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The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

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Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#51

Post by untog »

code_duck wrote: post #20
throw0u1t wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I don't want an iPhone 7 or an 8. And it makes no sense that Apple sell both the 7 and the 8. Apple should make a phone like the SE which is made for the low-mid market, not just discount its old models.

Why? What’s wrong with an iPhone 7 or 8? Why would you prefer an SE-like model?

The obvious answer is size. It's not that I can't carry an iPhone 7 in my hands or anything, but I just have no use for the bigger screen, so the extra bulk is literally useless. I still feel like the iPhone SE is the perfect phone form factor, and it's sad that there are basically no options for those of us who want one.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#52

Post by hopler »

protomyth wrote: post #21
threeseed wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why people are so confused on this. Apple ships models that fill the lower price brands. It is the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 which are still supported and being sold.

I'm not confused, I just don't consider iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 anything other than clearance models. This is electronics, buying old models is just insane particularity since they aren't discounted enough over their original prices.

7 is discounted 15% and 8 is discounted 25%, and they aren't so old.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#53

Post by jlmorton »

princeb wrote: post #33
lostlogin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d take a high spec small phone. This is apparently an unusual thing to want.

i'd happily pay up to $1200 for a high spec 4" phone. i'm on an SE. i got this phone fairly late into its life cycle and it was a deliberate choice. my biggest regret is probably not getting a second one before they discontinued it because when my current SE fails i have no idea where to get a replacement.

I'm shocked Apple doesn't fill this market. Many of my friends prefer SE-sized phones. I have friends who aren't upgrading from the SE specifically because they can't get a comparably-sized phone.

I bought my wife the XS, not because it has a fancier display, but purely because it was the smallest model available - and it's still too big for her.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#54

Post by throw0u1t »

hopler wrote: post #50
throw0u1t wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want a 7 because it comes in either 32GB or 256GB, no 64GB or 128GB. I don't want an 8 because I don't want a phone with a glass back. iPhone SE was perfect. Metal all round, small, affordable, powerful.

That's not a problem with the 7 per se, that's a problem with Apple's exploitative pricing strategy blocking a trivial engineering/marketing option. The glass back thing is a matter of taste, sure, but caring what material is inside the case is a bit silly.

That may be so, but the fact is that I can't buy a new 64GB iPhone 7.

The trouble with a glass back is that it can still shatter when dropped even if it has a case on it.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#55

Post by pdimitar »

userbinator wrote: post #34
pdimitar wrote: post #11

Or maybe the Asian market is not riding the display 's notch hype train? They might view the notch + the high price as opposing factors (I once heard a guy say "why would you pay so much for a phone with a screen that's cut on several places?"). Food for thought. I bought the X because I wanted an OLED screen iPhone. And I was digging the less bezels. The notch however is irritating me to this day, 14 months in. And…

There were phones with slightly larger top/bottom bezels than these and they still managed to even have dual front-facing speakers as well. I'd say even 5-10mm of bezel is a good thing, because it helps those with large fingers to hold the phone without fouling the screen. (Bezels used to be wide for technical reasons; but now that they don't need to be for that reason, it's necessary to consider whether there are ot…

I've seen a few Nokia and Xiaomi devices in the local stores lately with very slick and small bezel designs. And they still manage to have everything needed (sadly no dual front-facing speakers).

I also looked at an XS Max yesterday for the first time. The notch is reduced compared to an X; not by much but it's definitely less.

I realize many people buy X / XS / XS Max for the bezel-less form factor but I wish us the others (who like rectangular screens and don't mind some bezels) actually had a choice of a high-end iPhone.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#56

Post by protomyth »

hopler wrote: post #52
protomyth wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not confused, I just don't consider iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 anything other than clearance models. This is electronics, buying old models is just insane particularity since they aren't discounted enough over their original prices.

7 is discounted 15% and 8 is discounted 25%, and they aren't so old.

A two model year old phone is only discounted at 15%. I think that about sums up my problem with buying any of them. Even 25% for last years phone is too low a discount.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#57

Post by Yetanfou »

hopler wrote: post #44
0x0 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But if you had bought the 5 when the 6 was new, you'd be stuck at iOS 10, which is missing several security updates, two iterations of new emojis, and many apps refusing to install or update by now.

That's still 2+ years longer than a non-iOS phone would stay current.

Only when you solely rely on the vendor for updates. While this is the only option on iOS devices this is not the case for Android where several third-party distributions can be used to keep older devices up to date. Some of these offer OTA updates which makes them usable for 'normal' users, i.e. those who want to use the device but are not that keen (or knowledgeable enough) to tinker with them.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#58

Post by sys_64738 »

I must confess I don't know the difference between the iPhone X, XR, XS, XS Max. It all seems very confused and stinks of marketing getting their claws into it. It was simple when they were numbered sequentially. Now I wonder if there will ever be an iPhone 11 as that suggests there can't be a premium on the iPhone X* as people will poo-poo that.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#59

Post by headsoup »

theNotch wrote: post #41
pdimitar wrote: post #11

Or maybe the Asian market is not riding the display 's notch hype train? They might view the notch + the high price as opposing factors (I once heard a guy say "why would you pay so much for a phone with a screen that's cut on several places?"). Food for thought. I bought the X because I wanted an OLED screen iPhone. And I was digging the less bezels. The notch however is irritating me to this day, 14 months in. And…

Oh please. What a red herring. Tantamount to complaining that it doesn’t come in the proper shade of beige. It has no effect on utility. It actually compresses fixed UI elements (tray icons, the clock, status indicators) up into corners. Those fixed elements would otherwise require a solid bar to consume 1/20 of the viewing area, and there’s still the physical camera and speaker to consider. Have fun rationalizing ot…

The counter-question is: is the consumption of that 1/20 viewing area actually of significant impact to the user?

With the screens on those models rather large anyway, what of the benefit is significant, given it cuts into speaker location and cuts into the display (so videos etc are restricted anyway)?

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#60

Post by jinushaun »

marbletiles wrote: post #36
threeseed wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why people are so confused on this. Apple ships models that fill the lower price brands. It is the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 which are still supported and being sold.

Consider the iPod: the differentiation was about things people would care about, like size, capacity, portability, style, etc. You weren't made to feel cheap just because you entered at the lower price points. You wanted an iPod Mini, and it made sense that it cost less than the Classic: you were still getting "the best" version of the thing you desired. Same story with the Mac: buying the iBook didn't make you feel…

Yes! You hit the nail on the head!

The iPhone needs to be split between iPhone Mini, iPhone and iPhone Pro, instead of current model of “last year”, “this year medium” and “this year large”.

As much as I wanted to love the iPhone SE, it always felt like last year’s model. It wasn’t a differentiated product that had a proper update cycle. A lot of people in the community were hoping for a proper update to the SE.

I also wanted to love the 5C because I actually preferred the design over the metal iPhone, but they hindered it with last year’s specs. I was always hoping they would break out a proper model line from the 5C, but it died with the 6.

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