iPhone 7

TheCount

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My point was that the big selling points of the new iPhone are 1) black color options, 2) water resistance that is not covered by warranty and 3) no headphone jack. The only relevant one of those three is #1 and all that does is make it look like most other non-Apple/Samsung phones. If the phones are only "resistant" (I've bolded and quoted resistance, hope that's enough now) and provide no warranty, then nothing has really changed at all so #2 doesn't even matter. I've seen iPhone 5's and 6's get water splashed on them, heck even an iPad Air 2, and have no issues, so offering basic "resistance" to water without any warranty protection is nothing special or even new at all.

As for #3, most people I know are not excited about wireless headphones at all. Many people can expect to lose one or both of their wireless earbuds within the first few months. I'm sure you can use an adapter to keep using your old headphones but that's yet another piece to carry around with you (and lose) and the adapters use the lightning port which means no wired listening while charging. Of course there will eventually be even larger adapters that may let you charge and listen via wired headphones, so you get to carry around an even larger adapter.

iPhone's used to be special and worth buying. The same could be said for other devices Apple makes. That all changed when Jobs died. Now, only Apple fan boys and blind supporters get excited about new releases of any Apple products. For most people, the iPhone 6 was only a small upgrade to iPhone 5, and iPhone 7 is an even smaller upgrade to iPhone 6.

I do not own an iPhone or Samsung phone nor any android-based phone, so attempting the typical Apple fan boy insults won't work on me. I do own an iPad Air 2 and I owned an original iPad. The original iPad was amazing and revolutionary .. you know, back when Jobs was alive .. and the only reason I bought a new iPad Air 2 wasn't because it was an amazing device but rather due to some of the apps I use for work required iOS 8 and the original iPad only supported up to iOS 5. The iPad Air 2 was a bleh upgrade for me. Sure, it's a little faster, but it was not worth the full upgrade price IMO.

iMacs were amazing years ago, but lately they have basically just added SSDs and more memory, something which PC companies had already been doing for years. They used Radeon-based GPUs in them that are inferior to nVidia GPUs and they offered 5k screens which is 1k more than they need for 27" screens. I have two graphic designer friends who specifically did not want 5k screens when they got their iMacs.

Macbooks have been stagnant for years minus the same SSDs and memory upgrades. They added USB-C to the base model and probably will to the "new" Macbooks later this year as well .. yeah, that's worth $2,000 - $3,000. You could put SSDs and memory upgrades in older Macbooks and get nearly the same performance and still be able to use all of your USB3/USB2 devices without splitters/hubs.

As for iPads, they released the large iPad Pro, which looks like a keyboard-less laptop, is priced like a laptop with a keyboard, but is as useful as an iPhone 5. The regular iPad continues to be a better option size-wise for tablet users except in very specific situations.

And of course, the Apple Watch. This is the most disappointing device Apple has released in a very long time. They should have never released it until they were capable of making it support LTE directly. If/when the day comes they can offer full iPhone/phone replacement, that would be impressive. However, other companies are already close to doing that if not already doing it, so once again, Apple will be following other companies rather than revolutionizing the industry like they did once upon a time.

It's really sad how far Apple has fallen since Jobs died. Apple declined the last time Jobs left the company too, but now I actually feel sorry for them every time they release something new. There's no "new" from Apple any more, just "slightly better".

In fact, that should be their motto .. "Apple .. Slightly better than before."

Apple fan boy insults? Is that what you think this is? Ha.

I design apps for a living. I use Android, iOS and Windows almost every day - there's no benefit to my having a bias. Competition only makes the options better.

As far as the Apple Watch, I used to think the same but after owning a Pebble Time Round for a while - I find I actually really enjoy getting notifications and really basic apps on my wrist. I've never felt like I wanted to replace my phone with a watch. I don't play games on my watch. I don't read books on my watch. I just want the basics and I want it to get out of the way otherwise.

If you DO want that, I recommend the Samsung Gear S2/S3. They make a version that takes an eSim, and I've heard the Gear is one of the best smart watch implementations both in terms of software and hardware.
 
