iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features

[evilzardoz]

Am I the only person who really likes/uses the camera control? Lack of haptic feedback for half-press and touch sensitivity for swiping will be a real step backwards. I still mourn the loss of 3D touch...

I've got the 16 Pro 512GB (full), and a 17 Pro (1TB) - the 17 Pro has an issue with the microphones that give me poor results when I need good audio quality for music recording and general content creation so it's largely been sitting unused. All I need from Apple this round is for them to fix the microphone so that it delivers the same performance as the 16 Pro but am hesitant to sell the 17 Pro for now in case they've botched something even worse up with the 18 Pro and/or the replacement 1TB tier becomes too expensive.

The rumour around QLC NAND is going to be an interesting outcome for those shooting ProRes on the iPhone Pro models, in terms of sustaining high data rates.

Still not sure why Apple aren't giving Rest-Of-World access to mmWave, but I'm sure there were companies out there developing the horse and cart even when the automobile was shipping in numbers...

 

[CarAnalogy]

I’m 807 cycles and 85% maximum capacity. I charge to 100%.

Grok says this is better than average. 15 pro max. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Which phone do you have? I seem to recall there were big improvements to the battery tech the last few models.

Also the thing is, when it eventually degrades, I can crank the charge back up to 100% and keep the same performance for longer, in theory.

Also also, it charges to 100% sometimes anyway or I can choose to charge to 100% when I know I'll be using heavy battery that day.

It's probably not going to make a huge difference in the end, but I don't mind min/maxing it.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Am I the only person who really likes/uses the camera control? Lack of haptic feedback for half-press and touch sensitivity for swiping will be a real step backwards. I still mourn the loss of 3D touch...

I really wanted to like it. I don't know if my motor functions aren't what they used to be or what, but I just found it way too fiddly. Too hard to get it to activate when I want, yet somehow prone to accidental activation. I eventually turned the touch controls off and just use it as a button, which I do like because it lets me turn off all the other camera shortcuts.

I've got the 16 Pro 512GB (full), and a 17 Pro (1TB) - the 17 Pro has an issue with the microphones that give me poor results when I need good audio quality for music recording and general content creation so it's largely been sitting unused. All I need from Apple this round is for them to fix the microphone so that it delivers the same performance as the 16 Pro but am hesitant to sell the 17 Pro for now in case they've botched something even worse up with the 18 Pro and/or the replacement 1TB tier becomes too expensive.

If you really need that mic I would take that phone in to an Apple Store if you haven't already. That doesn't seem right. Mine work fine.

The rumour around QLC NAND is going to be an interesting outcome for those shooting ProRes on the iPhone Pro models, in terms of sustaining high data rates.

I would really like to see them use higher quality NAND but with prices these days it wouldn't surprise me.

Still not sure why Apple aren't giving Rest-Of-World access to mmWave, but I'm sure there were companies out there developing the horse and cart even when the automobile was shipping in numbers...

I don't think there's a lot of mmWave in the wild even in the US. As far as I'm aware it's still limited to things like major airports and sports stadiums and things like that. Regular 5G with good capacity and backhaul is still fine for all but the densest use cases, and 6GHz support for wifi can help mitigate that as well.

 

[paultman]

As a long time iPhone user (3G was my first), and current owner of the 17, I've recently tried the Pixel Fold, and there's alot to like.

My first move away from the Apple ecosystem (own: MacBook/iPad/phone/watch/iCloud) was with switching from my Apple Watch 10 to a Garmin (570). Unfortunately, due to some overtraining, I had an injury, and got the Garmin mainly for Training Readiness & Load feedback.

I then had my iPhone 17 stolen, twice, actually: once in Medellin, Colombia, and a few weeks later, the replacement 17 was stolen in London. Thankfully, the London Police managed to recover the phone and ship it back to me in the US.
But during that time, while I was without an iPhone 17, I picked up a deal on the original Pixel Fold from 2023 that's got 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB storage.

Android took some time to get used to, but most of the programs that I ran on my iPhone were from Google anyway. Things like GMail, Google Contacts, drive, workspace, Youtube, YT music, Chrome, etc.
Since the 13 mini, I haven't really felt like Apple made a phone that was just for me. Sure, it's nice that Apple typically releases only two or three phone models per year, but on the other side, you might not be buying a phone that's designed for you.

What do I like about using a Pixel phone? Well, there's a lot of nice-to-haves. For example, when I join a coffee shop Wi-Fi, there's actually a sign-in button in the Wi-Fi controls for that hot spot. When my alarm goes off, I don't need to find by phone but simply need to say "stop". When I want to unlock the phone, I simply need to look at it, I don't need to swipe up from the bottom of the screen. When I hit the AI button, I can do many interactions hands-free, much more than I could when using Siri. And regarding AI, Siri often defaults to opening ChatGPT, whereas Google uses Gemini directly.

I still have the 17, but it sits on my desk most of the time, while the pixel has stayed as my daily driver.

In my case, I was forced into the experiment, but it might be worthwhile for others as well, specially with the upcoming apple price hikes, and the variety of android options out there 🙂

 

[HVDynamo]

My 12 pro is on its last legs. I’m waiting for the 18 pro but if it turns out to be too expensive I’ll just buy a 17 pro, the prices should drop from third party sellers by then

I had a 12 Pro too, but pulled the trigger on a 17 Pro shortly after they raised the prices on everything else a few weeks back. My 12 Pro was doing just fine aside from battery (I was going to just get the battery replaced), but didn't want to end up with a phone I needed to upgrade and have a new one be so damn expensive so I pulled the trigger to help push that off for another 5-6 years.

 

[Lerxt]

I can't imagine how the 18 would be attractive to anyone. It will be more expensive for not much improvement. Then you've got an option of waiting a year for the 20th anniversary model, where hopefully you'll get something more for your money.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Ya'll are still listing colors as features?

 

[Xade]

Colours are features again?

 

[zenmacx]

12 Features of little consequence to those not caught up in the Apple FOMO Train
12 Features of little consequence to one whose annual upgrade to the latest ProMax proved rather disappointing.
12 Features that still fail to address some of the long standing shortcomings year after year.

12 Features that remind one ... that there are more than 12 ways to have fun spending the money on something else.
OR
12 Features that remind one ... this is a golden opportunity to pass and save the money.

 

[eifelbube]

I will say it now. There is a 100% chance there will NOT be a foldable phone introduced.

Ha, ha, you may say that now, no problem. But copy the post. Then later this year or early next year, re-post leaving off the “1”. That requires less changes than “I said it back then. There was a 100% chance there would NOT be a foldable phone introduced.”
😊

 

[rchaser]

Colours are features agai

I can't imagine how the 18 would be attractive to anyone. It will be more expensive for not much improvement. Then you've got an option of waiting a year for the 20th anniversary model, where hopefully you'll get something more for your money.

The average consumer doesn’t know what you are talking about or care.

You are the 20% of the market who cares.