Welcome HomePod /  by Jack Taylor

Coming up to a week ago, Apple announced the launch dates for the long-awaited HomePod. Of course, HomePod was originally announced in June 2017 at WWDC and was slated for a December release, but it was later pushed back to early 2018, which translates to February 9th. This has been one of the weirdest product launches Apple has pulled off in recent history, and as a result, the device has received some criticism. Let’s take a quick look at HomePod’s journey from Cupertino - to San Jose - to your Living Room, and see if this criticism is justified. 

Part 1: Late to Market?

Firstly, the HomePod is criticised for being late to the market. Both Amazon and Google have had assistant-cylinders available for quite some time now, the Echo has been on sale since late 2014. It did emerge, however, that HomePod was in development, primarily as a speaker, within Apple long before Alexa was announced by Amazon. If this is accurate, then the argument of Apple no longer leading the way is not quite true - Apple engineers were experimenting with this project a long time before the competition was. There was even a joke within Apple that someone on the inside had been selling secrets to Amazon upon the unveiling of the original Echo. The period of time between the initial speculation and the unveiling of HomePod was actually relatively short, compared to the Apple Watch for example - which was years - the first rumours of Siri-in-a-can started around the late Summer of 2016. There was lots of speculation surrounding the design of this device, early rumours said that HomePod would look like a 2013 Mac Pro covered in a speaker mesh, and this turned out to be incredibly accurate. A big question that remained unanswered however was whether or not it would have a screen to display information, particularly after Amazon debuted the Echo Show. Phil Schiller even said in May 2017 that smart home devices needed a screen if they were going to be useful, fuelling rumours that the Siri-cylinder would indeed have a screen. We now know that HomePod does not have a screen capable of displaying information like the Echo Show does, but given Schiller’s comments, it’s safe to assume Apple is at the very least exploring a HomePod with a display. Above all else, however, was whether or not Siri’s capabilities on the device would be any better than Siri on iOS. As far as we know, Siri is mostly unchanged on HomePod.

Part 2: It’s here, but it isn’t.

As expected, the HomePod was formally unveiled at WWDC in June 2017. The best part was the name had not leaked online prior to the keynote. The device matched rumoured descriptions, had no proper screen, and normal Siri. Apple touted the device as a premium speaker with a smart assistant built in, bridging the gap between devices such as the Echo and speakers like Sonos. It’s worth noting that the Alexa-enabled Sonos One didn’t exist at this point. WWDC had very limited demos of the device - it was only capable of playing music - Siri clearly wasn’t ready yet. Initial impressions of the sound were incredibly positive. However, the fact Apple had surprised us and focused on audio quality and made no mention of any Siri improvements was (and still is) incredibly worrying. Are they genuinely incapable of improving Siri? If any device was going to warrant a major Siri-overhaul, it was this. I for one had mixed feelings about this product, whilst I wanted one, I wasn’t sure if Apple had taken the best approach. The final kick in the teeth, however, was the launch date. Apple had finally announced they were entering the smart speaker market, but the device wouldn’t be launching until December 2017 - a whole 6 months away.

Part 3: It’s still not here.

By late 2017 Apple’s September keynote came and went with no mention of HomePod, we had not one but two iPhone launches and Sonos had released the Sonos One - a brilliant sounding speaker with a brilliant voice assistant built in, courtesy of Amazon, and the Christmas period was fast approaching with no sign of a HomePod launch. In November Apple announced that the device was delayed until early 2018 as they ‘needed a little more time to get it ready’ - an excuse they had used a year earlier when the AirPods were delayed. Would there be a Spring keynote? Would it be a random release just like the AirPods? This gave critics lots to talk about - HomePod was already announced 3 years after the Amazon Echo, and now Apple had missed the holidays and it would be launching in 2018. You got to remember though, Apple is rarely the first to market, instead of rushing a product, they perfect it, and launch it when it’s ready. Hopefully, this will be the case with HomePod.

Part 4: It’s here, and we (mostly) know when you can order one.

