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iPhone 11 Is XS → 11 being crazy?

I wasn't sold on upgrading my XS, neither was my wife with her iPhone 8.

But the battery (I am aware the pro's is better) and the camera convinced us.

I've been lucky that I never has to complain about Face ID, whether the speed or the angles, but again any upgrade is welcome.

I have my doubts if the 11 will have deep fusion. The only hardware limitation to it would be the 11 only having 2 lenses or Apple keeping it for its premium phones.
 
newellj said:
This is what the Apple website says:

Face ID is now up to 30 percent faster. It works from farther away. At more angles, too.​

At the very least, "more angles" seems to imply new hardware, and "farther away" probably does, too. I don't think this could just be an iOS 13 tweak. But you got me wondering how that was handled at the keynote presentation for the 6S. I might try to find that and see what they said back then.
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If I remember right they showed someone unlocking their phone while it was laying down.
 
jkozlow3 said:
Yes - it's true. Apple glossed over a lot of stuff in the keynote but the website has all of the details. See the press releases I linked below.

  • Face ID, the most secure facial authentication in a smartphone, gets up to 30 percent faster and easier to use with improved performance at varying distances and support for more angles.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019...x-the-most-powerful-and-advanced-smartphones/

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/09/apple-introduces-dual-camera-iphone-11/
Click to expand...


There's no mention of hardware changes in that quote nor on Apple's website, it's you assuming it has changed.

Don't get me wrong, it might have new hardware, there's just no evidence yet.
 
justperry said:
There's no mention of hardware changes in that quote nor on Apple's website, it's you assuming it has changed.

Don't get me wrong, it might have new hardware, there's just no evidence yet.
Click to expand...

You're right, but in fairness I just watched the 2015 gen 2 TouchID announcement (all 10 seconds) and they don't talk about hardware vs. firmware. Improved angles and distance seem to imply hardware, but it's impossible to say from what's on the website. Then again, they don't even highlight things like RAM changes year to year, so who knows...
 
jkozlow3 said:
Yes - it's true. Apple glossed over a lot of stuff in the keynote but the website has all of the details. See the press releases I linked below.

  • Face ID, the most secure facial authentication in a smartphone, gets up to 30 percent faster and easier to use with improved performance at varying distances and support for more angles.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019...x-the-most-powerful-and-advanced-smartphones/

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/09/apple-introduces-dual-camera-iphone-11/
Click to expand...

newellj said:
This is what the Apple website says:

Face ID is now up to 30 percent faster. It works from farther away. At more angles, too.​

At the very least, "more angles" seems to imply new hardware, and "farther away" probably does, too. I don't think this could just be an iOS 13 tweak.

But you got me wondering how that was handled at the keynote presentation for the 6S. Turns out they did mention it on stage, but it got literally 10 seconds of airtime. I don't know what that tells us - maybe Apple is a little shy about looking like the FaceID critics were right? Dunno.
Click to expand...

Well we know the 30% faster is due to iOS 13, which Apple confirmed iOS alone was responsible for the 30% speed increase. I'm wondering if the angles and distance improvements necessarily need to be due to hardware updates, it's possible it might just be a software update too. I would lean towards that being a hardware update, but I've yet to see absolute confirmation that it's hardware.
 
I am going from a XS to an 11 for the LCD screen because the OLED blurring bothers me at night time to the point where it makes my eyes hurt/head hurt. I don't view it as a downgrade. I hardly used the telephoto zoom feature - I hardly zoom at all on the camera app in any of my phones present to past.
 
Applefan2015 said:
I’m still debating getting the 11 Pro Max.

If I can get a good trade in value on my 256gb Xs Max, then that will make my decision even easier to get it.
Click to expand...

Apples offering $600 for the X Max.



I’m going from a X max to an 11 cause I really want the Product(RED).
 
Nacho98 said:
Well we know the 30% faster is due to iOS 13, which Apple confirmed iOS alone was responsible for the 30% speed increase. I'm wondering if the angles and distance improvements necessarily need to be due to hardware updates, it's possible it might just be a software update too. I would lean towards that being a hardware update, but I've yet to see absolute confirmation that it's hardware.
Click to expand...

Faster is probably a combination of the A13 chip and iOS 13 tweaks. I don't think Apple has said anything about the hardware, but then again they literally didn't mention the U1 chip, which is a big hardware development. I'm waiting for iFixit to show us what new (or not) inside.
 
johannnn said:
Reasons to get a new phone:
#1 I just want something new almost every year.
#2 I'm very annoyed by the motion blur when scrolling. Since this only occurs with OLED, getting the 11 Pro (Max) won't make it go away.

#2 sort of leaves only the 11 as an option.
However, this results in both a thicker phone (which I don't like), as well as much larger bezels (which I definitely don't like).

So this begs the question, what are some advantages of 11 over the XS? The new CPU is definitely something I won't notice.
• Is the camera better?
• I heard that the Face ID is better, is this all 11 models or only the Pro models? Is it due to better front camera (does 11 have that too?), or just due to faster CPU?
• Anything else?
Click to expand...
MIDNIGHT GREEN is enough of an upgrade for many here.
 
