Why so excited for the iPhone X ? It's the same old thing running boring iOS

Commander Shepard said:
Yeah, I get it. I got my second Pixel 2 XL, this morning... and repacked it for return to Google. The screen on the one I received isn't any better than what was on my first 2 XL. :(
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Ah that's unfortunate. I remember back in the day my initial Galaxy S4 was very uneven so I returned it and got them to give me a new one (which still works great today). I would've been choked if my replacement had also been bad.

Even modern Samsung OLED's occasionally aren't up to snuff much less LG's
 
Zorachus said:
It's all about the OS man. Yes I'd prefer a more compact style and design on the Pixel 2 XL, but at the end of the day it's the OS that matters #1.

A flashy cool looking phone is for kids. But a rock solid OS directly supported by the manufacturer for 2 to 3 years is most important.
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Google upped the ante for Android by guaranteeing updates for 3 years on the Pixel 2/XL
 
radeon962 said:
Google upped the ante for Android by guaranteeing updates for 3 years on the Pixel 2/XL
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Hopefully that happens. It feels like The 5x and 6p just came out and neither are getting updates anymore. I wish Google took note of Apple, the day IOS 11 came out, you could install it on an iPhone 5s. A phone that came out 2 years before the 5x and 6p even existed.
 
AltTabbins said:
Hopefully that happens. It feels like The 5x and 6p just came out and neither are getting updates anymore. I wish Google took note of Apple, the day IOS 11 came out, you could install it on an iPhone 5s. A phone that came out 2 years before the 5x and 6p even existed.
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You could do that but you'll hate yourself afterward not even kidding.
 
ChronoReverse said:
You could do that but you'll hate yourself afterward not even kidding.
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I still think having the option is better than not though. Google really has to get their shit together with updates, their ecosystem by nature is fractured but they need to buckle down and make some changes.
 
AltTabbins said:
I really hate the phone financing system that carriers have switched to. They are all fucking slimy and prey on people who really can't afford the real price of phones that the sales guys pitch to them.
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Why is it slimy? It’s a zero percent interest loan on a phone. I actually 5% off my phone because I opted to finance it.

It’s not the business’ issue that people are terrible with money. Shit, I know people that spend more money of fucking CLENSES than what a phone costs. Now that is slimy.
 
Trimlock said:
Why is it slimy? It’s a zero percent interest loan on a phone. I actually 5% off my phone because I opted to finance it.

It’s not the business’ issue that people are terrible with money. Shit, I know people that spend more money of fucking CLENSES than what a phone costs. Now that is slimy.
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Its because it opens doors to allow the carriers to pull bullshit like this -

"Verizons new unlimited everything plan is only $60 a month!". Sure its $60, but that's only for new lines. Oh a new line has a $35 activation fee. Oh yeah don't forget the $20 a month connection fee for data. You also can't bring your own phone in, since this deal is for a new line you are required to finance a phone through us because its a new promotion we are doing. Dont worry though, this new Iphone X is only $38.40 a month for 36 months, or 24 months if you want to just literally throw your money down the drain and give your phone back to us. But hey, don't you hate that contract you were chained to before? You can BREAK THOSE CHAINS!! because our new plans are completely contract free!! You can leave at any... time... you... want... just pay off the rest of your phone in one lump sum. But its not a contract! You're completely free! Lets sign this new paperwork on this dotted line here.. here.. here.. and initial here.. here.. and here.. but remember all this stuff, not a contract. Your old grandfathered unlimited plan was $78 a month, that sucks.. aren't you glad you are only paying $60 now!? After all payments, taxes, and fees your total is now $129 a month. But isn't that new iphone awesome? I forgot to mention that the $80 in taxes is due right now too, I hope you brought cash or card.


That's why its slimy.
 
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Carriers are slimy like that, though I should mention that the old-school approach of two-year contract subsidized phones wasn't all that different in practice. The actual phone cost was masked by ridiculous service rates that didn't go down after your two years were up.

