See no compelling reasons to buy one to be honnest.
Not as long as Apple continues to support your current iPhone with security updates. Once that's over, I'd suggest you've encountered a compelling reason!
Let me get this straight. Apple removes a proprietary connector and replaces it with a cheaper industry standard that's made on a scale thousands of times larger than Lightning, but charges their customers more.
Wish I'd thought of that! Wish Apple Jobs had thought of that 4 years ago. Is Lightning the last Apple-proprietary connector?
Gee it’s almost as if pricing decisions are based on what the market will bear.
Apple, at least in the U.S., hasn't raised prices since the iPhone X debuted in 2017 at $999. How many products do you know of that have been drastically improved and redesigned over the past six years but have seen NO price increase during that time, which included the worst inflation in half a century?
There are other forums with people saying how important sim cards are to them. They are saying they won’t buy the new model if it is esim only. In places outside the US, having a sim card is really important for travel and most affordable way too. It could be interesting how important this is and if it affects sales. Is Apple making a mistake getting rid of sim cards?
Nope. Apple was roundly criticized for adopting USB ahead of the mainstream. Then everyone else did, and it became a standard. The exact same thing will happen with eSIM. Even in places outside the U.S. And the iPhone will support at least 2.
There are other forums with people saying how important sim cards are to them. They are saying they won’t buy the new model if it is esim only. In places outside the US, having a sim card is really important for travel and most affordable way too. It could be interesting how important this is and if it affects sales. Is Apple making a mistake getting rid of sim cards?
Nope. Apple was roundly criticized for adopting USB ahead of the mainstream. Then everyone else did, and it became a standard. The exact same thing will happen with eSIM. Even in places outside the U.S. And the iPhone will support at least 2.
I've been traveling through Europe and Asia with my 14 Pro, which is eSIM only, and not having a physical sim card presents no problem. Plenty of companies offering eSim with very cheap and fast data rates, plus downloading an eSim is more convenient than acquiring a physical card. And you are 100% right about Apple leading the way with innovations that initially get criticized, then copied as an industry standard. Remember the clutching of pearls when they eliminated the headphone jack on the iPhone?
There are other forums with people saying how important sim cards are to them. They are saying they won’t buy the new model if it is esim only. In places outside the US, having a sim card is really important for travel and most affordable way too. It could be interesting how important this is and if it affects sales. Is Apple making a mistake getting rid of sim cards?
Nope. Apple was roundly criticized for adopting USB ahead of the mainstream. Then everyone else did, and it became a standard. The exact same thing will happen with eSIM. Even in places outside the U.S. And the iPhone will support at least 2.
I've been traveling through Europe and Asia with my 14 Pro, which is eSIM only, and not having a physical sim card presents no problem. Plenty of companies offering eSim with very cheap and fast data rates, plus downloading an eSim is more convenient than acquiring a physical card. And you are 100% right about Apple leading the way with innovations that initially get criticized, then copied as an industry standard. Remember the clutching of pearls when they eliminated the headphone jack on the iPhone?
That was a bold, but smart (for Apple and its users) move. It improves water resistance, makes the phone less expensive to manufacture, (both because of fewer parts and earbuds are no longer supplied with them) and drives sales of AirPods.
There are other forums with people saying how important sim cards are to them. They are saying they won’t buy the new model if it is esim only. In places outside the US, having a sim card is really important for travel and most affordable way too. It could be interesting how important this is and if it affects sales. Is Apple making a mistake getting rid of sim cards?
Nope. Apple was roundly criticized for adopting USB ahead of the mainstream. Then everyone else did, and it became a standard. The exact same thing will happen with eSIM. Even in places outside the U.S. And the iPhone will support at least 2.
I've been traveling through Europe and Asia with my 14 Pro, which is eSIM only, and not having a physical sim card presents no problem. Plenty of companies offering eSim with very cheap and fast data rates, plus downloading an eSim is more convenient than acquiring a physical card. And you are 100% right about Apple leading the way with innovations that initially get criticized, then copied as an industry standard. Remember the clutching of pearls when they eliminated the headphone jack on the iPhone?
Samsung was first in using esim in a phone. Yes, the present and future very good for esim but esim service is not available everywhere yet. For compatibility Apple could continue doing esim and sim in phones for at least a couple more years? No? And it appears the perception by some travelers is that sim provides the cheapest rates, whether true or not. I don’t travel enough to have opinion on that one. My current iphone has both options which is reassuring for now
Let me get this straight. Apple removes a proprietary connector and replaces it with a cheaper industry standard that's made on a scale thousands of times larger than Lightning, but charges their customers more…
From what earlier rumors suggest even though the port will be USB-C it will be governed by Apple electronics such that maximum charging and data exchange will only be possible with Apple or other MFi approved cables. So, in a sense it is still an Apple proprietary connector.
Once you get into the world of USB-C connectors you’ll discover that the mere presence of the connector does not convey everything you’ll need to know about the port’s functionality and compatibility with various cables. Many people have been disappointed when they purchase a “USB-C” cable only to find out that it does not support the very reason they bought the cable.
For example, some USB-C cables don’t support Thunderbolt 3, 4, USB4, or DisplayPort capability. You may buy a fancy new monitor with USB-C and the monitor may even come with a cable that works as intended but is too short for your installation. So you go out and lay down $30 USD for a long-enough cable only to find out it doesn’t work. The USB-C equipped cable you really need, the one with the correct specs, may cost you $100 USD. Ouch.