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newellj said:
Faster is probably a combination of the A13 chip and iOS 13 tweaks. I don't think Apple has said anything about the hardware, but then again they literally didn't mention the U1 chip, which is a big hardware development. I'm waiting for iFixit to show us what new (or not) inside.
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Apple said it would be 30% faster on all Face ID phones, not just A13 equipped phones, which weren't yet unveiled at the time WWDC happened and the 30% claim was made.

The 30% faster unlock is 100% software based, and applies to all Face ID phones.

Federighi said app updates in iOS 13 would be up to 50% smaller with 60% fewer updates and the new system would speed up other tasks, too, such as Face ID facial recognition unlocking the iPhone XS 30% faster.
Click to expand...

https://www.theguardian.com/technol...iphone-software-privacy-protect-personal-data
 
justperry said:
There's no mention of hardware changes in that quote nor on Apple's website, it's you assuming it has changed.

Don't get me wrong, it might have new hardware, there's just no evidence yet.
Click to expand...

Nacho98 said:
Well we know the 30% faster is due to iOS 13, which Apple confirmed iOS alone was responsible for the 30% speed increase. I'm wondering if the angles and distance improvements necessarily need to be due to hardware updates, it's possible it might just be a software update too. I would lean towards that being a hardware update, but I've yet to see absolute confirmation that it's hardware.
Click to expand...

Improved Face ID angles doesn't imply new hardware? That would be quite an impressive feat for Apple to have improved the Face ID angles with software alone. There's obviously a new & improved sensor system of some sort. Apple upgrades almost every piece of hardware inside the phone each year and they don't mention 90% of the hardware upgrades specifically. They mention the end result and how it benefits the consumer (i.e. improved Face ID angles, faster Gigabit LTE, etc.).

Did they mention that the modem is being upgraded from the Intel 7560 to the Intel 7660? No. They simply mentioned "Faster Gigabit LTE"). They didn't specifically mention the modem. But it is a new model modem for 2019. Why would the Face ID hardware be any different?

Anyway, we'll know soon enough when the tear-downs happen.
 
Similar boat myself, debating going from an iPhone X to an iPhone 11

The 64GB of storage is really limiting me, it’s a chance to spend 12 months with a slightly bigger phone (max is definitely too big for my liking), I rarely if ever use the telephoto lens, yet the ultra wide is something I would use more frequently and the bigger battery too
 
Nacho98 said:
Apple said it would be 30% faster on all Face ID phones, not just A13 equipped phones, which weren't yet unveiled at the time WWDC happened and the 30% claim was made.

The 30% faster unlock is 100% software based, and applies to all Face ID phones.



https://www.theguardian.com/technol...iphone-software-privacy-protect-personal-data
Click to expand...

If that's true, why does the spec sheet for the 11 make no mention at all of any change in FaceID, while the 11 Pro spec sheet talks about faster, longer and wider FaceID? Unless Apple deliberately crippled FaceID in the 11, it's not software based and it does not apply to all FaceID phones.
 
Last edited:
Apple calls it Enhanced Face ID. It's shown on both iPhone 11 and 11 Pro summaries. You'll notice none of the features are enabled by iOS 13, they're all enabled by new hardware.

Screen Shot 2019-09-14 at 5.29.59 PM.png Screen Shot 2019-09-14 at 5.36.59 PM.png
 
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newellj said:
Interesting - it's NOT on the 11 tech specs page. *puzzled*
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You're probably looking at the "Overview" marketing page. That page is intended to convince the audience to fork out an extra $300 for the Pro.

The Overview page also states "36% brighter True Tone flash with Slow Sync." The iPhone 11 doesn't say it, except in Tech Specs, "Brighter True Tone flash with Slow Sync." Do we believe the iPhone 11 has a dimmer flash?
 
JPack said:
You're probably looking at the "Overview" marketing page. That page is intended to convince the audience to fork out an extra $300 for the Pro.

The Overview page also states "36% brighter True Tone flash with Slow Sync." The iPhone 11 doesn't say it, except in Tech Specs, "Brighter True Tone flash with Slow Sync." Do we believe the iPhone 11 has a dimmer flash?
Click to expand...

Of course not. We'll see what's up. If the cost of upgrading hardware was significant, Apple might have kept the hardware on the 11 at the XR/XS level. iFixit will presumably help us out with this.
 
If you can afford it just join the iPhone upgrade program. I also like upgrading and am going from an XS to a Pro with zero regrets. $60 a month for 256 GB.
 
newellj said:
Of course not. We'll see what's up. If the cost of upgrading hardware was significant, Apple might have kept the hardware on the 11 at the XR/XS level. iFixit will presumably help us out with this.
Click to expand...

I don't think there's any way iPhone 11 has "Enhanced Face ID" and be different from the "Enhanced Face ID" also on the iPhone 11 Pro.

To put things into perspective, the entire TrueDepth module on the XS is estimated to cost $13.50, per IHS.

If Apple wanted to save a couple bucks on iPhone 11 and make sure buyers knew they were getting something inferior, they could have chosen much more obvious and expensive changes, like:

- leave out the UWB chip, GigLTE modem
- not offer 4GB RAM, better IP68 rating, stronger front/rear glass, etc.
 
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