Apple will never satisfy my lust for cheap, powerful hardware

I've never seen $5 for a tablet add on, only $10. Sounds like you've got a good plan.
The limitation is that it has to be on the same bill as the phone (i.e., not the independent tablet month-to-month cell plan), but it's not like we weren't already going to do that.

--Patrick
 

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$10 in addition to a plan and a sim card, or instead of? If it's the former, that...sounds like a decent deal. If it's the latter, why not just get the sim card and put it in the tablet without telling them it's a tablet?
 
$10 in addition to a plan and a sim card, or instead of? If it's the former, that...sounds like a decent deal. If it's the latter, why not just get the sim card and put it in the tablet without telling them it's a tablet?
Instead of. It's an extension to your existing plan and uses the same number as your phone. The sim in the watch is built in, to save space.
 
Instead of. It's an extension to your existing plan and uses the same number as your phone. The sim in the watch is built in, to save space.
And in fact they use an embedded sim card following a new standard that removes the need for sim cards altogether. So eventually you won't be able to swap sim cards out, you'll just pass phone ID info to the carrier and they'll configure the embedded sim remotely, similar to how CDMA has always worked.
 
And in fact they use an embedded sim card following a new standard that removes the need for sim cards altogether. So eventually you won't be able to swap sim cards out, you'll just pass phone ID info to the carrier and they'll configure the embedded sim remotely, similar to how CDMA has always worked.
Do we know if AT&T is still going to be an ass about this with the watch?

--Patrick
 
Do we know if AT&T is still going to be an ass about this with the watch?

--Patrick
Who knows. I've never had an issue moving a device from ATT to another carrier (as long as the device itself is compatible with the new carrier's network, which hasn't been an issue for LTE devices for awhile now.)

Given that the watch pairs with the phone and then the service is ordered through the phone, my guess is that they wouldn't lock it down any more than they lock the phone dow.
 
My concern is because the watch has an embedded SIM (they even point it out during the announcement), so if AT&T decides to squat in it, you can't just switch it out like you can a standard SIM.

--Patrick
 
My concern is because the watch has an embedded SIM (they even point it out during the announcement), so if AT&T decides to squat in it, you can't just switch it out like you can a standard SIM.

--Patrick
Early reports seem to suggest that the watch is tied to the phone in a way that means if your phone service changes from one carrier to another, the watch just goes along for the ride. This means that carriers can't lock the watch to their service, but they could lock the phone sim, which is still replaceable, to their service.

Some reports suggest that the iPad pro with its esim was also being locked to ATT permanently, but apple and ATT simply said that all you had to do was install a real sim in the available sim slot and it would work with another carrier.

So long as there's a way out, it looks like ATT will lock sims to their network, but my guess is that they won't do that with the watch because there's no work around if someone wants to change carriers.

Further the law requires them to unlock devices, so there will have to be a method of way to do so if they do choose to lock them.
 
Considered putting a link to this reddit conversation in the misanthropy thread, but it was too entertaining to squirrel away like that.

When the [desire] for a new iPhone is too great, you get fired.

My favorite comment: "She did all this to get an iPhone X? What was her plan for the month+ before the iPhone X actually ships?" :rolleyes:
And now I suppose her lust will never be satisfied.
Also, by the sound of things, maybe @Squidleybits has worked with this person at some point? The attitude sounds similar to some of the people we've heard about.

--Patrick
 
:eek:

Your company gives you free $800 phones every other year, pays for their service (another $1,000 per year or more), and it's not enough. She could have sat down, enjoyed her one year old phone until it was two years old, then gotten the Xs or whatever they call it when it comes out next year.

This is the kind of situation where I hope the company gives the evidence to the police and has them prosecute her for malicious damage of property. Over $250 in value in many places is a felony, and she'd have to report it to all future employers - they'd need to know to avoid putting her in control of property she might be willing to damage.

If you think that's going too far, well let's just say I've learned what happens when you gain an employee who's willing to damage equipment for their personal gain.
 
Some iPhone 8+ phones are bursting when charging due to battery swell. So I wonder if this is a hoax, a very small production problem, or NOT a hoax like the Samsung Note stuff was last year.
So far I've seen stories about a total of 5 units. But as Jack Palance once said, "...it's early, yet."
Went and swapped my 6s for an 8. Other than~$100 for taxes and a new case, my bill will actually go DOWN. The monthly payment on the device goes from $25 to $23 and change. :)
Yes, but how much of a difference do you notice on how it performs?

Also, a some folks at Futuremark decided to directly investigate the rumor that Apple deliberately reduces the speed of older phones through updates in an attempt to get people to upgrade to newer equipment. Their findings? These slowdowns are completely subjective.

--Patrick
 
Preorders for X started 4 hours ago and shipping time is now listed as 5-6 weeks on apple's site.

So now I'm getting the x next friday (woke up in the middle of the night), and I'm getting a cellular iwatch this monday (ordered weeks ago).

So I have to wonder if I should list them together on ebay. Some are already listing the iphone x 256 for $3k, more than twice the cost. I've got applecare with mine (and the watch) so together I've spent over $2k. Would someone spend $4k for a bundle? Can I do it without getting scammed? List it on facebook marketplace instead?

Something for me to think about this weekend I guess - whether I can essentially get someone else to pay for my expensive tastes, and simply delay my own gratification in exchange...
 
I tried ordering one this morning at 3am, but the t-mobile site was having trouble with the load. This morning I still couldn’t pre-order online because it was showing nothing but the 8 and 7. So I called customer support and placed an order, it ships between the 3rd and the 11th, with a $300 credit for my 6s plus.
 
Something for me to think about this weekend I guess - whether I can essentially get someone else to pay for my expensive tastes, and simply delay my own gratification in exchange...
You know, it's people like you...

