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[Kadayi]

Oh, that nasty 3.5mm thing that every single motherfucker on earth can make compatible headphones without paying us... mm, let us innovate: we remove it! In case you've missed it: it's a very very very very brave move on our end. Now, whatever headphones you buy, will bring us more revenue.

^ This is largely why I don't buy Apple products.

 

[TFGB]

My iPhone 7 and iPad Pro both still feel nippy, do everything I want, and even the iPhone camera isn’t bad for taking shots when I’m out and about, so I don’t feel the need to upgrade any time yet especially seeing as they weren’t cheap.

iMessage is still the biggest draw for me. Simple and quick.

 

[waxer]

Notches rock. Look at how much screen you gain on Huawei vs old models by having it with notification bar either side.
Do apple not do the same with option to hide?
Screw paying that price for the new phones though. Feels like they just extorting those that have big $$ invested in software ecosystem.

 

[llien]

Notches rock. Look at how much screen you gain on Huawei vs old models by having it with notification bar either side.

Is it really needed?

 

[JimiNutz]

For those of us buying phones unlocked and at full price I really don't think there is any need to upgrade more than every 3-4 years. Sure if you have the money to spare, or if you're happy paying a high monthly contract fee for the option to upgrade your phone yearly, then it's ok to upgrade but for the majority of users the features introduced each year aren't enough to justify spending the money to upgrade.

 

[Unknown Quantity]

Very happy with honor 10 from Huawei. 400 pounds / 700 dollars. 24/16mbp on back, 24mbp front, 128gb on board with 4gb ram. Quite a lot packed in.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...FjAAegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw1j2kiZHsi78O9zGJ3u1DzI

 

[brap]

Very happy with honor 10 from Huawei. 400 pounds / 700 dollars. 24/16mbp on back, 24mbp front, 128gb on board with 4gb ram. Quite a lot packed in.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...FjAAegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw1j2kiZHsi78O9zGJ3u1DzI

I saw pewdiepie shilling this on his newest video. Looked too good to be true. Ugly notch though.

 

[Skyr]

I used to own iphones from 2008-2016. But with the prices starting to go crazy I switched to a Samsung S7 in 2017.
And I was very happy with it until I broke the screen recently.

So I got a 5 months old used Iphone SE as a replacement for 160 bucks and I couldn't be happier with it.
It has enough power and speed for everything I use it for and I'm actually happy to have downgraded to a smaller screen comming from the S7.

I see absolutly no point in paying 5x as much for something that brings almost no extra value for me.

 

[waxer]

Is it really needed?

You loose more screen for the notification bar that your not showing. If this phone were notched you would be using all the screen as you pictured.
Wouldn't this be more realistic of in use
All though to be fair can hide depending on app eg when playing movies.

2012 bmw 535i 0 60

 

[Shifty]

Congrats OP. Now you just have to cross your fingers and hope the mass market does the same and sends a message that apple will receive loud and clear

 

[Unknown Quantity]

I saw pewdiepie shilling this on his newest video. Looked too good to be true. Ugly notch though.

Notch can be blacked out, I don't mind it tbh. Happy with the performance and resolution is great and has nfc and headphone jack. Great value.

 

[Azurro]

Headphone jacks are extremely useful, and the idea that they shouldn't be on a modern phone just this weird, pseudo-futurist crap that makes someone sound like they are trying to get a job at Apple because of how sycophantic they can be towards the company. Blutooth headphones simply do not sound as good as good wired ones. They are annoying - you have to sync them up over and over again and something often goes wrong. They have to be charged. If you're at the gym and some hot girl tries to talk to you you can't quickly pull the wire near your neck with a finger and let one of them hang over your shirt while you keep lifting weights. With wireless headphones you have to put the weights down and fumble with your overpriced AirPods like a dumbass to put them in your pocket. The girl's probably gone by this point and then you have to put them back in your ears. Man, if only you had been using an SE. Hopefully they don't die during your workout.

Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on this. Using your headphones during a workout is THE best use case for wireless headphones. Have you tried jogging or running with a cable dandling all over the place? It's distracting and annoying, especially since the cable will be hitting your arm again, and again and again for however long you do cardio. You are using free weights? Boy, I hope that cable doesn't get tangled up when you get into the exercise position with the weights. In fact during my morning run today, I put a Serie A podcast on and just forgot the headphones were there, whereas the wired phones I used to have I constantly had to find ways to get the wire out of the way. A day and night difference.

