First iPhone

[dizmo]

I want to buy an iPhone to see how I like the ecosystem and if I will get used to just having apps shit all over the screen.

I was thinking the iPhone x, since it's the first with the notch and would most closely resemble what I'd get if I switched.

Is this a decent choice? Or should I try and find a good deal on an XR? XS?

I'd prefer cheaper, as it won't be a daily driver.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

It doesnt have the notch, but if you want cheeper, you would be able to get a new SE (basically a 11 in a iphone 8 case) for less than a used X

[Commodus]

15 hours ago, dizmo said:

I want to buy an iPhone to see how I like the ecosystem and if I will get used to just having apps shit all over the screen.

I was thinking the iPhone x, since it's the first with the notch and would most closely resemble what I'd get if I switched.

Is this a decent choice? Or should I try and find a good deal on an XR? XS?

I'd prefer cheaper, as it won't be a daily driver.

I'd get something newer like an iPhone XR, but it doesn't have to be much newer than that. I would pass on an iPhone SE since it'll feel like the 'old' iPhone experience.

 

Don't forget that iOS 14 lets you relegate apps to the App Library if you'd not rather see them on your home screens. You can't put icons in arbitrary locations on iOS still (i.e. no empty spaces), but you also don't have to find spots for your entire app collection if you don't want to.

[Doug_Dangger]

I'm a recent Android defector and went with IOS.

 

I bought the iPhone SE.  It's $360 from Costco for the 64GB model.  If you've gotten accustomed to boogie board sized Android phones, the SE will be a shock to you since the screen is rather small.  But if all you want out of a phone is for conversation, texting, gps and light email, then I can't think of a better phone.  Many people say the battery life is terrible.  I get a full day out of it by using it as a phone and not a media consumption device.

 

The iPhone SE is a beast with the A13 chip.  This puts to shame even $1,000 Android devices.  Apple is also known from long device support.

 

This is the route I would go if I were you.

1. iPhone SE $360

2. iPad 32GB  $320

 

For less than $700 you have a great phone and a tablet that's the gold standard of the industry.  Still cheaper than buying an $800 phone.

[Doug_Dangger]

On 5/1/2021 at 8:13 PM, HelpfulTechWizard said:

It doesnt have the notch, but if you want cheeper, you would be able to get a new SE (basically a 11 in a iphone 8 case) for less than a used X

One thing the SE has going for it is touch ID.  To me it's a far easier and quicker way to use my device.  As I put my hand in my pocket to pull out my phone, I let my finger touch the sensor and by the time I bring the phone up to my face, it's been unlocked.

[DwarfEngine]

I switched from a Galaxy S8 to an iPhone SE. Battery life is same, though S8s battery was not good to begin with. I went with an iPhone because I am building an Apple ecosystem. This is my third device, alongside iPad Pro 2020 and AirPods Pro. 
 

One thing I like a lot about the ecosystem is how the devices work together. When I am using my iPad and my phone is not close by, I won’t miss calls since it pops up on my iPad. Or when I’m watching something on my iPad with AirPods and decide to go to bathroom or something, I can grab my phone and play the video there, AirPods connection will immediately switch. 
 

Having AirDrop is awesome too. If I quickly need to get a file from my iPad to my iPhone so I can send it from WhatsApp, I can do it with AirDrop. 
 

I’d go with an iPhone XR, it has decent battery life and has the new experience. But if you want OLED, definitely find a good XS. A12 and 4GB of RAM will still be relevant for some time. 

[dizmo]

On 5/1/2021 at 8:13 PM, HelpfulTechWizard said:

It doesnt have the notch, but if you want cheeper, you would be able to get a new SE (basically a 11 in a iphone 8 case) for less than a used X

Those are quite small screens though aren't they? IIRC something like 4.7"? That'd be far too small for me. Plus I'd prefer one with a notch, it'll give me a more accurate representation of what I'd be getting if I bought the new one in the fall. I did think of getting the older SE as a travel phone once upon a time though. Decided against it as it'd be a theft magnet.

On 5/2/2021 at 12:02 PM, Commodus said:

I'd get something newer like an iPhone XR, but it doesn't have to be much newer than that. I would pass on an iPhone SE since it'll feel like the 'old' iPhone experience.

 

Don't forget that iOS 14 lets you relegate apps to the App Library if you'd not rather see them on your home screens. You can't put icons in arbitrary locations on iOS still (i.e. no empty spaces), but you also don't have to find spots for your entire app collection if you don't want to.

