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The iPhone Franchise
- abraham_lincoln 8y agoAnybody know where to get nice-looking iPhone SE 128GB, unlocked?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- 1123581321 8y agoI’ve bought two SEs on Gazelle and three on Swappa. I’ve been happy with all of them. Typically “fair” or better quality will look nice.
- endemic 8y ago+1 for Swappa; always have had good experiences on that site.
- mft_ 8y agoI'd recommend to give the next size up a chance. I had a much-loved, carefully-charged and -protected iPhone 5 for about 3 years. I thought it was perfect and that it was all I needed. When I finally upgraded I was given a 6s, and it took about 3 days for me to realise it was just much better. I still have the 5 somewhere, and it makes my hands want to cramp just thinking about going back to typing on it! The screen real estate is also a huge improvement for just about everything.
- zelos 8y agoI downgraded from a 6 to an SE and have been really happy. I'd like a slightly better screen (better black levels and contrast), but apart from that it's great.
- zeckalpha 8y agoYep, my 4S was better in the dark. Surprised by the regression.
- binomialxenon 8y agoTechnically, isn't that an upgrade, or at the very least a sidegrade? The SE is newer and has better specs in most areas.
- FabHK 8y agoSE has mostly 6s internals, IIRC.
- binomialxenon 8y agoYeah, so it's a step up from the 6 overall.
- fredleblanc 8y agoAlright, for a countering point of view, I bought a 6 the day it was released. Used it for a year. Battery issues aside, I found the form factor too thin, too rounded, and too slippery. I had to buy a case just to not to feel like I was going to drop it. I went back to the SE, and it reaffirmed to me that this design was peak iPhone. The squared edges let me stand the phone up on the side. There’s no silly camera bump. I’ve used this phone, the 5, and the 5s for over 3 combined years with no case needed. I’ve dropped these phones a couple times and it’s survived them all. I can use it one handed without the reach, then cancel what my palm hit, then reach, then cancel, then remember the “reachability” home double tap. It has a headphone jack. The volume up button isn’t opposite the power button. And you know what? It’s still plenty fast. All this for a cheaper price and more pocketable form factor. The SE is a great phone, easily my favorite of the iPhone lineage. It’s too bad it seems to be going the way of the dodo.
- ianai 8y agoI’m not convinced it’s going the way of the dodo. They can easily add it back later like they did initially. Their current phone line has no compelling upgrade path for me. I’m not allowed to take photos where I would be using the phone the most.
- mgkimsal 8y agoi got a used one off ebay (had a 16gig SE, and cracked the screen twice). got one last year for around $250 - 64g. I'll probably get another one - seen some for around $130 now - just to have it around. I don't intentionally throw it around, but at ~$200... I don't particularly care if it's banged up a bit, and at $130... even less so. An upgraded SE - just improved camera and memory - would sell. I think it would sell well enough to hurt sales of the higher priced models though, and probably won't happen. Do they just assume everyone gets bigger after a few years and suddenly want/need bigger devices? SE-size ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of folks size-wise.
- fredleblanc 8y agoThis is really all I want. I don't want a smaller form factor. I don't want a bigger form factor. I want this form factor, and since everything keeps getting smaller, that's more room for a battery or whatever.
- foobarian 8y agoHow do you "carefully charge" a phone? And by how much would that extend the battery life? I am on my second "flagship" phone that is down to an hour of battery life after 2 years. This time I will attempt to replace the battery because these things cost way too much to replace every 2-3 years.
- virusduck 8y agoYou can get it replaced for $29, which is cheaper than doing it yourself in most cases: https://www.apple.com/iphone-battery-and-performance/ https://www.apple.com/iphone-battery-and-performance/ If it is a 6S, you may be able to get it replaced for free: https://www.apple.com/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown/ https://www.apple.com/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown/
- jenwooo 8y agoIt's almost as if you have no idea what you're talking about and are just making stuff up. The top reply proves that.