As for talking to people, I have a pair of Creative Outlier Sports, I can absolutely pull one earbud out of my ear and talk to anyone, I don't even know where you get this point from. And dude, I think you believe bluetooth headphones are stuck in 2012, I have only ever had to pair every device I connected to my S9 Plus once. I mean, there are a whole bunch of issues with Bluetooth headphones, but the ones you dragged out are like, what? Those make no sense. You have to be a luddite to think freaking wires dangling all over the place are better than wireless headphones during a workout.

 

[llien]

You loose more screen for the notification bar that your not showing. If this phone were notched you would be using all the screen as you pictured.

If you pay attention, first the "line with stuff" is thinner, than in your example, second, there is nothing on the bottom and last, but not least, it's filled with stuff for about 80% of the length, notch would make no sense there.

 

[evanft]

I don't get people getting uppity about a new phone's price. Nothing is forcing you to get it and there are plenty of lower-cost or used options available. Pretty much everything from the 6S onwards runs beautifully on iOS 12, and will likely continue to receive support for years.

 

[highrider]

I’m on a 7 plus and feel no need to upgrade at all. If the design elements don’t change over the next couple years I can’t see getting another Apple phone. I’m not co-signing a 1400 phone no matter what. Between 500 and 800 you can get a great phone and have money to spare for a new watch or some good earbuds/headphones. Tbh I’m not flailing my cock for bezelless design, I prefer the look and functionality of the old style iPhone.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

The more people who opt out the more prestigious of a status symbol it will be for those who do buy it.

Nah. The days where people wowed @ the newest cell phones are over. Compare today to say 2007. WHen I had the first iPhone, people always wanted to check it out. I traveled a lot back then and let me tell you, everywhere I went and whipped it out, people wanted to check it out.

These days, you can whip out a brand new phone and you might get a look or two. But nothing like "oh, shit, that's iphone?! Can I have a look at it?"
No one cares. Especially when there are Android phones that are as aesthetically pleasing or better and have a price ranges that are closer to that of reality.

 

[RubxQub]

It is a downgrade, in my view you have just been fooled into thinking that more restrictive features are somehow better.

First of all the Notch is just antithetical to Apple's design aesthetic IMO. That thing is disgusting. Like every time I watch someone use an iPhone X it actually bothers me that it's there. You don't "just have a big screen". You have a screen with a fairly large portion of it cut out by this rectangle thing. It gives this weird asymmetrical look to the phone when it's turned longways and it just gives the sense that there is more screen under it that it's covering. It's very inelegant and destroys the idea of the iPhone X being some premium device because it just looks like shit. Sorry.

FaceID is in no way an improvement over TouchID. The idea that it somehow should be a replacement for it is ridiculous. With TouchID (and a freaking home button), my SE is open before my iPhone camera is even pointed at my face. And of course, I had to make a conscious decision to open it - it's not like I looked at my phone to check the time, it opened because of FaceID, and then I had to lock it again for no reason. TouchID is just better. It's faster and less restrictive. Even if someone preferred FaceID, Apple should give people the choice.

As for screen size, I have never felt I needed more screen size out of my SE. If I want to watch something on a bigger screen, that's not something I'm going to do on my phone. But, are there times when I want to be able to access the entire screen space with one hand? Absolutely. This is because of the nature of a phone. Suppose I'm carrying something with one hand and I want to zoom in with the other...well, I can do with that. Carrying a textbook and reaching for the link on the far side of the screen is no issue. The SE is the perfect size.

Headphone jacks are extremely useful, and the idea that they shouldn't be on a modern phone just this weird, pseudo-futurist crap that makes someone sound like they are trying to get a job at Apple because of how sycophantic they can be towards the company. Blutooth headphones simply do not sound as good as good wired ones. They are annoying - you have to sync them up over and over again and something often goes wrong. They have to be charged. If you're at the gym and some hot girl tries to talk to you you can't quickly pull the wire near your neck with a finger and let one of them hang over your shirt while you keep lifting weights. With wireless headphones you have to put the weights down and fumble with your overpriced AirPods like a dumbass to put them in your pocket. The girl's probably gone by this point and then you have to put them back in your ears. Man, if only you had been using an SE. Hopefully they don't die during your workout.

