uktechie

I struggle to believe that the HomePod will really offer “high quality audio”. I accept it should be better than an Amazon dot or even an echo thanks to its slightly bigger speaker but I can’t believe it will offer the kind of HiFi quality audio that you can expect from even a $100 mini HiFi with TWO speakers each featuring a tweeter and a woofer. 

You can’t get decent stereo from a single device like that and the eye watering price for two makes me wonder who would do this when it’s so easy to have TWO standard high quality speakers connected to an amplifier with speaker cable. Some people in small apartments may struggle to find the space but anybody with a little space and a desire for high quality audio would surely find the space or wall mount the speakers? 

I can understand many people want always-on Siri in the home but that offers no attraction for me. Siri is great but our family already has Siri on various iPhones and Apple Watches and the high cost of HomePod seems hard to justify compared to other options. 

I’m sure the HomePod will sound OK. I tried a Google Home for a little while and the audio was “OK” but really not comparable even to a cheap HiFi system that costs less than a Google Home let alone an Home Pod. 

Real audiophiles will stick with their high end amps and quality speakers. Don’t pretend this can in any way be comparable. 

linkman said:

uktechie said:

Surely a better option would be to show a dialogue box warning that, “the battery can no longer deliver peak current and the performance may be impacted until a new battery is fitted”. This should also be reflected in the battery health information - I understand there is currently no indication of this problem at all. 

RTM

If RTM means Read The Manual there is nothing in the iOS 11 manual nor in the iOS 11 settings to indicate that an iPhone is running slow due to a battery issue. Many users have bought a new iPhone thinking that is they’re only option and Apple should and could have handled this much better. 

I have no objection to the iPhone slowing down when the battery is struggling PROVIDING I AM TOLD there is a problem. It’s a good engineering solution, although I am still suspicious as to why iPhone batteries are getting into this state when we’ve not heard of any other devices or mobile phones having this kind of problem. Do Samsung phones do this? Do iPads? 

My iPhone 6s had battery issues when it was 12 months old. The battery often plummeted from 50% to 10% in just a few minutes and it regularly rebooted. Fortunately I was able to get it replaced and the new iPhone was great. It might not have been so easy if it had been 13 months old and out of the 12 month UK warranty period. 

More information and more testing is needed before we can draw any conclusions but this is worrying. I’m not aware that Apple’s Face ID setup instructions warn of any issues or say you mustn’t rely on Face ID for the first few days. Users will reasonably expect it to “just work”. I would be very alarmed if my young kids could unlock my iPhone. 

Remember Face ID, like Touch ID, is used for many purposes. I rely on Touch ID to prevent unauthorised access to my bank accounts, for example. If banks or other organisations decide Face ID is not sufficiently secure they’ll stop supporting it, Apple will lose credibility and others will soon follow. 

On the other hand Apple’s claims of a 1 in a million chance of a stranger’s face unlocking your iPhone may be true. That probablility may fall to 1 in 10,000 for close relatives. Test it with 10,000 pairs of close relatives and you’ll probably find two sufficiently alike to fool Face ID. These two may be the one in 10,000 chance. They certainly look very alike. 

This year is very different to previous launches and it’s possible that the choice of iPhone 8 and iPhone X could reduce sales. Just having that choice may put some customers off. Do I want to settle for second best and get an iPhone 8 which isn’t the best iPhone and looks more like an iPhone 7 than an iPhone X, or do I want to pay an eye watering amount for an iPhone X which has some amazing technology but *may* suffer from usability issues due to Face ID and the lack of a home button. I'm not saying it will - it’s just a big unknown until we get serious reviews and feedback from early adopters. 

There’s a well known marketing phenomenon - offer shoppers a choice of 10 free cheese samples and they’ll buy fewer than if you offer them just 2 or 3.  In the past buying a phone or a tablet was simple with just one choice - now the decision is more complex.

This combined with uncertainty over new features might not reduce overall sales but it could certainly delay them. 

I’m still unsure about the iPhone X. I don’t watch movies on my iPhone 6s. It’s mostly used for mail, messages, web browsing, podcasts, photos and a range of apps. The screen and camera are great and Touch ID is near perfect. Apple have set a high bar. Will Face ID really be better, easier, faster? Is the extra screen area worth losing the Home button? I don’t know yet and didn’t rush to place an order. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge Apple fan and my new Apple Watch series 3 is a huge leap up from my original Apple Watch. For me, Sire was a huge advance and well worth the upgrade from 4 to 4s. The 5s upgrade brought a Touch ID which was superb, and version 2 made it even better. I didn’t lose anything in those upgrades though. 

So, I’m looking forward to all the reviews and feedback from the crazy ones who are first in line...

Last year, I too was disappointed by the lack of a headphone jack and outraged that I wouldn't be able to charge my iPhone while listening to headphones. Since then I've thought about what I do and I have to admit I have not once used headphones while charging my iPhone 6s. I sometimes use my Bose QC 35 noise cancelling headphones but often use the standard Ear Pods. I also picked up a cheap 2nd-hand Apple charging dock which has a headphone jack built in -  although again I confess I've never actually used the headphone jack on it. The truth is I rarely charge my iPhone except overnight. 

I have to admit the lack of a headphone socket on my iPhone really wouldn't be a problem and I suspect that's true for the vast majority of people, especially as Lightning Ear Pods are included in the box with every new iPhone 7/8/10.