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I watched the announcement really trying to find an excuse to upgrade. But to be honest there was not a single new feature that I really wanted and that my curr

I watched the announcement really trying to find an excuse to upgrade. But to be honest there was not a single new feature that I really wanted and that my current iPhone 6S couldn't do. Pity.

enraged_camel 7y ago
If you are “feature-shopping”, you may want to check out Android phones, which ship with lots of gimmicks (which they call “features”). Apple is for quality - which is why you are still happy with your 6S. ;)
- DangerousPie 7y ago
  Yeah, problem is I want both features and quality. :) I am 100% sold on Apple devices in terms of quality, reliability and privacy issues. I don't think I'd buy an Android anytime soon. I just wish they had a few more exciting hardware features.
  - rstupek 7y ago
    What kind of exciting features were you hoping for? What does Android phones have that is missing on iphones? Beyond 5G which isn't deployed widely yet
    - DangerousPie 7y ago
      I wasn't really hoping for these since it was pretty clear they wouldn't be announced, but: TouchID sensor under the screen, getting rid of the notch, USB-C and 5G ... or something unexpected that's so innovative I couldn't have predicted it.
      - crescentfresh 7y ago
        > TouchID sensor under the screen YES
        misterprime 7y ago
        Galaxy Note 10+ user here. This limits the availability of screen protectors. Samsung was nice enough to include one pre-installed, but this slows down the fingerprint reader performance. Perhaps Apple's 3rd party accessory ecosystem and their attention to detail and polish would avoid these issues.
    - Kerrick 7y ago
      Why do you keep grilling them about Android? They never mentioned Android. They're not comparing iPhone 11 Pro Max to Android phones. They're comparing it to iPhone 6S. And it's not worth their upgrade.
    - misterprime 7y ago
      On Android: You can set default apps for certain links (YouTube, browser, mail client, etc). You can leave spaces or add widgets to the home screen. You can plug the phone into a computer and access the file system like a USB drive. Those are all pretty nice. Of course, iMessage, Apple Wallet, and other features are nice on iPhones. Both are different and good in their own ways.
ceejayoz 7y ago
Good. I'm glad to be off the upgrade treadmill from the early days of smartphones, on both the hardware and the OS level. When my current one breaks, I'll upgrade.
alkonaut 7y ago
If you don’t want a camera upgrade every 2 years then there is zero reason to upgrade. But the camera upgrades alone are usually worth it.
- root_axis 7y ago
  It's subjective, but cameras are already so good that it hardly makes a difference.
  - cryptozeus 7y ago
    That is what I thought until upgraded from 7 to 10s. Difference in photo quality is 4x.
  - toasterlovin 7y ago
    If you have kids, better low light photography is extremely valuable. Many moments with kids are indoors and lighting indoors is usually terrible.
    - shantly 7y ago
      If someone comes out with a point-n-shoot that's about as good as a semi-recent iphone camera, does live photos(!), and has backup-over-wifi I'm back on a dumbphone on release day of that device. And yeah, entirely for kids.
      - toasterlovin 7y ago
        Live Photos are probably the best feature to ever happen for parents. They are pure magic.
  - alkonaut 7y ago
    You get at least two or three stops more sensitivity if you upgrade from 7 to X. It’s an enormous difference when you need it. You can’t take a picture in broad daylight and say “looks nice and crisp, can’t be better”. Take a photo of something moving, indoors and you’ll see it.
kiloatl 7y ago
I hear you, I upgraded from the 6S to the XS last year. I love both phones, but the 6S was simpler since I didn't need a dongle for headphones. The jump was great for the screen size, but I hate sacrificing the headphones.
- laumars 7y ago
  Last year I bought some bluetooth earphones (Bose rather than Apple) and honestly I don't miss wired earphones one bit. In fact it surprised me just how much I don't miss wired earphones. The biggest annoyance for me is that Nintendo's Switch requires a bluetooth dongle to work with bluetooth earphones despite having it's own bluetooth radio built in.
  - hrktb 7y ago
    Are you pairing your earphones with multiple devices ? (your phone and switch ?) That’s the last point that makes me pause, as pairing/unpairing/switching is a PITA and I have four devices I want to hear audio from. I though only airpods and Beats could switch seemlessly so I am intrigued.
    - closetohome 7y ago
      The way Bose does it can be a little awkward (sometimes you have to manage devices from the app), but it definitely works.
    - laumars 7y ago
      My Bose earphones can be connected to two devices concurrently. However it can be paired to a multitude more devices but not connected to them. Which means if you have 3 devices turned on (eg laptop, Switch and phone) it might only be connected to the laptop and phone. So you either have to switch the connection via the phone app (which isn't the prettiest nor most intuitive of apps but it's "good enough" for what it is) or turn off one of the devices and the earphones will auto-switch to the next available pared bluetooth device. I don't think there is a way in the Bose app of setting an order of preference for which devices will take precedence (eg when I pared with my laptop, the laptop would take ownership and stop the phone from playing everytime the laptop was turned on - which was rather annoying to say the least). But it was a while ago when I last checked. So you don't have to pair an unpair all the time but there are some annoying edge cases. However it's still easier than unplugging and replugging the cable. One thing I will say in favour of wired earphones is that the wire itself is actually rather nice tool for not actually losing your earphone. The bluetooth earphones I have are connected via a cable between the two ear pieces (which goes round the back of your neck) which means I can take the earphones out to talk to someone and not worry about dropping or losing an earpiece. So often on the London underground I see people dropping an AirPod and then scrambling around a busy escalator trying to pick the damn thing up. I dread to think how many people have lost or broken their AirPods directly because of their form factor. So if you're the clumsy sort or struggle to find earphones which stick in your ear, then you might be better off sticking to wired earphone or buying headphones instead.
taurath 7y ago
Still on 6s. Battery life is my reason to upgrade. I'm at 3.5hrs browsing, 14hrs standby on a replacement battery <1yr old.
- DangerousPie 7y ago
  Mine has been great since I got it changed under the replacement program last year. Usually around 60-70% when I get home from work.
  - taurath 7y ago
    That’s what I did too - it’s at 54% right now, 5 hours after waking. Maybe I got a dud battery.
    - DangerousPie 7y ago
      To be fair when I'm at work I don't use it much and it's connected to Wifi. If I'm traveling and actively using it for hours it definitely doesn't last this long.
- thirdsun 7y ago
  That doesn't sound right. Is this a official, genuine Apple battery or was this done by a third party?
  - taurath 7y ago
    Done at the Genius Bar. I replaced the battery because it was even worse and wild shut down due to not enough voltage. It doesn’t do that anymore, but especially in low signal places it drains very very fast.
hrktb 7y ago
Waterproofing could perhaps be the main feature, the 6S being the last one who didn’t get it. I also wonder if they increased screen durability, with all the shots of phones getting into purses against keys etc. Also I feel the camera is getting slower as time goes by, and I already replaced the battery.