A few days ago I was helping a customer at work getting a replacement for his cracked Apple Watch when I loaded up Safari on an iMac. Apple’s website is the homepage and I saw the launch dates for HomePod on the front page. I was immediately very excited as I had decided quite a while ago I would be buying one. Preorders would start the coming Friday (26th January) and it will be available in just under 2 weeks on 9th February. This information did not come as a surprise as lots of HomePod information was unearthed in the final iOS 11.2.5 beta and Apple had just received FCC approval for the sale of HomePod, so we knew a launch was imminent. We knew that the 26th would be pre-order day, but Apple did not specify a time. I woke up for 8:01 am (UK time), just in case that was when pre-orders would go live, following the majority of Apple’s launches. I had been told through my job that it would be 1:30 pm, but no major websites would agree with this so I didn’t want to rely on it. It did turn out to correct, so I’m thankful for that information. Despite being ready to go at 1:30 pm, it didn’t turn out to be necessary, as here we are over 24 hours later and at the time of writing launch day delivery is still available. After a few initial Apple Store errors, I ordered a white HomePod, and I will review and unbox it on this site and on iCollectApple starting February 9th. Initial reviews agree with what people said at WWDC, apparently the audio sounds great.

Does it deserve the criticism?

Sure, Apple is releasing this product over 3 years after Alexa first arrived on the scene, and 18 months after Google’s Home arrived. Both Amazon and Google have multiple assistant devices on sale, varying in both size and capability, but Apple is releasing a single model. I’d imagine Apple will eventually release a smaller model, provided the sound quality is still up to scratch, seeing as this is how Apple is marketing the device. This would make the HomePod more accessible and improve its market share, but this will give competitors yet more time to improve their already massive head-start. Whilst it’s definitely too early tell, anyone arguing that the HomePod will be a flop because Apple has released it too late, needs to take a look at iPod, iPhone and iPad and realise that Apple doesn’t have to be first to market in order to redefine a category. 

In regards to sound quality, HomePod’s only genuine competitor is the Sonos One, seeing as that is the only smart speaker with audio quality to match. HomePod should win this one seeing as I’ve been told the sound is on a par with the Sonos PLAY:3, which sounds significantly better than the One. 

Another big area for critique is the performance of Siri versus Alexa and Google assistant. Personally, from my own experience, Google has the most accurate and fastest voice recognition, Alexa has the greatest range of capabilities, and Siri is most contextually aware. It’s great that Siri understands what you’re trying to say, but it isn’t much use if s/he can’t perform the required action. Seeing as Siri has had seemingly little to no improvements before moving into the HomePod, this is already a defeat for Apple in this market. Siri does get better with most major iOS updates, however, so hopefully, s/he will improve on HomePod too. 

If you’re thinking of HomePod as a direct rival to the £100 Amazon Echo and Google Home, it’s easy to say Apple has entirely missed the boat on this one. HomePod costs £319 and the assistant functionality is arguably limited compared to its cheaper rivals. The thing is, Apple never intended it as a direct competitor to these products, rather a competitor to high-end speakers with Siri built in. As iMore’s Rene Ritchie tweeted, AirPods are Apple’s vision of the best way to listen to music on the go, and now HomePod is the best way to listen to music at home. 

HomePod is a very complex product, and no one is entirely sure where it fits in, so the criticism it is getting is mostly unfair. I for one am really excited to see what it’s like, even more so seeing as it’s Apple’s first new product category since the Apple Watch in 2015, and only the second to be introduced during Tim Cook’s time as CEO. My only criticism of HomePod is how botched the process of unveiling it and actually getting it on sale has felt - something very unusual for Apple. Give it 2 or 3 years and I think you might find that HomePod will have re-defined what you come to expect from the smart speaker category.

:))

$29 Batteries /  by Jack Taylor

It emerged last week that Apple have been throttling the CPU performance on the older iPhones 6, 6s and SE for about a year and more recently the iPhone 7. Apple then confirmed this to TechCrunch:

“Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components."

"Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We’ve now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future.”

