arlomedia

I thought I'd miss Touch ID, but I've been pleasantly surprised by Face ID. It actually is faster and has worked flawlessly for me so far.

In fact, the keynote video that introduced it sold it short. IIRC, they explained it as a three step process: look at the phone, wait for verification, then swipe up to open. In reality, you can skip the middle step, because either it happens before you even have time to wait for it, or if not it will happen after you swipe. After retraining myself not to wait for verification -- just look and swipe -- it's quick and natural.

I never used a case until the iPhone 6, which was too slim and slippery to hold confidently. I got an iPhone X and a case for it Friday, but with the additional size and heft, it felt easy enough to handle without a case. Then Saturday it was sitting on a slightly droopy shelf playing a podcast and when my back was turned, it slid off the shelf and fell about four feet to a linoleum floor. My heart stopped beating for a moment, but there is no visible damage of any kind. But I put the case on after that!

I think the large camera bump plus the slippery glass back plus vibrations from the speaker allowed it to literally "fly off the shelf."

After the talk about limited supply and production issues, I was thinking I just wanted the new phone by the end of the year (I still have an iPhone 6 and I've been coveting the water resistant design since the iPhone 7). So I'm quite pleased to have snagged one for Nov. 3 delivery! I'm curious to see what will happen with delivery times in the coming days when "regular people" and not just us hard core fans start placing orders.  

Eric_WVGG said:

That aside, if the Touch Bar ever does take off, I think it's more likely to do so through studio designers and artists. I spend a fair amount of time working with graphic designers, and the vast majority use desktop computers. Most notebook users I know are developers, and I don't see the Touch Bar ever becoming "a thing" in this world. (I say that as a developer who has one and even uses it)

I'm also a developer and this laptop/desktop tendency matches my experience as well. However, I use my laptop on a desktop stand with a separate keyboard and trackpad most of the time, so as cool as I think the touch bar on the new MacBook Pro is, it wouldn't be very useful to me with this setup. I considered buying a new MBP anyway, but the hassle of all the extra dongles would outweigh any advantages over the 2014 model I have now. A new keyboard with a touch bar would be more useful and a better value than a whole new computer in my case.

I was flying this past weekend and it was funny to hear how the prohibition of the Note 7 became a part of the pre-boarding script for each flight. In a situation where people are willing to pay for superficial perks like early boarding, it must be a real zinger to be singled out and told that your particular phone has to stay turned off or preferably go into your checked baggage. I think at least once they said "Galaxy 7" instead of "Note 7," which is a simple example of how badly an issue like this can damage a brand.