I know this all too well due to how long my family was on Sprint, and how stupid expensive the Everything Data 1500 plan got with four or five lines (we're talking considerably over $300+ each month here when you factor in the base price being around $120, additional lines were $20, and every single line with a smartphone had a $10 data upcharge, which was all of them at that point), while to them, a "new phone" was simply a dollar or so (that's how we got our Galaxy S5s and the one LG G3) if they just agreed to stick around for another two years.

The replacement plans were much cheaper, but explicitly did not allow for two-year contract pricing in favor of the new lease/financing options that T-Mobile pushed the US market into doing.

Would it have worked out much cheaper if we switched to one of the newer Sprint plans? Hell if I know, because we've been on T-Mobile for nearly a year and have been pretty content with that, even if the cost of buying new phones stings up front a bit. It would've been about three years ago back in 2014 if they just followed my advice and dumped Sprint when I caught on to their monthly bills and the fact that Sprint = CDMA = next to no unlocked phone options, but no, they had to take those $1 Black Friday Galaxy S5s and renew more contracts... had that worked out as I intended it, then chances are I wouldn't have had to retire my Note 4 already because I would've had a T-Mobile variant to start with.

With all that said, it doesn't feel as slimy if it's coming from the manufacturer, not the carrier. Google does this. Samsung does this. Maybe the other manufacturers can follow suit. And, hey, since it's not a carrier that's handling the financing, you're still free to switch without immediately paying off the rest of the balance. Just make sure that, as always with any financing plan, you read the fine print and know what you're getting into.
 
AltTabbins said:
Its because it opens doors to allow the carriers to pull bullshit like this -

"Verizons new unlimited everything plan is only $60 a month!". Sure its $60, but that's only for new lines. Oh a new line has a $35 activation fee. Oh yeah don't forget the $20 a month connection fee for data. You also can't bring your own phone in, since this deal is for a new line you are required to finance a phone through us because its a new promotion we are doing. Dont worry though, this new Iphone X is only $38.40 a month for 36 months, or 24 months if you want to just literally throw your money down the drain and give your phone back to us. But hey, don't you hate that contract you were chained to before? You can BREAK THOSE CHAINS!! because our new plans are completely contract free!! You can leave at any... time... you... want... just pay off the rest of your phone in one lump sum. But its not a contract! You're completely free! Lets sign this new paperwork on this dotted line here.. here.. here.. and initial here.. here.. and here.. but remember all this stuff, not a contract. Your old grandfathered unlimited plan was $78 a month, that sucks.. aren't you glad you are only paying $60 now!? After all payments, taxes, and fees your total is now $129 a month. But isn't that new iphone awesome? I forgot to mention that the $80 in taxes is due right now too, I hope you brought cash or card.


That's why its slimy.
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Everything you just said blames the OEM for consumers being bad with money.

So what if they charge marginally less per month but requires you to buy phones for full price, YOU DONT HAVE TO.

The OEMs offer a 100% freedom to the consumer vs the old contract method. Giving out free loans is fine.
 
I think those come with extra monthly fines, if not then that’s really a great deal.
 
Zorachus said:
WOW WOW WOW

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/at-t-iphone-x-deals-possibility.2092954/#post-25562469

People on ATT getting the iPhone X 256GB for $699, and the 64GB X for $599. How does this even really work ?
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Sounds like it is a YMMV type of situation.

Seems that you need to agree to a 2-year commitment for starters. Your monthly line charge may increase to $40 as the $25 discount is gone. It sounds like it is modeled after the old 2-year contract model.

Some users are reporting that they were told no change in the line charge but it seems that those users are ones with the unlimited plan.

From SD:

Quote from Rusty2192 :
It's right on AT&T's site. The new unlimited plans have a $20 access fee, regardless of the agreement. The exception is for Business plans.

https://www.att.com/plans/unlimit...plans.html Talked to retention - was offered 50% off with 2 year contract but would work either
1. If the account is already on unlimited plan the access fee still remains $20 per month irrespective account is on contract or not.
OR
2. If the account is not on unlimited plan either pay $40 access fee per month or switch to unlimited plan to reduce access fees.