What is happening here is simple and non-malicious; when your iPhone battery ages (you probably charge it at least every night, if not more - deterioration is normal) it can no longer keep up with the power demanded by the processor. To prevent unexpected shutdowns, the phone will slow down temporarily and draw less power instead. The headline here is that Apple never was and still isn’t slowing down your iPhone to make you buy a new one. I can assure you, after working in Apple retail, iPhones sell themselves. Simple as. Apple do not need to intentionally slow down your iPhone because the vast majority of consumers will buy the latest, shiny release anyway. 

There was nothing wrong with what Apple did in itself, the actual problem here is how people perceive the issue now that it’s come to light. 

This Tweet by Tom Warren sums it up perfectly. To start with, for years people have believed Apple slows down older phones in a move of planned obsolescence. Anyone who understands the topic would’ve told you that the mainstream belief is wrong - just like how you shouldn’t be closing all of your Apps. As a result of this whole situation, as far as ’non techies’ are concerned, Apple have confirmed exactly what has been believed for years. Do literally any amount of research and you will find that this is not the case, again, I repeat: Apple never was and still isn’t slowing down your iPhone to make you buy a new one. Average people don’t have the time or the interest to look into this so they will formulate their own opinions based on what they briefly heard on the news last night. It will be repeated by people who don’t understand for years to come, which is potentially damaging for Apple.

Where Apple did go wrong however, is in their apparent lack of transparency. The argument is that when people’s iPhones slow down with no apparent reason after a year or so, they assume the only solution is to buy a whole new device, rather than just getting a new battery fitted. iOS does warn you in Settings > Battery when your device’s battery reaches 500 cycles, but realistically, not many people go looking there, let alone would act on a message saying your battery may need servicing. Apple could’ve have notified the user when the battery gets to a stage where CPU throttling takes place. This could’ve been done via an on-screen notification or something funky such as changing the battery icon to purple or [insert colour of choice here]. Whilst transparency would’ve been the right thing to do to avoid this drama, it wouldn’t have necessarily pleased users at the time. Apple can’t really win, because people like to complain. Picture this: thousands of iPhone users with 18-month-old devices seeing a purple battery icon one morning in the status bar. Whilst Apple would undoubtably notify them what this means, most people would ignore the notification and get on with their day. Eventually they would take a visit to their local Apple and ask out of curiosity what the purple battery means. The specialist would tell the customer that their device needs a new battery and they would need to pay $79 to maintain proper performance. This would without a doubt anger the customer, as people do not like parting with money. Despite the fact this is simply how lithium-ion batteries work, people do not care about the ‘nerdy’ facts and would just accuse Apple of ripping them off.

Last night Apple released an ‘apology’ letter on their website. In the document they explained their reasoning and their motives for slowing down older iPhones. They also announced the price of replacement iPhone batteries for eligible customers would fall from $79 to $29 in the U.S. and from £79 to £25 in the U.K for the duration of 2018. I think it’s a good move by Apple to reduce the price of battery replacements when they really didn’t have to, and I would like to see the change become permanent, seeing as this is an issue that will be on people’s minds for a long time to come. Apple also announced that there will be an iOS update in early 2018 with more transparent details on battery health in the Settings App for nerds like me, seeing as, compared to some Android devices I’ve owned the battery page in iOS is useless.

The only genuine impact this fiasco has is a negative effect on Apple’s reputation. The sad part is it shouldn’t do so - Apple were working to extend the life of devices and improve user experience yet your average person believes they are doing the exact opposite. People’s ignorance and unwillingness to look even the tiniest distance beyond the surface has resulted in a completely misunderstood PR nightmare. Yes it’s a kicker when you have to pay more money for a battery 2 years after spending almost $1000 on a new phone, but unfortunately that’s how this technology works. At the end of the day, technology reaches into pretty much everyone’s lives whether they like it or not, and only those who spend too much time with it understand the finer details. Unfortunately for big companies like Apple, most of their customers don’t understand, nor do they want to understand because a phone is a phone and they have their own interests. It’s up to the likes of Apple to brace themselves for the criticism, regardless of what they do, and when they do genuinely mess up, take the criticism on board and make their products and services even better than they are today.