- fusiongyro 8y agoSupposedly, lithium ion batteries like to be totally drained before being charged and then charged to max before being unplugged. I personally find this regime difficult to attain with phones because I'd rather not have the phone die while I'm far from a charger, so I often start charging when it is at 20% or so. And when I have to go to work, I unplug the phone, even if it isn't at 100% charge. I think most people do similarly, but the battery would really prefer you use it all the way up and charge to max. I think this is what the GP means by "carefully charging."
- dsego 8y agoIsn't that regime for old NiMH batteries that had the "memory" effect? I thought for lion it's the opposite, never fully charge and never fully drain.
- stefanfisk 8y ago
- aczerepinski 8y agoWith the removal of the SE form the lineup, none of the phones that Apple currently sells fit in the average women's jeans pocket. https://pudding.cool/2018/08/pockets/ https://pudding.cool/2018/08/pockets/ That's straight up crazy. I can't believe the market decided "ability to easily place in pocket" is no longer an important feature of cell phones. Especially with Apple's multi-decade history of telling us that thinner and smaller are objectively better when it comes to computing devices.
- zwily 8y agoI never see women with phones in their front pockets. It’s always in the back pocket, or purse. </anecdata>
- jsjohnst 8y agoThat’s because they can’t. Women’s front pockets are either non-functional or entirely too small to be useful.
- aczerepinski 8y agoBut most women’s jeans pockets could still comfortably fit the original iPhone. They got the ergonomics right initially with Jobs in charge.
- dehue 8y agoI am a woman and I don't think the ability to fit a phone in a jean pocket determines best phone dimensions. Most of my pants don't even have front pockets and even large phones fit perfectly well in my purse. I much prefer having a large phone screen to a small phone that can uncomfortably fit into only few items of clothing I regularly wear.
- betaby 8y agoThat's why I'm not switching to the newer IPhone from the older SE. If can't easily carry phone in the pocket I would better use IPad with LTE module since I carry a briefcase anyway.
- erikpukinskis 8y agoI just walked into an Apple Store last month and bought one. Glad I made it in under the wire.
- dest 8y agoReal link: https://stratechery.com/2018/the-iphone-franchise/ https://stratechery.com/2018/the-iphone-franchise/
- dang 8y agoThanks. Changed from https://stratechery.com/ https://stratechery.com/.
- martijn_himself 8y agoSure, Apple still makes the best smartphones and will sustain its current momentum and cash flow for the foreseeable future. It has gone from a company built around its products to a company focusing on its shareholders with a CEO that is absolutely clueless when it comes to product development. It's sad but surprising? No.
- gumby 8y ago> with a CEO that is absolutely clueless when it comes to product development. I know, if only they'd appointed a CEO who would have developed new products beyond the things Steve Jobs had imagined, we might have had a popular smart watch, or maybe wireless earbuds that didn't suck. And sarcasm aside, the homepod seems like some sort of me-too misfire, but it's not like apple hasn't had those for decades as well (apple tv, ipod hi fi dock... performa after performa...) not to mention actual misfires like the controlless ipod. Whatever legitimate complaints there are to trot out, an inability to do product development can hardly be among them.
- martijn_himself 8y agoI agree with you on the smart watch and wireless earbuds (although perhaps the latter can hardly be called an achievement given the amount of resources Apple has). They also managed to all but ruin their computing product line, to the point where people prefer to use ancient machines over recent ones.
- gumby 8y ago> They also managed to all but ruin their computing product line, to the point where people prefer to use ancient machines over recent ones. The unhappy folks are pretty vocal, but I'm pretty sure Apple have good user data about how the machines are doing: as you say they have a lot of money to spend on the marketing. And historically they have been pretty unromantic about abandoning things that don't do well (iPhone 5c is discussed in this article). FWIW I am typing this on a 2018 MBP and it's pretty good -- well worth the purchase to me (I can understand if other peoples' mileage may vary). The touch bar is plainly not aimed at me (it would require looking at the keyboard to use, and as I'm a software developer I have never used a function key in my life) but I simply ignore it. And I don't post about it in prominent sites. I don't use the thunderbolt ports either but I also don't wrote about that.