Another onefrom SD:

From my online chat with loyalty department:

CSR: thank you for waiting with me! before we do start i do have to set some expatiations with you about the bill! if you choose a 2 year contract the line discount that you are getting the $25 will be removed and your bills are going to increase by the $75. and the 2 year contract with the iphone X 64gb phone is going to be $549.99 for each phone + taxes and fees.

Me: i was under the impression i wouldn't have to change my plan
Me: and that i would still get the $25 discount

CSR: you do not have to change the plan it will be the same one.. but since you are getting a 2 year contract the line discount is going to go away the reason why is because att only provides a discount on the plan or the phone since you are choosing the phone the discount for the plan does drop off.

If you are on a mobile share value plan the catch is that your $25 line discount goes away and rather than $15/line you would pay $40/line

Quote from silverbullet361 :
Would be helpful to clarify which plan you are on

I am on the Mobile Share Value 15GB with Rollover Data. There's a corporate discount applied along with a $25/line/month discount. This is what I would lose if I did this. I believe the Unlimited plans do not have this charge.
 
Zorachus said:
I'm probably going to purchase the Pixel 2 XL outright from Google. I'm ok forking out $850 or so. That's my extreme limit on a smartphone. But spending over a $1,000 cash, no thanks.

I think the only smartphones to buy are the iPhone or Pixel phone. Direct support from the source, good warranties. And I'm just more comfortable with stock Android. Would hate to get an X and a week later be pissed off because I don't like iOS.


And my point about TMobile's high deposit on the iPhone X, is more about the JoD program, with big deposits needed being on something like Jump on Demand seems like it's not worth it as much anymore. I might just buy my Pixel full price from Google and go contract free on something like ATTGo Phone.
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T4rd said:
Are you on their old Simple Choice plans or their current One plan? Cuz I know they're still doing the $350 credit for activating a Pixel phone on your account if you're on the One plan. I was thinking about calling and begging them to give me the credit on my SC plan since the One plans are considerably more expensive, I'll have less tethering data (currently have a 20GB data stash), and they won't really benefit me in any way since I essentially have unlimited data (for any streaming service) with Binge-On enabled on my 6GB plan. I know they gave that credit to SC plan users last year for the Pixel since the One plan had just came out at the time, but I don't think that offer is still on the table anymore and am curious if anyone else has got them to do it recently.

Getting that credit is about the only way I could consider getting the 2 XL at its current price. I don't care how good the phone is, it's not going to be worth $850 for me when my current 6P is still working great and I paid half as much for it 18 months ago. Otherwise the only phones I'm considering replacing it with is the Essential, 5T, or maybe the Mate 10 (non-Pro).
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You miss my post/question?
 
T4rd said:
You miss my post/question?
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I'm on the T-Mobile 'JoD' "Jump on Demand" program, where I can change phones 3 times in one year for each line. But lately I have slowed down on that, I maybe switch phones once per year lately, or maybe two phones in a little over a year at most. Mainly because getting a new Android phone every six months doesn't seem like a massive upgrade, because it's not. Going from a Galaxy S8+ to a V30 to a Note 8, in one year doesn't excite as much, because at the end of the day, it's not night and day difference.

Sure going from Android to iPhone back and forth could be fun with JoD, like get a iPhone X, then the Galaxy S9, then the iPhone X2 Plus, in one year, maybe be more fun. I don't know.
 
Zorachus said:
I'm on the T-Mobile 'JoD' "Jump on Demand" program, where I can change phones 3 times in one year for each line. But lately I have slowed down on that, I maybe switch phones once per year lately, or maybe two phones in a little over a year at most. Mainly because getting a new Android phone every six months doesn't seem like a massive upgrade, because it's not. Going from a Galaxy S8+ to a V30 to a Note 8, in one year doesn't excite as much, because at the end of the day, it's not night and day difference.

Sure going from Android to iPhone back and forth could be fun with JoD, like get a iPhone X, then the Galaxy S9, then the iPhone X2 Plus, in one year, maybe be more fun. I don't know.
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I asked what phone/data plan you're on; Simple Choice, One, etc. JoD isn't a data plan. I was asking because if you're on the One plan, T-Mo will credit you $350 towards the Pixel phones. But if you were on their old SC plan, I was going to see if you could ask them to still get that credit so I would know if it's possible for me to get it as well.
 
