I don't feel the love

[Freida]

So, it seems that all the rumours were pretty much spot on. So, not sure about the others but I was ready to upgrade from my 6 to 7 but after seeing the iPhone 7 I realised that there is just no incentive to do so. On surface the phone is just the same. Yes, amazing chip super fast but I won't notice that in general use much.

The home button was something I found awkward to use and even though I think I would get used to it I just didn't feel any love on this phone. I think the camera is the only feature that I would actually feel and enjoy but being limited by the normal cam (as I'm not getting plus as its too huge for me) I really don't see anything else.

The 3.5mm jack doesn't really bother me, that had to go and its time to move on.
BUT, where is the love? After using the 7 in the store I realised that I only liked the idea of upgrading because of Apple marketing but when using it in hand it felt no different and I would just be wasting money.
I'm sure that I might get iPhone 8 or the one after but for now it seem that 2 year cycle is no longer good and it will be more like 3 or 4 years. I understand that there is not as much room for improvement as there once was but in that case at least the design could be moving, no? Either way, I'm all up for improvement so I will just have to wait. For now iPhone 7 is not that much different from iPhone 6 (same goes for 6s vs 6 but I didn't include that as S for me was always the tick tock thing so S was always just minor improvement over existing model).

Don't know about others but in the end I think I'm actually happy that Apple is not so aggressive as it was before. I can save money and buy/upgrade when its really needed and its time rather than when there is lust for the new toy.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

It's a different dynamic now though. The days of the subsidized phone are done making purchases either easier or more difficult to justify. Easier if you are on a 1 year upgrade program as you have already decided to essentially "rent" your phone and don't mind making payments ad-infinitum. Tougher if you are on a two year program or buy outright. If you are on the latter then you have to think if its worth it to start making payments again.

In the subsidy days it was easier -- two years is up, sell old phone for $200-300 and use to buy new phone for $200-300. If you think about all the iPhone upgrades there really wasn't a single iphone that was leaps and bounds better than the previous years. They were all incrementally better, just like this years, but even phones that were two years apart were no different than the difference between the 6 and the 7, it's just that they looked different so the older model felt more ancient.

This is really the sales issue Apple has to contend with now that upgrading every other year is not a given for many users.

I've played with the 7/7+. I agree with most of your assesment. I like the new home button though, not wild about the loss of headphone port. Better cameras are always appreciated. Overall, with the 8 in mind, not worth spending the $ if you have a 6 or newer.

 

[aristobrat]

Yes, amazing chip super fast but I won't notice that in general use much.

Huh, that's the thing I notice the most. Coming from a 6s (which didn't feel slow to me), I'm still impressed with how much more quickly most of my apps get to that "ready to use" state on the 7. Splash screens for most of them show for noticeably less longer.

We had a "100 year" storm Tue/Wed. It was really cool to be able to take pictures/videos outside in the heavy downpours. Lost count of the number of times neighbors told me I was going to ruin my phone (from it getting wet).

After the first day of or two of using the phone, if I could do it all again, I probably wouldn't have upgraded.
But now that I'm a week into using it, I truly enjoy it, and definitely would buy it again.

So I guess it wasn't "love at first sight" for me, but it's definitely turned into the kind of love that grows on you. (well, on me, anyway).

 

[Freida]

I think you are both right. I guess I will just stick to my long cycle upgrade. I went from 3g to 4 which was big for me. Then I had no money for a while so I couldn't afford 5 or 5s so I was forced to be stuck on 4 which was actually ok in the end. Upgrade to 6 from 4 and I have to say that was amazing. So maybe I will just do the same 3-4 years cycle instead of 2. The amount of new stuff one will get will definitely justify the purchase.
Right now, the iPhone is becoming minor tweak thing but I'm happy that they keep pushing the camera. I think that is one thing we all benefit from. Add in very good video and we may not need go pro eventually

 

[jutleys]

Huh, that's the thing I notice the most. Coming from a 6s (which didn't feel slow to me), I'm still impressed with how much more quickly most of my apps get to that "ready to use" state on the 7. Splash screens for most of them show for noticeably less longer.