- greatabel 8y agoWith more powerful competitors and increasingly rational consumers, the question is how long can apple play this game?
- _Simon 8y agoAre you suggesting that they are, as it were, doomed?
- macintux 8y agoApple will only truly lose the "beleaguered" label when they finally perish, no matter how dominant they become.
- tonyedgecombe 8y agoWhat makes you think consumers are becoming more rational?
- ClassyJacket 8y agoI can't beliebe they don't even mention the iPhone SE, arguably the best value 'out of band' iPhone
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- sxg 8y agoThe iPhone SE is essentially non-existent in the US. Its primary target is developing markets like India where the phone is made. Most people I know aren’t even aware the SE exists. If they see it in stores, they just assume it’s one of the older iPhones. Hacker News is the only place I see the SE getting any significant attention.
- kgwgk 8y agoI sold quite well when it was launched: https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/apple-iphone-se-marketshare-q2-2016/ https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/apple-iphone-se-markets... Of course now it's old, but would sell better if it received some love from Apple.
- harshreality 8y agoMy parents have them. Despite that (or maybe because) whenever I see them I ask them WTF they're thinking keeping a phone with such a limited screen, they insist that they "don't like" modern phablets, though they've never even used one. Go figure. Apple sells enough for their stores to carry the SE, so it's not really a developing-nation-only phone.
- Moto7451 8y agoI had one and love it. I’m able to use it without limitation one handed (often while carrying something or otherwise unable to use both hands), something I struggle with on my X. I also don’t like having things in my pockets so the small size was fantastic. I was gifted an Apple Watch and that has helped with a lot of things I would do single handed on the SE previously, like quick reply text messages and getting directions. There’s a market for small high end phones. It’s likely just not big enough for Apple (or anyone really) to care about.
- ElBarto 8y agoI have a cheap-ish (certainly compared to iPhones) Huawei and the design and quality of manufacturing is on par with Apple. IMHO, Huawei is going to turn out to be a tougher competitor than Samsung. Edit: I thought this was a mature place... Apparently not. Or you guys all work for Apple.
- mlrtime 8y agoThe Nexus 6P Was not a great phone construction wise.
- parthdesai 8y agohmm, i don't know if i'll agree with that. My Nexus 6P worked flawlessly till i dropped it from 4 ft. on a solid block of metal and the screen broke.
- bvy 8y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTIaUH6PIvo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTIaUH6PIvo Seemingly some issues with the casing, though I know there are plenty of other videos that show a Nexus 6P not bending.
- burntcookie90 8y ago> design and quality of manufacturing This is not all you get with Apple.
- ElBarto 8y agoSure, but then it boils down to Android v. iOS because Huawei's phones are as nice as classy as Apple's now and the top of the range may have higher specs. Samsung phones have always felt plastic-y to me.
- pertymcpert 8y agoI disagree. The SoC performance will be worse, and I think the screen too.
- eertami 8y agoArticles like this are so far removed from reality it's hard to take seriously. The screen on the XR is absolutely indefensible - it has the same PPI as an iPhone 4. It is worse than the 8, which is already worse than the screen in my 3 year old £200 Oneplus X. I have both and I would happily replace the 8 in a heartbeat if it wasn't a work requirement. Yeah people will buy it because they've convinced themselves they're somehow cooler if they do, but not because it is in anyway a competitive product.
- audunw 8y agoIs PPI the only thing that's bad about it? In that case I don't see the issue. PPI differences haven't been noticeable without effort since the iPhone 4 anyway.
- Synaesthesia 8y agoIt’s 326 ppi which has been the default on the iPhone 4 up to 8 and I think it’s fine. You can’t discern pixels on it (Typing on my 6S)
- ClassyJacket 8y agoI absolutely can discern pixels on it. The comparison to an S8 is just not even close. It's an inexcusable PPI for that price in 2018 even being the "cheap" iPhone. I'm sure the X is fine but I haven't really used one much.
