Hands-On With the New iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max

[smulji]

On Saturday, I went to my local Apple store to get a hands-on feel for the new iPhones. I'm currently sporting an 8+ and have been very happy with it. I still like TouchID quite a bit.

I stayed for over an hour and did significant testing of all 3 models. Surprisingly, I ended up walking out with my 8+ and decided to wait until next year.

Reasons:

1. Still using Lightning/USB2.0 connector. That's unacceptable. Will wait for either Lightning/USB3.x or, ideally, USB-C. I assume next year will bring that.
2. On the 11, as with the XR, I do notice the DPI differences, especially in smaller size text. The 11/XR is fuzzy while the 8+ and the Pros are crisp. Video is fine on both.
3. As for the OLED, try as I might, I couldn't discern that the blacks on the OLED devices were noticeably deeper. I know they are but I couldn't tell. I spent a lot of time trying to, as well. Used the same backgrounds and all on mine and the Pros, side-by-side.
4. Swiping between different home pages definitely showed that the 120hz refresh is noticeably better. My 8+ had distinct stuttering when swiping between pages while the Pros were silky smooth. As nice as that is, it wasn't enough on its own.
5. Performance - as for the apps I use, none of them has been suffering any performance problems.
6. Memory - 4GB vs 3GB. Not a huge difference at the end of the day. I doubt I'd notice much improvement. Maybe when they hit 6+ GB.
7. OS - iOS 13.1 runs just fine on the 8+ and the vast majority of features are available to me.
8. AR - Yes, AR will be a LOT better on the 11 series. But, who's yet to take advantage of it in a way that I'd care? I'm still waiting... And the 8+ does a pretty good job as it is.
9. Games - As much as games are probably better on the 11 series, I'd rather play them on a bigger display, such as my MacBook Pro or iPad Pro 10.5. iPhone gaming has little real appeal to me other than simple games when I'm in a waiting room or something. My Kindle app tends to get far more of a workout in those situations.
10. Full screen display. Believe it or not, the way I frequently hold my phone works well with the bezels of the 8+. I lean it in my hand with my thumb bracing the front, across the home button. I tried the same with the 11 series and it was very inconvenient because it was blocking the view of the bottom layer of app icons. I didn't think about this issue until I was holding the phone. That's something that may be a big issue with me, no matter the model. I wonder if it's possible that they'll keep the 8+ form factor available and occasionally upgrade the components, kind of like they're doing with the SE. I'd welcome that, I think.

So, I'll hold out to see what the 11S series looks like. I think the biggest things that would make me upgrade are significant memory upgrade as well as a more modern connector interface. I can't believe they're STILL doing USB2.0. That's probably the biggest issue for me.

"Swiping between different home pages definitely showed that the 120hz refresh is noticeably better. My 8+ had distinct stuttering when swiping between pages while the Pros were silky smooth."

The iPhone 11 Pro models don't have 120hz refresh rates on their screens. They're still 60hz. Only the iPad Pro models have 120hz screens.

 

[ghanwani]

There was a line outside my local store. Not a very big one, but even at 10 min to close there were about 10-15 people still in line.

Store was crowded.

I'm impressed in that my local store still had a line even yesterday evening. These new phones must be selling very well. I cannot imagine standing in line for a phone unless my current device is broken and I'm in a desperate situation.

 

[ErikGrim]

The iPhone 11 Pro models don't have 120hz refresh rates on their screens. They're still 60hz. Only the iPad Pro models have 120hz screens.

While the iPhones don’t have 120hz refresh rates, they have touch sampling at 120hz starting with the X. That’s probably what he’s noticing.

 

[Coconut Bean]

Value is completely subjective, which is a different argument.

So far, you’ve only mentioned the sub 1080P screen in the iPhone 11, but majority rules on this...everyone testing, using, and talking about the screen since the Xr say it’s a perfectly capable screen with accurate colors and no discernible pixels.

The rest of your post is speculation. Deep Fusion also might very well require new processing and neural engine hardware to work adequately in function and/or speed.

Apple never promised Deep Fusion on iPhone 8 hardware, so no one can be mad. Apple supports phone software in general for 5+ years, because the silicon enables old phones to work great. 90% of Android phones don’t even run the most current OS.

Value is completely subjective, which is a different argument.

So far, you’ve only mentioned the sub 1080P screen in the iPhone 11, but majority rules on this...everyone testing, using, and talking about the screen since the Xr say it’s a perfectly capable screen with accurate colors and no discernible pixels.

The rest of your post is speculation. Deep Fusion also might very well require new processing and neural engine hardware to work adequately in function and/or speed.

Apple never promised Deep Fusion on iPhone 8 hardware, so no one can be mad. Apple supports phone software in general for 5+ years, because the silicon enables old phones to work great. 90% of Android phones don’t even run the most current OS.

Sure the XR AND 11 displays are fine. But but there is a big difference between being fine and on par with a reference, the layer they are simply not. It's also true that most people would just do fine with $200 China android, yet they rather spend twice as more on a 2 year old iPhone 8.

We yet don't know and maybe will never know whether deep fusion would work on older phones. But judging from competitors implementation it should. This is partly the annoyance with Apple. Either they gut prev Gen models or despite always having the best CPU fail to make it future proof enough to run the latest developments.

 

[smulji]

Sure the XR AND 11 displays are fine. But but there is a big difference between being fine and on par with a reference, the layer they are simply not. It's also true that most people would just do fine with $200 China android, yet they rather spend twice as more on a 2 year old iPhone 8.

We yet don't know and maybe will never know whether deep fusion would work on older phones. But judging from competitors implementation it should. This is partly the annoyance with Apple. Either they gut prev Gen models or despite always having the best CPU fail to make it future proof enough to run the latest developments.

Deep Fusion is only for iPhone 11 / iPhone 11 Pro. It requires the capabilities found within the A13 processor.

 

[Jordan Klein]

"Swiping between different home pages definitely showed that the 120hz refresh is noticeably better. My 8+ had distinct stuttering when swiping between pages while the Pros were silky smooth."

The iPhone 11 Pro models don't have 120hz refresh rates on their screens. They're still 60hz. Only the iPad Pro models have 120hz screens.

I may have misunderstood that particular spec. I thought I had read that the refresh rate of the Pro's had been increased to 120 hz, like the iPad Pro. Even without that, the swiping left and right of the desktop was somewhat smoother than my 8+.

 

[ErikGrim]

I may have misunderstood that particular spec. I thought I had read that the refresh rate of the Pro's had been increased to 120 hz, like the iPad Pro. Even without that, the swiping left and right of the desktop was somewhat smoother than my 8+.

(See my reply above)