Is This iPhone Madness? - Comments Page 1

Hi...we all call it "i(idiot)- phones"

I will never own any Apple product. Over hyped and overpriced. If I want to take great pictures I can buy some of the best cameras for less than the price of that phone.Pro's can buy cameras in the stratosphere price.

I am like those you mentioned "Why do they have to keep changing how it works". I really do not want face recognition or even a thumb print for that matter. I can put in my pin with less time an effort and in my opinion just as secure.

What happened to the day when you told the computer what to do and it did it, instead of it guessing and doing the task(right or wrong)for you. You remember, back in the day when there was music on MTV.

I have an SE for it's smaller convenience, and it works extremely well.......I won't replace it until I am absolutely forced to!

I think it is funny all the hype of face recognition. My Moto G-3 that I bought unlocked from the Motorola web site for under $200 is not only water proof IPX7, it has face recognition. I think think the Iphone and Apple fans as a cult that would pay anything for the latest Apple product regardless of its capabilities.

Will still stick with my $10 (that's ten dollars) Tracfone that costs me $7 per month for all the minutes I need - and my laptop will do what the Tracfone can't do.

Just read/sang this title in the voice of Iron Maiden......

Some years ago (25? 40?), Ken Boulding, writing in Technology Review, noted that a system that does not excurse toward its limits is not interesting. Congratulations to Apple for excursing with its products. If cell phone stuff was not so expensive, I'd buy the fancy-shmancy stuff for the fun of it, but for now I'll keep my Samsung semi-smart phone, which spends most of its time turned off.

I'm using my daughter's old iphone 5 with a cracked screen. It works perfectly; but security updates may not happen again so I may have to go to a newer phone. My daughter went to a 6 and now a 7. I'm sure she will want to waste money on the X model but with more years of expensive school planned she should wait for the iphone 11 or 12 or 13 instead of wasting her money (but she won't wait!).

I speak as someone who enjoys both Android and iOS devices. There are very valid reasons for choosing either. For example, Apple’s support and fast/regular updates are good reasons to choose iOS. Android’s vast configurability options and manufacturer choices are good reasons to pick Android. (Ease of use is not necessarily the big reason here. Ease of use is subjective. I’ve known people who switched from iOS to Android and found Android easier. I know people who did the opposite and found iOS easier. I find both easy to use, and find both enjoyable for different reasons. I currently use and enjoy both, although my history with Android use is longer.)

Annually, Apple releases both incremental upgrade devices as well as main upgrade devices. These incremental update devices seem to sell pretty well, despite the fact that they come about the same time as the main upgrade device.
For example, the incremental upgrade devices from the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. The main upgrades from the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. The iPhone 8/8 Plus are pretty much the annual incremental updates to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. If the naming convention had not changed for the 10th anniversary, these would have been the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus.

Many people utilize either the Apple Upgrade Program or an upgrade program through their carriers, making upgrades to newer devices pretty easy without having to make a major cash layout. (I haven’t tried any of the upgrade programs, but have talked to numbers of people who’ve used the various ones. People typically say they are easy to use.)

Offhand, I can think of a few reasons a person would choose to upgrade to the 8/8 Plus over a used 7 or 7 Plus.

1. Faster/more efficient chipset.

2. Bluetooth 5 (Google it if you don’t know what it is. It may not matter to you, but I know a number of people for whom it does matter. Samsung’s Galaxy S8/8 Plus and Note 8 both have this, as well.)

3. Wireless charging. Yes, you have to buy the hardware for this separately, just as you do with many Android phones that support Wireless charging. But, there are plenty of people who want this feature and do purchase that hardware in order to use it.

4. Possibly TrueTone and improved image processing. I don’t know that anyone would upgrade only for this, but in conjunction with the items noted above, it’s nice that this comes with the package.

Here are some things that people might want to RETAIN, while still getting the features noted above. With the iPhone 8/8 Plus, they can retain these things that they would lose with the iPhone X.

1. Fingerprint sensor, as well as similar gestures. I am so accustomed to using the fingerprint scanner now on my phones (not only to unlock the phone, but for its other uses, as well.) This is the case whether my phone be an Android or iOS device.

