Apple Shares New Minute-Long Video Highlighting iPhone XS Features [Updated]

[MacknTosh]

I'm used to Apple not going knees-deep into the hardware details. But the part of "faster wireless charging" is starting to annoy me. What does it actually mean? Do current 7.5W wireless chargers support this faster speeds? Did they switch to copper coils and 10W wireless charging? If so, does that mean it will support regular "Android" 10W wireless chargers? Or does it simply mean that due to the new glass on the back and perhaps better cooling it's capable of staying at 7,5W for longer?

It makes it next to impossible to know what wireless charger is best suited for the phones....

I mentioned this in an earlier post.

“The original story states that the XS has faster wireless charging, however I think that is incorrect. The XS, just like the X, is fast charge capable (up to 50% in 30 mins) using a 30W USB-C Power adapter (XS) or a 29W USB-C adapter (X) - read the footnotes on the Apple comparison page for details.”

Hopefully someone else can clarify if it additionally has fast wireless charging.

 

[Marekul]

What I’m hearing is a lot of butt hurt from people who can’t afford the flagship, though they’ll often preface their comment with “I can afford it, but”. They then proceed to describe in intricate detail all the reasons why they really don’t need the phone they can’t afford, and why a cheaper phone isn’t really that bad.

I would not even have to afford it cause my company pays for it. But as it stands all these phablets with notch and Face ID feels like a downgrade to my current phone (SE) Hope that doesn’t hurt your feeling

 

[RamGuy]

I mentioned this in an earlier post.

“The original story states that the XS has faster wireless charging, however I think that is incorrect. The XS, just like the X, is fast charge capable (up to 50% in 30 mins) using a 30W USB-C Power adapter (XS) or a 29W USB-C adapter (X) - read the footnotes on the Apple comparison page for details.”

Hopefully someone else can clarify if it additionally has fast wireless charging.

The video clearly states "Faster Wireless Charging". And their press release states;

"The front and back glass design features the most durable glass ever in a smartphone with improved scratch resistance, while the glass back enables faster wireless charging. iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max reach a new level of splash and water resistance of IP68 for up to 2 meters for 30 minutes and protect against everyday spills including coffee, tea and soda."

 

[MacknTosh]

No one expects you to upgrade every year, or really cares one way or the other whether you do or don’t.

But saying that for you, the XS isn’t worth upgrading to is a lot different from downplaying all the improvements and saying it’s a rubbish upgrade. The first is true, the second is a load of... rubbish.

I notice you failed to quote me where I supposedly stated that the XS wasn’t an improvement.

It’s also a case of semantics to imply that “it’s not worth upgrading for me” is a lot different to saying “it’s a rubbish upgrade for me”. Had my current phone been, e.g. an iPhone 7 (or a Samsung), then I would agree with you that it would be rubbish to say it’s a rubbish upgrade, but I stand by my assertion that, for me, X to the XS is a rubbish upgrade.

 

[**maestro**]

I was really looking forward to upgrading my iPhone 7 Plus to the new XS Max after hearing the rumours of Dual Sim which was a huge selling point for me as a frequent traveller. But, when I saw that one of those is an eSIM (and thus completely useless for me), Apple lost my money.

 

[RamGuy]

I was really looking forward to upgrading my iPhone 7 Plus to the new XS Max after hearing the rumours of Dual Sim which was a huge selling point for me as a frequent traveller. But, when I saw that one of those is an eSIM (and thus completely useless for me), Apple lost my money.

Why is it completely useless? With the push from Apple here more and more operators will start supporting eSIM. I will switch over to using eSIM as soon as my primary operator starts supporting it and use the physical for when I travel.

 

[ColdShadow]

I think S series are becoming less and less appealing as they just seem to be a cash milking project,selling last years platform with minor tweaks and new colors.

The real excitement is when true update cycle models are launched.not S series.

