Did anyone get an iPhone X?
Personally, I wasn’t appalled by the price. Just to be clear, iPhone X is expensive, but I get it. Apple included technology that no other company put into a phone before (smaller Kinect, or facial recognition that measures depth so you can’t trick it with a photograph) and priced it accordingly. The technology isn’t new though maybe the engineering is. I have no doubts that if Google, Samsung, etc. wanted, they, too, could have put it on a flagship phone if they thought they could get away with increasing the price to cover the associated cost. Was I going to pay $200 more for that technology? I decided pretty early that I wasn’t.
On Saturday, I upgraded from my iPhone 6S Plus to iPhone 8 Plus and my girlfriend’s iPhone 5 to iPhone 8 as an early early holiday present. I picked literally the worst weekend to do this, but it just happened to be our first free weekend in over a month. Still, we managed to get in and out of Delaware pretty quickly. “Are you looking for the iPhone X?” was the question of the day, coupled with a look bracing to tell me some bad news. I told every Apple employee I wanted none of the iPhone X launch nonsense and was met with a sigh of relief.
Based on reviews I’ve read and watched, the main mark against the iPhone 8 (Plus) is that it looks like the previous three generations. Granted, it does though I file that under “W” for “Who gives a ****?” I don’t prescribe to using electronics as a statement or status symbol. While browsing Amazon for cases, some user reviews stated they were upset that the Apple logo wasn’t visible so that’s apparently still a thing. I ordered cases and screen protectors from Anker, all less than $10 each.
I’m very happy with my upgrade which was a calculated decision. I figure this year or next may be the last for the traditional home button with Touch ID before Apple goes all in with the notch due to solving the manufacturing bottlenecks. I want Face ID technology to improve before making that jump. Ideally, I want Touch ID integrated into the screen too. I like buying phones outright and I generally adhere to a two-year upgrade cycle so I’m on a good timeline. I’ll see what happens in the next couple years, and hopefully, by the time I buy a new flagship iPhone with Face ID in 2019, it won’t be $1000 anymore.