Before I go to bed every night I do some reading on my phone while listening to music and charging it at the same time. Wow it's amazing what we figured out 5 years ago. With iPhone X I won't be doing that because of some wack ass design choices. Wow wireless charging! Instead of my phone being tethered to a wire while I charge it now it has to lie flat on a surface - so innovative! I mean come on seriously this is just a bunch of bullshit...

You mention the specs of the phone...the specs of the phone give no credibility to these regressive design decisions. If there was an SE2 right now it would have the same speed and camera quality.

Well there's my rant. Now there have been many articles expressing similar opinions (ex. https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/14/the-iphone-se-was-the-best-phone-apple-ever-made-and-now-its-dead/), hopefully Apple makes an SE2 if not I will have to find something new when the time comes.

+ Insanely faster than the SE
+ Better resolution screen
+ Bigger screen
+ Better color reproduction
+ Better camera
+ Stereo speakers
+ More OS features than the SE (and still getting updates)
+ Water/dust proof
+ Wireless charging
+ Quick charge capable
+ You can unlock your phone in the winter with gloves on
+ You can unlock your phone if your fingers are wet
+- You have to look at your phone for half a second to unlock it
- You can't unlock your phone while it's on a table
- It's more ideal to use bluetooth headphones vs. wired

...

Conclusion: Downgrade, must create thread to wake up the sheeple.

...

Guess what happens with technology? It moves forward. Wireless headphones is where the mainstream is going. I own a pair of custom made in-ear monitors that cost $750 that are wired...and I bought a cable for them that are lightning...and if I wanted I could buy a cable that'll make them bluetooth. The convenience of not having a wire is a dramatic upgrade, and assuming your bluetooth headphones support AAC/AptX, they will sound every bit as good as wired headphones. Despite owning headphones that sound insanely better in my bag every day, I opt for my bluetooth over-ears or AirPods consistently over them. The wire is just that much of an annoyance (and I'm not talking about charging, I'm talking about just walking around using wired headphones).

FaceID is more secure. It is currently slower than TouchID, and yes, it is more restrictive in your ability to unlock your phone in a couple scenarios...but FaceID will get faster (it supposedly is with this new iPhone gen). TouchID got faster as later generations of phone were introduced. We're on round 2 of FaceID and it's already getting faster.

If you want to use ancient hardware and tout it as an amazing phone that is better than the latest phones...that's fine. You are completely entitled to have that opinion.

To call the X a downgrade over the SE? If your only metrics for measurement are "has a fingerprint reader and a headphone jack"...then sure.

This thread wouldn't have been an issue if you weren't so randomly hostile about it.

 

[Nicktendo86]

Here's my story.

I've been an android user for 7 years now, never had an iPhone due to preferring android, it being open source, love Google services and think Apple way overcharge. I currently own a Pixel XL.

At this point I am now pretty much fed up with Android. Fragmentation is still too common, support is nowhere near the level of Apple (my two year old Pixel will be obsolete from October, the bloody iPhone 5s is still getting the newest firmware!) I am sick of having to install apps or tweak things to get the phone to work as I want, for example having to install an app to colour the nav bar so it doesn't get burn in (which has failed anyway), I am sick of Google play services randomly going crazy and draining my battery, sick of Google releasing apps and killing them off soon after (how many chat apps do we have now? Messages, Hangouts, Allo, not to mention them killing Inbox!). As an android user it feels like being a beta tester for ideas that Google throw out to see what sticks.

At this point of my life I just want a phone that will get the latest firmware updates quickly for a good few years and I don't have to worry about it going crazy every once in a while.

The Xr looks like the ideal phone for me, I prefer LCD to Oled as I hate burn in (and every oled gets burn in, even if you don't notice it. The pixels lose brightness over time no matter what, just compare your used phone to a factory new one to tell the difference), don't care about two cameras and it has the A12. Shame about the low resolution but that will help with battery life and I am sure the screen looks great, iPhone LCDs always do.

So I'll wait until my current contract is up next October and will probably switch to the iPhone Xr which will hopefully have come down in price a bit when next year's iPhones are launched, safe in the knowledge that the phone will get support for at least another two years if not more and it will be bye bye android, sadly.

 

[llien]

having to install an app to colour the nav bar so it doesn't get burn in (which has failed anyway)

An OLED phone user since.. uh, S2 here, with my S5 being at least 3 years old with no noticeable "burn in" (and if I don't see it, where is the problem)

 

[#Phonepunk#]

i've always used phones until they don't work anymore. i purchased my first smart phone two years ago. outside of Insta and light browsing i don't really use my phone for too much besides texting and talking, and have no reason to upgrade. gonna continue doing the same.

