Poll: ** The Official iPhone X Thread **

[iMacMart]

Looking at an X via Sky with 8gb of data for £49 per month, I was with o2 a few years ago how is their service like now?

Is the handset deal sounding OK, not really worried about the latest and greatest

 

[Faustus]

I was listening to a guy on the radio this morning regarding today's public launch of the XS and Max. He reckoned the two top models will only be 'niche' products, whereas Apple and the mobile carriers are gearing themselves up for the October launch of the XR which it's reckoned will account for over half of all new iPhone sales.

I can't wait to see one in the flesh.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I was listening to a guy on the radio this morning regarding today's public launch of the XS and Max. He reckoned the two top models will only be 'niche' products, whereas Apple and the mobile carriers are gearing themselves up for the October launch of the XR which it's reckoned will account for over half of all new iPhone sales.

I can't wait to see one in the flesh.

Looking at the iPhone 8 and X sales I would be inclinded to agree with the man on the radio, though I wouldn’t call them niche.

 

[Faustus]

Looking at the iPhone 8 and X sales I would be inclinded to agree with the man on the radio, though I wouldn’t call them niche.

I think he meant niche in the terms of the expected percentage sales of all models.

 

[fez]

I still think its a bizarre strategy. They would rather sell a lot of £750 phones and a small percentage of phones over £1000 instead of just pushing the whole lineup down in price so you have the standard distribution. If the XS was even £850-900 and the XS Max £900-950 they would keep most people happy.

 

[Faustus]

I still think its a bizarre strategy. They would rather sell a lot of £750 phones and a small percentage of phones over £1000 instead of just pushing the whole lineup down in price so you have the standard distribution. If the XS was even £850-900 and the XS Max £900-950 they would keep most people happy.

I think part of the problem is they want to make the same amount of profit from the phones (whatever that figure is) but they are having to pay around $110 to Samsung for each OLED screen. At least that was the figure quoted when they launched the X last year.

I guess that's why the XR is still LCD, though if it's like their other LCD panels it should be pretty decent, despite the lower PPI.

 

[fez]

I think part of the problem is they want to make the same amount of profit from the phones (whatever that figure is) but they are having to pay around $110 to Samsung for each OLED screen. At least that was the figure quoted when they launched the X last year.

I thought they were getting a new supplier of the OLED panels in this year. No idea if that ever materialised.

I guess that's why the XR is still LCD, though if it's like their other LCD panels it should be pretty decent, despite the lower PPI.

LCD is cheaper for sure but it sounds like it wasn't easy to create the notched display with very little bezel for an LCD so I can't imagine that its super cheap for the LCD versions. Its hard to cut apple too much slack when they do things like take away the 3.5mm -> lightning and still won't include a fast charge brick in a £1450 phone.

 

[Omar]

I thought they were getting a new supplier of the OLED panels in this year. No idea if that ever materialised

Apparently LG have just recently been approved to supply OLED panels to Apple, but that was recent enough that it's unlikely that any launch batches have them, so most likely still Samsung

 

[UberTiger]

Edit: Wrong thread

 

[Chris344]

I still think its a bizarre strategy. They would rather sell a lot of £750 phones and a small percentage of phones over £1000 instead of just pushing the whole lineup down in price so you have the standard distribution. If the XS was even £850-900 and the XS Max £900-950 they would keep most people happy.

Fully agree.

XR should start at £699
XS £849
XS Max £949

They'd sell even more. The problem they have is that they do not reduce prices until the next model.

 

[UberTiger]

I seem to recall reading or watching somehwhere that they're quite happy only squeezing the top end of the market as much as possible, as it's not in their best interest to simply get the highest number of phones out there possible.

They want to get the greatest profit per device in terms of the initial hardware sale and then services on top of that, leaving all the Android phones pick up the small margins at the other end of the market so it doesn't look like they're dominating the market in terms of handset numbers, opening them up to potential competition and regulatory scrutiny issues.

 

[fez]

I think Apple are changing to try and maximise profits now that you can have a 2+ year old phone that works almost as well as the brand new ones. My iPhone 7+ was not noticeably slower in 95% of tasks compared to the X and the same for my friends XS Max. They are now hoping that their "range of phones for everyone" keeps their customers happy. The problem is, I personally won't pay the amount they are charging for a 2 year old piece of tech in an industry that is still moving at a rapid pace in the grand scheme of things.

Since my 7+ was released the flagship phones have:

Much much better processors
Much much better GPUs
Dedicated machine learning hardware
Significantly upgraded cameras
Much better screen to body ratios
OLED screen
FaceID (I really love faceID)

All of that has changed and pushed up the price (by more than it should IMO) but they have only discounted their 2 year old 7+ by ~£150 from its RRP. I hang out on some apple forums sometimes and in certain countries having an iPhone is a massive status symbol. People are genuinely asking "will people think I'm less manly if I get the gold iPhone" and "How will people know I have the latest iPhone". Over here people don't really give a monkeys but personally I love tech and I'm not dropping a lot of money on 2 year old phones. Perhaps this will work out for apple but I still think a more reserved pricing model would yield higher profits.

 

[eidolon]

My iPhone 7+ was not noticeably slower in 95% of tasks compared to the X and the same for my friends XS Max. They are now hoping that their "range Since my 7+ was released the flagship phones have:

Much much better processors
Much much better GPUs
Dedicated machine learning hardware
Significantly upgraded cameras
Much better screen to body ratios
OLED screen
FaceID (I really love faceID)

I also have a 7+ and have despite loving new tech, Apple have given me no reason to change phones for the last two versions. None of the stuff you’ve listed above would improve my experience and none of it is worth paying a substantial amount of money for.
I see the X and Xs as a slight gain but also a slight loss. For example I might get a faster processor/neural engine that I won’t notice but I lose touchID which I will notice. I’ll get a bigger screen but at the expense of a notch which I will definitely notice.
If the Xs Max 256gb had cost the same £929 that I paid for my 7+ 256gb then I’d possibly consider the “upgrade” but the price has gone up by £300+ in 2 years so I’m giving it a miss again this year.

 

[ChrisD.]

but I lose touchID which I will notice

I don't notice. It feels archaic using touchID on my iPad after getting a X last year.

 

[eidolon]

I don't notice. It feels archaic using touchID on my iPad after getting a X last year.

I can see it being a benefit in some situations but a disadvantage in others. Apple really should’ve developed the tech to allow under screen touchID with faceID too. Either way it’s not an improvement worth spending money on, it’s not a “new” feature, simply just a different way of unlocking my phone.

 

[Mulder]

Anyone know when we might see some price reductions on the iPhone X? Was going to buy one for the other half in the sales but have been reading Apple don't typically do boxing day.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Anyone know when we might see some price reductions on the iPhone X? Was going to buy one for the other half in the sales but have been reading Apple don't typically do boxing day.

I thought those are sold out now?

I did see a used one for sale in Game yesterday for like £500.

 

[Mulder]

I thought those are sold out now?

I did see a used one for sale in Game yesterday for like £500.

Loads of places still sell them new with the cheapest I've found around £800. Was hoping I could bag a bargain in the sales but maybe not!

 

[ChrisD.]

You'd be better off getting an XR IMO, it's a better phone.

 

[Mulder]

I would but I think it might be too big for her. She's coming from an iPhone 6 and thinks my OnePlus 6 is too big.