2. Design. Some people may very well want to continue with the current design. I don’t blame them. The current design is quite attractive in my opinion. I know I’m not alone in that opinion, even if there are others who feel differently.

Generally speaking, I really do get that a lot of people here don’t use their phones/mobile devices as main computing devices. However, more and more people do. (I do.) Because of this, they want those devices to offer a lot.

That said, here’s my take on price for the higher end devices (such as iPhones, Samsung Galaxy S and Note devices, top level HTC devices, Pixel devices.)

I'm not sure that $1,000 or so is that terrible for something I use a lot every single day. It is a gateway to many important things like communication, information, shopping, safety and much more. It is a main computing device for me. I can use it nearly whenever and wherever I like. If I keep and use it for only one year, it comes out to a cost of $2.97 per day (assumes device cost of $1,000 plus my local sales tax.) Of course, it's only half that per day if I keep it for two years. People will spend more than that per day for things like coffee, soda, cigarettes, wine and other non-essential pleasures and not think much of it. While I enjoy some of those things, as well, I think my phone serves a bigger purpose. Yes, I realize I can have a phone that'll do much of the same for a lot less. But, if the phone I really prefer costs me less than $3.00 per day to use (assuming ownership of just one year), I don't think that's so bad considering what it can do for me.

What happens when you unlock via face recognition then hand it to someone else? Will it lock out?

It's my wife's turn for an upgrade, she has a 6 and I have a 7+ and we have been alternating. I'm thinking of getting her the X because she doesn't like the large + model, but could have the larger, brighter display with very little change in overall size. I'm hoping to get some input in the glass backed durability of the X before I order, though we always have gotten cases and screen protectors. My main problem (besides sticker shock) is that I don't think she really cares what phone she has. The main points in favor of the upgrade is the superior camera and battery life. Because she has a better eye she already takes pics that are superior to most of mine.

I have iPhone 6 still working well. I need none of the new "features". It is annoying that with each version they insist on removing the internal storage "sweet spot" to try to force you to buy the phone with more capacity. Shameful greed from billionaires! I will probably keep using my 6 until it stops working. Who knows maybe the iPhone 13 will see the return of the headphone jack. On the other hand 13 will probably be skipped as frivolously as 9!

I will never consider another Apple product.I had an(old) 3gs model worked for what I wanted it for,then earlier this year they upgraded the ios,it killed battery(which I'd replaced at beginning of the year)so had to replace again now it's stuck on grey screen searching,tried connecting to itunes to reset comes up with problem please contact nearest store to arrange for repair(for which the want to charge more than upgrading to next model iphone4)not impressed...!

My phone still does everything I want. (Samsung S4). Now why would I want to spend money I don't need to? I'll just put another $1000 in the bank, and pretend I bought an iPhone X.

Gosh, my wife still thinks her iPhone 3 is doing great and says why switch. What fool would spend all those bucks for iPhone 4,5,6,7,8,X when what you already have does the job nicely.

Guess that's why I use a flip phone that should have seen its battery die years ago - but it didn't.

Add up all those dollars not spent and laugh.

Went to a restaurant last night and 7 out of 10 customers were phone addicts who just could not stop looking at their every 15 seconds! Bet they will need an iPhone X just to feel good.

The first smartphone I ever had was an iPhone 4S and it was my phone all these years until yesterday. For some reason, it NEVER was able to make a secure hands-free connection with my Infiniti's Bluetooth and I finally tracked the problem down to my PHONE, not to AT&T, and not to the car. So I needed to get a new phone that actually would connect with my car. I researched everything and decided on an iPhone SE, which is basically a 6 in a much smaller body (close in size to the 4S; fits in my pocket). I don't like those huge SLABS of phones they are making now. The SE cost me in the neighborhood of $400, whereas even a discounted 6 (now older than models 7, 8, and X) was for over $600.00. I am happy with this purchase and now my Bluetooth connection is crystal clear!

I would expect the 8 to not sell well (remember the Osborne portable computer that went out of business because they too soon advertised their latest model and so their cash flow stopped instantly?) but who knows? That $1,000 price point is REALLY high, so if the 8 is nicely under that, then it might have a market. If it is over $1,000, then only those who can't wait for the X release will spring for it. Also, believe it or not, color choices make a difference for some (me, for example). I think the 8 and X do not have good color choices... when one gets a new phone, they also care about its looks. My SE is a beautiful gold. If it only came in black or gray or white, I would not have gotten it. I wanted it to LOOK new. And I didn't want rose gold, as pretty as that is; I didn't want my phone to look like something my wife would get.