- Synaesthesia 8y agoYes you can if you scrutinise it at 4cm and have good eyes but for everyday use at normal distances, you can't.
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- ynniv 8y agoOk, but lets actually measure the temperature of the pot every now and then. I just bought an iPhone 8 pre-announcement because my phone was broken and in the store I realized that the (original) iPhone X is just too large. And there wasn't going to be a better, smaller phone after the announcement. The trend might be for larger phones but extrapolated ad absurdum they will be tablets and people will wonder why they don't like phones anymore. I would have paid more for a smaller iPhone X, but that doesn't seem to be an option Apple will entertain.
- matt-attack 8y agoFunny but being an 7 Plus owner I opted to skip the X due to it being too small. In particular because it’s skinnier than the 7 Plus, that means most commonly viewed material is smaller, e.g Photos, and landscape video while the phone is held upright. As you could imagine, I’ll be preordering the XS Max (despite the name).
- m_ke 8y agoSame here, except at $1100 for 64GB I might have to consider going back to an android phablet.
- whatever1 8y agoWhy not the XR? You get a slightly smaller 7plus with taller screen and all of the features of XS bar the second camera and 3D Touch which both provide limited added value. On top of that you will have better battery as well.
- matt-attack 8y ago> taller screen The problem is that the taller screen is skinnier. And the width is most often the limiting size. For example, if you're watching a movie, a 16:9 image is limited by the width of the phone. So a skinnier screen means a smaller movie. Same for viewing photos. Basically most tasks result in a smaller viewing experience. The taller screen really only buys you a better experience for reading long text (websites, ebooks, etc).
- oh_hello 8y agoSince the event yesterday I've been thinking about how these new models play out with Apple's history of selling the older phones at a discount for two years. The X was replaced by the Xs and is no longer for sale. I wonder if this trend will continue with only the Xr line remaining for sale for the following years. It would mean producing half the number of models of older iPhones going forward. Instead of 7, 7 plus, 8, 8 plus they would only have Xr and Xr 2019 replacement two years from now. Would this save them a significant amount of money?
- sgloutnikov 8y agoI think the X is not for sale because the Xs is an identical phone, except for the newer A12 chip and increased water resistance by 1m. If they were to sell the X it would have to be at a lower price point, then who would buy the Xs at $1000?
- binomialxenon 8y agoThey've generally kept older models around, haven't they? The 7 is nearly identical to the 8 and didn't get discontinued last year.
- pilif 8y agoThe X is too expensive to make for them to be able to significantly lower the price and keep selling it. This is mostly caused by the OLED screen which is why this years lower end introduction has an LCD screen
- oh_hello 8y agoMany have made fun of the new names using roman numerals and moving to "Max" instead of "Plus", but I think it all makes a lot of sense when you look at the larger picture. They are clearly making a major change to the product line and the way we all think of the product line. They don't want the Xs Max to be seen as the newer 8 Plus, it's a completely new, higher-end product.
- whatupmd 8y agoHigh-end excess for the tennis club crowd.
- wvenable 8y agoThey needed to move to "Max" instead of "Plus" because it's significantly larger than the "plus" model phones. They should have just gone with iPhone XS++. :)
- ltc5505 8y agoiPhone XS with classes.
- draw_down 8y agoUltimately the names don't matter that much and people place way too much importance on it.
- chaoticmass 8y agoI know the X is pronounced as "ten" but I can't help reading the XS model as "excess" instead of "ten s" in my head. I have a hard time imagining no one in Apple marketing noticed this.
- rorykoehler 8y agoIt is just a larger version of the XS just like plus is a larger 8. The name is irrelevant if the facts don’t change.