I watched the announcement really trying to find an excuse to upgrade. But to be honest there was not a single new feature that I really wanted and that my current iPhone 6S couldn't do. Pity.

enraged_camel 7y ago

If you are “feature-shopping”, you may want to check out Android phones, which ship with lots of gimmicks (which they call “features”). Apple is for quality - which is why you are still happy with your 6S. ;)

DangerousPie 7y ago
Yeah, problem is I want both features and quality. :) I am 100% sold on Apple devices in terms of quality, reliability and privacy issues. I don't think I'd buy an Android anytime soon. I just wish they had a few more exciting hardware features.
- rstupek 7y ago
  What kind of exciting features were you hoping for? What does Android phones have that is missing on iphones? Beyond 5G which isn't deployed widely yet
  - DangerousPie 7y ago
    I wasn't really hoping for these since it was pretty clear they wouldn't be announced, but: TouchID sensor under the screen, getting rid of the notch, USB-C and 5G ... or something unexpected that's so innovative I couldn't have predicted it.
    - crescentfresh 7y ago
      > TouchID sensor under the screen YES
      - misterprime 7y ago
        Galaxy Note 10+ user here. This limits the availability of screen protectors. Samsung was nice enough to include one pre-installed, but this slows down the fingerprint reader performance. Perhaps Apple's 3rd party accessory ecosystem and their attention to detail and polish would avoid these issues.
  - Kerrick 7y ago
    Why do you keep grilling them about Android? They never mentioned Android. They're not comparing iPhone 11 Pro Max to Android phones. They're comparing it to iPhone 6S. And it's not worth their upgrade.
  - misterprime 7y ago
    On Android: You can set default apps for certain links (YouTube, browser, mail client, etc). You can leave spaces or add widgets to the home screen. You can plug the phone into a computer and access the file system like a USB drive. Those are all pretty nice. Of course, iMessage, Apple Wallet, and other features are nice on iPhones. Both are different and good in their own ways.

ceejayoz 7y ago

Good. I'm glad to be off the upgrade treadmill from the early days of smartphones, on both the hardware and the OS level. When my current one breaks, I'll upgrade.

alkonaut 7y ago

If you don’t want a camera upgrade every 2 years then there is zero reason to upgrade. But the camera upgrades alone are usually worth it.

