Apple Iphone 8 or X?

[anticitizen13.7]

Oh man... I think I'd leave my phone in the car all the time if I had the watch.... especially when out fishing in streams. no more tethering my phone inside my back pack and hiking... ... emergency device all in one...

Be aware that the Apple Watch Series 3 has limited battery life when using LTE functions: Apple Watch Series 3 Battery Lasts Up to 18 Hours, But Varies Based on Activity

"Apple says its Apple Watch Series 3 offers "all-day battery life" with 18 hours of usage, but in some cases, the LTE model's battery will drain more quickly.

The 18-hour usage metric includes 90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 30-minute workout with music playback, and on the LTE model, it includes 4 hours of LTE connection and 14 hours of connection to iPhone via Bluetooth.

When talking on the Apple Watch or working out, though, battery life is shorter when using an LTE connection.

The Series 3 Apple Watch offers 1 hour of battery life when talking to someone on the phone over LTE, or three hours when connected to the iPhone.

For audio playback when connected to the iPhone, the Apple Watch battery will last for up to 10 hours, which is an improvement over the Series 2 (6.5 hours). Apple does not mention how long the battery will last when listening to music over an LTE connection, but the Apple Watch Series 3 will support streaming from Apple Music without an iPhone."

I honestly would not rely on the Apple Watch LTE for emergencies when hiking. The battery capacity is simply too low. I suspect reception isn't great either, given the small size of the device.

 

[buttershrimp]

Be aware that the Apple Watch Series 3 has limited battery life when using LTE functions: Apple Watch Series 3 Battery Lasts Up to 18 Hours, But Varies Based on Activity

"Apple says its Apple Watch Series 3 offers "all-day battery life" with 18 hours of usage, but in some cases, the LTE model's battery will drain more quickly.

The 18-hour usage metric includes 90 time checks, 90 notifications, 45 minutes of app use, and a 30-minute workout with music playback, and on the LTE model, it includes 4 hours of LTE connection and 14 hours of connection to iPhone via Bluetooth.

When talking on the Apple Watch or working out, though, battery life is shorter when using an LTE connection.

The Series 3 Apple Watch offers 1 hour of battery life when talking to someone on the phone over LTE, or three hours when connected to the iPhone.

For audio playback when connected to the iPhone, the Apple Watch battery will last for up to 10 hours, which is an improvement over the Series 2 (6.5 hours). Apple does not mention how long the battery will last when listening to music over an LTE connection, but the Apple Watch Series 3 will support streaming from Apple Music without an iPhone."

I honestly would not rely on the Apple Watch LTE for emergencies when hiking. The battery capacity is simply too low. I suspect reception isn't great either, given the small size of the device.

Duly noted... just provides me one more reason not to answer my phone ....

 

[Jason S]

I still haven't decided but leaning 8 Plus. Have 6 Plus, but it is near 3 years old so seems like an upgrade in the next year would be about right. That and the touch interface is getting wonky - need to twist the phone (grab two corners and bend it slightly) to get the touch interface working if I knock it the wrong way.

8 Plus is the most straightforward upgrade with fewest risks; same habits, same size, no Gen1 problems.

 

[JPP]

Minor technical point if you upgrade your current iPhone. If you (like me) like to dock it to your computer (Mac) and sync/backup your iPhone, note that Apple just pushed out an update to iTunes which completely removes management of apps from iTunes. All apps are now managed from your iPhone/iOS. Theoretically, if you backup your iPhone, then get a new one (8 or X), and do a restore/new phone, your apps do not get installed from the Mac/iTunes, but will be downloaded over the air from the Apple Store You can't shop for apps in the new iTunes, and cannot update apps in the new MacOS iTunes. Several issues...bandwidth (you're gonna use a whole lot of your monthly allowance re-downloading the apps), app version (some apps have different versions tailored to devices or your preferences), and legacy apps that are no longer available on the App Store. The last is most problematic--theoretically there is a way to find the old app in your iTunes library on your Mac and copy it over. I have not tried this yet. And also some of us liked to be able to rearrange app layouts in iTines on the Mac before loading up an iPhone--saves the tedious system of getting the iOS to have the apps 'jiggle' on your iPhone and then dragging them into place.

Any Mac/Apple/iOS experts/devs on site, please dive in.

 

[GoTslaGo]

Minor technical point if you upgrade your current iPhone. If you (like me) like to dock it to your computer (Mac) and sync/backup your iPhone, note that Apple just pushed out an update to iTunes which completely removes management of apps from iTunes. All apps are now managed from your iPhone/iOS. Theoretically, if you backup your iPhone, then get a new one (8 or X), and do a restore/new phone, your apps do not get installed from the Mac/iTunes, but will be downloaded over the air from the Apple Store You can't shop for apps in the new iTunes, and cannot update apps in the new MacOS iTunes. Several issues...bandwidth (you're gonna use a whole lot of your monthly allowance re-downloading the apps), app version (some apps have different versions tailored to devices or your preferences), and legacy apps that are no longer available on the App Store. The last is most problematic--theoretically there is a way to find the old app in your iTunes library on your Mac and copy it over. I have not tried this yet. And also some of us liked to be able to rearrange app layouts in iTines on the Mac before loading up an iPhone--saves the tedious system of getting the iOS to have the apps 'jiggle' on your iPhone and then dragging them into place.