- FabHK 8y ago
- HSO 8y agoI see a lot of complaints here about the size (trend) and lack of smaller, SE-like option. But if product cycles really do take around 3 years (from conception to release), then 2019 might be the year. The SE was released in 2016 and was supply-constrained for quite a while. Obviously this is pure speculation but if Apple was sufficiently surprised by its success, maybe they decided in that year to "completely re-imagine" (sorry :) that form factor. And retiring the SE this cycle, given the apparent absence of good alternatives in the Android camp, might store up some demand to boost next year's sales. Like I said, pure speculation, but I wouldn't give up hope just yet. [addendum: I'm just listening to the latest ATP podcast episode to put myself to sleep, and lo and behold John Siracusa takes pretty much the above position while Marco Arment takes the opposite side. So now they've got a bet going on. Fun little coincidence. Check out the podcast if you don't know it yet, it's right in the ballpark for people who would comment on this article.]
- jonhohle 8y agoAfter lamenting the size of the 6🅂 following my iPhone 5, I was happy to get an iPhone SE as a burner for DEF CON this year. I was shocked at how small it felt. I've gotten so used to the extra space afforded by the 6-8 form factor. I still think the 6/SE is my favorite design, but would find it hard to go back to it as my daily driver. Now I'm looking at the X🅂 and have the same reservations. I don't want a larger device in my pocket (and have pockets that the 6🅂 is already unsuited for), but will probably like the extra screen space once I'm used to it.
- rorykoehler 8y agoI’ve been using an se on my current holiday and way prefer it. Thinking of making it my daily driver
- whateveracct 8y agoI went from a 5s to an X, and I really liked the size of the 5s and always took it in my pockets. My X is still a fine fit in my pockets, and it’s a gigantic upgrade over the 5s.
- 8y ago
- dkrich 8y agoThe mistake that I see most analysts make with regard to the iPhone launch events is that they make them right away, based on their initial gut reaction to the keynote. While their analysis may make sense and be completely reasonable, there is a very big difference between the thought process one has when viewing the new models side-by-side at the keynote and viewing them side-by-side on the Apple site or in an Apple store with an intent to purchase. While it may seem completely irrational to pay more money for a smaller screen with the exact same processor (XS vs XR), the truth is that lots of people (the type of people who buy iPhones at launch) typically gain a lot of their identity from their phones. They want the best model and getting the cheaper model just won't do. There is a practical argument to be made here as well: most people use their phones more than any other device they own. What's an extra $150 over the course of 2-3 years to have a better screen, camera, and construction? If I were to buy a new iPhone right now, I would probably go for the XS over the XR. My reasoning would be that the XS+ is too big for my day-to-day use, but I would rather have a better camera and display. But even if I went for the XR, that's still a win for Apple. They want to remain top of the market in smartphones, but they also want to capture as much of the TAM as possible while doing so. What they have achieved and why I like the strategy they are using here, is that they are capturing max TAM at the top of the market. They aren't interested in competing with commodity phones at the lower ends. Normally one could make the case for this being the definition of the Innovator's Dilemma and they are ripe for disruption. However I don't believe this applies to Apple because they have tie-ins due to software and services that make switching to another device extremely painful. There are lots of phone manufacturers who have been able to compete with Apple on hardware for years. But without the software and ecosystem, Apple customers will not consider switching. So it's not really a question of whether customers will leave Apple for Samsung/Google/Other, it's a question of whether customers will switch from one iPhone to another. I believe that even if this ever happened, say a surprisingly large number of XR's sold compared to XS's and the ASP came down, Apple would have lots of levers to pull to correct this and they'd still be in pole position. They could cut features from future base models or axe a third base model all together in the next cycle, for example.
- fossuser 8y agoI'm not even sure that other manufacturers can effectively compete on hardware. I used Android for years (mostly Nexus devices), but eventually gave up because Apple's phones had higher build quality along with fewer bugs. Their security posture and snappier response time (when I switched at least) were just bonuses. When they finally had text forwarding and iMessage after Google let Voice languish for years in favor of an ever increasing amount of not very good chat applications there was no longer anything I missed. At best the other devices are at par, mostly they're just cheaper with trade-offs in quality.