I’m totally cool with Apple placing restrictions on what capabilities are allowed to work with various cables as long as the basic functions needed to support the device, which in the case of a USB-C equipped iPhone would be battery charging and at least USB2 or USB3 data connections, still work with any USB-C cable. This is in no way a case of Apple making an open standard proprietary, it’s simply a way to remove some of the confusion around knowing which USB-C cables work with various functionality beyond the basic charging and basic data transfer. Third parties would still be able to build less expensive USB-C cables that meet Apple’s MFi requirements just like they’ve been doing with Lightning cables for over a decade.
Face it, standardizing on USB-C was kind of a stupid decision because it’s still in a state of flux and some of the proposed methods of disambiguating what a USB-C port can and cannot do are ridiculous. Asking anyone over 40 to read one-quarter point type label on the back of a device or discern a port’s capability based on pseudo standard colors (on USB-A ports and which Apple never adopted) is a mess. It’s one thing to standardize on a standard that’s well grounded, stable, baggage-free, and proven, but to standardize on a moving target … not such a good idea. At least they didn’t land on the horrific mini USB or micro USB connectors. /rant
For EU fans, Apple’s certified USB-C cables would still provide the required basic charging and data transfer functionality for any USB-C device, which was supposedly the reason behind forcing Apple to move to USB-C ports in the first place. Unfortunately, whatever Apple does, short of moving its entire business and all of its operations to France, will not be enough to keep the EU regulators from coming up with yet another reason to go after Apple.
A disappointing piece of "new" design, if true, is that "the mute-ring switch will become a customizable Action button".
The mute switch is a valuable answer to a real-world issue, it makes it easy and discreet to silence the phone whether at the theatre or in a meeting. It also makes it easy to check whether the phone is muted - all without using the display, unlocking or looking like you're checking your messages. I know it's expensive but it's a nice touch in a premium product (and might even be exclusive to iPhone).
A disappointing piece of "new" design, if true, is that "the mute-ring switch will become a customizable Action button".
The mute switch is a valuable answer to a real-world issue, it makes it easy and discreet to silence the phone whether at the theatre or in a meeting. It also makes it easy to check whether the phone is muted - all without using the display, unlocking or looking like you're checking your messages. I know it's expensive but it's a nice touch in a premium product (and might even be exclusive to iPhone).
1) If that's the case, then I can't imagine that the Action Button won't have an option to make it Mute / Ring button. I understand why toggle is better than a switch for muting, but the toggle still gets flipped on my device accidentally.
2) If you're in a theater I recommend turning it off or at least being in Airplane Mode. Turning off your device is preferable because alarms are not affects by the Mute switch.
Let me get this straight. Apple removes a proprietary connector and replaces it with a cheaper industry standard that's made on a scale thousands of times larger than Lightning, but charges their customers more…
From what earlier rumors suggest even though the port will be USB-C it will be governed by Apple electronics such that maximum charging and data exchange will only be possible with Apple or other MFi approved cables. So, in a sense it is still an Apple proprietary connector.
Once you get into the world of USB-C connectors you’ll discover that the mere presence of the connector does not convey everything you’ll need to know about the port’s functionality and compatibility with various cables. Many people have been disappointed when they purchase a “USB-C” cable only to find out that it does not support the very reason they bought the cable.
I agree with your entire post, but have a very minor quibble over the highlighted phrase. I think instead of "does not convey everything", it should be "conveys almost nothing".
Comments
For example, some USB-C cables don’t support Thunderbolt 3, 4, USB4, or DisplayPort capability. You may buy a fancy new monitor with USB-C and the monitor may even come with a cable that works as intended but is too short for your installation. So you go out and lay down $30 USD for a long-enough cable only to find out it doesn’t work. The USB-C equipped cable you really need, the one with the correct specs, may cost you $100 USD. Ouch.
I’m totally cool with Apple placing restrictions on what capabilities are allowed to work with various cables as long as the basic functions needed to support the device, which in the case of a USB-C equipped iPhone would be battery charging and at least USB2 or USB3 data connections, still work with any USB-C cable. This is in no way a case of Apple making an open standard proprietary, it’s simply a way to remove some of the confusion around knowing which USB-C cables work with various functionality beyond the basic charging and basic data transfer. Third parties would still be able to build less expensive USB-C cables that meet Apple’s MFi requirements just like they’ve been doing with Lightning cables for over a decade.
Face it, standardizing on USB-C was kind of a stupid decision because it’s still in a state of flux and some of the proposed methods of disambiguating what a USB-C port can and cannot do are ridiculous. Asking anyone over 40 to read one-quarter point type label on the back of a device or discern a port’s capability based on pseudo standard colors (on USB-A ports and which Apple never adopted) is a mess. It’s one thing to standardize on a standard that’s well grounded, stable, baggage-free, and proven, but to standardize on a moving target … not such a good idea. At least they didn’t land on the horrific mini USB or micro USB connectors. /rant
For EU fans, Apple’s certified USB-C cables would still provide the required basic charging and data transfer functionality for any USB-C device, which was supposedly the reason behind forcing Apple to move to USB-C ports in the first place. Unfortunately, whatever Apple does, short of moving its entire business and all of its operations to France, will not be enough to keep the EU regulators from coming up with yet another reason to go after Apple.
The mute switch is a valuable answer to a real-world issue, it makes it easy and discreet to silence the phone whether at the theatre or in a meeting. It also makes it easy to check whether the phone is muted - all without using the display, unlocking or looking like you're checking your messages. I know it's expensive but it's a nice touch in a premium product (and might even be exclusive to iPhone).
2) If you're in a theater I recommend turning it off or at least being in Airplane Mode. Turning off your device is preferable because alarms are not affects by the Mute switch.