Hi, I highly doubt that Apple will copy Samsung. Apple tends to start a path and keep right on going down that path. All sorts of noise was made about lighting connectors, about the removal of the headphone etc, and Apple didn't go back and re-introduce those features that they removed. There's quite a bit of historical incidences to affirm this. The thing is in many of these cases is that people get used to the new way, and enough time has passed that the old method is no longer as desired as one may have initially thought.
We also need to be careful in our assessment of cameras and such being gimmicks. A camera is not particularly useful to most of us as blind iPhone users, but the vast majority of users are sighted and there is a good portion of them that are quite excited about the improvements to the camera capabilities on the iPhone X. One's use criteria is different than another, and labelling things as gimmicks is often just a matter of prospective. If the product is reliable, innovative and useful to many, then good on them. OK, enough said. I'll leave it alone now. Later... Tim Kilburn Fort McMurray, AB Canada On Oct 31, 2017, at 13:37, Mary Otten <motte...@gmail.com> wrote: Thanks for posting. I wasn't going to buy in iPhone X. And after reading this, if I'd had thought of it, I would've change my mind. I think Samsung have the right idea with keeping the fingerprint sensor. There are just too many use cases where this could be a problem. And I like Apple Pay and use it a lot. I can't imagine a hassle this would pose. And a lot of the photo stuff sounds like so much gimmicky crap, just the sort of thing you wouldn't really expect a company known for rocksolid user experiences to waste time on, so long as that central experience is it perfected. Oh well. That's why they still make the iPhone eight series. Maybe next year, depending on how this goes, will make something that will at least incorporate the things that Samsung has with a Home place on the screen to tap on and A fingerprint sensor for those who would continue to like touch ID. You certainly can't use this phone in your pocket. At least you have to take it out to unlock it. Mary Sent from my iPhone > On Oct 31, 2017, at 11:41 AM, M. Taylor <mk...@ucla.edu> wrote: > > CNET News - Tuesday, October 31, 2017 at 3:38 AM > iPhone X review: 14 important takeaways from our first 18 hours - CNET > The iPhone X feels like a concept car, or a secret project. That's because > of the X name, probably, and the legacy of 10 years of iPhones. It's also > the fact that this is an optional step-up model -- like an 8 Plus Plus, but > smaller. It's a bold new design, different after three years of each iPhone > looking very much the same. > I love new technology and the wild ideas that come with it. I love to be > immersed in new concepts. But I'm also practical when it comes to tools. > Will I use a fully rethought phone? Will it work for me when I need it to? > My phone is my mission critical everything. It's my Indiana Jones hat. Will > Face ID work as well as the trusty Touch ID home button? Will I feel safe? > Ultimately the all important question is simple: Is this the must-have > upgrade? Should my mom get it? Should my sister? My brother-in-law? My best > friend? You? > I've spent 18 hours with the device to begin to answer this question. > Consider this a living review that we'll be updating throughout the week -- > and beyond -- as we test, retest and experience the iPhone X. > > Now Playing: Watch this: iPhone X: Our first day with Apple's biggest phone > ever > 3:26 > Face ID works pretty well... > You've been able to unlock an iPhone with Touch ID using your fingerprint > since 2013. The original iPhone shipped with a home button a decade ago. > Apple's making a big leap by getting rid of both in one fell swoop and > replacing them with Face ID. Your face -- or a passcode -- is the only way > to unlock the iPhone X. > Face ID worked well in early tests. Setup is quick: Two circular head twists > and the iPhone adds your face to its secure internal database. > Sarah Tew/CNET > Unlocking isn't automatic. Instead, the phone "readies for unlock" when it > recognizes my face. So I look at the iPhone, and then a lock icon at the top > unlocks. But the iPhone still needs my finger-swipe to finish the unlock. > It's fast, but that extra step means it's not instantaneous. Face ID did > recognize me most of the time but sometimes, every once in a while, it > didn't. > I tried the phone with at least five of my coworkers. None of their faces > unlocked it -- although none of them look remotely like me. I also attempted > to unlock it with a big color photo of my face on a 24-inch monitor, but > that didn't register as a face to the iPhone X either. The TrueDepth camera > recognizes face contours to identify you. > > Face ID worked perfectly in these instances. > Sarah Tew/CNET > Face ID worked perfectly in almost completely dark room, too, lit only by > the iPhone's screen. (It uses infrared). We'll still need to do a lot more > testing to see what Face ID's limits are. By default, it requires > "attention" at the display, but that requirement for direct attention can be > turned off for those who need it, or those who prefer to speed up the > process. > .but it's not perfect > By design, the iPhone X doesn't unlock with just a glance. Once you've > identified yourself with your face, you need to swipe up with your finger to > get to your apps. Not only does the swipe remove the immediacy of Face ID, > it means you need your hand to do anything. Quick access to the phone wasn't > quite as quick as I expected. > I pushed my face testing hard. I got a haircut, shaved my beard into several > shapes, then off completely. I tried on sunglasses and other frames. I wore > hats and scarves. Then I went to more absurd levels, including some that > wouldn't happen in most real-world scenarios, trying on wigs, fake mustaches > and steampunk goggles. > > Face ID failed here. > Sarah Tew/CNET > The preliminary results are in my video. This is by no means a final test, > but the bottom line is that most of the "real world" tests worked and showed > me that Face ID is more resilient than I expected. Face ID didn't mind my > sunglasses. Scarves presented some challenges, but that makes sense if > they're pulled up over your mouth since they're hiding essential aspects of > your face. All the tests worked far better than Samsung's face unlock > feature on the Galaxy Note 8 -- though Samsung kept its fingerprint reader > on, as an easy backup. > The iPhone X occasionally asked me to re-enter the passcode after a failed > Face ID attempt, then locked out further Face ID efforts until I entered the > passcode again. If you've used Touch ID, this will remind you of trying to > use an iPhone with wet fingers. > The big OLED screen is a welcome addition... > The 5.8-inch screen is the biggest on an iPhone to date, and the first Apple > handset to use OLED (organic light-emitting display) technology versus the > LED/LCD in all previous iPhones. In addition to better energy efficiency, > OLED screens offer much better contrast and true, inky blacks -- not the > grayish blacks of LCD screens. > > The iPhone 8 (left) has a 4.7-inch screen; the iPhone X (center) has a > 5.8-inch screen; and the iPhone 8 Plus (right) is 5.5 inches. > Sarah Tew/CNET > At first use, the bigger screen feels great. I've wanted more screen real > estate on the iPhone, and the X comes closest to all-screen. Picture quality > improvement isn't immediately noticeable over previous iPhones, but that's a > testament to how good Apple's previous TrueTone displays are. The larger > screen gives the iPhone a more current and immersive feel. > I'll need more time to compare the screen to other iPhones -- and to other > OLED phones, such as Samsung Galaxy models. > Sarah Tew/CNET > ...but the X's screen feels different from an iPhone Plus > That said, I grappled with a few X display quirks. Sure, there's a notch cut > out of the top of the screen where the front-facing camera array sits. But > this isn't just the Plus display crammed into the body of a 4.7-inch iPhone. > The X's display is taller than recent iPhones -- or, when you put it in > landscape mode, narrower. For some videos, that means they get letterboxed > (black bars at the top and bottom) or pillarboxed (black bars on the left > and right) to fit properly and the effective display area ends up a bit > smaller than on the 8 Plus. > The rounded edges of the display mean that even if you expand a picture to > fill the screen, parts of the image or movie end up cut off. > The notch didn't bother me -- much... > Hear me out. The notch and the two extra bits on either side end up feeling > like bonus space: most apps don't use that area, and it ends up relegated to > carrier, Wi-Fi and battery notifications, which saves that info from > cluttering the display below. > Sarah Tew/CNET > ...but your favorite apps might not make the most of that screen > Many current apps aren't yet optimized for the iPhone X. These outdated apps > end up filling the same space as on an iPhone 8, leaving a lot of unused > area. That'll certainly get fixed for some apps over time, but it's a > reminder that the extra screen room here might not end up meeting your > needs, until or unless the apps are optimized. > > The Witness isn't optimized for the iPhone X (yet), so it "pillarboxes" > (places black bars to the left and right of the screen). > Sarah Tew/CNET > Living without the home button takes some adjustment > A number of new gestures take the place of the old home button. I kept > reaching for the phantom button over the first few hours, feeling like I'd > lost a thumb. > Unlike phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, which adds a virtual home > button to create a "press for home" experience, the X remaps familiar > gestures completely. > . Swiping down from the corner now gives you Control Center, instead > of swiping up. > . Swiping up is the new "home button." > . Swiping up and holding brings up all open apps. > . And another new trick: swiping left or right on the opaque bar below > all apps, flips between apps for quick multitasking. > Sarah Tew/CNET > Meanwhile, there's a new, large side button that brings up Siri and Apple > Pay. I instinctively pressed and held it to shut down my phone, then I > realized that is not what that button does. (To turn off the phone, you now > hold that same side button *and* the lower volume