 

[TheShadowLord]

non expandable storage is the reason why I will never buy an iphone.

 

[Whitecrow]

So you're not getting the new iPhone, wow. People vote with their wallets everyday. How is this thread-worthy?

Op discovered what Apple thinks about its costumers. Worth a thread I think.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

i've always used phones until they don't work anymore. i purchased my first smart phone two years ago. outside of Insta and light browsing i don't really use my phone for too much besides texting and talking, and have no reason to upgrade. gonna continue doing the same.

Username checks out

 

[Torrent of Pork]

Still rocking the same phone for the past two years. Had to replace the battery, and install vanilla Android for performance reasons. All I need from a phone is web browsing, Google maps, and piping audio to my truck's auxiliary audio jack.

3.5mm jack or no buy.

 

[decisions]

Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on this. Using your headphones during a workout is THE best use case for wireless headphones. Have you tried jogging or running with a cable dandling all over the place? It's distracting and annoying, especially since the cable will be hitting your arm again, and again and again for however long you do cardio. You are using free weights? Boy, I hope that cable doesn't get tangled up when you get into the exercise position with the weights. In fact during my morning run today, I put a Serie A podcast on and just forgot the headphones were there, whereas the wired phones I used to have I constantly had to find ways to get the wire out of the way. A day and night difference.

As for talking to people, I have a pair of Creative Outlier Sports, I can absolutely pull one earbud out of my ear and talk to anyone, I don't even know where you get this point from. And dude, I think you believe bluetooth headphones are stuck in 2012, I have only ever had to pair every device I connected to my S9 Plus once. I mean, there are a whole bunch of issues with Bluetooth headphones, but the ones you dragged out are like, what? Those make no sense. You have to be a luddite to think freaking wires dangling all over the place are better than wireless headphones during a workout.

Dude put the headphone wire under your shirt. Boom nothing dangling about, instantly more practical than wireless ones.

 

[highrider]

Dude put the headphone wire under your shirt. Boom nothing dangling about, instantly more practical than wireless ones.

That isn’t more pratictical, it’s less practical, particularly if you are being active. The tuck sucks.

 

[Nicktendo86]

An OLED phone user since.. uh, S2 here, with my S5 being at least 3 years old with no noticeable "burn in" (and if I don't see it, where is the problem)

They don't have navigation bars which is the principal problem. The black areas don't turn on so the rest of the screen appears dimmer, leaving the area of the nav bar visible on white backgrounds as a brighter, more blue area.

It really, really bugs me.

 

[Nester99]

I have had my X for a year and it’s the best phone I have every had. Ymmv

 

[RubxQub]

Dude put the headphone wire under your shirt. Boom nothing dangling about, instantly more practical than wireless ones.

You seem to be going super out of your way to somehow convince people that having a wire tethering you to your phone is somehow more convenient than not having a wire tethering you to your phone...

If you'd argued something about sound quality, ability to charge and listen to music at the same time, audio latency, not having to charge yet another thing...you've got something. But how are you trying to convince people that having a physical wire that you need to manage by tucking it into clothing as more convenient than having no wire at all? That's like literally one of the strongest positive aspects of wireless headphones.

Like I said...I totally understand that you prefer a 3.5mm jack and TouchID...but at least try and defend your perspective in a way that makes sense, man.

 

[Punished Miku]

They purposely slowed down phones to make them worse. The chances I will ever buy a phone from them are 0%.

 

[DeepEnigma]

They purposely slowed down phones to make them worse. The chances I will ever buy a phone from them are 0%.

I definitely think there is truth to this. Every iPhone I have owned since 2009, turned into a slug or massive battery problems within or a little over 2 years of normal use. Got tired of constantly replacing them to the point that I finally went with Android for the first time 3 years ago, and the thing still works as it did on day 1. Have had no need to upgrade due to this even when a slight desire to is there.

 

[RubxQub]

They purposely slowed down phones to make them worse. The chances I will ever buy a phone from them are 0%.

But they didn't... in fact they purposely made optimization of older phones a priority on the latest iOS release and people with older phones have reported even better performance.

If you're referencing when they DID throttle the phones because they detected old/poor battery performance which would put the entire phone at risk of malfunctioning...than yes. To which they fully admitted to doing and now have an option to turn off.

