The battery lasts so damned long I stopped caring. Not too bad to just pull down the control center when you want to see exactly what the battery is at.
My XS saved my ass sunday night. Rnadomly had to spend 4 hours at the Animal ER for my dog, and had nothing at all to do while I waited. Luckily they had impressively good wifi (75mb down, for a hospital!), so I was able to watch a ton of Netflix. Battery started at around 70%, and ended up around 35%, which I think for 4 hours of streaming video is pretty damn good!
Alright, so despite me being out of the refund range, they said they'll accept the return. I just have to ship it by the 30th and I'll have the Xr by then so no need for an interim phone. Good shit. Great customer service is the main reason I stick with Apple.
Alright, so despite me being out of the refund range, they said they'll accept the return. I just have to ship it by the 30th and I'll have the Xr by then so no need for an interim phone. Good shit. Great customer service is the main reason I stick with Apple.
I'm strongly considering replacing my 7 with an XR soon. I just wish it were a bit smaller. The XS is really the ideal size for me, but I would be fine with something a little bigger. Unfortunately the XR is a lot closer to the max than it is the regular XS.
Oh, and it bugs me that the XR is even thicker than the XS models, which are already thicker than the 7 I have now. :/
Those are the main reasons I'm getting the XR. I'd personally feel dumb paying more for a phone than I did my MBP. It also helps colors on OLED screens appear cartoonish to me and produce a bit of eye strain.
That depends on how the screen is calibrated. The colours on the XS screens don't look like that to me, and I've had similar feelings about most OLED phone screens in the past.
The front glass on this thing is pretty awful, tons of micro scratches and a lot of deeper scratches too, but the back of my phone looks perfectly fine. It almost is as bad as my year old iPhone X when I traded it in for this. One is so deep and visible with the screen on I thought it was a crack. I got no case and Apple Care so I'm not really worried, but I don't get it. the back seems to be a stronger glass for sure, looks almost brand new but the front is awful.
The front glass on this thing is pretty awful, tons of micro scratches and a lot of deeper scratches too, but the back of my phone looks perfectly fine. It almost is as bad as my year old iPhone X when I traded it in for this. I got no case and Apple Care so I'm not really worried, but I don't get it. the back seems to be a stronger glass for sure.
Really? I've been caseless since release and haven't had a single micro scratch on the entire phone. I don't carry it along with anything else inside my pocket though.
Really? I've been caseless since release and haven't had a single micro scratch on the entire phone. I don't carry it along with anything else inside my pocket though.
For anyone else interested in pre-ordering the XR tonight, Apple brought in a bunch of youtubers and let them film previews of the phone. No official reviews yet though. Some very positive impressions.
For anyone else interested in pre-ordering the XR tonight, Apple brought in a bunch of youtubers and let them film previews of the phone. No official reviews yet though. Some very positive impressions.
After using the Pixel phones the other day, my decision is down to the Max versus the XR and it looks like the XR is going to win. If I get it and the screen is unbearably bad, I'll get the Max.
Honestly, I thought it was a mixed bag. You could really throw all of his comments into three categories:
Hardware Rage: Where's my (Hardware Feature), iPhone Design is super dated (?), Notch is obnoxiously large (?). He really pushed the hardware angle hard, from a classic tech perspective of specs and frame and de-emphasizing software or security. And if you're completely un-invested in iOS, it's a fine point. But if the security, ease of use, or integration of iOS matters, well... His rant on iPhone design being dated and behind Android manufacturers is baffling, but there you go.
Interface Struggles on Big Phones: Mostly valid struggles about people with non-large hands trying to grip-adjust on a big device. He uses it as a jumping board to be upset that there aren't software buttons, but that's going to be a divide that is never crossed.
Places where Google Software is Ahead: Siri, Autocorrect are inarguable. The folder browsing is a necessary evil for sandboxed apps. I think the software argument as a whole as more nuanced (lots of aspects of iOS I strongly prefer even if Siri is useless) but it's fair to mention.
Honestly, I thought it was a mixed bag. You could really throw all of his comments into three categories:
Hardware Rage: Where's my (Hardware Feature), iPhone Design is super dated (?), Notch is obnoxiously large (?). He really pushed the hardware angle hard, from a classic tech perspective of specs and frame and de-emphasizing software or security. And if you're completely un-invested in iOS, it's a fine point. But if the security, ease of use, or integration of iOS matters, well... His rant on iPhone design being dated and behind Android manufacturers is baffling, but there you go.
Interface Struggles on Big Phones: Mostly valid struggles about people with non-large hands trying to grip-adjust on a big device. He uses it as a jumping board to be upset that there aren't software buttons, but that's going to be a divide that is never crossed.