button at the same time, > which feels far from intuitive.) > Those gestures added up to some difficult maneuvers as I walked Manhattan > streets in the Flatiron between my office and a local barber shop. At the > end of the first day, I admit: sometimes I missed the simple home button. > > Now Playing: Watch this: iPhone X unboxing > 2:51 > You'll need to adjust your Apple Pay routine > Double-clicking the side button brings up Apple Pay, but an additional > face-glance is needed to authorize a payment. I tried it on our vending > machine at the office and sometimes it worked great. Sometimes Face ID > didn't seem to recognize me. Maybe my timing was off. > > We tested Apple Pay on our in-house vending machine. > Sarah Tew/CNET > I'm definitely going to need to check this out at more places in the days > ahead. The bottom line: you don't want to be the guy holding up the line at > the drugstore because your double-click-to-Face-ID-to-NFC-reader flow was > off. > The rear cameras are similar, not identical, to the iPhone 8 Plus > Like the iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X has a dual rear camera with both > wide-angle and telephoto lenses. But X has two changes: A larger aperture > (f/2.4 vs. f/2.8) on the telephoto lens, and optical image stabilization on > both lenses (rather than just one on the 8 Plus), which should make for > better-lit, less blurry zoomed-in shots at night or in lower lighting. > My colleague, CNET Senior Photographer James Martin, has done a deep dive on > the new front-facing iPhone X camera, experimenting with portraits and shots > around San Francisco. > > Now Playing: Watch this: iPhone X camera pushes the art of selfies > 2:47 > The front camera is great with Portrait Mode. > In addition to handling Face ID duties, the TrueDepth front camera brings > most of the magic of Apple's rear cameras to the selfie world. > Scott Stein/CNET > Portrait Mode, where the subject is in the foreground in focus with a > blurred background, and Portrait Lighting, which applies various lighting > effects to a photo after the fact, both now work on your selfies. Vanity, > thy name is Portrait Mode. > ...but not great with Portrait Lighting and my face > Portrait Lighting is officially in beta on both the iPhone's rear and front > cameras, and my experiences with it confirmed Apple isn't finished > perfecting the software that makes it work. My face ended up looking oddly > cut-out and poorly lit. Unlike the rear cameras, which seemed to produce > hit-or-miss Portrait Lighting shots, I haven't had luck with my own selfies. > > > Portrait Lighting is still in beta, so temper your expectations. > Sarah Tew/CNET > Get ready to be bombarded with animojis, and other TrueDepth AR and > face-mapping apps > Animojis are exactly what they sound like: animated emojis. They're cute. > They're also Apple's showcase for the fancy TrueDepth camera, which maps > your facial expressions onto monkeys, aliens, foxes and even a pile of poop. > (If nothing else, the 10-second clips made my kids laugh when I sent them a > few.) > > Animojis map to your facial expressions and mouth movements. > Sarah Tew/CNET > Third-party apps also use the TrueDepth camera for real-time 3D effects. > Snapchat created new face filters I got to play with, and some did an > amazing job staying on my face. I'm curious to see how future apps use this > tech for even more advanced face-aware AR. > > Snapchat face filters just got a lot more realistic. > Sarah Tew/CNET > Apple's Instagram-like video app Clips has an update coming that also uses > the camera to green-screen my face into different scenes, like an 8-bit > gaming experience or a Star Wars filter where it looks like my face is a > blue-tinged hologram. Again, it's fun. For many people, the filters Snapchat > already provides are probably enough. > > Apple's Clips app is now TrueDepth-enabled, too. > Sarah Tew/CNET > Apple nailed the size and feel: Did it nail the entire experience? > I think the X is in the sweet spot that the older iPhone sizes could never > perfectly be. It's a good-feeling phone with a nice, large screen. The shift > to Face ID and the removal of the home button feel like changes that some > might be fine with, and others will find unnecessary. I'm still learning the > X's design language. > We're just getting started! > Want to know more? So do we. This is the beginning of our iPhone X journey, > not the final word. We've got plenty more on deck, including battery tests, > benchmarks and in-depth comparisons to rival phones such as the Samsung > Galaxy Note 8 and Google PIxel 2 XL. > We'll continue to update our experiences throughout the week as we count > down to the iPhone X global launch on Friday, Nov. 3. > For now, our CNET review of the iPhone X will be ongoing with a lot more > tests. Stay tuned! > The iPhone X selfie camera: Our first impressions, out and about in the real > world. > I'm using an iPhone X already. AMA! Tweet your questions to Scott. > > Original Article at: > https://www.cnet.com/news/iphone-x-review-day-one/#ftag=CAD590a51e > > > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries > list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. 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