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DJI's New Phantom 4 Available Exclusively From Apple Through March 23

I hate to say this but in this day and age of terrorism, I am afraid these will become the next autonomous terrorist weapons of mass destruction. Some things should not just be sold as is without thinking about the security risks and potential harm it can do to the public.

I don't' see why any terrorist can't use this strap on some sort of explosive device set targeting to a subject, scare that subject into running into a crowd and then detonate.

I saw the verge video on this drone and it's just too easy to set tracking on a human subject and the fact you now don't even need a human to control it for it to track/follow you is amazing and at the same time frightening because there is no safety features for these drones. Anyone can buy them and do harm if they wanted to. They'd have to improvise on how to produce mass destruction but the fact they can do this without being seen in public is alarming.
 
OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Pretty crazy what they charge. $145 for a 3 day rental, when you can buy the thing to own for $500 brand new or less. Pays for itself after just a week.
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Where are you seeing $500 to buy?

The DJI Phantom 3 Professional is currently $1,000 to buy.

But yes... if you rent something more than a few times... then you should buy it instead.

I rent gear from lensrentals.com but it's stuff I only use once a year for an event.

Renting is also a great way to try things out before you buy. Before you spend a couple thousand dollars on a camera body... you can see if it works for you, feels good in your hand, etc.
 
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Michael Scrip said:
Where are you seeing $500 to buy?

The DJI Phantom 3 Professional is currently $1,000 to buy.

But yes... if you rent something more than a few times... then you should buy it instead.

I rent gear from lensrentals.com but it's stuff I only use once a year for an event.

Renting is also a great way to try things out before you buy. Before you spend a couple thousand dollars on a camera body... you can see if it works for you, feels good in your hand, etc.
Click to expand...

The DJI Phantom 3 Standard edition is only $500. Heck I've seen it as low as $400.

EDIT: And yes I know the rental cost we are talking about is the Pro vs the Standard, but it's good information that you can get a DJI Phantom 3 for much less than 1K and for most would be more than enough....

Then there are all the other Chinese Drone manufacturers.... Walkera has a great line of Drones and they start at the low $200s.

Then you can get into the Toy models such as Hubsan that can be purchased for $35 playing around within in doors (my kids love ours for messing around with when we can't go outside).

I'd highly recommend anyone interested in getting into Quadcopters/drones to buy something cheap to start with though. You WILL more than likely screw up your first one.....

I bought a cheap MJX X101 just to mess around with to get the hang of flying these things. Eventually I will step up to a DJI (more than likely something like the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced that runs currently $800). Unfortunately right now I don't fully trust my skills in flying (or more likely crashing) a $800 quadcopter/drone.
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
The market for drones is small. Apple isn't interested there right now.

They're also two totally different techs. You can't simply take tech from one and apply it to another. It'd take a lot of work to rework it for the other application and that's just not worth it to them. They'd be developing two totally separate product lines and that's a big waste of money. Not going to happen.
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Pretty crazy what they charge. $145 for a 3 day rental, when you can buy the thing to own for $500 brand new or less. Pays for itself after just a week.
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Might be $145 for a 3 day rental. But remember that a bad crash and gone is an expensive drone. This isn't like a car where you know the person walking out the door at least has passed some kind of driving test.....
 
Drone manufacturer DJI has inked a deal with Apple that will see its latest drone, the Phantom 4, available exclusively through Apple retail locations and DJI flagship stores through March 23, reports Re/code. Pre-orders are available beginning today, and brick and mortar locations are expected to have the drone in stock starting on March 15.

Apple has long sold DJI products in its retail stores, currently offering the DJI Phantom 3. The next-generation Phantom 4, priced at $1,399, includes an Obstacle Sensing System that allows the drone to detect and avoid objects in its path.

phantom4.jpg

It has a magnesium core to improve rigidity without increasing weight and it has better battery life. The Phantom 4 is able to fly for 28 minutes, 25 percent longer than the Phantom 3 Professional, and it has a new TapFly mode that lets users tap on their smartphones or tablets to send the drone flying in a specific direction.