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TheCount

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what in the world are you talking about? the o/s is where all the difference is. iOS does not have nearly the hooks into the core functions as can be done with Android. And don't get me started on the process of getting apps in their store compared to Google's.

There are people that care about that and people that don't. You do, others don't. Yay choices!
 

Eric_Boyer

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There are people that care about that and people that don't. You do, others don't. Yay choices!
yes, I agree with that completely.

I don't agree with:

If you leave the hardware out of it, you notice there's very little difference.

this is where the greatest difference is
 

TheCount

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yes, I agree with that completely.

I don't agree with:



this is where the greatest difference is

I think you might be over-estimating how savvy the average user is when it comes to that sort of thing.
 

Super_Kazuya

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I have a 6 Plus, not gonna upgrade as I hear there is a significant upgrade coming next year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the iPhone.

Unlike most people, I'm not freaking out about the loss of a headphone jack. I remember people freaking out when they ditched the CD drive, now I can't remember the last time I put a disc in anything other than a gaming console.

I take a lot of photos, so the camera on the iPhone 7 Plus is tempting. I had been temporarily using the Samsung S7, and that's definitely the best phone camera I've ever used and the screen is gorgeous.

I was seriously considering a Galaxy Note 7, but the exploding battery recall stalled all that.

I'm in the same boat with the 6 Plus... I've been upgrading every two years since the 3G. This is the first time I've had to really think about it... partially because two year contracts are also not a thing anymore. I've heard all of the stuff about next year's iPhone as well, but I've decided it's silly to make my decisions based upon rumors about a phone that's a year away. Besides when they finally do announce that, I could be "meh" on it as well... then what?
Big thing for me is I don't know if I can make it another year with the 6 Plus. The 1GB of RAM annoyed me from the start and has not gotten any less annoying two years later. When you consider that older iPhones usually get slower with new versions of iOS, who knows what this thing will be like after iOS 10 is installed. Either way, not sure I want to continue on with the sluggishness and reloading tabs in Safari and apps in multitasking.
But what's stopping me is that it's so hard to plop down the money on a phone that looks exactly the same as the one you just had, regardless of the internals. It's just a tough pill to swallow.
 

pupulehaole

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Apple is a hardware company that also does software. Android is purely an operating system. People compare Apple to Android, but they really should be comparing iOS to Android.

If you leave the hardware out of it, you notice there's very little difference. I design apps professionally, and the early versions of Android were pretty terrible but these days, it's a toss up - they both work great.

In terms of hardware, I don't even think it's a question that Apple is among the best, if not the best. The new Samsung phones are the first Android OS phones I've used that felt as premium as Apple's offerings.

You're lost bro.
 

Cowboy Brian

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what in the world are you talking about? the o/s is where all the difference is. iOS does not have nearly the hooks into the core functions as can be done with Android. And don't get me started on the process of getting apps in their store compared to Google's.
Discovering new apps and music on Apple products is the biggest pain. Let me guess, iOS11 will allow you to "discover", something Google has had since day 1.
 

Bigdog

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Added Black color options and supposedly is now waterproof *** though not covered by warranty *** and removed the headphone jack .. There's a whole lot of "NOPES!" there.
Just be careful with the black one. I heard that it scratches easily.
 

TheKey

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My point was that the big selling points of the new iPhone are 1) black color options, 2) water resistance that is not covered by warranty and 3) no headphone jack. The only relevant one of those three is #1 and all that does is make it look like most other non-Apple/Samsung phones. If the phones are only "resistant" (I've bolded and quoted resistance, hope that's enough now) and provide no warranty, then nothing has really changed at all so #2 doesn't even matter. I've seen iPhone 5's and 6's get water splashed on them, heck even an iPad Air 2, and have no issues, so offering basic "resistance" to water without any warranty protection is nothing special or even new at all.