Yeah that's kind of my thinking as well.

Do you know off the top of your head how long the XR gets updates for? Not super crucial, but I'd like it to be at least up-to-date for the rest of the year.

The empty spaces is what I'd be after, and I hope they one day change from their stubborn "this is how you should have your home screen" approach.

2 hours ago, Doug_Dangger said:

I'm a recent Android defector and went with IOS.

 

I bought the iPhone SE.  It's $360 from Costco for the 64GB model.  If you've gotten accustomed to boogie board sized Android phones, the SE will be a shock to you since the screen is rather small.  But if all you want out of a phone is for conversation, texting, gps and light email, then I can't think of a better phone.  Many people say the battery life is terrible.  I get a full day out of it by using it as a phone and not a media consumption device.

 

The iPhone SE is a beast with the A13 chip.  This puts to shame even $1,000 Android devices.  Apple is also known from long device support.

 

This is the route I would go if I were you.

1. iPhone SE $360

2. iPad 32GB  $320

 

For less than $700 you have a great phone and a tablet that's the gold standard of the industry.  Still cheaper than buying an $800 phone.

Yeah, judging by your use the SE really isn't for me. While I don't consume a great deal of media I do use it for work, and having a larger screen is a definite plus, as well as having large digits the small screen on the SE is just asking for a frustrating experience.

I wasn't looking at buying an $800 phone (yet), the XR is only about $400 Canadian.

2 hours ago, Doug_Dangger said:

One thing the SE has going for it is touch ID.  To me it's a far easier and quicker way to use my device.  As I put my hand in my pocket to pull out my phone, I let my finger touch the sensor and by the time I bring the phone up to my face, it's been unlocked.

I do like fingerprint readers over the FaceID, however I'm hoping the upcoming iPhone has an under display fingerprint reader.

1 hour ago, DwarfEngine said:

I switched from a Galaxy S8 to an iPhone SE. Battery life is same, though S8s battery was not good to begin with. I went with an iPhone because I am building an Apple ecosystem. This is my third device, alongside iPad Pro 2020 and AirPods Pro. 
 

One thing I like a lot about the ecosystem is how the devices work together. When I am using my iPad and my phone is not close by, I won’t miss calls since it pops up on my iPad. Or when I’m watching something on my iPad with AirPods and decide to go to bathroom or something, I can grab my phone and play the video there, AirPods connection will immediately switch. 
 

Having AirDrop is awesome too. If I quickly need to get a file from my iPad to my iPhone so I can send it from WhatsApp, I can do it with AirDrop. 
 

I’d go with an iPhone XR, it has decent battery life and has the new experience. But if you want OLED, definitely find a good XS. A12 and 4GB of RAM will still be relevant for some time. 

The interoperability does definitely seem like a good feature, but I'm not a huge fan of tablets so I don't see that as a huge draw for me personally. AirPods don't really have the sound quality I'd be looking for, though they're coming out with new ones soon so I'm hoping those up the audio quality game a bit. The OLED screen would be a nice touch, I might try to see if I can find one that needs a new battery or something for cheap.

[Doug_Dangger]

6 hours ago, dizmo said:

I do like fingerprint readers over the FaceID, however I'm hoping the upcoming iPhone has an under display fingerprint reader.

Under display is still inaccurate.  They've gotten better but still misses plenty of times.  My wife has one on her $1,000 Samsung Note and she's successful about 75% of the time with a clean finger.  I for one get about 98% success rate on a dedicated touch sensor.  The 2% of the time when they fail is when my finger is wet or dirty.

[dizmo]

16 minutes ago, Doug_Dangger said:

Under display is still inaccurate.  They've gotten better but still misses plenty of times.  My wife has one on her $1,000 Samsung Note and she's successful about 75% of the time with a clean finger.  I for one get about 98% success rate on a dedicated touch sensor.  The 2% of the time when they fail is when my finger is wet or dirty.

I personally don't have that much of an issue, and the newer ones are only getting (significantly) better.

[Commodus]

14 hours ago, dizmo said:

eah that's kind of my thinking as well.

Do you know off the top of your head how long the XR gets updates for? Not super crucial, but I'd like it to be at least up-to-date for the rest of the year.

The empty spaces is what I'd be after, and I hope they one day change from their stubborn "this is how you should have your home screen" approach.

Apple typically provides major OS updates for about five years, so the XR is likely good until 2023. If you like it, you'll probably be eying your next iPhone before the XR stops getting new software.

