iPhone 11

Getting a new Smart Phone

My previous job had given me an iPhone 7 Plus because they used all Apple and were paying the bill. When CCP Virus hit, they still had my number on their plan, and so when I left, they just let me stay on it for a while. Recently they have not been doing any better, so I took back my number and wanted to take the opportunity to update my phone. I used to always get the Google released phone because I had fewer problems with them. But I now feel better about the quality of the Apple iPhone.

I spent some time looking over the iPhone 11 vs. 11 Pro Plus. The only significant difference I can see is the screen size is slightly bigger along with the display type and the extra camera on the pro. I did not feel the need to spend more on the pro, not to mention you must jump up to 256GB of storage, adding more cost. The standard iPhone 11 next to the 7 plus feel almost the same size, so I do not feel like I lost anything.

So far, the new phone works almost the same. There are a few things that I think I notice about running the OS and apps, they do seem to load or jump up faster. But with no home button, some things take more time to do, such as switch apps, or if the bedtime mode is active, I have to dismiss and then slide open past the lock.

FaceID is kind of nice because you do not have to touch anything. But it can have problems when it does not see you well, and with all the mask nonsense, it does not know who I am with a mask, and I end up putting in a code. I may be able to teach it my face with a mask, but that’s super lame.

So, I do almost feel like I did not gain much by getting a new iPhone. Yes, it has better chips and screens. The iPhones do not feel fresh in software. The camera is much better, and I want to do some more testing. We are getting to the point that most new phones do not change much. When the software is the same, it makes the problem even more noticeable. I notice the battery life, as that 4-5-year-old iPhone 7 was only saying it had 87% but was getting low at the end of the day, not leaving WiFi.

But when you move phones, the major hassles are getting apps set back up. Some require logins or restoring data. Some even store everything on the phone that is not great. Yes, you can make the move or restore from another phone option that iPhones seem to do much better than Androids. I chose to start fresh, which may not have been the best, but I do not store anything on the phone, so it worked out fast enough.

I move Android phones about every 1-2 years. Sometimes it was just the fact they would stop booting (happened to 4 different phones). But the fact the iPhone 7 is still running shows something. On Windows, I reset the OS every year or so because it gets filled with stuff that makes it slow too. It is also an excellent time to update some hardware, but not rebuild the entire thing. I had never needed to reset the iPhone. I did a reset of my iPad, but that was when the screen shattered, and it was being sent in for replacement.

The iPhone 11 will probably be updated soon, but I am ok with not the newest anymore. A few years ago, you would not see me saying iPhone seems better than Android, but I do like them now. I expect to slowly move my family over to iPhone so that things are the same as mine. I got my kids on iPads last Christmas, and they have been solid tablets for them. I am sure there will be something I did not move over right or an app I missed but not a big problem. I am happy with it. I just need to find a case I like and get the camera figured out.

Apple September 2020 Product Update

Just a few years ago, I would not care all that much about the latest Apple Update. But now that I have a selection of their products based on the company, I used to work for having almost everything they could Apple. I switched / was given a few devices, and now I am happy with Apple.

Now that that is out of the way, Apple had an update of mostly “consumer products. These are the Watch 6, Watch SE, iPad Air, iPad, Fitness+, and Apple One. No phone, no laptops, no proline, and not all that much changed.

Apple Watch 6
Apple Watch 6

Watch 6 is more or less a processer update, with a new oxygen sensor and the regular software update. There was some mention of a brighter display but nothing on battery life. They did take the hardware of the Watch 3 and added a few updates and slapped Watch SE on it. Watch 4 is discontinued but not Watch 3 for whatever reason also. I have the Watch 4, the beta worked just fine, and I do not see a reason to update for at least another year.

Apple Watch SE
Apple Watch SE

The Family Setup for Watch is nice if you have kids, but it needs a separate data plan. It looks like you can do it on the GPS version. This also does not work with older models. I just got my kids some Garmin bands, and they seem happy with them without running around with an expensive watch on a younger kid. My wife might want one if we were to get on board with the Fitness+ because it is required to have a Watch.

Apple Fitness+
Apple Fitness+

So, about Fitness+, it seems to be a workout video service that takes real-time data from the watch and combines it into the videos to help you work out better. It does require an Apple Watch and another Apple screen to play like an iPad, iPhone, or Apple TV. The price is a little high at $9.99, but there are ways to make it less, and with governments keeping gyms close, those types of people are happy to move their money into this. There should be different workouts that do need equipment but its cool for workout people.

Apple iPad Air 2020
Apple iPad Air

Moving along to the iPad Air, it gets a new processer and some new colors. The fingerprint reader is now in the power button, and the second generation Pencell works with this one along with a new style folio keyboard. With USB-C it but not as good of a screen, it would be hard to justify the iPad Pro 11 inch over this for most people.

Apple iPad 8th Generation
Apple iPad 8th Generation

The standard iPad also got updated with an updated processer, and that is all. The price is fair if you want a solid tablet. I learned that after going thought several Android tablets with myself and my kids. But this update is not anything significant. It is just the new one you want to get if you were getting another one. Even the price is the same.

Apple One Services
Apple One

Finally, Apple One. The Apple subscription bundle service. This seems right for a family because you get Music, Arcade, storage space, and TV for five people for $20 a month. That storage is shared, and TV is useless in my experience. I would like to see some of these services get better but meh. If my entire family were all on Apple devices, I would jump at it, but Spotify family plan is still okay, I don’t use iCloud for anything, and the kids do use Arcade for games sometimes. If you jump up to $30 a month, it includes the Fitness+ and News+, so you’re getting News+ for free at that point plus 2TB of storage, so it is good if your family is already invested.

Apple Recap September 2020

This update does not have me running out, wait we cannot do that, clicking buy on their website because I am okay with what I have, not being the Apple fanboy that needs the newest thing. If you want the most recent, the only thing I see most of them getting is a Watch 6 and Apple One subscription with Fitness+ rolled together to save a few bucks and have the workouts. I read one comment on a video about this, and it was making fun of Apple saying something along the lines of “Tim Cook: Guys we are out of ideas, what do we do” then the reply “Let’s make more watch band colors.” Obviously, this is not the most significant update this time. New iPhones and AirPods, along with laptops, will get people excited. I do not think the lack of updates has too much to do with COVID, as most of these people sit at desks looking at computers designing things already, moving to use FaceTime more shouldn’t have limited their work.