We had a "100 year" storm Tue/Wed. It was really cool to be able to take pictures/videos outside in the heavy downpours. Lost count of the number of times neighbors told me I was going to ruin my phone (from it getting wet).

View attachment 657725

After the first day of or two of using the phone, if I could do it all again, I probably wouldn't have upgraded.
But now that I'm a week into using it, I truly enjoy it, and definitely would buy it again.

So I guess it wasn't "love at first sight" for me, but it's definitely turned into the kind of love that grows on you. (well, on me, anyway).

Tell me more tell me more was it Love at first sight?

 

[bbeagle]

After using the 7 in the store I realised that I only liked the idea of upgrading because of Apple marketing but when using it in hand it felt no different and I would just be wasting money.

I agree.

I was not planning on upgrading, but AT&T offered me a free iPhone 7 when trading my iPhone 6 in, so I jumped. Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint all have the same deal - with Sprint offering a free upgrade to a 128gb phone.

So, I jumped on the deal. Why not? I'm staying with the carrier for another 2 years anyways, I'm happy with the coverage and prices. And I'll get more money when I trade my iPhone 7 in later than keeping the iPhone 6.

What's better? I like the much faster Touch ID, I enjoy 3D touch, I have Live Photos now, a better battery, more storage, I've never used the headphone jack on my iPhone 6 (I've been wireless for 2+ years now), so I don't care about that....

Really, no reason to upgrade unless you're pre-iPhone 6, or you get it for free.

 

[kingdf]

I agree.

I was not planning on upgrading, but AT&T offered me a free iPhone 7 when trading my iPhone 6 in, so I jumped. Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint all have the same deal - with Sprint offering a free upgrade to a 128gb phone.

So, I jumped on the deal. Why not? I'm staying with the carrier for another 2 years anyways, I'm happy with the coverage and prices. And I'll get more money when I trade my iPhone 7 in later than keeping the iPhone 6.

What's better? I like the much faster Touch ID, I enjoy 3D touch, I have Live Photos now, a better battery, more storage, I've never used the headphone jack on my iPhone 6 (I've been wireless for 2+ years now), so I don't care about that....

Really, no reason to upgrade unless you're pre-iPhone 6, or you get it for free.

Exactly this.

I was set on keeping my 6+. Had it for 2 years, still worked fine, was still fast, good battery still, etc. But the offer Verizon had to trade it in for $650 towards the 7+ sounded so good I jumped on it. Now I have an even faster 7+ and sold my 6+ for $650 in credit. I always keep my iPhones for at least two years before I upgrade so the next one isn't even on my radar. I'm totally content with the 7+ for at least a couple years.

 

[blipmusic]

Biggest incentive for me is currently down-sizing. My two year old 6+ is just too big to pocket (dropping it far too often and now either leave it behind or bring a bag, just for the phone...).

I'm actually thinking of going for the 64GB SE (much cheaper, more pocket friendly and I'd gain in most areas over the 6+, save for screen size, optical image stabilization and storage).

As for the 7, 4.7" seems to be a sweet spot for comfortable reading while still being pocket-able. Move cursor via 3D touch seems very, very nice (also on the 6S, I assume). Also, OIS on the non-plus version, nicer speakers, water resistant etc. Price gap between 6S and 7 is too small to go for the 6S (128GB).

Undecided on headphone jack but the cables getting stuck has sent both headphones and iPhone flying so I've gained an interest in wireless headphones (any of the above work in that regard, of course).

To be honest, I feel all mobile phones are underwhelming nowadays in terms of what the hardware could allow for versus being locked down by the os. They are all extremely powerful devices - to the point where they could be the only computer most of us own (via external screen/projector) - and all we get is a bit of extra, unnecessary bling each year.

But I guess Apple still need their other hardware to sell before the real mobile revolution begins.

