Apple

[Day]

Man bags???

[McRainy]

What do you reckon to the Xr, @David?

[Day]

Just now, Lambchop said:

What do you reckon to the Xr, @David?

Looks a good phone for £750. 

Same chip as the XS and XS Max so just as powerful, not sure about the camera though. 

The screen isn't as crispy as the other models as it's a LCD not OLED, the up side of that is you get a better battery life as it draws less power. It's a slightly bigger screen than the XS as well. 

Really depends what your priorities are I guess, but if you're coming from a 6 or 5 whatever you have, the XR would be a huge upgrade. 

 

[Gritstone Ram]

I have got a new app that has appeared on mine called measure. It measures things and I have spent all morning measuring rulers at work and can now tell you it is way out.

[McRainy]

14 minutes ago, David said:

Really depends what your priorities are I guess, but if you're coming from a 6 or 5 whatever you have, the XR would be a huge upgrade. 

Thanks, yes, I'm still on a 5s. Looks like a good potential next step, presumably better than an 8. The better battery life would actually be more use to me than a crispier screen. And nice colours...

[Day]

11 minutes ago, Lambchop said:

Thanks, yes, I'm still on a 5s. Looks like a good potential next step, presumably better than an 8. The better battery life would actually be more use to me than a crispier screen. And nice colours...

More you spend, the better phone you get. The 8 would be a huge step up on the 5S, but if you're willing to pay the extra £150 you get much more again. Really comes down to where you feel financially comfortable at.

One thing I would say is the XR would probably cost more to repair if you bust the screen, don't come cheap these full screen phones

[froggg]

Mine arrived an hour ago and a day early, aesthetically beautiful, lightning fast, amazing setup process, will test the camera later.

[McRainy]

5 minutes ago, David said:

Really comes down to where you feel financially comfortable at.

I usually take the opposite approach to you in buying the best I can get and then sticking with it for it's useful life. I'm not saying that's a financially better option overall, but I get used to something and don't want the faff of changing it. I shall definitely buy the phone outright and stick with my sim only deal though. 

The obsolescence factor is therefore a major consideration. I'm only looking to upgrade at the point where the latest system looks like it has superseded previous models and will be around for a while. I'm assuming that's now the case with the X. The 6 and 7 didn't seem enough of a step up to be worth the outlay. 

Tbh, my 5s still does pretty much everything I need, but it's slowing down and may not support future iOS updates, otherwise I wouldn't be thinking of changing... first world problems. 

[Day]

8 minutes ago, Lambchop said:

I usually take the opposite approach to you in buying the best I can get and then sticking with it for it's useful life. I'm not saying that's a financially better option overall, but I get used to something and don't want the faff of changing it. I shall definitely buy the phone outright and stick with my sim only deal though. 

The obsolescence factor is therefore a major consideration. I'm only looking to upgrade at the point where the latest system looks like it has superseded previous models and will be around for a while. I'm assuming that's now the case with the X. The 6 and 7 didn't seem enough of a step up to be worth the outlay. 

Tbh, my 5s still does pretty much everything I need, but it's slowing down and may not support future iOS updates, otherwise I wouldn't be thinking of changing... first world problems. 

In that case I would avoid the 8, go straight for the XR or XS as iOS will be designed around these full screen phones, everything else will be an after thought. Full screen phones is the future, I can't see them reverting back to bezels and physical buttons.

[McRainy]

1 hour ago, David said:

In that case I would avoid the 8, go straight for the XR or XS as iOS will be designed around these full screen phones, everything else will be an after thought. Full screen phones is the future, I can't see them reverting back to bezels and physical buttons.

Thanks, that confirms what I was thinking. Just looking at an 8, as I'm a bit resistant to the face ID for some reason, but they're still the best part of 600 quid, and I'm sure you're right about the full screen thing. 

[Day]

5 minutes ago, Lambchop said:

Thanks, that confirms what I was thinking. Just looking at an 8, as I'm a bit resistant to the face ID for some reason, but they're still the best part of 600 quid, and I'm sure you're right about the full screen thing. 

Face ID is actually ok, has it's cons as does Touch ID with wet/dirty hands. You have to pick the phone up to unlock it which can be a pain if it's on the desk and you quickly want to check something one handed or in a car holster whilst you're driving. 

Also it can play up with some sunglasses, although I have a pair of Oakleys with prizm lens and a pair of prescription aviators with very dark lens and both work fine. 

