bb-15

cato1040 said:

As a reminder to those reading, I did my first post because someone has asking about objective facts. Almost all reviewers (not just bloggers) found FaceID to be imperfect. I prefer the option of both fingerprint and face unlocking, but if FaceID alone works for you, that's great. Also, objectively, the S8 has more screen real estate and a higher screen to body ratio, you can look it up. It goes wider than the iPhone. The iPhone gives the illusion of otherwise, but the numbers don't lie. The S8 also does have a button at the bottom of the screen, it's just hidden behind the screen (apparently it's very well hidden ;D). I'll admit that though the presence of controls is objective, their influence on the user is subjective. I use an iPad, and there's no way I could go back or multitask with it as quickly or as easily as on my S8, but if you're okay with that, that's fine. I also prefer using headphones I don't need to charge without a dongle, but that's me. 

I do get your complaint about Samsung being first off the block but I'd rather at least have the option. Don't get me wrong, Android's aren't without fault  as demonstrated by the Note 7 and the Pixel 2. The issue is that for better or worse, the iPhone sets the standards, and unless their clients demand better, the standard will remain placid. The quality of the iPhone generally sets the quality of phones in general. (Though Apple does have fantastic service.) 

The tone of this post is better.
In your first comment you said about certain iPhone users; "want to open the eyes of some iSheep who don't know what they're missing out on."
Since your topic is "objective facts"; You call some people iSheep (an insult), they will insult you back.

1. Your main underlying comparison is between the iPhone as a whole and all Android phones;
You wrote; "they've started falling behind at the iPhone 4 and haven't seemed to be able to recover though most people enamoured by their marketing seem to miss this."
- But then you pull a trick where you only compare the iPhone X with many Android phones.
Besides being irritating to cherry pick the features of several phones against one phone, that leads to multiple strawman arguments.
- Fact; the iPhone X does not equal all iPhones being sold by Apple today.
- You don't like things (or possible problems) about the iPhone X; FaceID, the battery life, working in the cold, the green line, without a home button...; then the customer can get an iPhone 8 Plus.
- You don't like other things; it's expensive, no headphone jack, more breakable iPhone; the customer can get an iPhone 7 Plus or 6S Plus.
(And don't add another strawman that these are slow phones. Several iPhone models are fast compared with Android phones according to real world tests.)
* The fact is that the iPhone customer has options with several different devices to choose from. And that demolishes most of your arguments.

2. Other Android vs iOS issues;
"it has no back button..., they could have switched over to USB C..., iOS gives the user less control over their phone's interface"
These are tech preferences. You care about that, which is your privilege but I don't.
- What do I care about?
- On Ars Technica even Android fans admit compared with iOS; the Android OS update system is a mess, security is inferior, and Google with its advertising model is weaker on privacy for users compared with Apple.
That is often why things like cloud services are cheaper with Google because they are mining all your private data for ads.
- Many Android users report the OS skins slowing down over time. Google Nexus/Pixel can fix some of these problems but in many ways the hardware of those phones is  inferior to iPhones.
With my tech preferences; iOS is superior to Android. 

Soli said:

paul turner said:

Anilu_777 said:

I’ve always liked a bigger phone (physically) for videos and typing so upgraded from the 6s plus to 8 plus this year. If there had been a X plus I’d have gotten that. 

The ipx screen is bigger than the 8Plus screen 

The box form is 5.8”, but since the display is curved this is the first time Apple is measuring the diagnosable distance past the edge of the display.

Then you have the missing display area for the notch to add to the missing display area of the corners which gets the number of pixels awfully close to the Plus-sized iPhone despite the former being 458 ppi and the latter only 401 ppi.

Then you have most video being shot in 16:9 which means showing every part of the video (i.e.: not cropped) would be larger on the Plus because of the taller height in landscape mode.

Then you have the Safe Area to consider which furher reduces the area over the 5.5” iPhone for the standard viewing area with most apps. But none of this is a slight against the iPhone X as it still gives you a lot more area in any measure against the 4.7” iPhone despite still maintaining the display width in portrait mode.