 

[sigp6]

I feel the love in 256GB capacity. Otherwise I don't think I'd upgrade from my 6s.

 

[Freida]

Biggest incentive for me is currently down-sizing. My two year old 6+ is just too big to pocket (dropping it far too often and now either leave it behind or bring a bag, just for the phone...).

I'm actually thinking of going for the 64GB SE (much cheaper, more pocket friendly and I'd gain in most areas over the 6+, save for screen size, optical image stabilization and storage).

As for the 7, 4.7" seems to be a sweet spot for comfortable reading while still being pocket-able. Move cursor via 3D touch seems very, very nice (also on the 6S, I assume). Also, OIS on the non-plus version, nicer speakers, water resistant etc. Price gap between 6S and 7 is too small to go for the 6S (128GB).

Undecided on headphone jack but the cables getting stuck has sent both headphones and iPhone flying so I've gained an interest in wireless headphones (any of the above work in that regard, of course).

To be honest, I feel all mobile phones are underwhelming nowadays in terms of what the hardware could allow for versus being locked down by the os. They are all extremely powerful devices - to the point where they could be the only computer most of us own (via external screen/projector) - and all we get is a bit of extra, unnecessary bling each year.

But I guess Apple still need their other hardware to sell before the real mobile revolution begins.

I think you are correct but it seems to me that is what they are trying to do with iPads. The problem is that people are not willing to give up freedom and be sandboxed to just apps. I can see both sides but I will probably be in the same boat as those not willing to give up desktop freedom. I'm sure in 10-20 years we won't even recognise how we use computers as the whole experience will change from the ground up. Those A10 chips are crazy powerful so yeah, it would make sense to use that power for something more than just a phone

 

[Nozuka]

For me it has always been like that. Even with the iPhone 2G i never felt like i needed to buy the iPhone 3G or 3GS, because the updates are incremental and Apple gives you the software updates too.
Eventually it was time to move on to the IPhone 4 and then i got the IPhone 5 from my company.
Never felt like the 5S, 6 and 6S really brought something i desperately needed and was still getting updates, so i didn't change my phone.

Eventually i wanted to try out something new and bought myself a Galaxy S7... Never really was 100% happy with it, had too many problems. So i waited and now i own the IPhone 7. Which i'm 100% happy with and might just stick with it for a long time again.

 

[blipmusic]

I think you are correct but it seems to me that is what they are trying to do with iPads. The problem is that people are not willing to give up freedom and be sandboxed to just apps. I can see both sides but I will probably be in the same boat as those not willing to give up desktop freedom. I'm sure in 10-20 years we won't even recognise how we use computers as the whole experience will change from the ground up. Those A10 chips are crazy powerful so yeah, it would make sense to use that power for something more than just a phone

When I can pull up a terminal window on my iOS device with access (read, edit) to all user created data, I'm willing to call these devices desktop replacements. Put a small projector inside the iPhone, connect a BT keyboard and use the iPhone screen as a trackpad and I'd be set (well, as far as old-school interfaces go). An iPad could probably use the lower half of the screen as keyboard and top-half as some humongous trackpad/activity surface instead.

One can dream right? Well, its kind of doable already (Android has mouse support, right? Microsoft and Ubuntu at least tried the "mobile desktop" etc). We're just missing the os support.

As someone who works with other people's data on a daily basis, "app-centrism" also worries me in general. And when I say "worries" I mean "pisses me off".

Apps are not the kings and queens, our data is.

We had this kind of problem in the 90's with apps locking the user down (proprietary formats etc - I have nightmare examples of 40+ years of research being locked away in legacy database formats, custom fonts before utf-8 etc). Now with better, often open, standards we instead lock up the data behind an app wall.

Even with iCloud Drive etc it seems we're about to go full circle.

For all the powerful simplicity Apple and others are putting into the mobile phone, the data I generate on that device seems to be getting further and further away from me... We did gain sending stickers when texting, though (Oh, I'm sure I'll be hypocrisy-guilty of trying that out very shortly...)!