The Apple Discussion Thread

[ramuman]



FWIW, I think the Note 7 is a better phone than the iPhone 7/+, explosions excepted. But I am intrigued by the dual camera set up, so I may be breaking my iPhone duck soon.

You must have been one of the first to get an iPhone 7+ to compare the two.

 

[chobochobo]

I haven't compared the two IRL if that's what you mean. I'm using a Note 5, was going to go Note 7 but might go iPhone 7+.

 

[GreenFrog]

Reading reviews of the iPhone now and, uh, yeah... the jet black is going back. Scratches like a motherfucker and the pics are terrifying.

Wow.

Will be keeping the matte Black instead.

 

[HRoi]

Links to those reviews?

 

[Mulan]

https://www.amazon.com/AirPods-Spig...&qid=1473776740&sr=8-1&keywords=airpods+strap

 

[GreenFrog]



Links to those reviews?

It's on techcrunch

 

[ipractice]

Review roundup with links to each publication:
http://appleinsider.com/articles/16...et-but-lack-of-the-headphone-jack-is-annoying

Overall, reviews seem to be positive. iPhone release cycle and reviews are extremely predictable nowadays. But I don't think it can be understated how great it is that Apple makes conservative claims in their release conference, and that those claims hold up or exceed expectations (camera, processor, battery life in this case). That's why I was so confident in their implementation of the dual camera system. Can't even count the number of times I've watched a tech conference only to be utterly disappointed when I got my hands on the product. I recommend ARS Technica's review for a more technical look: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/0...w-great-annual-upgrades-with-one-major-catch/.

Only consistent negatives are jet black casing which I did not opt for, and missing headphone jack which is something I'm happy they got rid of.

 

[GreenFrog]

I have early October shipping dates for my iPhones but I really hope this is a case of apple underestimating and overestimating like last year.

Going to Iceland at the end of September for a bachelor party and would love to have the 7 plus for picture taking by then.

 

[GreenFrog]

#scuffgate

Just bought apple's leather case in saddle brown.

 

[Jr Mouse]

Exert from Verge's iPhone 7 review.

The Lightning EarPods are exactly like Apple’s regular EarPods, which is to say that they sound average-to-bad and fit either fine or not-great depending on your ears. Competitors like LG and HTC ship much higher quality headphones with their flagship phones, and Apple owns Beats, so it’s just really hard to understand why it’s still shipping such decidedly mediocre headphones with the iPhone. Especially when the company is trying to get everyone to be enthusiastic about the move away from 3.5mm. But here we are.

Of course, the real move Apple’s trying to make is to wireless audio, and the company also gave me a preproduction set of its AirPods wireless earbuds to try out. I can’t fully review them here since they’re not final, but they worked well — they’re basically Bluetooth headphones that pair easier and faster with Apple’s products because of a proprietary controller chip called the W1 and special software built into iOS, macOS, and watchOS. Once you pair the AirPods with one Apple device, they can seamlessly switch to all the others, which is very cool. But AirPods sound just like EarPods because they’re basically EarPods without wires, so what you’re getting for your $159 is convenience and early adopter status, not necessarily sound quality.

That's right. Neither the packed in Lightning EarPods or the new AirPods (preproduction) sound any better than the old 3.5mm EarPods. I hope everyone understands what this means. Apple took away our headphone jacks without giving us anything new. Anything better. Apple loves to discuss trade offs when talking about design and when they made decisions to remove technology from products, but there was no real "trade" made here.

We get clunky adapters, headphones that will be more expensive due to having to licence Apple's proprietary Lightning standard and a line of Bluetooth 4.0 headphones from Apple and Beats that will pair to devices a little easier due to the W1 chip.

I keep asking. What's the benefit? What do we users receive in this trade? Nothing. All those "benefits" listed above will work just fine on older iPhone models. It's a joke.

As Nilay goes on to point out that this whole move would have made much more sense had Apple introduced a new "revolutionary" wireless standard. Something that beats the pants off Bluetooth. Something that users would benefit greatly from in the long run. As it is today, Apple customers just got screwed.

 

[GreenFrog]

Shrug.

Will still be preordering the airpods as soon as they come out. I'm stoked for them.

I'm not looking for mind blowing sound quality or sound quality comparable to $160 shure ear buds. These will do just fine for my usage.

The other reviews I've seen for them say that sound quality is good and that volume output is highly improved compared to the EarPods. Bass is strong and highs are crisp and discernible.

Vote with your wallets, folks.

 

[the shah]

I tried the jaybird x and x2 which both originally retailed for 200, and ended up back with the Apple headphones, somehow they fit better and so more enjoyable despite the wires being less convenient. So if it's gonna be the same thing without wires i'm ok with it.

 

[Jr Mouse]

Extensive review of iOS 10.

https://www.macstories.net/stories/ios-10-the-macstories-review/

EDIT: I agree with the review that a lot of the tweaks made to iOS improve it's readability and in general make it nicer to use and look at.

Unfortunately my big issue with iOS in terms of UI design has not changed. I really dislike the frosted glass look that Apple has chosen to use in it's notifications/widgets.

Compare that to the clean white look that Material Design employs with Android.

It's just a matter of taste, but I find the implementation in Material Design worlds more pleasing to look at.

 

[ramuman]



Shrug.

Will still be preordering the airpods as soon as they come out. I'm stoked for them.

I'm not looking for mind blowing sound quality or sound quality comparable to $160 shure ear buds. These will do just fine for my usage.

The other reviews I've seen for them say that sound quality is good and that volume output is highly improved compared to the EarPods. Bass is strong and highs are crisp and discernible.

Vote with your wallets, folks.

Are you worried about losing them? Sound quality aside, that would be my biggest concern since I travel a fair amount.

 

[GreenFrog]



Are you worried about losing them? Sound quality aside, that would be my biggest concern since I travel a fair amount.

I mean, a tiny bit? But not nearly enough to deter me from getting them.

My biggest concern is the fact that I'll need to carry it in that stupid case. That's valuable pocket real estate.