I see no reason to replace my iPhone X.
I said replace not upgrade intentionally.
Paying that much for just sone minor tweaks in same case is pointless when if you have the iPhone X,and before you know,the all new XI will be out.

 

[cloudyo]

Can someone explain,

Why bokeh and adjustable depth effects are only available on the XS and not on the X?
The camera hardware is exactly same, at least listed same on apple's website.

Sadness.

It's the Processor. Apple insinuated that the bokeh effect is computed by the A12 and its neural engine (if I got that right). Since the A11 has a less powerful neural engine the effect wouldn't work as well.

 

[RamGuy]

I think S series are becoming less and less appealing as they just seem to be a cash milking project,selling last years platform with minor tweaks and new colors.

The real excitement is when true update cycle models are launched.not S series.

I see no reason to replace my iPhone X.
I said replace not upgrade intentionally.
Paying that much for just sone minor tweaks in same case is pointless when if you have the iPhone X,and before you know,the all new XI will be out.

Many people prefer the S-cycle over the "new-cycle" due to refinement. It's almost always safer to go with the second generation of a product compared to the brand new one.

 

[PickUrPoison]

I would not even have to afford it cause my company pays for it. But as it stands all these phablets with notch and Face ID feels like a downgrade to my current phone (SE) Hope that doesn’t hurt your feeling

Why would it hurt my feelings lol? You should get the device that makes you happy. If you like $50 Androids because you really like customizing 300 different settings and you don’t have to worry about breaking it or losing it, that’s awesome.

Just don’t try to convince me it’s something it’s not. Or rather, feel free to try, but don’t be surprised if you get some push back.

 

[**maestro**]

Why is it completely useless? With the push from Apple here more and more operators will start supporting eSIM. I will switch over to using eSIM as soon as my primary operator starts supporting it and use the physical for when I travel.

In the countries that I travel (mostly Australia and Italy), I have spoken to the Telco companies that I use and they have no current intention of introducing support for eSIM in the near future. If Apple had introduced the Chinese version with standard Dual Sim, then I would have bought it, however, I'm not going to pay this huge amount of money for a primary feature that is a selling point for me (and I'm sure many other frequent international travellers) which I cannot use, just in the hope that eSIM will be imminently supported by the Telco companies, when they have told me otherwise.

 

[votdfak]

Who says they are "proud" of the notch? They are proud of the capabilities it provides... Why put words in their mouths? In an ideal world I bet Apple like pretty much anyone else would prefer the phone to be all display but that's simply not possible at this moment in time.

The front camera has to go somewhere, same goes for the speaker and Apple decided to go with advanced facial recognition instead of putting the finger-scanner on the back of the phone resulting in have this notch. Even without advanced facial recognition there would still have to be a notch unless they would decide to drop both the regular speaker and camera which would be a really bad idea.

Some might argue they could just go with a regular full-width lip but I much prefer to have the notch so you can hide time, battery info etc outside of my viewing area instead of having a top-bar eating my screen real estate.

They've decided to ruin every full screen experience and demolish status bar. Thanks Apple!

 

[Marekul]

It's the Processor. Apple insinuated that the bokeh effect is computed by the A12 and its neural engine (if I got that right). Since the A11 has a less powerful neural engine the effect wouldn't work as well.

Nah it would work just the same, only a bit slower. But apple needs to have differentiating factors between high prices and super high priced phones. Since most people don’t care too much about hardware specs they make software features exclusive to more expensive models.

 

[cloudyo]

Nah it would work just the same, only a bit slower.

That is exactly what I meant by "wouldn't work as well".
Of course they could even replicate this effect on an iPhone 7 if they wanted to.

 

[RamGuy]

In the countries that I travel (mostly Australia and Italy), I have spoken to the Telco companies that I use and they have no current intention of introducing support for eSIM in the near future. If Apple had introduced the Chinese version with standard Dual Sim, then I would have bought it, however, I'm not going to pay this huge amount of money for a primary feature that is a selling point for me (and I'm sure many other frequent international travellers) which I cannot use, just in the hope that eSIM will be imminently supported by the Telco companies, when they have told me otherwise.