Any Mac/Apple/iOS experts/devs on site, please dive in.

So you're telling me, the fact my latest attempt to upgrade my ITunes on my PC failed is a blessing in disguise? Guess I won't be upgrading, and yes, I'm still syncing, etc... too.

 

[GSP]

Oh man... I think I'd leave my phone in the car all the time if I had the watch.... especially when out fishing in streams. no more tethering my phone inside my back pack and hiking... ... emergency device all in one...

You may want to take your phone with you anyway. Otherwise the cabin temperature of a parked car can seriously degrade your phone's battery.

GSP

 

[PrGrPa]

Thought it might be an iPhone 7+ to replace my Jet Black iPhone 7. Then I realised that the iPhone X is very similar in size to the iPhone 7 and yet has a screen closer in size to the iPhone 7+. No question: iPhone X. Despite the abandonment of the excellent TouchID and the almost painful price point.

iPhone 8 is an interesting development but does not offer enough over the iPhone 7 to make it a credible replacement.

 

[Whisky]

Theoretically, if you backup your iPhone, then get a new one (8 or X), and do a restore/new phone, your apps do not get installed from the Mac/iTunes, but will be downloaded over the air from the Apple Store You can't shop for apps in the new iTunes, and cannot update apps in the new MacOS iTunes.

If you actively sync your iPhone with iTunes and backup with iTunes, it'll take longer and use more data but you shouldn't lose anything.

Apple backs up everything it can't get elsewhere. You'll retain legacy apps. You're correct that apps that are available in the App Store will download after the fact and not during the first sync after restore as they did previously. You won't lose anything after a restore. But yeah, your restore will work differently from your last experience and use more data. For most it's not a change, but if you actively sync to iTunes, it'll take longer.

 

[Whisky]

On Face ID, here's a good writup from a long time Apple "in the know" writer

Thoughts and Observations on the Products Announced at This Week’s iPhone X Introductory Event

 

[Saghost]

Yeah I was hoping the rumors about going away with TouchID weren't true. Basically all the leaks turned out to be correct this time. Would guess they reintroduce touchID through the screen in the next model (as apparently they were trying to do but couldn't perfect yet).

I want to upgrade my phone, but I really like touchID. I can grab an 8 and a new apple watch for roughly the same price as an X. Hopefully the XI will have touchID again.

Also, Eddy Cue is nauseating.

Personally, it's the lack of touchID, not the cost.

My experience with TouchID is that my fingers have to be completely dry for it to work correctly - which annoys me a lot, because maybe a third of the time, I'm unlocking after washing hands or washing food or brushing teeth or something. I never got a 7, maybe it's different for that phone or the Android versions?

I was very impressed with what Apple says they've done with FaceID, and it seems like it'll be more convenient, at least for me. As an engineer, the system they went to is very interesting - it's basically a 3D scanner, and they're already using it in messenger with the masks and with snapchat masks as well, so there must be a CoreSolidModel or the like added to the OS that exposes it to apps. Given that, I'll be surprised if someone doesn't develop an app to let you use it to make solid models for 3D printing or insertion into other software.

Not to sure about the lack of the home button, but the UI seems pretty natural as explained. OLED has a bunch of advantages, especially if you can set a graphic theme to match with dark background, and they actually appear to have done something clever with the odd shapes at the top - they stuck the top bar information into those spaces beside the speaker and cameras, giving you more usable real estate.

The price is crazy, but I think I'm going to have to get an X. Not the first time I said that, actually - and the Tesla I got the first time has certainly been worth the price of admission.

 

[buttershrimp]

You may want to take your phone with you anyway. Otherwise the cabin temperature of a parked car can seriously degrade your phone's battery.

GSP

Not with my sweet cabin temperature control.... controlled from my nifty new watch.... as Kevin Garnet would say, "anything is possible!!!!!!!" wooooo!

 

[TaoJones]

Not with my sweet cabin temperature control.... controlled from my nifty new watch.... as Kevin Garnet would say, "anything is possible!!!!!!!" wooooo!