Being the last hold out and black sheep of the family, I finally replaced my beloved old Droid Max with an Iphone 7 so I could get the most functionality out of my new hearing aids.

Nice phone but I will say that IOS users tend to get excited over new features offered by Apple that have been around Android for years. My 3 year old Android had wireless charging, a display as good, if not better than the Iphone 7 and a more sensitive phone receiver (I now enjoy some dropped calls).

I give the Apple people credit for their ability to get millions of dollars of free advertising from the media. They are the World's greatest marketers and have super customer service in their stores but I am not sure that they necessarily have the best products.

I currently have the iPhone 6s+ and look forward to switching to the new iPhoneX. I have enjoyed up to this point being on the interim upgrade side of the iPhone world as the incremental improvements have been great fro me and I have never experienced the brand new model problems that my wife has sometimes experienced being on the new model side of the typical 2 year cycle.

I believe it is somewhat unfair to call the iPhone 8 and 8+ the incremental upgrade as although the form factor is similar to the 7 and 7+ there are very significant differences in design that make the 8 a true version upgrade. Shifting from the aluminum back and glass front to the glass front and back, wireless charging, improved water proofing, improved camera with new features, etc., etc.

My wife skipped her last upgrade cycle from the iPhone 6 to the iPhone 7 because she retired from her job and was no longer supplied a new phone every 2 years AND she just no longer uses many of the advanced computing features of the phone (it now being mainly a phone, Face Time, Facebook and email device for her. However the attractiveness of having a 8+ size screen on the easier for her to handle 6,7,8 dimensions may cause her to make the same leap to the iPhone X.

My experience has been that if I buy the absolute top of the line current phone every two years under contract with the Carrier (in my case AT&T) with the most Storage Available in the most popular color (in my current case this would be the Gold iPhone 6s+ with 128 GB of storage) that I have consistently been able to upgrade to the next top end model with no money out of pocket for the new phone after I sold my previous model.

Last upgrade cycle I ended up out of pocket $85 because the 6s+ changed both maximum storage and form factor. I suspect this year I will end up perhaps even $150-200 out of pocket due to doubling storage again and paying for the OLED Screen, better form factor, etc. As I develop Apps and content for the iOS, OSX (Mac OS), Apple TVOS and Windows markets, this is a small price to pay imho. In any case after 7 years in the Apple iPhone universe, other than paying for the original IPhone 3S (which actually was largely Carrier Subsidized) and having an anticipated total net investment of $300-$350 for iPhones over 8 years I believe those that complain of the cost of iPhones simply do not understand the market value of used iPhones.

Now I have certainly spent more than that for cables, cases, screen protectors, etc. but my used iPhones have always generated top dollar in the local used market because they look brand new when I go to sell them and I have always had the most in demand version of whatever model iPhone I was selling used.

Any consideration of the value I get from having the current top of the line model for testing apps, content presentation, etc. and my particular iPhone trading methodology has certainly worked for me.

Laurie I bet it does not include the Monthly Subscription cost for phone service. I pay all of $85.00 Per month for my Unlimited everything along with q !2" and a 18.4" Tablet also at times for my 7 Computers when my Ethernet goes out.

When I go out to dinner or shopping my phone is turned off as it is very annoying to get popups for special sales or an all you can eat Buffet. My friend he can not resist checking his phone every 5 minutes to check the scores on all our losing teams etc.

In fact he comes over to my house before we go out or after and after giving my cats their treats, one of the cats now just sleeps through the first part of his visit and greets him when we come back. The entire time he spends checking his cell phone. I also had a number of friends who would come over to watch a movie and spend their entire time on the phone texting.

The worst is my son in law who cant stop texting while driving and carries my most precious possession my Granddaughter and his widowed twice Mother. They finally made him stop it. My Granddaughter wants to earn to drive , but neither Grand mom or Dad want her to. they say it is dangerous. I offered to teach her but they said she will never need to drive. Maybe someday when she gets married her husband will teach her, she is just 20 and more interested in College.