jamesthelesser

hallmansm said:

Am I the only one who thinks the effects look terrible? If they look bad in a slick commercial, I can’t imagine the real thing with my non-model friends and family, and my non-perfectly-controlled situational lighting getting any better results. 

I just upgraded from a 6+ to an 8+,  and I’ve been incredibly impressed with the iPhone camera. I’ve become of really big fan of portrait mode… the photos often look spectacular!

With that said, the studio lighting modes are about as close to a gimmick as I’ve ever seen Apple approach. I haven’t been able to get a single picture using studio lighting to look anything short of horrendous. Yes, I know it’s supposed to be beta software, but it really feels undercooked....  Samsung levels of bad. I frankly find it hard to believe that they’re advertising this as a feature at this point. 

Since I’ve just crapped all over studio lighting, let me just reiterate how good portrait mode is.  I received the iPhone 8+ before I left on a family trip to Disney World, and I couldn’t put the camera down, I was so impressed with the results.

slprescott said:

If using AirPods without an iPhone (e.g., connected to Apple Watch or a non-iPhone music source), does Siri still work?  i.e., can Siri run disconnected from iPhone?  I'm assuming not (unfortunately).

Interesting question. I just starting playing a playlist from my Apple Watch to my AirPods, and the double-tap did not invoke Siri....it simply paused/played the music. I assume it would be the same if your AirPods were connect to anything else besides an iPhone too.

Following the drop testing, the same units including charging case were run through a full 32-minute wash cycle with detergent and clothing, following a run through the dryer alongside a regular pair of Apple Lightning earbuds.

The Lightning earbuds emerged relatively intact, with the audio being only slightly more fuzzy than normal, but pretty close to the original sound. The AirPods and charging case survived entirely intact, minus some battering to the case.

Accidentally leaving the Airpods in my pocket and having them go through the washer/dryer has been my number 1 concern since Tim introduced them in September...glad to see someone actually tested for this!

So far, my Airpods have been worth the price. I miss the easy controls for pause/play/volume but the trade-off has been worth it.

Pro-tip: to change volume, simply invoke Siri and either say "louder" or "lower" (no need to say "turn volume up/down") and Siri will know to change the volume accordingly. For some reason "softer" doesn't work.