I think you’re right and so does Apple. They expect us to hold on to our phones longer and that’s why the price is going up so much.
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iPhone XS and XS Max Reviews: Not Dramatically Better Than iPhone X, Consider Waiting for iPhone XR
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While I can understand that most of these reviewers assume their audience primarily consists of people who buy the latest device on an annual basis, I do wish they'd at least acknowledge the fact that there are plenty of people out there who keep their phones for years before upgrading. It's not really practical to address all of the earlier versions, I guess.
I am upgrading from a 6s to the XS Max, and I also purposefully chose NOT to upgrade to the X last year because I wanted to wait for any kinks with FaceID to be resolved.
Oh well, I'm used to always being a little bummed when reviews come out for my chosen model because I prefer to upgrade on the "s" cycle which means there will never be any real ground breaking feature to get hyped. I'm still super excited for my phone to arrive on Friday though!!
Hey man, the S cycle is just fine! Touch ID, Siri, 3D Touch, 2nd Gen. Touch ID etc. have come from S cycles. And of course speed improvements.
It’s funny to me that people thought/think the X would have kinks and bugs because Face ID is first generation. I had confidence in Apple that they would get the iPhone X right the first time.
I literally have had zero issues with my X and bought it launch day. For the 10 year anniversary Apple knew they had to deliver and I’m sure it was heavily tested to make sure there would be no “10Gate”.
It's freaking expensive. I thought my 6+ was expensive when I paid $800 for it. Now to upgrade I'd be looking at either an iPhone XS with 256 GB of storage for $1150 or an iPhone XS Max for $1250.
So I'm looking at spending 50% more than I already spent on my very expensive phone. Why? The only part that seems of interest to me at all is the improved camera zoom. That's a very incremental upgrade though, and a very steep price to pay for it.
I think I'll continue to hold onto my 6+. I put iOS 12 on it yesterday, and I think the performance actually improved by a pretty significant amount. The performance was so bad I was thinking about maybe getting an XR. But with the performance back to normal, why bother?
Upgrading from an iPhone 6s. Needless to say, I expect to be happy when I get my Max.
The XR is being marketed to a different demographic that the Xs/Xs Max. Of course there are differences, however it has the A12, Face ID Gen 2, and wide angle camera with the same capabilities in the photo app other than the 2X optical lens. Not a lot of people use the 2X lens for selfies. I have many friends with an X. Only one is going to the Xs Max. Current 5.8" demand confirms this observation.
In this segment a $50 difference is enough to choose it. Just sit back and watch. By the end of Q4 the XR will be 65% of total sales. If Apple had offered it on the 14th Xs 5.8" sales would be half of what they are today. The delay in releasing the XR later was a business decision. The "Cough, back light issue" was resolved in time for a 9-14 order date. It was nothing but an attempt to grab the impulsive upgrader that can't wait.
It has failed for the Xs. The XR should have started at $699 as well.
Nothing wrong with that. I put iOS 12 on my wife's iPad mini 3 yesterday, and it made a pretty big difference.
True. I just feel like they could say “hey if you own an X, it’s not a HUGE evolution in features, but if you’re coming from a 2-5 year old phone, definitely consider it. and if you’re not sold, wait and compare with the XR.”
I think for now I'll just stick with my perfectly sized SE with touch ID and headphone jack. And it is so snappy now with iOS 12. It was fast before but it is grease lightning now.
Looks like Apple has finally hit the wall for CPU performance. That meager 15% jump is even worse than the much maligned A8 that was only 25% faster than the A7. Any difference in time of obsolescence between my 8+ and these new phones are going to be done on purpose by Apple...
The XR is being marketed to a different demographic that the Xs/Xs Max. Of course there are differences, however it has the A12, Face ID Gen 2, and wide angle camera with the same capabilities in the photo app other than the 2X optical lens. Not a lot of people use the 2X lens for selfies. I have many friends with an X. Only one is going to the Xs Max. Current 5.8" demand confirms this observation.
In this segment a $50 difference is enough to choose it. Just sit back and watch. By the end of Q4 the XR will be 65% of total sales. If Apple had offered it on the 14th Xs 5.8" sales would be half of what they are today. The delay in releasing the XR later was a business decision. The "Cough, back light issue" was resolved in time for a 9-14 order date. It was nothing but an attempt to grab the impulsive upgrader that can't wait.
It has failed for the Xs. The XR should have started at $699 as well.
I am pretty sure that the XS was not targeted at X owners. The XS was targeted at those who buy every year the top of the line (a minority) and those who buy every 4-ish years and want the best in order to have it last several years. I bet (a beer) that most of the X owners will keep their X. Some might go towards the XR, but the vast majority will keep the X.
The Verge - As for the Pixel 2 being better, well if you look at that zoomed images you can see way more Noise in the Pixel 2 (bottom Left) its like its doing more post sharpening. I would say there is no clear winner.
Absolutely. Do what works best for you. I think that price point/feature set is going to be ideal for a lot of people.
agreed! I will be keeping my 6 for another year or two
So now everything has to change because Apple doesn't want to put touch ID on their phones anymore.
What's next? Face ID approved hair cuts?
I have an XS preorder in (upgrading from the 7), but I have to say all the comments about how scratchable the glass is gives me pause. I've found the glass on the 7 to be pretty dang resilient, and never used a case or screen protector on it. I figured I'd use a case on an XS, but I'm not crazy about the idea of spending $1000+ on a phone with a beautiful screen and feeling like I have to baby it during normal usage to make sure it doesn't get scratched by a fingernail or a piece of dirt on my finger.
“People will notice you have the best iPhone”
I’m going to be upgrading to an XR from a 6 plus. I don’t plan on using augmented reality and the single lens camera on the xr is fine for me i don't really take many photos at all and dont need the optical zoom. I also just think a single lens looks better. My 6 plus doesn’t have 3d touch so I won’t miss it and the people i know with 3d touch capable phones barely use it. The screen is lower ppi than my 6 plus but i dont really use my phone for watching 1080p films or hi res photos etc, its still the same ppi as an iPhone 8 etc which looks absolutely fine for me. on the other hand, I get a massive performance upgrade, massive battery upgrade, and as a day to day workhorse it will be a complete beast.
I look at it this way. If I upgraded to an iphone XR first, would I then consider swapping to an XS Max for an extra 350 just to get a telescopic lens, better screen, gigabit ethernet and 3d touch? No way.
If I had purchased the X instead of the 8 Plus, I would definitely skip this round. However, since I did not, I purchased the XS Max and I expect this will be the phone I keep the longest (I kept my 6 Plus for three years) as I don't see a reason to replace it until it breaks outside of warranty and the repair cost is within 50% of whatever the current "Max" phone is.
A bit surprised the XS camera isn't up to snuff compared to the Pixel 2 camera, according to The Verge review. And funnily, it's closer to Samsung's:
Apple used to talk a big game about having a more accurate camera than Samsung, which has done aggressive smoothing and saturation tricks for years, but images from the iPhone XS camera look more like Samsung’s cameras than ever.
Apple used to talk a big game about having a more accurate camera than Samsung, which has done aggressive smoothing and saturation tricks for years, but images from the iPhone XS camera look more like Samsung’s cameras than ever.