:))

iPhone X review: Say hello to the future /  by Jack Taylor

Say hello to the future.

I’ve had iPhone X for just under a week. By the time I publish this, I’d imagine it will have been about a week if not more. I was one of the people who was awake for 8:01AM (in the U.K. - I feel for you East Coast!) on October 27 to pre-order iPhone X. It had been announced just under 2 months prior to pre-orders and had been preceded by literally *years* of rumours. The model I went with was the 256GB Silver (unboxing video). I initially received a ship date of November 13, which I was very happy with - initial rumours predicted this device would be like gold dust until early 2018. However, about 10 minutes later I was browsing the Apple Store, looking out of interest at the current shipping times (by then 5-6 weeks) and I noticed my nearest Apple Store suddenly had the model I wanted available for pickup on November 3. Of course, I then ordered one for in-store pickup and I was nothing but impressed with how smoothly the experience went. It was my first time using Apple’s in-store pickup option, and I just walked into the Apple Store at my pre-chosen window, and within literally 5 minutes I had my brand new iPhone X. At 12:05pm. On launch day. I was not expecting that. I am very, very happy with my choice of model so far. I also bought AppleCare+ this year - the first time I have done so on an iPhone; crack that glass back, it’ll set you back £556(!) for an out of warranty replacement. With AppleCare+, it’s a much more bearable £75. £199 for 2 years extended warranty and support was worth it to me, seeing as I had just spent £1149 on a phone. Right now, I’m sitting outside a café in Paris - despite the fact it’s freezing - writing this review on my iPhone X. I didn’t even pack my iPad Pro, let alone my Mac.

Design

First things first. iPhone X is stunning. I think it is gorgeous in every way. I even like the notch. The thing about the notch, love it or hate it, is that it distinguishes iPhone X from it’s bezel-less competition. Just as the forehead-chin-home-button layout has been so iconically iPhone for the past decade, the notch is now taking that place. I love that Apple decided to own the notch rather than hide it, and because of that decision, I love it. Front and back, just like X’s slightly older and less-expensive siblings; iPhones 8 and 8 Plus, are glass. Supposedly the most durable ever used on a smartphone. Whilst this information fills me with confidence, only time will tell as to how well the device holds up. Currently, for my travels, I have the phone in a tech21 BulletShield case and I have a Belkin Invisiglass Ultra screen protector on. As previously mentioned, I also bought AppleCare+. I’m not taking any chances. When I get home, I’ll swap the excellent BulletShield for a thinner, generic, clear silicone case - just to minimise bulk when I don’t need the added protection courtesy of tech21. The switch to a glass back this year is not only pretty, it also brings the benefit of wireless charging. More on that later. The stainless steel edge is striking and the white back is almost pearlescent. It really is a magnificent-looking piece of hardware. To me, whilst sleek, the Space Grey model is just downright boring compared to the Silver. Maybe that’s because I had a Space Grey 6 Plus, followed by a Jet Black 7 Plus, but either way, in my opinion, Silver is the better colour this year. I won’t comment any further on the Space Grey X as I have not spent enough time with one to do so fairly. However, here’s an unboxing: video.  The iPhone X feels amazing to hold; it’s quite weighty and feels immensely premium - even more so than previous iPhones. 