But you don't need to wait/hope for foreign operators to support eSIM. You just have to get your own operator to support it. You should be using the physical sim for travelling, and use the eSIM for your own private/primary one.
[doublepost=1537005355][/doublepost]

They've decided to ruin every full screen experience and demolish status bar. Thanks Apple!

How often do any full-screen apps have anything meaningful at the very top or at the very edge? How often do you really end up in situation that something is hidden by the notch? If things are hidden, the app developer should have updated their apps to not have elements behind the notch or at least support zoom so you are able to simply zoom out and get a black bar at the top.

 

[I am Sampson]

Haha! That 108 seconds one was actually really funny. Genuinely had me laughing out loud, which is rare for me.

 

[**maestro**]

But you don't need to wait/hope for foreign operators to support eSIM. You just have to get your own operator to support it. You should be using the physical sim for travelling, and use the eSIM for your own private/primary one.

My apologies for the confusion. I'm not talking about foreign operators. I'm talking about my own operators. I use popular operators in both Australia and Italy (I have two permanent numbers active at all times for my work) and both have said that in the foreseeable future, they will not be supporting eSIM. Thus, my sole reason not to purchase the new phone.

 

[PickUrPoison]

I notice you failed to quote me where I supposedly stated that the XS wasn’t an improvement.

It’s also a case of semantics to imply that “it’s not worth upgrading for me” is a lot different to saying “it’s a rubbish upgrade for me”. Had my current phone been, e.g. an iPhone 7 (or a Samsung), then I would agree with you that it would be rubbish to say it’s a rubbish upgrade, but I stand by my assertion that, for me, X to the XS is a rubbish upgrade.

You’re the one playing semantics games. You went through a list of improvements and minimized them. Here are some of the not-sufficiently-improved features you mentioned: you wouldn’t “appreciate” 4GB of RAM; you don’t care about saving a fraction of a second with improved FaceID; you don’t believe Apple that it has faster wireless charging; camera differences aren’t “earth-shattering”; you won’t get a “warm feeling” from the 7x faster neural engine co-processor; you don’t care about the improved water resistance; and presumably you don’t care about the other differences either.

The improvements from the X to the XS exist regardless of whether you think any of them are important, or sufficiently improved for you to consider them improvements. The XS has many upgraded features compared to the X, many incremental improvements, but that doesn’t mean you need to upgrade. Some will, some won’t.

And some will go to great lengths trying to convince themselves the upgraded XS really isn’t even an upgrade. They might even try calling it a “rubbish upgrade” lol. Even though it has a faster CPU, GPU and neural engine; improved water resistance, FaceID, camera sensor and image processing; better display, sound, glass, battery life, LTE frequency band support and gigabit download speed; stereo recording using 4 mics; faster wireless charging; dual SIMs; and of course the unappreciated 4GB RAM. All added this year at no additional cost. All of which you don’t need, or couldn’t tell the difference even if you had them.

Yes, rubbish indeed.

 

[BCWorld]

Apple 2018-2019

Apple iphone xs max 512ssd (ios)

Apple macbook pro/air 128ssd (macOS)

Iphone costs more

 

[Bacillus]

So what exactly were you expecting that would change your opinion of the XS being a “rubbish upgrade”?

Besides all the things that were already OK, there is no unbreakeable casing, no dark mode/always-on/notifications-on to really exploit th OLED screen, there is no foldable design or other form factor improvement, no significantly better battery life end no faster charging, still that slippery casing, still that notch and protruding camera. Joni basically just extruded some design files in AutoCAD.
It is just milking for the sake of milking. And lots of marketing to draw attention from the weaker points. Like FaceID “slow” - no it wasn’t slow, it’s just all that handling get rid of the lockscreen

Lol people making excuses to not want the phone.