 

I'll say this: iOS 14 by itself gave people a lot more control over the look of their iPhone home screens. You can make it fairly minimalist if that's your jam; you might just have to use widgets to help with that goal (I wouldn't be surprised if there are transparent spacer widgets, even).

[Donut417]

On 5/1/2021 at 10:58 PM, dizmo said:

XR

I have the XR. I think I’ve had it just over 2 years. Just as responsive today as the day I got it. Hope to have at least another year if not two years. Personally I’d go with the XR. 
 

The only negative thing about it is Face ID. Touch ID would have been better during a pandemic. 

[dizmo]

14 hours ago, Commodus said:

Apple typically provides major OS updates for about five years, so the XR is likely good until 2023. If you like it, you'll probably be eying your next iPhone before the XR stops getting new software.

 

I'll say this: iOS 14 by itself gave people a lot more control over the look of their iPhone home screens. You can make it fairly minimalist if that's your jam; you might just have to use widgets to help with that goal (I wouldn't be surprised if there are transparent spacer widgets, even).

Ahhh good to know. The widgits actually might be able to cure some of my hate for the way they've designed their OS.

13 hours ago, Donut417 said:

I have the XR. I think I’ve had it just over 2 years. Just as responsive today as the day I got it. Hope to have at least another year if not two years. Personally I’d go with the XR. 
 

The only negative thing about it is Face ID. Touch ID would have been better during a pandemic. 

Yeah, it wouldn't be a daily or even something that'd really leave the house so that wouldn't be much of an issue. If I decided to try it out with their next phone, I'd be getting the whole ecosystem (watch, tags, maybe Airpods) and the watch has an unlocking feature. Good to know though, I'll see if I can find one for a decent price.

 

Random, but does Apple have double tap to wake?

[57chevy]

4 hours ago, dizmo said:

Random, but does Apple have double tap to wake?

They have tap to wake and raise to wake.  It's not double tap though.  Just single tap. IMO it's way too sensitive.  When I first went back to iPhone, I nearly called 911 with my phone in my pocket a couple times.  They removed the emergency call option from the lock screen with an update so it's not a problem anymore.  But it's still way too sensitive for my liking. 

I know no one brought this up but try taking a look at the 11's.  They were basically rehashed iphone X's with no real big advances so their popularity wasn't huge.  People with the X series didn't see a reason to upgrade and so you can sometimes find the 11 series cheaper than the X family. 

The SE is a nice choice since it still has the Touch ID but I dumped mine cause the battery was pretty bad.  If battery life isn't a big issue, then the SE is a good way to go.  Especially for starters since they're usually the cheapest of the iPhone ecosystem.  Buyer's remorse won't cost you an arm and a leg if you don't like it. 

[dizmo]

20 hours ago, 57chevy said:

They have tap to wake and raise to wake.  It's not double tap though.  Just single tap. IMO it's way too sensitive.  When I first went back to iPhone, I nearly called 911 with my phone in my pocket a couple times.  They removed the emergency call option from the lock screen with an update so it's not a problem anymore.  But it's still way too sensitive for my liking. 

I know no one brought this up but try taking a look at the 11's.  They were basically rehashed iphone X's with no real big advances so their popularity wasn't huge.  People with the X series didn't see a reason to upgrade and so you can sometimes find the 11 series cheaper than the X family. 

The SE is a nice choice since it still has the Touch ID but I dumped mine cause the battery was pretty bad.  If battery life isn't a big issue, then the SE is a good way to go.  Especially for starters since they're usually the cheapest of the iPhone ecosystem.  Buyer's remorse won't cost you an arm and a leg if you don't like it. 

I'll take a look but I think up here the 11s are still pretty expensive; definitely more than I'd want to spend on something that doesn't leave the house. The SE I don't think would give me an accurate representation of what I'd be buying if I decided to switch, and they're too small. 

[57chevy]

2 hours ago, dizmo said:

I'll take a look but I think up here the 11s are still pretty expensive; definitely more than I'd want to spend on something that doesn't leave the house. The SE I don't think would give me an accurate representation of what I'd be buying if I decided to switch, and they're too small. 

If you've got your mind set on the X family, then go for it.  Even the ''budget'' XR was a killer of a phone.  Tremendous screen, surprisingly good camera, and great battery.  It'll probably get iOS updates for another 2 years and maybe more so it shouldn't go 'obsolete' anytime soon. Even today with the 11's and 12's, the X pretty much keeps up with them.  You won't see any real performance difference really.  At least nothing noticeable.  It's still a snappy phone with good features.