User experience

Software wise, everything is bit different to what has come before. Pretty much everything has moved around somewhat. For example, Notification Centre has had to learn to share with Control Centre at the top - swipe down over the notch or left ‘ear’ for notifications, swipe down over the right ‘ear’ for control centre.  For the first few days of ownership, I had to stop and think before carrying out what would normally be a routine action. It’s certainly weird after owning an iPhone for 8 years, to have to momentarily pause and think about how to do something. This really is the start of the next 10 years as far as iOS is concerned. As Jony Ive has said, the iPhone X user experience is so dictated by software, in 12 months time, this thing could be completely different. I agree with him - that is truly fascinating. The Home Indicator bar fades away into the experience and I haven’t found it intrusive at all. I have already perfected the speed at which I swipe up and pause to get to the app switcher (it really is a quick swipe-and-pause you do not need to accentuate it), and swiping left and right between open apps using the home indicator is a massive bonus for iPhone productivity. In regards to the rest of the OS, iOS 11 on iPhone X behaves as if it is somewhat Plus-sized iPhone, somewhat baby iPhone. After using Plus-sized iPhones for the last 3 years, you’d imagine I would be disappointed in the lack of landscape home screen, or iPad-style landscape view in apps such as Settings. Not at all. I always primarily use my iPhone in portrait, so I have yet to notice that these features are gone. To my surprise, I didn’t need to readjust my muscle memory to the new, skinnier keyboard. I can see why both of these things would be an issue to some people. Despite having a 5.8” display, iPhone X feels smaller than an iPhone Plus is almost every way. The 5.5” iPhone 8 Plus is still the king of Apple’s phablet phones. One feature I was very glad to see still present on iPhone X is the ability to 3D Touch the stock iOS keyboard and activate a trackpad-style method of moving your cursor around. Not that I expected it to be missing - but Apple do sometimes do some strange things. One of the many benefits of the new True Depth camera system is the facial tracking used to create Animoji. I’m sure you’ve seen these on the Internet (Animoji karaoke is amazing), and my god I’ve been having fun with them over the last week. I think they’re a great way of showing off the tech packed into that notch, using a popular, current trend. Who doesn’t love emoji? Now, if you’re lucky enough to own an iPhone X, you’ve got the future of emojis! Best of all, you can send them to any of your friends, regardless of whether they have an iPhone X or not. You can send them natively to anyone on iMessage, or export them as a video to send elsewhere, such as WhatsApp or Instagram. I’m sure future iOS updates will introduce new Animojis - it was recently discovered that the tiger and the frog emoji were both candidates for an Animoji redesign but sadly never made the cut. 

Face ID

When Apple announced Face ID, I wrote about ‘Touch ID 2013-2017’. Whilst this was a bit of a light joke, I always expected Face ID to be just as good as Apple made it out to be during the keynote. It is. People had their doubts about Touch ID when iPhone 5s was introduced, and it turned out to be excellent, improving with iPhone 6s and becoming a standard feature of iOS. It even made its way to the Mac last year. I don’t know why anyone expected any different from Face ID. Apple have a lot of money at their disposal and they have sure as hell put a lot of money into this. The A11 Bionic chip features a new neural engine, and a computer vision array. This allows Face ID to learn your face as it changes. Face data remains in the Secure Enclave just like fingerprints used to. It can be used in lots of different lighting thanks to an IR sensor, and can also be used for apps and Apple Pay just like Touch ID. It turns out, if an App supported Touch ID - it will automatically support Face ID. The result is straight away, on day one, lots of my apps support Face ID right out of the box. Apple shared a statistic back in September at the keynote which revealed about 1 in 50,000 times Touch ID would unlock to the wrong fingerprint. This has improved to 1 in 1,000,000 with Face ID. From my experience so far, Face ID is learning my face, and recognition gets better every single day. Sure, very bright sunlight (unfortunately there’s a lot of that at this time of year when the sun is low in the sky) will occasionally result in Face ID not being able to make a match. It works perfectly in the dark, although sometimes lying on your side in bed will be a struggle. Now, Face ID works well from a flat surface, such as a table, provided the phone is sitting in a position which would be normal whilst using it flat on a table. The only time I find Face ID inconvenient is when the phone is lying in the centre of a table, and for whatever reason its just not convenient for you to pick it up. With Touch ID gone, if the phone is further away - aside from getting up and leaning over it - you will have to default back to using your passcode. I have a Qi charging mat in front of my iMac. If i want to unlock the phone whilst it’s on there, either I have to pull it off the charger and up to my face, or use the passcode. Whilst this is inconvenient, I am pretty certain Apple made the right move abandoning Touch ID in favour of the passive Face ID. I am excited to see if it will come to the rumoured OLED-notch-bearing iPad Pro redesign next summer. 

