necessarily readily available at all time anyway. I also know a number of people…

> The RX100 has had wifi transfer since the 3rd gen.

On an iPhone, I can take the picture and I'm immediately a button press away from a photo editor and then whoever I want to send it to.

(A camera that automatically tethered to a phone and dumped pictures into the phone's camera roll would mostly solve the workflow issues I'm mentioning here. Would not surprise me if this already exists.)

> I understand the "second device to carry around" but it isn't a real point for baby pics you might take at home.

Maybe. The camera still has to be charged and in mind and hand. (Then as soon as the kids leave the house you're back to where you were and having to carry something around that you might not otherwise.)

> I also know a number of people who don't leave home with their smartphone anyway

I see that... different people have different sorts of relationships with personal electronics. For me, it wound up being that I'd carry a cell phone and that was about it. Even in the pre-smartphone days, when I might have carried a PDA, I either wouldn't or couldn't.

Re: Apple Debuts iPhone 17

#267

Post by dang »

snowwrestler wrote: post #246
dang wrote: post #113

Related ongoing threads: Compare the New iPhone Models - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186294 - Sept 2025 (95 comments) iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186044 - Sept 2025 (42 comments) iPhone Air - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45186015 - Sept 2025 (431 comments)

It would be cool if these sorts of internal references were implemented as a feature of HN, so the headlines and comment counts are up to date whenever they are displayed.

Maybe someday! but it's not always easy to do this without human intervention, since the matches aren't strictly URL based. Maybe a good LLM could do it.

Re: Apple Debuts iPhone 17

#268

Post by kridsdale3 »

mc3301 wrote: post #201
nabeards wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I’m going to get a new battery soon, so that’ll give me a few more years. I’m hoping something comes along in that time that I want. Otherwise, I may just go to a Japanese eInk phone.

which Japanese eInk phone?

It isn't a phone (no cellular) but the BOOX Palma 2 is a fantastic phone-sized Android-running eInk device. Pair it with a hotspot in your bag or pocket and it would be good enough (as long as you don't make actual calls).

Re: Apple Debuts iPhone 17

#269

Post by fsflover »

m463 wrote: post #208
Macha wrote: post #138

I'm actually considering buying myself an iPhone for the first time. I have basically two priorities when buying an phone: 1. Freedom. I should be able to build and run apps on it without the platform holder having a barrier on it. 2. Privacy. The phone shouldn't be an object to track me for better ad sales or any other purpose. Of course, priority 1 has until recently always led to Android while priority 2 has alway…

Thing is, privacy with apple is a marketing term. if apple offered actual privacy, you could: - find out what/when apps are running - find out who they are talking to - prevent it, including apple if you want and apple has all kinds of nonsense like deep links (apps can intercept links), bluetooth beacons (apps can talk to stuff in a store/location), and lots of other stuff behind the scenes. You can't find out if it…

It's even worse than that:

https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/04/10/apple-makes-it-re...

https://sneak.berlin/20231005/apple-operating-system-surveil...

Re: Apple Debuts iPhone 17

#270

Post by kridsdale3 »

mdavid626 wrote: post #234
xiconfjs wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Problem with used phones: no guarantee of water resistance. Many of the resold phones got their battery replaced, which itself it a good thing, but they are usually not applying the gasket required for water resistence.

How often you take your phone underwater? If so, why?

Some of the best video I have from my honeymoon was taken on an iPhone while floating in the Pacific Ocean with my (new!) wife. I wasn't going to grab a GoPro or some kind of Ocean Case for a video camera, I had a phone in my hand.
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