With a revamped Vision Positioning System, the Phantom 4's max effective altitude has been increased by 300 percent, and it performs better indoors. An ActiveTrack feature also allows it to stay locked on a moving target for tracking purposes, and the redesigned lens is said to "dramatically" increase sharpness.

The Phantom 4 will be available for pre-order from Apple or the DJI website starting today. Pre-orders have gone live on the DJI site but are not yet available via the Apple online store. The Phantom 4 will be in Apple retail stores on March 15, expanding to other retailers on March 23.

Apple is definitely behind the build of the DJI's New Phantom 4 not only it uses apple's flagship material and color but it also had a dramatic increase in technology and new features i wouldn't be surprise to see the next line up have apple logo on it and been used with just the iphone and the iwatch there wouldn't be no need to use that big bulky remote controller anymore.
 
paulrbeers said:
The DJI Phantom 3 Standard edition is only $500. Heck I've seen it as low as $400.

EDIT: And yes I know the rental cost we are talking about is the Pro vs the Standard, but it's good information that you can get a DJI Phantom 3 for much less than 1K and for most would be more than enough....

Then there are all the other Chinese Drone manufacturers.... Walkera has a great line of Drones and they start at the low $200s.

Then you can get into the Toy models such as Hubsan that can be purchased for $35 playing around within in doors (my kids love ours for messing around with when we can't go outside).

I'd highly recommend anyone interested in getting into Quadcopters/drones to buy something cheap to start with though. You WILL more than likely screw up your first one.....

I bought a cheap MJX X101 just to mess around with to get the hang of flying these things. Eventually I will step up to a DJI (more than likely something like the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced that runs currently $800). Unfortunately right now I don't fully trust my skills in flying (or more likely crashing) a $800 quadcopter/drone.
Click to expand...

You're right... if you're planning on buying a DJI... $145 for 3 days is absolutely crazy.

I think people rent drones for special use-cases. Renting shouldn't be an alternative to buying.

Like I said... if you plan to use something more than once... buying it makes much more sense. But I rent stuff all the time since I don't need to use them all the time.

And yes... starting with a cheap drone is a great first step before you pay big money for an advanced drone.
 
Very much want one, can I start a fundme campaign here on macrumors to build funds. ;-)
 
I wonder how clued up the store staff will be on the rules and regs of flying these things. In Oz CASA are coming down on people flying and crashing these things on people, and flying < 5.5k from airports/helipads.
 
AliMacs said:
I hate to say this but in this day and age of terrorism, I am afraid these will become the next autonomous terrorist weapons of mass destruction. Some things should not just be sold as is without thinking about the security risks and potential harm it can do to the public.

I don't' see why any terrorist can't use this strap on some sort of explosive device set targeting to a subject, scare that subject into running into a crowd and then detonate.

I saw the verge video on this drone and it's just too easy to set tracking on a human subject and the fact you now don't even need a human to control it for it to track/follow you is amazing and at the same time frightening because there is no safety features for these drones. Anyone can buy them and do harm if they wanted to. They'd have to improvise on how to produce mass destruction but the fact they can do this without being seen in public is alarming.
Click to expand...

Unlikely due to the limited lift capacity of these drones - a few ounces at most. Hard to pack enough power do do much. If terrorists run out of suicide bombers and have to go stealth then it might be helpful but a person with a long coat and backpack can carry 100x the explosive power.
 
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With a revamped Vision Positioning System, the Phantom 4's max effective altitude has been increased by 300 percent

I'm interesting in buying a drone this year so I recently started to research them. Isn't there now a limit to how high they can legally go and that limit is enforced by the software in new models?
 
glenthompson said:
Unlikely due to the limited lift capacity of these drones - a few ounces at most. Hard to pack enough power do do much. If terrorists run out of suicide bombers and have to go stealth then it might be helpful but a person with a long coat and backpack can carry 100x the explosive power.
Click to expand...

This x1000. Even the most powerful of consumer quadcopters can only lift 1/4 kilo (half at best). I mounted a gopro to my x101 and a wireless transmitter for a total weight of something like 100g and that drastically reduced the lift and flight time....
 
Damn... Anyone want to buy my Phantom3 Advanced so I can shell out for this thing? lol
 
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