The iPhone Thread - The Airpods thread in disguise

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > The iPhone Thread - The Airpods thread in disguise

Ouhei: Oct 23, 2008; Cat Army

rio posted:

Are the portrait mode changes not in the 8+? I saw a a sample showing a masked image with the old portrait mode and new, the new showing that hairs are now selected and not blurred into the background. I just got ios12 to test this and it is still poo poo if you are looking critically at it with no visible different in edge detection, making a hard line around my cat (which seemed like a good test). Also I guess I misunderstood but I was thinking raw photos would be in the camera app now as a setting but it looks like we are still stuck using 3rd party apps to shoot raw, which is confusing as to why they wouldn�t just put a toggle in settings to let us shoot raw with the native camera app.

Otherwise it is smooth overall. I don�t really see any reason to upgrade to a new phone from the 8+ and I�ll be curious to see how sales are (I�m guessing good since so many people need the latest and greatest). I�m pretty disappointed with the way they are going with this year�s release and looking to the future this is the first year I could see myself switching to some other brand realistically in the future. I don�t think I would leave the iPad though unless they somehow mess that up as well.

I think the new Portrait stuff is limited to the new phones because they're saying the improved neural processor is what's calculating that stuff.

Phones in general are kind of boring upgrades at this point. We reach power levels 3-4 years ago that can handle anything you normally do on your phone, barring breakthroughs in battery tech we're not going to see massive jumps in battery life, small camera sensors are pretty much at their limits (we're getting our biggest improvements via software now), and screen tech has gotten to the point of basically not being able to see pixels ever. I don't really know what people expect anymore to be honest. Outside of finding a way to bury sensors and a front camera under a screen and maybe getting rid of camera bumps we're kind of at phone perfection for a vast majority of people.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:01

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# ? Jun 5, 2024 10:15

Minidust: Nov 4, 2009; Keep bustin'

As an SE user I've been slightly envious of 3D touch, especially that cursor moving function. However it seems like the vast majority of the userbase has no idea it exists (my older relatives with iPhones 6s and above are always amazed when I demonstrate it on their phones).

It does seem like 90% of the functionality could be replicated with long presses in the UI, and I think they've already kind of adapted that in control center for the non-3D touch phones.

I wish they'd go all the way and just let us long-press app icons to get the 3D menus. Who needs to rearrange their home screen all the time anyway; just bury that function in Settings somewhere.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:07

rio: Mar 20, 2008

Ouhei posted:

I think the new Portrait stuff is limited to the new phones because they're saying the improved neural processor is what's calculating that stuff.

Phones in general are kind of boring upgrades at this point. We reach power levels 3-4 years ago that can handle anything you normally do on your phone, barring breakthroughs in battery tech we're not going to see massive jumps in battery life, small camera sensors are pretty much at their limits (we're getting our biggest improvements via software now), and screen tech has gotten to the point of basically not being able to see pixels ever. I don't really know what people expect anymore to be honest. Outside of finding a way to bury sensors and a front camera under a screen and maybe getting rid of camera bumps we're kind of at phone perfection for a vast majority of people.

That makes sense - I didn�t know if it was purely software with the portrait mode improvement.

I think you�re right about the upgrades. I am wondering if I am just an old greybeard at 38 but I really don�t like that they don�t have an original design phone this year. I use the home button often and am not sure if I will want to upgrade to an all swipe interface. I think it works on the iPad since I rarely use the home button there anymore but on a phone that is in my hands I really do want that home button, want the non-screen space to hold the phone while watching videos, don�t want a notch etc. I�m not sure if I am in the minority there or not.

I think one other thing that would drive people to upgrade is an advance in camera tech. I don�t think they can take it much further with hardware right now just due to how sensors work.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:11

Boris Galerkin: Dec 17, 2011; I don't understand why I can't harass people online. Seriously, somebody please explain why I shouldn't be allowed to stalk others on social media!

Minidust posted:

As an SE user I've been slightly envious of 3D touch, especially that cursor moving function. However it seems like the vast majority of the userbase has no idea it exists (my older relatives with iPhones 6s and above are always amazed when I demonstrate it on their phones).

