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All of the phones Apple released are boring, so it's kind of not surprising that people aren't worked up about it. At least to people who watch gadgets. The Mi

All of the phones Apple released are boring, so it's kind of not surprising that people aren't worked up about it. At least to people who watch gadgets. The Mi Mix was a revelation, the iPhone X is just what people expected before all the leaks, with the exception of FaceID, which got leaked. Still, every time I see someone writing about Apple design, it seems like it's great when Apple does it - its even better than last year's model! - but it's always bad when competitors were. I'm still completely jealous of iPhone battery life though.

currysausage 9y ago
> the iPhone X is just what people expected But that's the point of iPhones nowadays, isn't it? Shipping features only when they feel ready (e.g. I guess this [1] won't be possible with Face ID). I switched from Android to iOS when I decided that I want a boring (but elegant) smartphone that bothers me as little as possible. > Apple design, it seems like it's great when Apple does it What many of their customers value, I think, is that Apple tends to get the big picture and the details right quite often. The big picture: When I buy an Apple phone, I can be quite sure not to see this on the default lockscreen: [2]. The details: [3]. You don't have to appreciate this level of detail, but some people do. That being said, not even Gruber claims that recent iPhones are "perfect" design-wise. [4] Just more detail-oriented than most competitors. > I'm still completely jealous of iPhone battery life though. Bought an iPhone 7 ½ year ago. I don't think battery life is anything to be jealous about. I hear good things about the Plus models though. [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-note-8-facial-recognition-tricked-with-a-photo-2017-9 http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-note-8-facial-... [2] https://twitter.com/dcseifert/status/905104470429851648 https://twitter.com/dcseifert/status/905104470429851648 [3] https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/larger/public/field/image/2015/04/galaxy-s6-bottom-alignment.jpg https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/larger/pu... [4] https://daringfireball.net/2017/09/iphone_x_event_thoughts_and_observations#fn1-2017-09-14 https://daringfireball.net/2017/09/iphone_x_event_thoughts_a... (Footnote 1)
- zimpenfish 9y ago
  > I want a boring (but elegant) smartphone that bothers me as little as possible. Exactly this. It's why I run OSX instead of Linux on the desktop - I'm old and I resent having to catherd my gadgets. If I have to tweak anything, it generally goes in the bin.
  - zeveb 9y ago
    The thing is, macOS is objectively worse than Linux in certain respects, e.g. the UI's placement of window close next to other window controls (oddly, the old Macintosh OS did this correctly) or shipping the less-featureful BSD userland rather than the GNU userland, or shipping an old & outdated bash. But I enjoy making my tools work better. I don't compile my kernel anymore, I don't build my own computers, but I do enjoy making my environment work better, faster, simpler and more powerfully.
    - jsjohnst 9y ago
      > shipping the less-featureful BSD userland rather than the GNU userland, or shipping an old & outdated bash. You think that's an intentional choice Apple made? If you spent even a moment looking into it you'd realize the GNU user land has a license that purposely roadblocks companies like Apple from using it. I'm not saying Apple or GNU is to blame, they have different philosophies with their own benefits and drawbacks, but to pretend it's only one side's fault is a bit naive.
      - zeveb 9y ago
        > You think that's an intentional choice Apple made? Yes, because they do ship some GPL software (and provide the source code for it); they choose not to ship more, and they choose not to give their customers the source code to the software they purchase. I don't know if Apple could make money selling hardware with open source software, but I do believe that morally it should.
        jsjohnst 9y ago
philjohn 9y ago
How much of that is down to leaks though - every apple product over the last few years has had serious leaks well before launch (touch bar on the new MBP and pretty much the entirety of the Iphone X feature set), whereas the Mi Mix didn't.

currysausage 9y ago

> the iPhone X is just what people expected But that's the point of iPhones nowadays, isn't it? Shipping features only when they feel ready (e.g. I guess this [1] won't be possible with Face ID). I switched from Android to iOS when I decided that I want a boring (but elegant) smartphone that bothers me as little as possible. > Apple design, it seems like it's great when Apple does it What many of their customers value, I think, is that Apple tends to get the big picture and the details right quite often. The big picture: When I buy an Apple phone, I can be quite sure not to see this on the default lockscreen: [2]. The details: [3]. You don't have to appreciate this level of detail, but some people do. That being said, not even Gruber claims that recent iPhones are "perfect" design-wise. [4] Just more detail-oriented than most competitors. > I'm still completely jealous of iPhone battery life though. Bought an iPhone 7 ½ year ago. I don't think battery life is anything to be jealous about. I hear good things about the Plus models though. [1] http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-note-8-facial-recognition-tricked-with-a-photo-2017-9 http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-note-8-facial-... [2] https://twitter.com/dcseifert/status/905104470429851648 https://twitter.com/dcseifert/status/905104470429851648 [3] https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/larger/public/field/image/2015/04/galaxy-s6-bottom-alignment.jpg https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.com/files/styles/larger/pu... [4] https://daringfireball.net/2017/09/iphone_x_event_thoughts_and_observations#fn1-2017-09-14 https://daringfireball.net/2017/09/iphone_x_event_thoughts_a... (Footnote 1)

zimpenfish 9y ago
> I want a boring (but elegant) smartphone that bothers me as little as possible. Exactly this. It's why I run OSX instead of Linux on the desktop - I'm old and I resent having to catherd my gadgets. If I have to tweak anything, it generally goes in the bin.
- zeveb 9y ago
  The thing is, macOS is objectively worse than Linux in certain respects, e.g. the UI's placement of window close next to other window controls (oddly, the old Macintosh OS did this correctly) or shipping the less-featureful BSD userland rather than the GNU userland, or shipping an old & outdated bash. But I enjoy making my tools work better. I don't compile my kernel anymore, I don't build my own computers, but I do enjoy making my environment work better, faster, simpler and more powerfully.
  - jsjohnst 9y ago
    > shipping the less-featureful BSD userland rather than the GNU userland, or shipping an old & outdated bash. You think that's an intentional choice Apple made? If you spent even a moment looking into it you'd realize the GNU user land has a license that purposely roadblocks companies like Apple from using it. I'm not saying Apple or GNU is to blame, they have different philosophies with their own benefits and drawbacks, but to pretend it's only one side's fault is a bit naive.
    - zeveb 9y ago
      > You think that's an intentional choice Apple made? Yes, because they do ship some GPL software (and provide the source code for it); they choose not to ship more, and they choose not to give their customers the source code to the software they purchase. I don't know if Apple could make money selling hardware with open source software, but I do believe that morally it should.
      - jsjohnst 9y ago

philjohn 9y ago

How much of that is down to leaks though - every apple product over the last few years has had serious leaks well before launch (touch bar on the new MBP and pretty much the entirety of the Iphone X feature set), whereas the Mi Mix didn't.