Places where Google Software is Ahead: Siri, Autocorrect are inarguable. The folder browsing is a necessary evil for sandboxed apps. I think the software argument as a whole as more nuanced (lots of aspects of iOS I strongly prefer even if Siri is useless) but it's fair to mention.
Hardware Rage: I agree with you here. The iPhone design isn't dated in the slightest. It's arguably the nicest looking & most well-built hardware on the market, even with the notch. Real world performance testing with the XS puts it ahead of the Note 9.
Interface struggles on Big Phones: I disagree with you here. The problem with the XS Max isn't that it's a big phone, it's that it does virtually nothing to optimize it's use as a big phone other than everything being bigger. Several Android phones do big phones much better than the XS Max.
Places where Google Software is Ahead: I think there's pluses and minuses to each platform, but there's zero doubt that Apple has lost a ton of ground over the last few years, and that there's some software aspects where it's just baffling how far behind they are.
I subscribe to LTT, but this video was garbage.
Many of his complaints were:
* Absurd - like him proposing he could've done some "Look at the fancy new iPhone - BAZINGA!, it's last year's!" ... you could do that with current Samsung phones as well, their industrial design barely changed. iPhones never change industrial design on a yearly basis.
Similarly, you could do that with every. single. "S". generation. of. iPhones. ever.
* Looking for answers to a question nobody asked - "Why should owners of the X upgrade to the XS?" - Why does almost every review focus on that silly question? Nobody expects owners of last year's model to upgrade, not even Apple, honestly.
* Factually wrong - like that share sheet thing. "Can't save a screenshot to my camera roll" - it does that by default. "Can't share a screenshot with an app 'that apple doesn't know" - screenshots use the regular old share sheet. Any app can use that API
Also, you can set the iPhone to keep "non-altered" photos. It's a settings toggle.
* Tired: Complaining about the iPhone not having a microSD card slot?! No software back button?!
And then complaining there's no multi-sim support in the first iPhone ever to at least offer said support via the eSim option?
* Tired: Complaining about the iPhone not having a microSD card slot?! No software back button?!
And then complaining there's no multi-sim support in the first iPhone ever to at least offer said support via the eSim option?
Funny thing is, the latest iOS implementation seems to have improved upon the Android back button. There's two separate back buttons now, with the one on top taking you to the app you came from and the regular back action with the swipe.
Android's implementation has gotten messier over time due to lack of consistency. I always hated how the Amazon app "captured" your back button.
As someone who has gravitated towards both Android and iOS over the years, I have never wished for a back button on iOS and I wish I could remove the navigation bar on Android so content could have more usable space.
Funny thing is, the latest iOS implementation seems to have improved upon the Android back button. There's two separate back buttons now, with the one on top taking you to the app you came from and the regular back action with the swipe.
Android's implementation has gotten messier over time due to lack of consistency. I always hated how the Amazon app "captured" your back button.
I agree. Ever since the XS, I feel like iOS once again pulled ahead of Android in "one handed useability", too.
Like, Android's implementation to gesture based app-switching and multi-tasking looks so clumsy because of the way it "snaps" instead of just smoothly following your finger.
Why is anyone even still paying attention to LTT. Dude knows exactly how the screenshot stuff works because he said he really likes it back when the markup feature was introduced in iOS 10... 11? idk. I still used to watch him occasionally back then. It's unfortunate he became such an awful clickbait tech channel over the years.
Places where Google Software is Ahead: I think there's pluses and minuses to each platform, but there's zero doubt that Apple has lost a ton of ground over the last few years, and that there's some software aspects where it's just baffling how far behind they are.
Seriously, using iOS it just... Feels old. I'm sure part of that is unfamiliarity with the software pathing but I feels particularly unintuitive to do most things. And while Android share is feeling bloated these days it is still miles ahead of whatever similar thing iOS is passing off as sharing.
It's just honestly surprising how far behind Apple is on the software front. Especially anything related to AI assistance.
Anyone else notice that Netflix is extremely dark? Like it has a major crushed blacks problem. I can't watch a lot of stuff on Netflix because of this. Daredevil season 3 is just about unwatchable.
While I can understand being "tired" of the argument, Apple's stubbornness doesn't absolve them of criticism. The lack of expandable storage + the absurd price increase for models with additional internal storage is blatantly anti consumer and should be pointed out. The same is true of the headphone jack.
(A lot of Linus's other criticisms were stupid IMO. But not this one.)
While I can understand being "tired" of the argument, Apple's stubbornness doesn't absolve them of criticism. The lack of expandable storage + the absurd price increase for models with additional internal storage is blatantly anti consumer and should be pointed out. The same is true of the headphone jack.
(A lot of Linus's other criticisms were stupid IMO. But not this one.)