T4rd said:
I asked what phone/data plan you're on; Simple Choice, One, etc. JoD isn't a data plan. I was asking because if you're on the One plan, T-Mo will credit you $350 towards the Pixel phones. But if you were on their old SC plan, I was going to see if you could ask them to still get that credit so I would know if it's possible for me to get it as well.
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I'm not on the "One" plan, I'm on the older unlimited plan from a couple years ago. But the $350 credit would be cool, so that's over 24 months ? So $15 off my bill per month per line ?
 
Zorachus said:
I'm not on the "One" plan, I'm on the older unlimited plan from a couple years ago. But the $350 credit would be cool, so that's over 24 months ? So $15 off my bill per month per line ?
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Yeah, I'm pretty sure the credit is spread out across a year or two or somewhere in between that. So if you end up getting the a Pixel, then call them and ask about it to see if they'll still let you have that credit, because I'm curious if I could still get it as well.

Edit: Just found the post about it. Says existing SC users can get it too, but you have to sign up a new line either way, which is garbage. I don't remember that being a requirement before. So now I wonder if they could just cancel a line and immediately re-add it for the promo or something.
 
T4rd said:
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the credit is spread out across a year or two or somewhere in between that. So if you end up getting the a Pixel, then call them and ask about it to see if they'll still let you have that credit, because I'm curious if I could still get it as well.

Edit: Just found the post about it. Says existing SC users can get it too, but you have to sign up a new line either way, which is garbage. I don't remember that being a requirement before. So now I wonder if they could just cancel a line and immediately re-add it for the promo or something.
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To sign up for a new line defeats the whole purpose of the $350 credit back.

And looking into it, sounds like a prepaid Visa card they mail you 8 weeks after Pixel 2 gets registered on your account. Or is it monthly bill credits ?

Heck, the Verizon deal sounds better, instead of the Pixel 2 XL financing being $35 / month, the deal right now is $22 / month. Even if you buy the phone direct from Google it's like $36 a month financed 0%, so $22 is a good savings. But...then your stuck with a locked phone, and have to move to WW2 Germany and join the Nazi network
 
Zorachus said:
I'm on the T-Mobile 'JoD' "Jump on Demand" program, where I can change phones 3 times in one year for each line. But lately I have slowed down on that, I maybe switch phones once per year lately, or maybe two phones in a little over a year at most. Mainly because getting a new Android phone every six months doesn't seem like a massive upgrade, because it's not. Going from a Galaxy S8+ to a V30 to a Note 8, in one year doesn't excite as much, because at the end of the day, it's not night and day difference.

Sure going from Android to iPhone back and forth could be fun with JoD, like get a iPhone X, then the Galaxy S9, then the iPhone X2 Plus, in one year, maybe be more fun. I don't know.
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So that's how you change expensive flagship phones like underwear!

My mom's stuck on Jump! 2.0 or whatever (came with tax-included ONE plan), though, so I think she has to pay off half the balance on her current S7 before being eligible for any upgrades. I'm guessing that'll happen right around January or February, and I'm looking forward to it for the sole reason that for some stupid reason, her S7's microSD slot doesn't work and forces the internal 32 GB of storage full of photos and videos in short order, then calling on me to clear it all out for her. (Unsurprisingly, this is a big reason why I've never been keen on iPhones, though I do have to give Apple mad props for giving their internal NAND an NVMe interface like a cutting-edge SSD.)
 
There's a guy on MacRumors forum that says he typically gets around 14 to 16 new smartphones every year.

So you think I'm bad, getting maybe 2 or 3 new phones a year. On that forum is common the members seem to change out at least 6 phones a year, which I think is insanity. Need to be Daddy Warbucks to afford that habit, could run you over $10,000 a year just on smartphones.

Even if I could afford that, I not interested, to me trying out 3 phones a year is enough
 
I have a credit card that I use strictly for phone purchases. It has a $1200 limit and I just pay off a phone in 2-3 months. I like this method better than the Jump plan I was on for about 5 years.
 