It depends on the use of the phone. I almost never watch video on my iPhone. As a personal computing device I use my iP for web browsing (if I can't use my iPad).
With looking at browsers, the useful area of the iPhone X is below the notch to almost the bottom of the screen. That distance is greater in any dimension than the iP8+ (even though the total area is about = with a slight edge to the iP+). 
* It comes down to what is a more useful distance for the customer. Is it the slightly wider iP+ screen or the much longer iP X screen?  

freshmaker said:

At least it's all the way over on the side I guess, as opposed to down the middle.  Apple will replace it of course, just might take month or two for them to have adequate inventory to do so

Yes, Apple probably will either replace the screen (to fix the green line on the side problem) or replace the complete phone. (With my cracked iPad Air 2 screen, Apple gave me a new iPad.)

* Also, keeping this in perspective, let's look at a competitor, the highly rated Pixel 2 XL and its screen.
 

"...the Pixel 2 XL... Its display, however, has been widely criticised for a host of reasons, including washed out colors, significant blue shift when viewed at an angle, lines of dead or colored pixels, graininess, and light bleed, just to name a few...

multiple users have been complaining that the Pixel 2 XL's screen will occasionally flash when locking or unlocking the device."

http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/11/08/pixel-2-xl-screens-flashing-locking-unlocking/

"one of our Pixel 2 XL review units, in use for about a week, is already seeing some pretty crazy levels of burn-in."

 https://www.androidcentral.com/google-pixel-2-xl-screen-burn

boogerman2000 said:

That cover has more to do with brand than it does design. Still, I think it's quite nice.

The Beatles (with designer Richard Hamilton) took a similar approach with one of their album covers (popularly known as The White Album).

http://speedreaders.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/beatles-cover.jpg

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_(album)

I think that kind of austere look of the magazine cover works. 

abriden said:

bb-15 said:

abriden said:

These so-called tax avoidance schemes are NOT necessarily legal…

Tax avoidance is legal. Tax evasion is not.

I know the difference, which is why I say 'so-called' — many schemes have claimed to be legal tax avoidance, but the release of the Paradise Papers demonstrates that at least some constitute illegal tax evasion. It remains to be seen which category Apple's arrangements fall when they are properly scrutinised.

I can't find evidence that Apple did something illegal from the information about the Paradise Papers. 

"Paradise Papers show massive but not illegal tax avoidance by Apple... 

Though Apple has done nothing illegal,"
http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_a/Apple/20171107_illegal_tax.html

* This has been a problem with several of your arguments.
- Obviously, you have an emotional dislike of what Apple is doing.
- But your gut feelings do not = facts.
- And the facts that I can find so far are, that with this tax matter, Apple has not done anything illegal.   

I don't have the affiliation or the resources to scrutinise the Paradise Papers to the level required to be conclusive, and I very much doubt that you do either. So this is a conversation not a conclusion. Time will tell. Going back to my original post though, the practices being discussed are immoral.

You only associate Apple with these (according to you) "immoral" practices.
Let's say that tax laws need to be reformed. Calling out Apple alone as being "immoral" about taxes is not going to bring about fundamental change.
Why? Because the issue of companies keeping money overseas is not just an Apple issue. It is a widespread corporation / tax law issue.
- Here is a New York Times article which takes imo the proper broader view rather than going on an Apple hate fest.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/world/apple-taxes-jersey.html

* After all, if a person doesn't use Apple products for any personal computing, they will use tech from companies which also keep billions overseas including; 
- Microsoft $146 billion, Google $78 billion, IBM $71 billion, Intel $46 billion, HP Enterprise $41 billion and plain HP another $41 billion.
(From the New York Times article.) Put that together and it is a lot more than what Apple is holding. 
* People who only focus their anger on Apple (about widespread issues) in the end don't change the system.      
- But to look at the bigger picture requires not having double standards and that's hard imo for those who seem to only be motivated by anti-Apple outrage.