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doelcm82

macrumors 68040
Feb 11, 2012
3,866
2,875
Florida, USA
I was all set to go for the X before it was announced, but now I see it as the "compromise" phone.
Apple couldn't get the fingerprint reader to work, so stuck some face recognition tech in there and added a notch to the screen to accommodate the extra cameras required.
When you think about it, every iPhone is a compromise phone. When the rumors are flying, we hear about all the cool new features Apple may or may not be working on. As things get closer to a real product, we hear that Apple couldn’t fit a few of the more amazing features in. On the day Apple officially reveals the new phones, some of us hold out hope that somehow those talented engineers will pull a rabbit out of a hat and give us some of the features that the wild early rumors promised. But Apple didn’t make those promises, and whatever the bases of those rumors the features didn’t make it into the final design.

Sometimes a new feature doesn’t live up to our expectations. iPhone 6 does NFC, but you can’t do everything with it that other phones with NFC can, because Apple tied it up for use with Apple Pay. iPhone 7 has dual rear facing cameras, but only on the bigger model and the only things they are used for are a fixed 2x zoom and something called portrait mode. Where are all the other computational photography effects?

This isn’t new. It’s not a Tim Cook thing. The first iPhone didn’t have 3G. Or apps. Or navigation. Or cut and paste. What the heck was Steve Jobs thinking?!!!

Every iPhone is a compromise. Every product from every company is a compromise. If you’re waiting for one that isn’t, be prepared to live a disappointed life.
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And that’s fine! I’m not an internet weirdo that prejudges people based on what phone they want!
Proud internet weirdo here. Thank you.
 
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bunnicula

macrumors 68040
Jul 23, 2008
3,816
817
It's more about getting it right which hopefully they will.

My point was that they knew years ago that they'd have a 10th anniversary to celebrate and they surely knew more than a year ago what direction they'd be headed in, so why isn't the 10th anniversary phone ready for, you know... the 10th anniversary? ;)
 

jeremiah256

macrumors 65816
Aug 2, 2008
1,444
1,169
Southern California
I was all set to go for the X before it was announced, but now I see it as the "compromise" phone.
Apple couldn't get the fingerprint reader to work, so stuck some face recognition tech in there and added a notch to the screen to accommodate the extra cameras required.

At the ridiculous price there's only the screen to make it worth buying, and that is not really important to the usability of the phone anyway - in fact, the iPhone X compromises on general usability as well!

Since the X will sell well, Apple will probably keep that same design in future iPhones, I'm hoping that is not the case to make a future upgrade worthwhile.

The 8 offers all the useful features of the X and is significantly cheaper. Even though it's not a huge upgrade from my 6S at least I know I'm going to be happy with it!

With all due respect, I think you have it backwards. They wanted (and needed) a 10th Anniversary phone and the iPhone X is it. I think, because they knew they couldn't produce the iPhone X in the quantities they predict they'll need, they wanted to have a selection of phones (or in this case, several selections or compromises, to use your term) to lower the demand signal for the X. Having the SE, 6S, 6S+, 7, 7+, and 8 available, at prices from $350 to $950, might just do that.

If they came out with just the iPhone X and delivery times started slipping into late February or March or even later because of crazy demand, it would be a disaster. Half of MacRumors would probably organize and lead the march to Tim Cook's house, complete with torches, pitchforks and "You're not Steve Jobs" signs. And that is a mantra that Apple does not want to catch on with the media or the public.

I think just as Apple has custom chips, they really need to reorganize away from relying on Samsung for displays. I don't know who has comparable tech, but they need to find them, buy them, and spend some of that $250B to turn them into a monster that can go toe-to-toe with anyone out there.
 

cylack

macrumors 6502
Feb 21, 2006
297
275
Orlando, FL
I upgraded from the 6 to the 8. Feels like night and day. The A11 bionic is lighnting fast as all apps load so much quicker. The wait at the Apple store took forever. I signed in and waited an hour before an Apple rep could sell me the phone.
 

lucianmarin

macrumors newbie
Jun 2, 2014
18
20
My 4S does EVERYTHING I need. Not excited about any iPhone since...just tweaks. Guess they pretty much perfected it out of the gate. Not a bad thing but it does make it harder for "followup acts" to get any "wow" factor.

Same here. 4S is still solid as a rock. I bough 2 iPhone SEs. The first died after one week. The second I sat on it on the bed and the screen was wobbling .

All I want is an iPhone X Mini.
 

jeremiah256

macrumors 65816
Aug 2, 2008
1,444
1,169
Southern California
Same here. 4S is still solid as a rock. I bough 2 iPhone SEs. The first died after one week. The second I sat on it on the bed and the screen was wobbling .

All I want is an iPhone X Mini.
For me, the 5S with TouchID was the point where I was really wowed by a phone.

And tiki torches if certain members of the PRSI forum join in ;).

Ouch.
 

whatgift

macrumors 6502
Apr 20, 2017
251
185
Australia
Every iPhone is a compromise. Every product from every company is a compromise. If you’re waiting for one that isn’t, be prepared to live a disappointed life.
This is the first time I'm not going for the top model iPhone, I guess that's what happens when the rumours ramp up expectations to an unrealistic level!

If it wasn't for the price I'd probably consider it, prices are getting out of control.
 

HvLee

macrumors member
Aug 6, 2014
43
22
The Netherlands
I'm currently on a 5s and promised myself to upgrade this year, but I'm still not sure if I'd go for the 7+ 128 or 8+ 64, the 7+ is cheaper and has more storage for 'almost' the same phone? Am I thinking correctly or should I forget the 7 models?
 

4x4bob

macrumors member
Jun 4, 2008
34
10
Would it be too much to ask for a 5S or SE re-fresh? Everyone doesn't want to use a damn big iPad or I mean iPhone as a telephone. I prefer the small SE for pocket carrying.
 
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rkanaga

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2015
48
15
London
The problem is this. The iPhone 8 is a great spec update from the 7, has a nicer although not radically different form factor, and is only a bit pricier. But it is overshadowed by the X. The X is too expensive for a lot of people and you can't actually buy one. So I suspect that a lot of people rather than buy the 8 that appears second best, and not wanting to fork out for the X (or like me put off by the ugly notch and concerned that Face ID might not be that great) will just sit it out till next year for either a more refined X or a further improved 8s.

For once I think Apple may have got their strategy wrong. They should have released the 8 now and waited till next year for the X. To release the volume model (8) now and immediately lessen its appeal by releasing the X that you can't buy and that they won't be able to produce in quantity for a while is a mistake. If they had to release the X now as a halo product then they should have listed to John Gruber and priced it as an ultra exclusive 'edition' at say $2000. They still would have sold them all, and everyone else would have been happy to buy the 8 knowing that the X was out of reach. The prices are too close which makes people hesitate to buy the cheaper one as it seems poor value, yet also not want to buy the more expensive one.
 
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