It does seem like 90% of the functionality could be replicated with long presses in the UI, and I think they've already kind of adapted that in control center for the non-3D touch phones.

I wish they'd go all the way and just let us long-press app icons to get the 3D menus. Who needs to rearrange their home screen all the time anyway; just bury that function in Settings somewhere.

I have 3D Touch on my iPhone and not on my iPad and I don�t really notice much of a difference between them. Sure having to long press in the text box vs 3D Touch anywhere kinda sucks but that�s pretty much the only difference for me. I wouldn�t miss it if 3D Touch was just replaced with Long Touch (tm) technology.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:24

Beve Stuscemi: Jun 6, 2001

3D touch is good and cool, but the problem is there is no good indication of where you can and cant use it, and its up to trial and error, which is a super un-apple thing to do

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:27

Pivo: Aug 20, 2004

3D Touch is basically context menus for mobile from Apple who dislike context menus on desktop as a matter of design principles, which I�ve always found amusing.

It is useful though, for application launch shortcuts in addition to the aforementioned cursor movement.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:29

Clark Nova: Jul 18, 2004

Yeah, 3D Touch seems a lot less discoverable than everything else in iOS, aside from maybe swipe gestures

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:31

Pivo: Aug 20, 2004

Well, the joke�s in the thread title.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:34

Astoundingly Ugly Baby: Mar 22, 2006; "...crying bitch cave bitch boy."
- Anonymous Facebook user

3D Touch is okay, but I wish I could, say, use it on the Outlook app to compose an email without actually opening the app. Same with posting to Facebook and such.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:43

Weedle: May 31, 2006

The only useful thing 3D Touch brings to the table is cursor repositioning, and iOS 12 is bringing that to non-3D Touch devices. Everything else can be accomplished just as easily with a long press.

enojy posted:

For anyone having woes over the pricing of the new phones, I truly think the iPhone 7 is the pro buy at this point. I say this having owned an iPhone X since launch. Sure, it's a good phone, but so is the iPhone 8, and so is the iPhone 7. With a 64-bit processor, it shouldn't be considered obsolete in the foreseeable future. If you really need wireless charging and it's worth $150 more to you, maybe hop up to the iPhone 8.

I don't think anything offered in the iPhone X is worth such a premium -- Face ID is a parlor trick and a hassle compared to Touch ID, OLED display is nice but not perfect (ghosting, QC issues,) Portrait Mode is still hit or miss and requires optimal lighting.

I just don't see the use case in these new phones; why anyone would need that kind of horsepower in a phone. It feels as if Moore's Law has come to a head in the realm of smartphones. The iPhone 7 runs Pok�mon Go just fine, and costs what, like over $500 less?

I completely agree. My 7 Plus is still super fast, and after getting the battery replaced this past summer, it�s practically indistinguishable from a brand-new device. The A12 being advertised as only 15% faster than the A11 really drives home the point that this year�s upgrade is more incremental than any other.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:46

MarcusSA: Sep 23, 2007

Does anyone know off hand what causes this? It spins in every application and even on the home screen.

Nothing is downloading that I can see and rebooting the phone fixes it for a while.

Like I�m in the awful app right now and it�s spinning for no reason I can see.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:57

Triglav: Jun 2, 2007; IT IS HARAAM TO SEND SMILEY FACES THROUGH THE INTERNET

Are the cameras in the XS and XS Max identical this time around, the only differentiating features being screen size and battery life?

# ? Sep 13, 2018 18:03

Endless Mike: Aug 13, 2003

rio posted:

That makes sense - I didn�t know if it was purely software with the portrait mode improvement.

I think you�re right about the upgrades. I am wondering if I am just an old greybeard at 38 but I really don�t like that they don�t have an original design phone this year. I use the home button often and am not sure if I will want to upgrade to an all swipe interface. I think it works on the iPad since I rarely use the home button there anymore but on a phone that is in my hands I really do want that home button, want the non-screen space to hold the phone while watching videos, don�t want a notch etc. I�m not sure if I am in the minority there or not.