End of the day it is the future and at some point you will have to make the leap or move to Android where they are looking at having touch sensor under the screen as their Face ID technology is years behind Apple. That's not trolling, it's widely known.

 

[McRainy]

10 minutes ago, David said:

End of the day it is the future and at some point you will have to make the leap or move to Android where they are looking at having touch sensor under the screen as their Face ID technology is years behind Apple. That's not trolling, it's widely known.

Yes, just seen that. Apparently Apple rejected the under screen touch sensor as the tech isn't that well developed yet. True about the touch sensors in the rain etc, that's a regular irritant. 

[AdamRam]

Seems to be a few problems with the new iPhone at the moment, will be interesting to see if it’s a software or hardware issue.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/marcochiappetta/2018/09/30/charging-issues-may-not-be-the-only-problem-plaguing-iphone-xs-xs-max-users/amp/

 

[Wolfie]

52 minutes ago, David said:

Face ID is actually ok, has it's cons as does Touch ID with wet/dirty hands. You have to pick the phone up to unlock it which can be a pain if it's on the desk and you quickly want to check something one handed or in a car holster whilst you're driving. 

Also it can play up with some sunglasses, although I have a pair of Oakleys with prizm lens and a pair of prescription aviators with very dark lens and both work fine. 

End of the day it is the future and at some point you will have to make the leap or move to Android where they are looking at having touch sensor under the screen as their Face ID technology is years behind Apple. That's not trolling, it's widely known.

 

Tut tut young man.

[Day]

1 minute ago, Wolfie said:

Tut tut young man.

Traffic lights!

[Wolfie]

1 minute ago, David said:

Traffic lights!

Still illegal unless you're parked up.

As I was saying.........tut tut.

[TigerTedd]

35 minutes ago, David said:

Traffic lights!

That could be a bit of a deal breaker. I’m often having to unlock it while I’m cooking and have a recipe on it (really need to work out a way to keep the phone from locking when I’m cooking though, when you’ve got flour all over your fingers, it’s not good), and often having to unlock it in the car, whilst parked and only once I’ve thrown the keys out of the window, of course. 

Shouldnt be too difficult for them to have some sort of button you tap which forces it to run a face scan, without you having to pick it up. That would be handy. 

[TigerTedd]

Anyway, slight change of subject (but still under the heading of Apple). 

HomePod - what do you reckon?

I’m so into the Apple eco system now, to the point that we’ve just taken out a subscription with Apple Music, I couldn’t imagine getting anything else.

Basically, I want to smart home the poo out of my house. The best smart home hub / thermostat as far as I can tell is Nest. But it’s owned by google and won’t work at with home kit. I want stuff that works with home kit, cos ultimately I want a home pod, and I want to be able to tell Siri to do clever things with my lights etc. So I’ve got to get hike kit enabled stuff, but it looks like all the best stuff is not. What are Apple playing at here?

also, if you’ve got an Alexa, HomePod, whatever, but you’ve got a 3 story house, what’s the best way of using it? I’m not after buying one for each floor. Would it bang out tunes from the middle floor that we could hear throughout the whole house? Would it hear me shouting to it from upstairs?

[Stive Pesley]

51 minutes ago, AdamRam said:

Seems to be a few problems with the new iPhone at the moment, will be interesting to see if it’s a software or hardware issue.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/marcochiappetta/2018/09/30/charging-issues-may-not-be-the-only-problem-plaguing-iphone-xs-xs-max-users/amp/

 

Come on - if I'm paying over a grand for a phone it's only natural that such a high-spec piece of kit will be plagued with issues!

?

[Wolfie]

32 minutes ago, TigerTedd said:

That could be a bit of a deal breaker. I’m often having to unlock it while I’m cooking and have a recipe on it (really need to work out a way to keep the phone from locking when I’m cooking though, when you’ve got flour all over your fingers, it’s not good), and often having to unlock it in the car, whilst parked and only once I’ve thrown the keys out of the window, of course. 

Shouldnt be too difficult for them to have some sort of button you tap which forces it to run a face scan, without you having to pick it up. That would be handy. 

You can set auto-lock delay to 5 mins but I accept that might still not be long enough if you're doing stuff & want to look at it occasionally.

I've only just started to do the "Hey Siri" thing when I'm in the car, to make calls & choose music etc as that seems to work better than the car's own voice system.

The main thing stopping me from upgrading from my 6S+ is the lack of 3.5mm headphone jack. I can just do without yet another thing to have to remember to charge.