Love it. As long as yer in cell tower range

 

[swaltner]

I hadn't seen this mentioned here or any of the threads mentioning FLAC popping up with recent updates, but Apple is finally adding FLAC support to their devices. On Friday, several Apple news sites noticed changes to the specifications posted on Apple's web site:

Apple Lists FLAC Audio Playback Support for 4K Apple TV, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X

Back in July, I had attempted to switch to FLAC for ripping new CDs, but the process interfered with my workflow too much to make it worthwhile. I couldn't rip the CDs using iTunes, they couldn't be loaded into or played using iTunes or QuickTime Player, they couldn't be copied to the iPhone, etc... I did switch to Apple Lossless format for new imports at least, but those don't play on non-Apple devices, so I'm not quite certain if that was the right course of action.

The new iOS and tvOS devices will support FLAC out of the box and iOS 11 will add support for it to the iPhone 7 product line. My iPhone 6s is apparently left out in the cold, at least for now. This is apparently because the newer CPUs have hardware support for decoding FLAC, while my 6s would need to do it in software, impacting battery life. Wondering if they changed iTunes, I checked the import settings on my home iMac that was recently upgraded to iTunes 12.7. Alas, no support for FLAC on the import settings screen. I also was unable to import some .flac files that I had previously ripped using XLD when I was playing around with FLAC two months ago.

I don't see how you get FLAC files loaded into iTunes and then copies onto the iPhone for playback, so I don't quite understand what support Apple has added to the iPhone, but it's good to see they are moving towards supporting FLAC. Hopefully the Mac side of the Apple ecosystem will get upgrades to support FLAC in the near future.

 

[dsm363]

Ordered the iPhone 8 as well. Figured I'd see how the X worked out for people and if they introduce TouchID back under the screen for next year.

 

[sdorn]

Minor technical point if you upgrade your current iPhone. If you (like me) like to dock it to your computer (Mac) and sync/backup your iPhone, note that Apple just pushed out an update to iTunes which completely removes management of apps from iTunes. All apps are now managed from your iPhone/iOS. Theoretically, if you backup your iPhone, then get a new one (8 or X), and do a restore/new phone, your apps do not get installed from the Mac/iTunes, but will be downloaded over the air from the Apple Store You can't shop for apps in the new iTunes, and cannot update apps in the new MacOS iTunes. Several issues...bandwidth (you're gonna use a whole lot of your monthly allowance re-downloading the apps), app version (some apps have different versions tailored to devices or your preferences), and legacy apps that are no longer available on the App Store. The last is most problematic--theoretically there is a way to find the old app in your iTunes library on your Mac and copy it over. I have not tried this yet. And also some of us liked to be able to rearrange app layouts in iTines on the Mac before loading up an iPhone--saves the tedious system of getting the iOS to have the apps 'jiggle' on your iPhone and then dragging them into place.

Any Mac/Apple/iOS experts/devs on site, please dive in.

Also note that iOS 11 doesn't support 32 bit apps any longer, so if you have any older apps that weren't updated to 64 bit you won't be able to install them on your phone once you update to iOS 11.

 

[swaltner]

Also note that iOS 11 doesn't support 32 bit apps any longer, so if you have any older apps that weren't updated to 64 bit you won't be able to install them on your phone once you update to iOS 11.

How to identify all the 32-bit apps installed on your iPhone running iOS 10.3 has details on how to track down those 32-bit apps that you have installed on your devices. The feature is buried in the main Settings app.

If you select one of your 32-bit apps from the list, you will be taken to the App Store entry for it. Several of my apps were no longer listed on the App Store (you'll receive an error). I simply deleted those alls from all my devices and from within iTunes. Over the course of the last month in particular, I've received several updates for apps that were 32-bit and appeared to be abandoned (no updates in 2-3 years), but the developer decided to update for 64-bit support. I'm down to a handful (5 or 6 each on the iPhone and iPad). I'll give each of them a couple weeks after the iOS 11 update to push out an update before deleting them for good and searching for alternatives.

 

[Don TLR]

Actually the X has an overall smaller footprint and a slightly larger screen than the 8+.

Thanks for clarifying,, I just quickly read numbers and ASSumed wrong..

 

[bak_phy]

When Apple sells over 200 million iPhones a few people saying I don't like Face ID isn't going to slow them down.

In which case I guess we did buy into it.

 

[anticitizen13.7]

iPhone 8 Teardown

Regardless of whether one buys the 8/8+ or X, a buying a case may be prudent.

Drop tests show that the iPhone 8 Series shatters easily in drop tests, and ifixit’s tear down reveals that the glass back cannot be separated from the body of the phone without bending it (heat treatment did not seem to loosen the adhesive). This means that damage to the glass back probably cannot be repaired, and a device replacement necessary if one wants a “repair”.

Glass-Bodied iPhone 8 Shatters Repeatedly in Drop Tests

Apple’s phones are a work of art, but often this comes at the expense of real world durability.

It’s too bad that the 8 is a step backwards from the 7 in terms of damage resistance and repairability.

 

[capsulesole]

If you are upgrading, go for the latest release. So for this one, I will choose X.