Apple should have been upfront with users that they were doing that, definitely, but since it's come out they've let people replace their phone batteries for $29, put an option in the OS to allow the phone to work at full performance (at the risk of messing up the phone, at the users risk), and have focused iOS updates on old device performance...not to mention that old phones get supported with new updates much much longer (and immediately) than the competition.

...

I know I'm coming across as an Apple shill here (and I'm admittedly a big fan of theirs), but there's "what you heard" and "what actually happened".

You can be rightfully angry at Apple for not being transparent upfront about the battery throttling thing..but I personally believe they did it to protect the user. I give them the benefit of the doubt. But even if you don't, surely their response to the entire situation should be lauded as quite the immediate action to do right by the customers.

 

[llien]

I definitely think there is truth to this.

Apple has admitted (reasoning: "battery") it and I've posted link to that in this thread.

They don't have navigation bars which is the principal problem. The black areas don't turn on so the rest of the screen appears dimmer, leaving the area of the nav bar visible on white backgrounds as a brighter, more blue area.

I don't quite follow, to be honest, but perhaps because my phone has hardware nav buttons.

 

[linker]

My iPhone 7 and iPad Pro both still feel nippy, do everything I want, and even the iPhone camera isn’t bad for taking shots when I’m out and about, so I don’t feel the need to upgrade any time yet especially seeing as they weren’t cheap.

iMessage is still the biggest draw for me. Simple and quick.

Why?
I'm not being sarcastic, I'm serious: I heard that in the USA SMSes are still quite popular, but I really can't understand why.
I'm Italian and even in a... let's say not very caught up with tech country as mine the messaging standard goes over the internet and is platform agnostic (so the "standard" is Whatsapp with Telegram not too far behind), so I really can't understand what is the appeal of iMessage.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Apple has admitted (reasoning: "battery") it and I've posted link to that in this thread.


I don't quite follow, to be honest, but perhaps because my phone has hardware nav buttons.

Just read your post with the link.

 

[Kamina]

Honestly, I love my iPhone X, however, i would have never bought it if i didnt get a discount from my provider.
The prices are just insane for a phone and keep on rising year after year.

 

[TFGB]

Why?
I'm not being sarcastic, I'm serious: I heard that in the USA SMSes are still quite popular, but I really can't understand why.
I'm Italian and even in a... let's say not very caught up with tech country as mine the messaging standard goes over the internet and is platform agnostic (so the "standard" is Whatsapp with Telegram not too far behind), so I really can't understand what is the appeal of iMessage.

I’m on PAYG here in the UK with EE (the UK’s largest network provider) and all non-iMessage messages I get charged for. My partner, mum and other family members all have iPhones, so using iMessage is both free and easy.

I’ve never used Whatsapp btw.

 

[decisions]

You seem to be going super out of your way to somehow convince people that having a wire tethering you to your phone is somehow more convenient than not having a wire tethering you to your phone...

If you'd argued something about sound quality, ability to charge and listen to music at the same time, audio latency, not having to charge yet another thing...you've got something. But how are you trying to convince people that having a physical wire that you need to manage by tucking it into clothing as more convenient than having no wire at all? That's like literally one of the strongest positive aspects of wireless headphones.

Like I said...I totally understand that you prefer a 3.5mm jack and TouchID...but at least try and defend your perspective in a way that makes sense, man.

I already mentioned those things in my previous posts, which you ignored in your first condescending reply where you called me "hostile" even though I haven't personally attacked anyone.

Admittedly, I will say that wireless headphones would be the thing I would be most willing to try as a replacement for their previous iteration. But why not give us the option? The SE is the perfect size and width for the hand - Apple said so themselves and whenever I've held a newer phone it's never been as comfortable.

 

[RubxQub]

I already mentioned those things in my previous posts, which you ignored in your condescending reply where you called me "hostile" even though I haven't personally attacked anyone.

I just find your opinion to be weirdly angry at a company to the point where you'll try and paint the iPhone SE as superior to the iPhone X...when it's literally not in any capacity beyond "it doesn't have a fingerprint reader or a headphone jack".

Like I said, the opinion to place those two things as the end-all, be-all, in making your decisions are fine. Your decision to get seemingly very angry and upset at this all of sudden when those things have been gone for awhile as if you're expecting Apple to add those back is just what's throwing me off.

Sorry...just seeing you bend over backwards to describe a headphone cable as more convenient than not having a cable at all just threw me for a loop.