Sorry for the inconvenience.
Forgot that we’re not supposed to have opinions and just need to empty our pockets at those counters

 

[Textime]

My wife is going to stick with her iPhone 6. I, owner of an antique iPhone 5, am toying with the idea of getting a refurbished 7, which is like, a bit more than one third the cost of the new phone. Like you, I am very, very undecided. And I'm talking about upgrading to a 7, lol!

Just do it. With iOS 12 my iPhone 7 works really well. I mean really really well.

 

[1050792]

How is it to tall and narrow.

Because it is a 5.8 inch tall but narrow screen.

 

[Candykane75]

Providers

But you don't need to wait/hope for foreign operators to support eSIM. You just have to get your own operator to support it. You should be using the physical sim for travelling, and use the eSIM for your own private/primary one.
[doublepost=1537005355][/doublepost]
.

Lets just say 99% of providers not support esims in phones yet! And many telecom companys have bin resisting and blocking esims for years. That will not change over night. Iphone flagship phone sales are in the toilet so apple is not pushing the telecoms any more.
If you look at the sales figures you see 47% of all phones apple sold FY 2018 are ... not new phones ...
you be amassed to know the market share of the SE with 16% was almost as big as the X with 19%.
The 8(+) models was the successful model with 34% market share do you know who came in second? with 21 % the Iphone 7 models . predictions for next year is not much better with strong Iphone 7 sales. it might even be the best seller next year with prediction of 1/4-1/3 of all sales . at 1/2 the price of a new X model Iphones i see people upgrading to the 7 a lot. especially do to the long support rolling out now days

Now if apple was selling new models with Esims like they use to with 5S and the 6 then the telco's would listen.
but my home country Holland no Esim support from any provider and many country's i go to no Esim support.
So a simcard i cant use = crap . Especially if you think there is a chinese model with dual sim working fine....
WTF would i take a esim model?.
Any way well i'm sticking with my SE , ipad LTE combo .. no X model for me.

 

[winglet69]

It's nice, but it's too expensive... I guess I'll upgrade like I do with my computers now, use it till it dies, they are basically the same price now.

Agreed! I used to routinely upgrade, perhaps not every single cycle, but regularly. Typically with my laptops every three years at the end of AppleCare, and every couple years with iPhones on the S cycle. But now I'm still sticking with my early 2013 15" MB Pro and my iPhone 6S.

Each product cycle I keep waiting for something compelling to persuade me plunk out the huge money Apple now asks for. And for several cycles now...can't justify it. I used to anticipate Apple product announces with some excitement (yes, I need a life!) but now I actually dread them as they have become associated with a sense of being underwhelmed yet again. Especially when buying expensive shiny new toys means shifting to all new accessories (USB C, no headphone jack) and navigation (no Home button). Sure, I can do all that. But what value does it actually add to things that presently work just fine?

And the massive prices are for what, exactly? You KNOW they're reaching when "Now in Gold" is listed as a "new feature". "Faster charging" cannot possibly be considered a valid reason to crank prices up.

I realize this is not all Apple's fault, and partly a function of a mature product line. But I do dread the day my current crop of gear finally either just gives out, or is "obsoleted" by Applecorp. I find myself Googling through Samsung phones and Windows laptops, sites describing the switching process and so on. Very strange for someone who's been with Apple since the Mac Plus in 1985, but I can't really stomach Apple's prices anymore when there could be better value elsewhere.

Anyway, back to debating the minutiae of screen sizes and the like!

 

[belvdr]

I can't get excited about any phone any more. We're in a state that is reminiscent of different landline phones in the 80s. Manufacturers were throwing features at phones in search of a problem, such as today's wireless charging. I never found it inconvenient to plug a cord into a phone.

It's quite possible I'm just too old to care about this stuff too or maybe I've learned that simple things may be better in the long run.