As for #3, most people I know are not excited about wireless headphones at all. Many people can expect to lose one or both of their wireless earbuds within the first few months. I'm sure you can use an adapter to keep using your old headphones but that's yet another piece to carry around with you (and lose) and the adapters use the lightning port which means no wired listening while charging. Of course there will eventually be even larger adapters that may let you charge and listen via wired headphones, so you get to carry around an even larger adapter.

iPhone's used to be special and worth buying. The same could be said for other devices Apple makes. That all changed when Jobs died. Now, only Apple fan boys and blind supporters get excited about new releases of any Apple products. For most people, the iPhone 6 was only a small upgrade to iPhone 5, and iPhone 7 is an even smaller upgrade to iPhone 6.

I do not own an iPhone or Samsung phone nor any android-based phone, so attempting the typical Apple fan boy insults won't work on me. I do own an iPad Air 2 and I owned an original iPad. The original iPad was amazing and revolutionary .. you know, back when Jobs was alive .. and the only reason I bought a new iPad Air 2 wasn't because it was an amazing device but rather due to some of the apps I use for work required iOS 8 and the original iPad only supported up to iOS 5. The iPad Air 2 was a bleh upgrade for me. Sure, it's a little faster, but it was not worth the full upgrade price IMO.

iMacs were amazing years ago, but lately they have basically just added SSDs and more memory, something which PC companies had already been doing for years. They used Radeon-based GPUs in them that are inferior to nVidia GPUs and they offered 5k screens which is 1k more than they need for 27" screens. I have two graphic designer friends who specifically did not want 5k screens when they got their iMacs.

Macbooks have been stagnant for years minus the same SSDs and memory upgrades. They added USB-C to the base model and probably will to the "new" Macbooks later this year as well .. yeah, that's worth $2,000 - $3,000. You could put SSDs and memory upgrades in older Macbooks and get nearly the same performance and still be able to use all of your USB3/USB2 devices without splitters/hubs.

As for iPads, they released the large iPad Pro, which looks like a keyboard-less laptop, is priced like a laptop with a keyboard, but is as useful as an iPhone 5. The regular iPad continues to be a better option size-wise for tablet users except in very specific situations.

And of course, the Apple Watch. This is the most disappointing device Apple has released in a very long time. They should have never released it until they were capable of making it support LTE directly. If/when the day comes they can offer full iPhone/phone replacement, that would be impressive. However, other companies are already close to doing that if not already doing it, so once again, Apple will be following other companies rather than revolutionizing the industry like they did once upon a time.

It's really sad how far Apple has fallen since Jobs died. Apple declined the last time Jobs left the company too, but now I actually feel sorry for them every time they release something new. There's no "new" from Apple any more, just "slightly better".

In fact, that should be their motto .. "Apple .. Slightly better than before."


Apple has NEVER been a first mover with products. They wait for the market to solidify itself and then make something that works. They don't invent categories, they just better them. Do you think the iPod was the first Mp3 player? The iMac was not the first computer. The iPad was not the first tablet and the Watch was not the first watch. Apples schtick is just to make something that is easy to use and understand in an ashthetically pleasing manner.
 

LittleBoyBlue

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How Apple has such a big following is beyond me..... Their phones are so behind in almost every aspect when compared to android. To each their own though.
100x

I'll say the only aspect I think they're still better than the rest is in form factor and quality of build.

I pick some Samsungs and they feel like a disposable phone.


I would tend to agree with you guys.

Apple, true or not, has said for some time it was about the iOS and its abc123 ease of use. Ahead of being fastest, most technologically advanced smartphone.
 

TheCount

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You're lost bro.

Thanks for your contribution to the discussion, truly insightful.

Discovering new apps and music on Apple products is the biggest pain. Let me guess, iOS11 will allow you to "discover", something Google has had since day 1.

I refuse to use Apple Music, so I have no idea what discovery is like on there for music but I wouldn't trust Apple's music recommendations anyway, they have too much skin in the game and I don't trust them to push true recommendations over paid-for recommendations.

Having used an Android phone exclusively for the past two weeks, I don't remember any sort of revolutionary discovery features that seemed so different from iOS. Maybe you can fill me in on how that works?