Commander Shepard said:
I have a credit card that I use strictly for phone purchases. It has a $1200 limit and I just pay off a phone in 2-3 months. I like this method better than the Jump plan I was on for about 5 years.
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I just use profits from buying and selling phones and high end golf equipment to fund my purchases.

Makes it easy as I never use household funds for phones or golf so my wife does not even question what arrives.

She even drops my packages off at the post office when I sell something and let's me know when something new arrives.
 
There's a lot of talk about Android being unstable and I just don't see it. Android is point for point as stable as iOS IMO but I'm up for hearing about explanations about what's unstable exactly.....
 
Blown 89 said:
There's a lot of talk about Android being unstable and I just don't see it. Android is point for point as stable as iOS IMO but I'm up for hearing about explanations about what's unstable exactly.....
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I’m up for hearing where this talk is from about android being unstable.
 
exlink said:
I used to think that about 2-3 years ago. Now I'd say Android Oreo is more stable than iOS 11.
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I wouldn’t say either is unstable, especially iOS.

Android has been very stable since 4.0.

I just don’t know where the poster is hearing about android being unstable.
 
I've gone back and forth between iOS and Android for the past 2 years or so switching from iPhone 7 Plus and X with Pixel XL and OnePlus 5 and really they are both very well done. Some issues in either from time to time but not what I would call unstable.

Find what works best for you and how you use your phone and enjoy it.
 
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...-your-guide-to-the-other-apple-tax/ar-AAv7Vx6

One of the most annoying things about the iPhone is the ridiculously small free iCloud storage at 5GB in this day and age. If Apple gives 15GB free like Google does, which is still not enough for me, I'd be willing to pay $3 a month for the 200GB family share. 5GB just screams out pure greed to me. They might as well not give it. Based on principle, I will simply not support paying for iCloud storage. So I am syncing the iTunes backup folder with OneDrive's 1TB from Office 365, and I am uploading to both Google and Amazon's free photo storage. My mom managing her iCloud storage on the other hand... Argh!
 
Anyone else returned their iPhone X for an 8 or any other phone? I personally know 3 people who have returned theirs because they hated Face ID since you can't use it while the phone is sitting on a desk or even somewhat discretely when around other people, plus they said they just didn't like it over Touch ID in general. I'm just curious if any others here have done the same.
 
I only knew people who went to the store and left with iPhone 8 due to touch ID, but I think it's more likely the $300 down payment. People aren't likely to admit that though.
 
CHANG3D said:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...-your-guide-to-the-other-apple-tax/ar-AAv7Vx6

One of the most annoying things about the iPhone is the ridiculously small free iCloud storage at 5GB in this day and age. If Apple gives 15GB free like Google does, which is still not enough for me, I'd be willing to pay $3 a month for the 200GB family share. 5GB just screams out pure greed to me. They might as well not give it. Based on principle, I will simply not support paying for iCloud storage. So I am syncing the iTunes backup folder with OneDrive's 1TB from Office 365, and I am uploading to both Google and Amazon's free photo storage. My mom managing her iCloud storage on the other hand... Argh!
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I pay $0.99/month for the 50GB iCloud storage. More than enough for me since I buy the larger capacity phones (128GB iPhone 6S, 256GB iPhone 7, 256GB iPhone X) which I also back-up on my computer via iTunes. Don't trust having my photos on the cloud; especially after the iCloud hacks (brute force entries).

T4rd said:
Anyone else returned their iPhone X for an 8 or any other phone? I personally know 3 people who have returned theirs because they hated Face ID since you can't use it while the phone is sitting on a desk or even somewhat discretely when around other people, plus they said they just didn't like it over Touch ID in general. I'm just curious if any others here have done the same.
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No one I know that purchased the X has returned it. I had both the Pixel 2 XL and iPhone X for about a week and after a lot of self-deliberation; I stuck with the iPhone X. FaceID fails for me maybe 1 in 30 times while the Pixel 2 XL's fingerprint reader failed for me more often (pretty sure it was faulty).
 
exlink said:
I pay $0.99/month for the 50GB iCloud storage. More than enough for me since I buy the larger capacity phones
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I do the same thing. If for nothing else but to have the icloud backups. For any practical cloud storage I use google drive. Unless you are backing up your pictures, generally 5gb is plenty for a phone backup.
 