...who tend to have more money than me.

--Patrick
 
You know, it's people like you...

...who tend to have more money than me.

--Patrick
The reality is that I shouldn't be spending this money this way. But I've been saving $50 a month for a very long time (and why I'm trading up only every three years rather than every two now), and I need it for the app development I'm doing anyway. Or at least that's how I justify it in my head. I need one of each form factor of iOS device, and so this is filling out the stable.

Plus my wife is very, very, very understanding, patient, and long-suffering*. The stuff she puts up with, having me as a husband - she's a saint.

*having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people.
 
How much longer do you plan to develop for 32-bit iOS?

--Patrick
So far no one has said 64 only so everything I’m doing includes both, but, particularly for large apps, eventually they’ll stop including the 32 bit slice for space reasons.

Given that they just obsoleted the iPhone 5, the last phone that did 32 bits, I suspect most developers will switch to 64 only in a year or two, and I expect Xcode will stop supporting 32 bit fairly soon.
 
So far no one has said 64 only so everything I’m doing includes both, but, particularly for large apps, eventually they’ll stop including the 32 bit slice for space reasons.

Given that they just obsoleted the iPhone 5, the last phone that did 32 bits, I suspect most developers will switch to 64 only in a year or two, and I expect Xcode will stop supporting 32 bit fairly soon.
Actually, the last 32-bit phone was the 5c, which was just a 5 with a plastic case and updated LTE hardware, if I remember. The 5c's aren't supposed to go out of service until Q3 2018, if Apple keeps to their usual "5 years discontinued and done" schedule.

Mainly I was asking because I know Apple mandated 64-bit support be included with all apps submitted since H1 2015, and they have started culling all apps that haven't had updates since then, but I haven't heard anything yet about a final 32-bit sunset.

--Patrick
 
Mainly I was asking because I know Apple mandated 64-bit support be included with all apps submitted since H1 2015, and they have started culling all apps that haven't had updates since then, but I haven't heard anything yet about a final 32-bit sunset.

--Patrick
I guess that explains why a few of my games and certain other apps went away with the iOS 11 update.

What bugs me more than them going away is the silence from devs when asked if the apps are dead or not.
 
What bugs me more than them going away is the silence from devs when asked if the apps are dead or not.
On the one hand, I'm not going to miss the several dozen Flappy Bird clones and Baby's First Fart Apps. On the other hand, there are some sentimental favorites I am going to miss, such as Allied Star Police. Maybe I can someday play them in some 32-bit offshoot of iPhone Simulator? D'ya think MAME will some day get an A6 emulator?

--Patrick
 
Actually, the last 32-bit phone was the 5c, which was just a 5 with a plastic case and updated LTE hardware, if I remember. The 5c's aren't supposed to go out of service until Q3 2018, if Apple keeps to their usual "5 years discontinued and done" schedule.

Mainly I was asking because I know Apple mandated 64-bit support be included with all apps submitted since H1 2015, and they have started culling all apps that haven't had updates since then, but I haven't heard anything yet about a final 32-bit sunset.

--Patrick
They haven’t said anything about a 32 bit sunset, but it’s coming.
 
Retailers worry that expensive iPhone X will slurp up money that could have been spent on other (i.e., their) products.
Yes, you heard it here first. Wall Street says the iPhone X is going to destroy Xmas.

Meanwhile Best Buy was channeling car dealerships for a while there, telling their customers that anyone who wanted an iPhone 8/X needed to give 110%. Seriously, they were tacking an extra $100 onto the cost to allow for the "flexibility" of being able to purchase a device "the way you want." They've since backed down on this...by deciding to no longer sell full-price phones at all.
When a customer purchases an iPhone via a carrier installment plan, Best Buy receives a payment from the carrier in question, but that payment is not received for iPhones at full price, which seems to be why Best Buy was charging an additional $100. No other retailer charges an additional $100 for the iPhone, though.
They're still selling previous model phones with the full-price option...for only an extra $50, that is.

--Patrick
 
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This is fascinating: Watch a 10-Year-Old's Face Unlock His Mom's iPhone X
Attaullah Malik and Sana Sherwani made that discovery earlier this month, when their fifth-grade son, Ammar Malik, walked into the bedroom of their Staten Island home to admire their new pair of iPhone Xs just after they’d set up Face ID. “There’s no way you’re getting access to this phone,” the older Malik remembers his wife telling her son, in a half-joking show of strictness.

Malik offered to let Ammar look at his phone instead, but the boy picked up his mother's, not knowing which was which. And a split second after he looked at it, the phone unlocked.

The parents were shocked. Ten-year-old Ammar thought it was hilarious.
There is additional information in the article about how the initial "calibration" of FaceID was done in a "not perfect" lighting environment, and when they re-did it under "better" conditions he was properly locked out. But thinking ahead, they even re-did it "badly" deliberately, and the son could again unlock it.

So FYI: if you have this feature, be sure you're in good lighting conditions for the initial check, otherwise your results may vary a lot!
 
There were also plenty of stories where the kids would sneak into the parents’ bedroom and press sleeping mommy’s/daddy’s finger against the phone so they didn’t have to wait another three hours to keep playing their game.

—Patrick
 
iMac Pro finally available, hitting its 2017 target with just 2 weeks to spare.
For the price, it's actually extremely competitive for what you get inside the chassis.
...but you won't be able to upgrade the internals after the fact (without jumping through potentially warranty-voiding hoops to do so), so unless Apple decides to implement price drops as time goes on, it won't stay competitive as hardware progresses.
However, if you want to build a system around a 5k display, it is the best value right now, with the 10-core model being the best one for gaming/streaming/etc due to the 10-core model having the highest clock speeds (if that's your thing).

--Patrick
 
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