Old man yells at cloud

# ? Sep 13, 2018 18:11

Ouhei: Oct 23, 2008; Cat Army

Triglav posted:

Are the cameras in the XS and XS Max identical this time around, the only differentiating features being screen size and battery life?

Yes.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 18:19

Matt Zerella: Oct 7, 2002; Norris'es are back baby. It's good again. Awoouu (fox Howl)

Goddammit, between my dad needing a new phone and me wanting wireless charging and oled/smaller phone I'm upgrading to the regular XS from my 7+.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 18:37

fourwood: Sep 9, 2001; Damn I'll bring them to their knees.

MarcusSA posted:

Does anyone know off hand what causes this? It spins in every application and even on the home screen.

Nothing is downloading that I can see and rebooting the phone fixes it for a while.

Like I�m in the awful app right now and it�s spinning for no reason I can see.

No but I hate it.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 18:47

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Looking for opinions:

I have an iPhone 6s 64gb, paid off with t mobile. Storage isn�t an issue and it got a new battery a few months ago. The camera isn�t bad but I�ve got a baby on the way and will be taking more pictures soon. I don�t really play games with my phone.

Here�s the options I am thinking of:

1) wait and see how ios12 works on the phone, maybe wait on upgrading for another year.

2) wait and see what deals t-mobile has for the Xr next month. I don�t want to spend the cash that an Xs would require.

3) buy an iPhone X on swappa for $5-600, then sell the 6s private, for 100-150. Total out of pocket: ~$400-450

4)???

The only thing I don�t think I�ll like about the Xr is no force touch. I only use that for repositioning the cursor.

Thoughts? This phone will have to last me multiple years, so I don�t want to buy a 7 to just have to go through this again in a year or two.

nwin fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Sep 13, 2018

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:00

wooger: Apr 16, 2005; YOU RESENT?

SweetMercifulCrap! posted:

It�s looking about like what you would expect. Slightly better specs than the Pixel 2, bigger screen, smaller bezels, supposedly even better camera. Based on speculation alone I would get the cheaper Pixel 3 before any of the new iPhones. (But I�ll probably just stick with my iPhone 8).

Ahem, slightly better? The camera on Pixels has been very good, but for many other things like CPU / GPU they�re laughably behind Apple. Android phones only surpassed the 6S in benchmarks this year FFS.

Pixel *is* the only Android phone is consider though, I don�t trust the competence of any other OEMs in making software tweaks, nor their intentions as far as updating them in the long term.

IPhones 5 years old still get updates.

nwin posted:

1) wait and see how ios12 works on the phone, maybe wait on upgrading for another year.

I have a 6S+, and I�ve been running iOS12 betas for months. Can confirm that it�s worlds better than 11 in both smoothness and battery life, and I could totally go a 4th year with this phone.

That said, I just got a new job, and feel like a splurge, sooo... I�ve set an alarm for tomorrow morning.

wooger fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Sep 13, 2018

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:01

tuyop: Sep 15, 2006; Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted; Fun Shoe

wooger posted:

Ahem, slightly better? The camera on Pixels has been very good, but for many other things like CPU / GPU they�re laughably behind Apple. Android phones only surpassed the 6S in benchmarks this year FFS.

Pixel *is* the only Android phone is consider though, I don�t trust the competence of any other OEMs in making software tweaks, nor their intentions as far as updating them in the long term.

IPhones 5 years old still get updates.

I think a lot of android users compare phones like they�re collecting Pok�mon or something. Which is fine if it brings you joy, I guess, but it doesn�t really speak to the UX of the device very accurately.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:07

tonic: Jan 4, 2003

Haven't purchased an iPhone since the 7 Plus and I think i'm going to upgrade to the XS Max.

If I buy the Verizon version from the Apple Store, does it come unlocked as the Verizon models did in the past?

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:07

Beve Stuscemi: Jun 6, 2001

whoever said we have reached 2012 levels of Android naming schemes is right.

Next up: Iphone XL RS Bionic

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:11

sleepwalkers: Dec 7, 2008

nwin posted:

The only thing I don�t think I�ll like about the Xr is no force touch. I only use that for repositioning the cursor.