A lady I know uses Face ID in the shower, which is not something you could do with Touch ID... Don't think too much of this!
 
T4rd said:
Anyone else returned their iPhone X for an 8 or any other phone? I personally know 3 people who have returned theirs because they hated Face ID since you can't use it while the phone is sitting on a desk or even somewhat discretely when around other people, plus they said they just didn't like it over Touch ID in general. I'm just curious if any others here have done the same.
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I returned my X for exactly the reasons you listed. Face ID worked only about 50% for me. Sure, my X might have been defective, but I just returned rather than exchange it. Got an 8 Plus, next. Returned it because it wasn't much better than my 7 Plus. Now, I use my OnePlus 5 and 7 Plus about 50/50.

I've never used iCloud, preferring Google Drive instead for my cloud storage. I still have free 100GB because of an HTC promotion when I bought an HTC 10 a couple years ago. It expires at the end of 2018 after which I'll have no problem paying for continued use of my 100GB Google Drive.
 
T4rd said:
Anyone else returned their iPhone X for an 8 or any other phone? I personally know 3 people who have returned theirs because they hated Face ID since you can't use it while the phone is sitting on a desk or even somewhat discretely when around other people, plus they said they just didn't like it over Touch ID in general. I'm just curious if any others here have done the same.
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I work with quite a few iPhone X users, but I only know a few of them. With that said no one really talks about it, I think I only heard one say how much they liked FaceID so I imagine they are cool with the phone.
 
Same here. I work with a few dozen people who use the iPhone X. No complaints from them at all.

I like the phone. It has some quirks but for me it’s been solid. Face ID works probably 29/30 times and the one time in that ratio is an inconvenience at worst since I just tilt it away for a second and look at it again. I recorded my kid’s Christmas in 4K 60 FPS this year. Something I couldn’t do with any other phone. I don’t miss the home button either. Using someone else’s iPhone with one feels old and clunky now. Wasted space. The biggest thing is the screen real estate. It’s a lot smaller than the 8 plus, but has a much larger, *amazing* amoled display.
 
exlink said:
I pay $0.99/month for the 50GB iCloud storage. More than enough for me since I buy the larger capacity phones (128GB iPhone 6S, 256GB iPhone 7, 256GB iPhone X) which I also back-up on my computer via iTunes. Don't trust having my photos on the cloud; especially after the iCloud hacks (brute force entries).
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Turn on 2Fa and you will be fine. Probably way more safe than storing it on a drive or NAS at home. Your network security compared to any major cloud storage companies is likely to be way worse.
 
CHANG3D said:
Turn on 2Fa and you will be fine. Probably way more safe than storing it on a drive or NAS at home. Your network security compared to any major cloud storage companies is likely to be way worse.
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While that is true; my back-ups (for everything) are stored on an encrypted external RAID 1 HDD set-up that I keep disconnected from my computer/internet when not in use. Pretty much impossible to get any of those files unless you broke into my house, stole the external HDD, and were able to decrypt it. :)

AltTabbins said:
I don’t miss the home button either. Using someone else’s iPhone with one feels old and clunky now.
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My biggest worry when I got the X is that I'd hate the heavy gesture based navigation. But I actually LOVE it. It is so intuitive and natural feeling. I also get a clunky feeling whenever I use a phone with a home button now.
 
exlink said:
While that is true; my back-ups (for everything) are stored on an encrypted external RAID 1 HDD set-up that I keep disconnected from my computer/internet when not in use. Pretty much impossible to get any of those files unless you broke into my house, stole the external HDD, and were able to decrypt it. :)



My biggest worry when I got the X is that I'd hate the heavy gesture based navigation. But I actually LOVE it. It is so intuitive and natural feeling. I also get a clunky feeling whenever I use a phone with a home button now.
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Would have to agree. The X is the first phone in a long time that actually feels like a new phone rather than just a spec upgrade based on how to you interact with it.

Getting Plus features in a smaller physical size is really what drew me to it.
 
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