Performance

You really don’t need to worry about this. Apple’s chip team are incredible. The A10 Fusion chip found in iPhones 7 and 7 Plus were already super-fast, and this year’s A11 Bionic chip is even snappier. I am almost scared to see what they will be capable of when they presumedly debut the A11X Bionic chip in the 2018 iPads Pro. The A11 is on a par with the current generation entry-level 13” MacBook Pro in benchmarks which really is incredible. Despite having an extra 2-cores this year, I haven’t really noticed a performance increase over my outgoing 7 Plus, yet my colleague instantly noticed it upon picking up my X and trying it out. He too, has a 7 Plus. As always, I expect the phone to get slightly slower with iOS 12 and if I still have it by then - iOS 13. The extra power over the 7 Plus will sure come in handy when that time comes.

Screen

iPhone X features an edge-to-edge display, which Apple is branding as 'Super Retina'. It's a stunning 5.8-inch OLED display, with a resolution of 2,436x1,125 equating to 2.7 million pixels. That's a pixel density of 458ppi. It also supports HDR (both Dolby Vision and HDR10), so both colours and lighting in videos look amazing. As with iPhones 8 and 8 Plus, we now have True Tone technology - which made its debut on the 9.7" iPad Pro in 2016. Sadly this year’s iPhones, 8 and X alike, do not support the ProMotion technology found on the 2017 iPads Pro. This is a massive shame, but hey, maybe that’s destined for the iPhone ‘8s’ and the iPhone ‘Xs’ next year. The LCD panels used on previous iPhone have always looked great, so initially I didn’t notice a major difference. Compare it side by side to an iPhone 7, you can notice the higher resolution, better colour temperatures and better colours in general. Compare it to an iPhone 6s, which lacks the P3 wide colour gamut introduced on the 7, it is worlds apart. The display on the 6s looks hostile and cold compared to the X. It really is quite harsh. DisplayMate tested the iPhone X display, and found it to be the best put on a smartphone to date. As expected from an OLED panel, blacks are deep and colours are vivid. It really is great to finally see an OLED display on an iPhone - it’s about time. 

Camera 

iPhone X features a new 12MP camera sensor with dual OIS on both the wide angle lens and the telephoto lens, meaning less noise in those zoomed and low-light photos. The camera is very similar to that of iPhone 8 Plus, but that doesn’t have OIS on the telephoto lens, a bit like the 7 Plus last year. There have been updates to Portrait Mode, including better edge detection in iOS 11, the ability to use HDR and the Quad LED True Tone flash in low light conditions. Also new is ’Portrait Lighting', with preset choices that you can swipe through to get interesting light effects on your subject. Apple has made it very clear that these are real time lighting effects - made possible by the neural engine on the A11 chip - and not just filters. You can actually change the applied effect after the picture has been taken, so you’re not stuck with your original choice. I’m a big fan of ‘Studio Light’ and ‘Contour Light’, but in some conditions, the latter can make skin tones look a bit cartoonish for my liking. ‘Stage Light’ and ‘Stage Light Mono’ are very cool when they work, and realistically, you won’t be using them too often, as they completely black out the background. Slow-mo video has seen its first update since iPhone 6 in 2014, now recording 240FPS in 1080p HD. More importantly, iPhone X can record 4K resolution video at a silky-smooth 60 frames-per-second. This has never been done on a phone before (besides iPhone 8) and is usually reserved for pricey cameras. The video it produces is stunning. You need to be using Apple’s new High Efficiency HEVC video format to shoot in 4K60, which is supported in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra. If like me, you have a Mac that’s older than mid-2015, you will not be able to view HEVC videos higher than 1080p/240fps, even if you have High Sierra. That’s a bit of a bummer for me, as my main Mac is a Late 2012 27” iMac, which is where I keep all my photos. I’m only going to be recording on this phone at 4K60, so until I am forced to upgrade my iMac, I’ll either have to copy my videos onto my 2016 13” MacBook Pro from my iMac and view them on there, or not at all.  The new selfie camera remains at 7MP but now features both Portrait Mode and Portrait Lighting. Obviously, the pictures taken here aren’t nearly as spectacular as the those taken on the rear camera, but wow portrait selfies are impressive.