Edit: Holy shit I missed your entire long-winded reply to my first post earlier...my bad!

I think your opinion is totally valid, for what it's worth, but telling me I was "fooled into thinking it's better" isn't exactly a good way to phrase things if you're trying to have an honest debate about it. I haven't been fooled into thinking a vastly superior phone is indeed superior. There are trade-offs and benefits to every design change you don't like.

 

[linker]

I’m on PAYG here in the UK with EE (the UK’s largest network provider) and all non-iMessage messages I get charged for. My partner, mum and other family members all have iPhones, so using iMessage is both free and easy.

I’ve never used Whatsapp btw.

What do you do when you have to message a non-iPhone user?
Is Pay as you go the norm in the UK? In Italy pretty much everyone has a subscription of some kind with GB of internet and/or calls and messages, so maybe that's where the gap is. I'm sorry if I'm too inquisitive but this baffles me so much, honestly.
Hell even iPhone users usually go with Whatsapp because it does the same job while being platform agnostic. I understand why you do it though, to be clear.

 

[TFGB]

What do you do when you have to message a non-iPhone user?
Is Pay as you go the norm in the UK? In Italy pretty much everyone has a subscription of some kind with GB of internet and/or calls and messages, so maybe that's where the gap is. I'm sorry if I'm too inquisitive but this baffles me so much, honestly.
Hell even iPhone users usually go with Whatsapp because it does the same job while being platform agnostic. I understand why you do it though, to be clear.

When I message a non-iPhone user, I use iMessage, but I get charged for it.

I think most people here in the UK have their phones on contract, but I’m continuing to use PAYG because I get free, unlimited internet.

I used to buy 6-monthly internet ‘boosters’ when I was with T-Mobile, then when EE bought them out and everything switched over to EE they didn’t switch off my booster. I’ve had free unlimited internet for my phone for the last couple of years now, and if I decided to go on a data & text plan it would cost more than the few non-iPhone texts I pay for.

 

[decisions]

I just find your opinion to be weirdly angry at a company to the point where you'll try and paint the iPhone SE as superior to the iPhone X...when it's literally not in any capacity beyond "it doesn't have a fingerprint reader or a headphone jack".

Like I said, the opinion to place those two things as the end-all, be-all, in making your decisions are fine. Your decision to get seemingly very angry and upset at this all of sudden when those things have been gone for awhile as if you're expecting Apple to add those back is just what's throwing me off.

Sorry...just seeing you bend over backwards to describe a headphone cable as more convenient than not having a cable at all just threw me for a loop.

There are several points I have made that you are just ignoring. Form factor, ease of one-hand use, portability, listening to music/charging at the same time without worrying about headphone battery...these are the things that aren't related to specs. They are design choices. The iPhone SE is superior to the X in terms of design; that has always been my argument - of course the newer phone will have better specs.

The truth is Apple (Steve Jobs) perfected the design of the iPhone with the 5 and 5S for the foreseeable future. They are taking away choice as a way to market something as "new" and you are buying into it. Personally, I'm not convinced that any of these changes are better. In a few years Apple will reincorporate TouchID into the screen and tell you how much faster it is than FaceID, and you will have bought the phone in the interim without TouchID because you believed them when they spoke about it as a replacement for TouchID.

Also, another question - I fall asleep to music on my SE every night. If I bought an XS, wouldn't I wake up with dead wireless AirPods every morning?

 

[linker]

When I message a non-iPhone user, I use iMessage, but I get charged for it.

I think most people here in the UK have their phones on contract, but I’m continuing to use PAYG because I get free, unlimited internet.

I used to buy 6-monthly internet ‘boosters’ when I was with T-Mobile, then when EE bought them out and everything switched over to EE they didn’t switch off my booster. I’ve had free unlimited internet for my phone for the last couple of years now, and if I decided to go on a data & text plan it would cost more than the few non-iPhone texts I pay for.

I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost: so from what I gather you don't have a data plan, yet the carrier gives you free and unlimited internet. I don't mean to be a snooper, but is it limited to internet browsing? If it isn't I'm pretty sure you could get away with not even paying for the few non-iPhone texts you send, IF the non-iPhone users in your life do use alternative messaging apps.
Anyway now I know how the situation is in the UK and I'm all the richer for it, thank you for answering!
I'm still curious as to why SMS are still so popular in the USA though

 

[RubxQub]

There are several points I have made that you are just ignoring. Form factor, ease of one-hand use, portability, listening to music/charging at the same time without worrying about headphone battery...these are the things that aren't related to specs. They are design choices. The iPhone SE is superior to the X in terms of design - of course the newer phone will have better specs.

