iPhone X: Hands-On With Apple's New Flagship Device

[MacRumors]

The iPhone X will be in the hands of customers in less than 48 hours, but ahead of the device's launch, our new videographer, Dan Barbera, was able to spend some time with an iPhone X demo device to get a look at the new smartphone before its public release.

Because this is a demo device that's going to be in retail stores for customers to check out before making a purchase, Face ID was disabled, but Dan was able to check out the design of the iPhone X and give us a good look at the new gestures needed to operate the device.

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We just wanted to give MacRumors readers a quick close-up of the iPhone X ahead of its launch with this first video, but starting this Friday, we'll be doing a much deeper dive into the iPhone X in a series of videos. We have a lot of content planned, so make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel if you haven't done so already.

Article Link: iPhone X: Hands-On With Apple's New Flagship Device

 

[KONVICTED]

OMG!! Less than 24 hours, very hyped

 

[gp101]

@1:05 Pay with Touch ID

 

[calzon65]

Do we also get a new batch of emojis?

 

[KB24Slam]

Sooooo excited!!

 

[borgqueenx]

Nice wallpaper! Can i have it macrumors?

 

[kildraik]

Can’t wait to play with it. What a cool thought to have seen ten years of incredible engineering. Amazing times these are.

 

[jclo]

Nice wallpaper! Can i have it macrumors?

You sure can. It's actually a default iPhone background, available in Settings > Wallpaper > Live

 

[kildraik]

Nice wallpaper! Can i have it macrumors?

Funny, just watched First Contact earlier (your username).

Also, the wallpaper is an included Live wallpaper from Apple, has been since the launch of 3D Touch.

 

[iOZKR]

I ordered 4 cases all clear to show off the silver iPhone X, I can tell you right now that holding the case in my hands feels perfect, now my iPhone 7 Plus just feels ridiculous, I’m so excited my iPhone has been sitting in NJ since Monday, I have friends at Fedex so I should have it before 12pm on Friday

 

[pat500000]

I would like Apple to offer live wallpaper like pixel 2.

 

[HiRez]

I think I'm going to love this phone, pretty much every review says FaceID works really well (and I'm sure with some software tweaks it will get even better in the future), the screen seems to have minimal OLED-related issues, and it's plenty fast for future-proofing. Physical size should be more comfortable than a Plus, which even for not-small hands can be unwieldy. I hope I can feel comfortable using it without a case, as I did with my 4S, but that's probably wishful thinking.

The only thing that irks me is the notch in landscape mode, particularly for movies. It's too bad Apple doesn't have an option to zoom the video only enough to avoid the notch, but keep it stuck to the other side of the screen. The way they do it now is to shrink the video on both sides so it's symmetrical, but IMO it's too small and looks weird totally boxed off on all sides. 16x9 content would probably fit almost perfectly without boxing off the opposite side.

 

[Small White Car]

RIP, Control Center

 

[pdaholic]

Wonder if the guy who did the video (Dan) previously carried a regular or plus sized iPhone? I primarily carried the regular (6), and wonder how noticeable the difference in weight will be.

 

[effort]

Gorgeous.

 

[riyadhboyblue]

Does the addition of Face ID mean that any app that uses Touch ID to log on will no longer work (until it is updated to work with Face ID)? Anybody have an idea?

 

[HiRez]

Does the addition of Face ID mean that any app that uses Touch ID to log on will no longer work (until it is updated to work with Face ID)? Anybody have an idea?

It will work. Apple appears to be intercepting calls for TouchID at the system level, where they will ask the user if they want to use FaceID instead for that app, until the developer updates the app to use FaceID directly.

 

[jimthing]

Does the addition of Face ID mean that any app that uses Touch ID to log on will no longer work (until it is updated to work with Face ID)? Anybody have an idea?

AFAIUI, those on Touch ID should work identically with Face ID.

 

[witnessthefunk]

Does the addition of Face ID mean that any app that uses Touch ID to log on will no longer work (until it is updated to work with Face ID)? Anybody have an idea?

According to Craig Federighi, Face ID uses the same API as Touch ID, so therefore app developers will not need to do anything because the apps will auto convert to the Face ID feature.

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

Good video, but nothing about that phone makes me want to upgrade. Seems like we need at least a year of app dev and hardware progress to make what this is supposed to be, be.

 

[44267547]

Good video, but nothing about that phone makes me want to upgrade. Seems like we need at least a year of app dev and hardware progress to make what this is supposed to be, be.

Valid points here. At least in terms of applications that will need to be formatted to the X and with whatever other hardware changes occur with the Face ID, OLED dislay, etc . But all in due time those changes will happen.

 

[otternonsense]

It's a supercool device only at first glance. Then the issues take hold. Face ID will certainly take a learning curve, and it doesn't work all that flawlessly (according to the Verge's early review it's a hit or miss in broad daylight).

UX-wise, it seems the only states optimised for this new display shape are the home and lock screen. Every other app and media, native included, is letterboxed to a fault or marred by the notch. The touch gestures don't seem all that intuitive either. Sorry but not sorry Apple, that's just bad experience and a dealbreaker to me.

 

[kildraik]

(It’s Happening GIF)

 

[TrueBlou]

It's a supercool device only at first glance. Then the issues take hold. Face ID will certainly take a learning curve, and it doesn't work all that flawlessly (according to the Verge's early review it's a hit or miss in broad daylight).

UX-wise, it seems the only states optimised for this new display shape are the home and lock screen. Every other app and media, native included, is letterboxed to a fault. Sorry but not sorry Apple, that's just bad experience and a dealbreaker to me.

And yet several other reviewers didn’t seem to have anywhere near the same trouble with Face ID Nilay did. Tom’s Guide for instance said it got tripped up in an elevator once for some reason but they had no issues with it in bright sunlight/darkness/in a bar/at home.

There’s a lot of mixed opinions, which to be fair is exactly what I expected there to be.
The UI does need some improvement, but that’ll come. Remember how awful apps were when we moved to the 4.7 and 5.5 inch screens. It takes time for everyone, usually including Apple to catch up.

That aside I’m still looking forward to the X, I’ve been one of those waiting on a major redesign for years and I like most of what they’ve done.

Really need to stop watching these previews though, I’m over excited as it is One more sleep to go.

 

[otternonsense]

The UI does need some improvement, but that’ll come. Remember how awful apps were when we moved to the 4.7 and 5.5 inch screens. It takes time for everyone, usually including Apple to catch up.

That aside I’m still looking forward to the X, I’ve been one of those waiting on a major redesign for years and I like most of what they’ve done.

I was well aware when I chose to be an early adopter for the 2012 retina MBP and the iPhone 4 & 6. At that time I felt it was worth the tradeoff. This time, I have serious reservations about compromising my entire usage pattern for a value proposition that's not quite there yet. I'm happy with TouchID, full-screen apps, established touch gestures, and none of them is replaced or improved in a meaningful way with the X.

I've also been craving for and ranting about a redesign on the super tired iPhone 6 form factor for years. I just don't think this is it. Not yet at least. Liking "most of what they've done" doesn't merit a €1300 investment (sans AppleCare) that's only optimised to create animojis.