Battery life & charging 

Apple claims battery life improvements of 2 hours over iPhone 7. Even coming from iPhone 7 Plus, I’ve noticed significant gains in battery life. It’s fairly impressive that Apple have squeezed such long battery life into such a small phone. The OLED display is more efficient than the outgoing LCD panel, and further optimisation in iOS 11 has helped make this possible. Of course, iPhone X’s glass back allows for wireless charging using the Qi standard. Whilst I think it’s excellent that Apple are using an industry standard - I share a £14 Spigen charging mat with my Dad and his 8 Plus - I cannot wait for AirPower to arrive in 2018, despite rumours saying that Apple’s wireless mat will cost $199. Wireless charging works as expected, you just put it on the mat and that’s that. iPhone X is designed to charge at a maximum speed of 7.5W, which is currently limited to 5W, the same as the included wall adapter for your lightning cable. However, iOS 11.2 will unlock the ability to charge at the full 7.5W when that is released in the next month or so . 7.5W however, is still slower than charging via a lightning cable and Apple 12W power adapter. At the end of the day, wireless charging is a late but welcome edition to iPhone, and it’s excellent that you can use pretty much any wireless charger you can find online, in hotels and on public transport. My £14 charger will do me fine until AirPower comes out, but if you’re not bothered about charging your iPhone, Watch Series 3, and AirPods at the same time, and you want something more substantial than the cheaper offerings, Apple are selling both Belkin and Mophie charging mats online and in store for £54.95. 

What could've been done better? 

My only gripe with iPhone X is the lack of a 120Hz ProMotion display. For whatever reason, Apple decided not to include this buttery-smooth technology introduced on the iPad Pro this past Summer. As soon as the keynote finished, I was immediately disappointed by this. I think it’s a shame seeing as everything else about this premium, flagship phone is just about as good as it could be - it really is a showcase of Apple’s finest tech. In fact, just a few weeks ago, Razer released the first smartphone with a 120Hz display - this could have been Apple. I fell in love with ProMotion the moment I saw it on the 2017 iPads Pro, and I think this was a massive missed opportunity here by Apple. Sure, don’t put it on the mass-market iPhone 8, but the £1000+ flagship should have it. I’m sure we’ll see ProMotion on an iPhone next Autumn. 


A very exciting future.

iPhone X is probably the best hardware Apple have ever released. If you think £1000 is too much for a phone, you’re right - but you shouldn’t think of these devices as phones anymore. The elderly MacBook Air retails for £949 and iPhone X starts at £999, when you think about the tech packed into that notch alone, let alone the rest of the phone, I think the price is justifiable (well, almost, but this is Apple we’re talking about - the price will never be fully justifiable). If you don’t ‘get’ the iPhone X, then the iPhone 8 is the phone for you, as it is most people. Sure, some things might be considered a step backwards to the casual user - Face ID is considerably slower at unlocking your phone than the second-generation Touch ID sensor. The people who should buy iPhone X are the people who install betas. People like myself) who would much rather have a less refined, new, exciting technology in their day-to-day lives than a refinement of what we’ve had for the last decade (iPhone 8). iPhone X is a glimpse into the future - a very exciting future - but right now it’s meant for those who adore tech, not just anybody who is looking for a new iPhone. 

:))

Learning to code through error /  by Jack Taylor

I started learning Swift in October 2015. The release of the iPhone 6s got me excited enough to finally take the plunge into something I had wanted to do for quite a while. I used it to occupy my time whilst in a rainy Dorset - I specifically remember the rain - during a half term break in my final year of school. I stuck with it for about a week and a half before going back to school and forgetting about it. Just under a year later in September 2016, I had left school, had no plans and was very bored. 

Using a mixture of YouTube videos and Udemy courses, I began re-learning the small amounts of Swift 2.0 I had learnt the year before, and started adjusting to the then-new Swift 3.0 (Xcode makes this very easy so it required very little effort on my part). Within a month I was ready to release Freezr 1.0 onto the App Store. Between October 2016 and March 2017 I released a few minor updates which introduced small things such as custom sounds and fonts, but since then Freezr has remained unchanged. 