The truth is Apple (Steve Jobs) perfect the design of the iPhone with the 5 and 5S for the foreseeable future. They are taking away choice as a way to market something as "new" and you are buying into it. Personally, I'm not convinced that any of these changes are better. In a few years Apple will reincorporate TouchID into the screen and tell you how much faster it is than FaceID, and you will have bought the phone in the interim without TouchID because you believed them when they spoke about it as a replacement for TouchID.

I'd mentioned I missed your entire initial reply to my post on the last page, so I apologize.

But you need to realize that ESPECIALLY in the world of design...it's all subjective.

You personally would prefer to have a phone that has a headphone jack, no notch, a TouchID button, a physical home button. That's totally fine and valid.

I personally very much enjoy having a larger screen, better resolution, better color reproduction, better camera, latest OS features, fastest phone and gesture navigation.

Would I prefer there wasn't a notch at the top? Sure. But does it's existence bother me? No. I forget about it 99.9% of the time.

Would I prefer it still has a headphone jack? Sure. But does it's lack of inclusion bother me? No. I bought new high quality wireless headphones and a lightning cable for my existing custom IEMs. I adapted and moved on.

One-hand usage is completely valid, but I've always very much enjoyed the iPhone 7+ and 6+...and I'm getting the iPhone Xs Max this gen. I can use these bigger devices with one hand just fine in day to day use, but will fully admit it's not nearly as comfortable or organic as the older iPhones are.

 

[TFGB]

I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost: so from what I gather you don't have a data plan, yet the carrier gives you free and unlimited internet. I don't mean to be a snooper, but is it limited to internet browsing? If it isn't I'm pretty sure you could get away with not even paying for the few non-iPhone texts you send, IF the non-iPhone users in your life do use alternative messaging apps.
Anyway now I know how the situation is in the UK and I'm all the richer for it, thank you for answering!
I'm still curious as to why SMS are still so popular in the USA though

Exactly that...I don’t have a data plan, but I can use the net for free. I top up my PAYG account every now and then as I still get charged for messaging non iPhone users and any calls I make (though I don’t tend to use my phone for calls as I’m an unsociable git!)

Do all these alternative messaging apps offer native iPad apps? I love how iMessage seamlessly syncs between phone and tablet, and I can even make a call on my iPad with iMessage using my iPhone’s number if ever the need arises.

I may have to look into Whatsapp, but as it stands the iMessage interface is so slick and easy to use that even my 82 year old mother feels comfortable with it.

 

[BANGS]

So courageous....

 

[linker]

Exactly that...I don’t have a data plan, but I can use the net for free. I top up my PAYG account every now and then as I still get charged for messaging non iPhone users and any calls I make (though I don’t tend to use my phone for calls as I’m an unsociable git!)

Do all these alternative messaging apps offer native iPad apps? I love how iMessage seamlessly syncs between phone and tablet, and I can even make a call on my iPad with iMessage using my iPhone’s number if ever the need arises.

I may have to look into Whatsapp, but as it stands the iMessage interface is so slick and easy to use that even my 82 year old mother feels comfortable with it.

Well not all of them, they do require the phone number to authenticate (though I think maybe Telegram actually can be logged in with an email) and as such even if it is a SIM model, having two different numbers would fumble the whole process... Every one I tried has been free though, so if you want to experiment there you go

 

[Nymphae]

Apple's been on a downward spiral for years IMO and I'm done with them. I have to use Macs at work, and I like the OS for the most part but over the past 10 years they've done many things with it I don't like personally. Also, I'm not big on conformity or trends, so the cache of having an apple product is a negative for me. They have to have something I really like in order for me to buy. The last thing I bought from them was the 160 GB Ipod Classic, and it will likely be the last.

So you're not getting the new iPhone, wow. People vote with their wallets everyday. How is this thread-worthy?

Your comment is trash.

 

[andythinkpad]

I feel iPhone X is the moment Apple stuff went from "cool designs that also happen to look distinctive" to "our shit have to look different from 5 meter away."

 

[Gander]

As shiny and pretty as they make those phones they all come down to one truth. They are really only as good as your data plan. If you have unlimited you can maximize it's abilities.