I do know iOS has an app recommendation feature, which I promptly opted out of for the same reason I don't trust them to recommend music to me.
 

Cowboy Brian

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Thanks for your contribution to the discussion, truly insightful.



I refuse to use Apple Music, so I have no idea what discovery is like on there for music but I wouldn't trust Apple's music recommendations anyway, they have too much skin in the game and I don't trust them to push true recommendations over paid-for recommendations.

Having used an Android phone exclusively for the past two weeks, I don't remember any sort of revolutionary discovery features that seemed so different from iOS. Maybe you can fill me in on how that works?

I do know iOS has an app recommendation feature, which I promptly opted out of for the same reason I don't trust them to recommend music to me.

Navigation in the app store is overwhelmingly geared towards promoting the top 15-20 apps in each category. Google is a more even playing field.
 

Shunpike

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I'm in the same boat with the 6 Plus... I've been upgrading every two years since the 3G. This is the first time I've had to really think about it... partially because two year contracts are also not a thing anymore. I've heard all of the stuff about next year's iPhone as well, but I've decided it's silly to make my decisions based upon rumors about a phone that's a year away. Besides when they finally do announce that, I could be "meh" on it as well... then what?
Big thing for me is I don't know if I can make it another year with the 6 Plus. The 1GB of RAM annoyed me from the start and has not gotten any less annoying two years later. When you consider that older iPhones usually get slower with new versions of iOS, who knows what this thing will be like after iOS 10 is installed. Either way, not sure I want to continue on with the sluggishness and reloading tabs in Safari and apps in multitasking.
But what's stopping me is that it's so hard to plop down the money on a phone that looks exactly the same as the one you just had, regardless of the internals. It's just a tough pill to swallow.
I am still on my iPhone 5 and plan to keep it another year. It is slow but I don't need that much speed in my life anyway.
 

TheCount

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Navigation in the app store is overwhelmingly geared towards promoting the top 15-20 apps in each category. Google is a more even playing field.

That hasn't been my experience.

The featured tab in the Apple Store definitely features more popular, well designed apps - which makes sense.

There is an "Explore" tab that places popular apps right next to less popular apps, based on topic.

If you do a search though, for example I searched for "social media", Twitter was the 4th result - below app called "Social Lock" that had a 1 star rating and just 35 reviews. So the idea the Apple is stacking discovery in favor of the big guys is probably more perception than fact.

Keep in mind that not everyone using the stores are savvy. Chances are that they are there looking for Pokemon Go & Facebook, not one of some other 1,000 social media apps or games that people have dreamed up. It's lazy to assume it's Apple's job to build the popularity of your product for you. I suspect it's much the game on the Play Store.
 

Cowboy Brian

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That hasn't been my experience.

The featured tab in the Apple Store definitely features more popular, well designed apps - which makes sense.

There is an "Explore" tab that places popular apps right next to less popular apps, based on topic.

If you do a search though, for example I searched for "social media", Twitter was the 4th result - below app called "Social Lock" that had a 1 star rating and just 35 reviews. So the idea the Apple is stacking discovery in favor of the big guys is probably more perception than fact.

Keep in mind that not everyone using the stores are savvy. Chances are that they are there looking for Pokemon Go & Facebook, not one of some other 1,000 social media apps or games that people have dreamed up. It's lazy to assume it's Apple's job to build the popularity of your product for you. I suspect it's much the game on the Play Store.
While I largely agree, if you open the app without any recommendations or outside sources, you won't find anything but the big name brands like Pokemon Go and Facebook. I don't think it is Apple's duty to help out new apps, but I think they should make it easier for people to discover under the radar apps, especially considering they have essentially a monopoly on the marketplace... but that's a whole different conversation.
 

Reality

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Do NOT post it here, but search youtube for "The New iPhone is Just Worse" video by CollegeHumor :D
 

Rockport

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How Apple has such a big following is beyond me..... Their phones are so behind in almost every aspect when compared to android. To each their own though.

The reason is that they just work better than other products.
 
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