I’m currently working on Freezr 1.5, which I will release by the end of 2017. I’m not going to make any promises as to what will be included in this update, but yeah, it’s a big one. The point is, anyone can learn to code. I have learnt almost entirely through making my own mistakes and then spending countless hours trying to fix them (usually at 1AM on some obscure forum when I have work at 9AM). There are still so many things I’m not confident with, including some of the basics. In fact, I have a list on the Apple Notes app of the simple things I should understand - but don’t. That way, I’ll get round to researching them fully at some point soon. 

The Internet is an amazing tool, and we are lucky to have it. Through it’s support and my own mistakes I have created an app that’s currently being used by 7,000 people - something I definitely didn’t expect this time last year.

Don’t expect to be an coding expert from the get-go, it takes a lot of work and perseverance, but you’ll get there eventually. In the meantime, you can create a bunch of awesome apps, whilst continuously developing your own skills.

:))

The Apple TV 4K /  by Jack Taylor

In what should be my final iCollectApple video post-September-12th-Keynote (until I get my hands on an iPhone X), I'm unboxing the 5th-generation Apple TV, now known as the Apple TV 4K. I've been using this little box for about a week now and my gosh do I love it. Since July 2012 I had been the owner of a 3rd-generation Apple TV, which I did very much enjoy using, but since the release of the 4th-generation model in September 2015, I had been lusting over tvOS and all the new features that it brought to the TV table. I held off for 2 years in the hope of a 4K model revision and I have very much been rewarded.

I'm using it with a 2015 Samsung 55" SUHD TV and a Sonos PLAYBAR and it's a very enjoyable setup. I can control everything from the ever-so-slightly-revised Siri Remote, which is a breath of fresh air in a world where my living room has 500 remote controls (and probably quite a few more down the side of the sofa). 

4K UHD and HDR look awesome, both of which I'm somewhat used to from my PS4 Pro. Last night I watched the first Kingsman movie, which is currently £3.99 on iTunes in 4K HDR and it was fantastic. The amount of 4K content on iTunes is very limited at the moment, but you can stream 4K content (new or past purchases) at no extra cost from their HD counterparts. I'm assuming there's no option to download due to piracy concerns. 

To me, the true potential of Siri might one day be met on the tvOS platform. Asking questions such as, "Siri, what did they say?" will skip back 15 seconds and turn subtitles on up until the point you previously got to. That's just a small example of how Siri becomes genuinely useful on tvOS, bringing an entirely new level of interaction to TV viewing. This is easily the best way I've used Siri to-date, and I'm a veteran user of iOS, macOS and watchOS. Come this December, however, my view on this may change with the HomePod release, but we shall see. 

I have the 64GB model which retails for £199/$199, which is only £20/$20 more than the 32GB model, so I really couldn't see much point in getting the smaller option. My last Apple TV lasted over 5 years, and whilst I don't expect quite the same lifespan out of this one (due to Apple's apparent new-found love for the TV with tvOS), I do believe in future-proofing and an extra £20 seems very much worth it to me as apps inevitably get bigger. 

I have embedded my unboxing video below, and as always, if you want to see more of my videos, be sure to subscribe to iCollectApple on YouTube.

:))

iCollectApple - Unboxing: iPhone 8 Plus (Gold) /  by Jack Taylor

By the power of magic I was fortunate enough to be able to unbox the iPhone 8 Plus on iCollectApple today. Even better, it was the all-new and improved Gold colour option.  As I was unprepared, the video wasn’t perfect, but I hope to be doing a more detailed and thought out unboxing of the Space Grey model shortly.   

 I was also able to do a quick comparison video between all 3 colours - I’ve embedded both videos below. 

I'd love it if you could check out the videos, and if you want to see more of my videos, be sure to subscribe to iCollectApple on YouTube!  

Unboxing: iPhone 8 Plus (Gold) on iCollectApple

iPhone 8 Plus Colour Comparison - Space Grey, Silver and Gold! on iCollectApple

:))