root_axis 7y ago
It's subjective, but cameras are already so good that it hardly makes a difference.
- cryptozeus 7y ago
  That is what I thought until upgraded from 7 to 10s. Difference in photo quality is 4x.
- toasterlovin 7y ago
  If you have kids, better low light photography is extremely valuable. Many moments with kids are indoors and lighting indoors is usually terrible.
  - shantly 7y ago
    If someone comes out with a point-n-shoot that's about as good as a semi-recent iphone camera, does live photos(!), and has backup-over-wifi I'm back on a dumbphone on release day of that device. And yeah, entirely for kids.
    - toasterlovin 7y ago
      Live Photos are probably the best feature to ever happen for parents. They are pure magic.
- alkonaut 7y ago
  You get at least two or three stops more sensitivity if you upgrade from 7 to X. It’s an enormous difference when you need it. You can’t take a picture in broad daylight and say “looks nice and crisp, can’t be better”. Take a photo of something moving, indoors and you’ll see it.

kiloatl 7y ago

I hear you, I upgraded from the 6S to the XS last year. I love both phones, but the 6S was simpler since I didn't need a dongle for headphones. The jump was great for the screen size, but I hate sacrificing the headphones.

laumars 7y ago
Last year I bought some bluetooth earphones (Bose rather than Apple) and honestly I don't miss wired earphones one bit. In fact it surprised me just how much I don't miss wired earphones. The biggest annoyance for me is that Nintendo's Switch requires a bluetooth dongle to work with bluetooth earphones despite having it's own bluetooth radio built in.
- hrktb 7y ago
  Are you pairing your earphones with multiple devices ? (your phone and switch ?) That’s the last point that makes me pause, as pairing/unpairing/switching is a PITA and I have four devices I want to hear audio from. I though only airpods and Beats could switch seemlessly so I am intrigued.
  - closetohome 7y ago
    The way Bose does it can be a little awkward (sometimes you have to manage devices from the app), but it definitely works.
  - laumars 7y ago
    My Bose earphones can be connected to two devices concurrently. However it can be paired to a multitude more devices but not connected to them. Which means if you have 3 devices turned on (eg laptop, Switch and phone) it might only be connected to the laptop and phone. So you either have to switch the connection via the phone app (which isn't the prettiest nor most intuitive of apps but it's "good enough" for what it is) or turn off one of the devices and the earphones will auto-switch to the next available pared bluetooth device. I don't think there is a way in the Bose app of setting an order of preference for which devices will take precedence (eg when I pared with my laptop, the laptop would take ownership and stop the phone from playing everytime the laptop was turned on - which was rather annoying to say the least). But it was a while ago when I last checked. So you don't have to pair an unpair all the time but there are some annoying edge cases. However it's still easier than unplugging and replugging the cable. One thing I will say in favour of wired earphones is that the wire itself is actually rather nice tool for not actually losing your earphone. The bluetooth earphones I have are connected via a cable between the two ear pieces (which goes round the back of your neck) which means I can take the earphones out to talk to someone and not worry about dropping or losing an earpiece. So often on the London underground I see people dropping an AirPod and then scrambling around a busy escalator trying to pick the damn thing up. I dread to think how many people have lost or broken their AirPods directly because of their form factor. So if you're the clumsy sort or struggle to find earphones which stick in your ear, then you might be better off sticking to wired earphone or buying headphones instead.

taurath 7y ago

Still on 6s. Battery life is my reason to upgrade. I'm at 3.5hrs browsing, 14hrs standby on a replacement battery <1yr old.

DangerousPie 7y ago
Mine has been great since I got it changed under the replacement program last year. Usually around 60-70% when I get home from work.
- taurath 7y ago
  That’s what I did too - it’s at 54% right now, 5 hours after waking. Maybe I got a dud battery.
  - DangerousPie 7y ago
    To be fair when I'm at work I don't use it much and it's connected to Wifi. If I'm traveling and actively using it for hours it definitely doesn't last this long.
thirdsun 7y ago
That doesn't sound right. Is this a official, genuine Apple battery or was this done by a third party?
- taurath 7y ago
  Done at the Genius Bar. I replaced the battery because it was even worse and wild shut down due to not enough voltage. It doesn’t do that anymore, but especially in low signal places it drains very very fast.

hrktb 7y ago

Waterproofing could perhaps be the main feature, the 6S being the last one who didn’t get it. I also wonder if they increased screen durability, with all the shots of phones getting into purses against keys etc. Also I feel the camera is getting slower as time goes by, and I already replaced the battery.