That's coming as a long-press option for all (most?) devices with iOS 12, so that's moot at this point.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:11

American McGay: Feb 28, 2010; by sebmojo

wooger posted:

Ahem, slightly better? The camera on Pixels has been very good, but for many other things like CPU / GPU they�re laughably behind Apple.

Not trying to be contrarian and I'm sure there's other people out there who actually care, but I can't remember a time when I used a phone and it felt "slow". The camera/screen is the most important part of a cell phone to me at this point.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:12

wooger: Apr 16, 2005; YOU RESENT?

American McGay posted:

Not trying to be contrarian and I'm sure there's other people out there who actually care, but I can't remember a time when I used a phone and it felt "slow". The camera/screen is the most important part of a cell phone to me at this point.

I feel the same way about phone screens & especially cameras since the 6S era tbh. They�re fine as is, resolutions / DPIs haven�t changed since the 6 really.

And for cameras - I don�t think they�ve gotten better to the point where I�d bother using them for anything serious, they�re still only good for point and shoot fun stuff. Low light is way better now though.

Try using an android phone more than a 6 months old for web apps / discourse, they will feel like molasses. Maybe an OS issue to some extent, but if I didn�t ever have to wait for a phone to catch up with me that�d be nice. Recent iOS devices have desktop or better web rendering performance, which is important.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:31

Something Offal: Jan 12, 2018; by FactsAreUseless

wooger posted:

I feel the same way about phone screens & especially cameras since the 6S era tbh. They�re fine as is, resolutions / DPIs haven�t changed since the 6 really.

They have kinda significantly.

iPhone 6: 4.7 in (120 mm) Retina HD: LED-backlit IPS LCD, 1334�750 px resolution (326 ppi)

iPhone X: 5.8 in (150 mm) Super Retina HD: AMOLED, 2436�1125 px resolution, (458 ppi)

I'm not including 6 Plus or 6S though.

Sure phone cameras will never be as good as literal professional photo equipment, but for X and above I feel comfortable using it as my primary camera for vacations and whatever else.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:37

Ineptitude: Mar 2, 2010; Heed my words and become a master of the Heart _{(of Thorns)}.

Ouhei posted:

So use FaceID?

I was under the impression that FaceID didn't work with some of the apps i need fingerprint for, due to privacy laws here (not the states)
I seem to remember hearing about something like that when X first launched though i checked with a colleague and it is no longer the case if it ever was.

Looks like ill be getting an XS MAXX then!

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:37

Agronox: Feb 4, 2005

Yeah holy poo poo these names are terrible.

Please call the next one 11 Apple.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:57

stoops: Jun 11, 2001

People keep talking up the depth of field changing feature. I thought I heard the speaker say this has never been done before on a phone.

Don't the galaxy notes have this feature as well, or is it something else?

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:05

Beve Stuscemi: Jun 6, 2001

On my current iphone X, when I hit the 1x/2x button in the camera app is that an optical zoom or a digital zoom?

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:10

Endless Mike: Aug 13, 2003

That's optical, technically. (It's switching cameras.)

Endless Mike fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Sep 13, 2018

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:14

mattfl: Aug 27, 2004

Jim Silly-Balls posted:

On my current iphone X, when I hit the 1x/2x button in the camera app is that an optical zoom or a digital zoom?

Optical, that's switching between the 2 lenses.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:22

xzzy: Mar 5, 2009

Agronox posted:

Yeah holy poo poo these names are terrible.

Please call the next one 11 Apple.

Not until we have a MaX iPad.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:32

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

https://twitter.com/eli_schiff/status/1040321225371856898

lol

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:36

Endless Mike: Aug 13, 2003

Ah yes, it was the name, something that can be changed, not that they couldn't deliver.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:37

Flash Gordon Ramsay: Sep 28, 2004; Grimey Drawer

mattfl posted:

Optical, that's switching between the 2 lenses.

As I understand it, that's not always the case. If I remember right, if light is low, it will digitally zoom with the wider aperture wide lens as opposed to switching to the telephoto lens.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:46

Clark Nova: Jul 18, 2004

Maybe they realized the $13 IKEA version already nailed the apple aesthetic? Or making it charge everything properly no matter how people arranged their phones and watches was too loving hard

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:47