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The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

anandtech.com

41–50 of 159 posts

Re: The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

#41
post #7

A bit offtopic but I am very disappointed only Apple seems to have a clear plan, and makes continuous progress in careful iterations. I quit Apple precisely when the iPhone 1 was released due to ideological reasons, as I realised the whole ecosystem would become a walled garden. But I concede they have good products. I was looking forward to the new Pixel and Pixel XL. Google devices are the only ones that have a san…

"I quit Apple precisely when the iPhone 1 was released..."

Just so I understand, since the iPhone was the first phone Apple made, are you saying you stopped using their PCs (and music players?) because they'd made a phone? If you were happy with their other products up to that point, how does the phone change the grand scheme of things? I'd want to hear what your ideology is.

Re: The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

#42
post #12

I've always wondered what it is that Anand Lal Shimpi, Brian Klug (also formerly Anandtech) and (now) Chris Ziegler (formerly The Verge) do at Apple (or did if they've moved on). At first I thought they might be involved in PR and media outreach but that doesn't seem to be the case. Now I'd guess maybe they just painstakingly review devices just like they did before except now they do internal only reviews of Apple's…

My hypothesis: Apple News curation

Re: The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

#43
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no technical difficulty. The only difficulty here is to find business plan that is not negatively affected by this feature.

Wouldn't it be a UX nightmare?

Is UX a nightmare on desktop right now? Nearly all desktop/laptop computers can have their OS changed to different one. There is technically nothing stopping mobiles form working in the same way.

Re: The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

#44
post #7

A bit offtopic but I am very disappointed only Apple seems to have a clear plan, and makes continuous progress in careful iterations. I quit Apple precisely when the iPhone 1 was released due to ideological reasons, as I realised the whole ecosystem would become a walled garden. But I concede they have good products. I was looking forward to the new Pixel and Pixel XL. Google devices are the only ones that have a san…

> I quit Apple precisely when the iPhone 1 was released due to ideological reasons, as I realised the whole ecosystem would become a walled garden. And yet the Mac really hasn't. So why quit Apple?

Probably for the same reasons my current company is migrating away from anything Microsoft. Given the past actions, one just doesn't know what the pricing will be in future, and it makes sense to spend money to move to Linux now, instead in x years under deadlines.

I realize this is unrelated to the main topic, but it illustrates human foresight.

Re: The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

#45
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no technical difficulty. The only difficulty here is to find business plan that is not negatively affected by this feature.

Maintaining a consistent level of quality is the main technical difficulty, see: Android

Arguably the phones with open bootloader have the best Android experience out there (Nexus line), so I'm not sure if Android here is the best counterargument.

Re: The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

#46
post #17

I am surprised cell phones are still selling for 650 bucks. You can get a Chinese cell phone for 200 dollars which will do 90% of what latest apple or Samsung will do. Maybe it will be a little bit slower, but not 450 dollars slower.

When the $200 phone bursts into flames, are you able to sue the Chinese manufacturer for damages? When your $200 phone breaks, do you have to simply buy a new one rather than get it replaced? When there are security holes in your $200 phone, will the cheap skin over Android get patched? I buy Apple phones for one reason, and that's the fact that my business lives and dies through communication. With my $800 phone, I…

that is a large amount of FUD and baseless too. the majority of the world gets by not having eight hundred dollar phones just fine.

Apple marketing simply has succeeded in convincing you and others that there is no viable alternative which in turn keeps you from accepting such a possibility

Re: The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

#47

I am surprised cell phones are still selling for 650 bucks. You can get a Chinese cell phone for 200 dollars which will do 90% of what latest apple or Samsung will do. Maybe it will be a little bit slower, but not 450 dollars slower.

I am surprised [any item] sells for [perceived high price]. You can get [lower quality version of item] for [lower price] which will do [not the same things, and not as well] that a [luxury manufacturer's item] will do.

Re: The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

#48
post #22
post #7

A bit offtopic but I am very disappointed only Apple seems to have a clear plan, and makes continuous progress in careful iterations. I quit Apple precisely when the iPhone 1 was released due to ideological reasons, as I realised the whole ecosystem would become a walled garden. But I concede they have good products. I was looking forward to the new Pixel and Pixel XL. Google devices are the only ones that have a san…

I wish there would be more distinction between hardware and software. Just buy an iPhone and install Winedows 10 or buy a S7 and install Sailfish. Why is this so hard to do? Can't a desktop OS compile the right rom and install it via USB? Edit: I understand this is a driver issue, but it seems there isn't that much difference in hardware in the mobile world.

>Edit: I understand this is a driver issue, but it seems there isn't that much difference in hardware in the mobile world.

There are huge differences in the hardware. Go to XDA and try to build a rom for an android device. Bluetooth, wifi, GPS, HAL sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, display drivers, audio hardware, NFC sensor can all have significant differences that need to be sussed out. Most significant of all- the camera.

Re: The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I quit Apple precisely when the iPhone 1 was released due to ideological reasons, as I realised the whole ecosystem would become a walled garden. And yet the Mac really hasn't. So why quit Apple?

Probably for the same reasons my current company is migrating away from anything Microsoft. Given the past actions, one just doesn't know what the pricing will be in future, and it makes sense to spend money to move to Linux now, instead in x years under deadlines. I realize this is unrelated to the main topic, but it illustrates human foresight.

> Given the past actions, one just doesn't know what the pricing will be in future,

There's no reason to worry that Apple will resume charging for OS X updates after so many years of giving them away and after shifting to more frequent but less substantial releases.

Re: The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Review: Iterating on a Flagship

#50
> At the start of this review I said it was important to consider perspective because at the end of the day, I use Android devices. Doing the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus review is important, but also deeply disillusioning. With the iPhone 6s review I showed a number of clear and present issues in Android devices relative to the iPhone, and these issues continue to appear time and time again. More than ever it’s obvious to me that most companies in the Android ecosystem don’t really care about the details as an organization.

I would love to hear more about the disillusioning part. As an Android user I want to stay with them but after playing around with the 7 and reading this review I'm actually much more impressed with this phone than when it initially came out. Especially after the release of the Google Pixel which was very underwhelming to me. I can't believe I'd say this but the iPhone 7 seems to provide a better value than the Pixel.

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