firelock

mr lizard said:

“A magnetic wallet that sometimes stays on and sometimes doesn’t depending on your clothing is a valid criticism. Implying or pretending that it isn’t a problem at all is just pointless.”

I’ve been using a MagSafe wallet since it became available. I thought I would use on rare occasions but it has actually become my main wallet. I can testify that many early video reviews essentially make a lot of false or at least misleading claims about this product’s supposed failings, presumably for clicks and views. While I don’t wear skinny jeans, my clothes are in no way “baggy.” They are normal fitting jeans, slacks, and shorts. I’ve never had an issue where the wallet has become detached unintentionally.

I do have some complaints about the product, but none are related to its build quality or its ability to stay firmly connected to the iPhone. I wouldn’t mind having a little more capacity in the wallet, as I can only fit about 3 cards in it. Also, it would be great if Apple (or some third party vendor) could figure out a way to stagger the cards so it would be easier to retrieve the specific card that you need. As it is right now, I can only easily retrieve the backmost card, if I need one of the other two I have to remove all the cards from the wallet to get them out. That said I find these to be relatively minor complaints about a product that has surprisingly become something I use with pleasure nearly every day.

In the case of cars, I’d say that Tesla was the disruptor in the automobile space. (You don’t have to like Tesla cars or Elon Musk to see that this is true.) About the only thing that could possibly disrupt automobiles more than Tesla has already done is to have a breakthrough self-driving AI that is orders of magnitude better than what the other manufacturers offer, or some new battery technology that allows charging in minutes rather than hours. I’m not sure that anyone believes that Apple has anything revolutionary ready in these two areas. But I guess we’ll see.

My first thought when I heard the Hyundai/Kia deal fell through was that Nissan might be a good substitute for Apple. That is because they are a solid manufacturer that has been struggling lately due to some bad business decisions and scandals. It seems likely that Nissan would not have been Apple’s first choice for the same reasons, but it may be that they have exhausted their first tier picks and now are looking at manufacturers that need Apple as a White Knight. They certainly have the production capacity and technical know-how.

Leaving the Labodet price aside, I like the arrangement of the multiple card pockets and the fact that the pockets are shorter, which should make it easier to get the cards out of the wallet.

Regarding the Apple wallet: I had expected to use it on occasion, but it almost immediately became my main wallet. It sticks perfectly fine to the back of the phone, despite all of the hyperbolic videos on the Web claiming otherwise. The only thing that bothers me is that it is difficult to get the cards out if the card you need is not the backmost one. If I am in line at the store and need anything but the backmost card, I have to pop the wallet off of the phone, hurriedly spill all three cards out, fumble for the one I want, then dump everything in my pocket to be reassembled later.

It looks like the Labodet wallet solves these issues with individual staggered pockets for the cards that have more area to grip them, so it appears you can leave the wallet on the phone, and then just slide out the exact card that you need. As much as I use my wallet that convenience might be worth $300. However, the fact that it only holds two cards is probably a nonstarter for me. It was tough enough to force myself to pair down to three cards. Two may be a bridge too far. Also I really dislike the metal emblem on it. There should be an option to remove it.

As a creative professional I would look forward to the possible return of an SD card slot and HDMI port. However I would mourn greatly the loss of the Touch Bar. I know it is popular to complain about it in Internet forums, but in the real world every Mac user that I know loves it. And, yes, almost all of them are creative professionals. But guess what, most creative professionals I know have NEVER visited AppleInsider or Mac Rumors. They are too busy creating graphics and videos and using their Touch Bar’s to scrub audio.