iPhone 7

[Twed]

A decent file browser?

That's solved at the application level, and there are many solutions! I hate Windows 10's file browser more than anything. All that crap at the top, and then tabs of more crap. And if you get used to the crap and find the three buttons you will ever need, they change if you open a folder with media in, or something. It was fine when it was simpler.

Obviously this is subject to opinion, I just don't believe motion equals improvement.

Things change, and contrary to many peoples opinions, they generally get better.

Clicked a Start button lately?

"contrary to many peoples opinions" -> people use computers! You said many...

[Replies From View]

The problem there is it says "Dell" on them. And I don't want that. Laugh and pour scorn on me all you want, but I am the Average Consumer of this stuff. I just don't want shit that says "Dell" on it. I know. I'm a cunt.

Simply use Tipp-Ex to change the D into a B.

[Replies From View]

Why does it have all webbing come out of the base of it and stuff?

[Gurke and Hare]

I love OS X too. It's a great development machine, its user interface is simple and still draws from the NeXT philosophy with the dock which has been working for me across Macs and Linux since 1998, and it really hits the sweet spot for being the ideal Unix on the desktop. Don't fuck it up, Apple.

I've not been an OS X user for five years (my iMac gave up the ghost, and I couldn't afford a new one so I built a desktop PC and put Linux on it) but the impression I had at the time was that they were trying to turn OS X into a bit of a walled garden - did that continue?

[Cloud]

They've not really gone any further trying to turn macOS into iOS.  I think they know there are just too many standalone applications to go any further than the approach of defaulting the switch in System Preferences to "Only trust Mac App Store applications" and letting you switch it to unsigned.

Their long term strategy now I think is to try and phase out Macs altogether.  Note I say long term - they know it's not going to be an overnight thing and are about to finally release new ones and an updated OS, but they're doing that thing Apple does where they just kind of slow down the updates of a product they don't really believe in and make minimal fuss about them, kind of almost pretending they don't exist.  This will get worse as the years go on until they just quietly disappear from their store.

Both Tim Cook and Steve Jobs before him have said it's the end of the "PC" era when talking about the iPad.
(They sometimes say "PCs" in a context where they mean Macs and Windows/Linux PCs as an umbrella term, just to confuse everyone)

[phantom_power]

Yeah, but there are people who need to do work with these things and suffer from a culture of sneery consumers saying "OMG stop complaining!". No. We're going to complain and we don't need to explain ourselves. Your odd loyalty to a corporation that despises you is arguably the position that needs to rationalised.

The problem isn't with Apple. The problem is your company buying you stuff that isn't fit for purpose. They have the right to have proprietary stuff in their phones and take the hit of people not wanting to buy things they can't adapt. Most people don't care. The people who do will make an informed decision on what is best for them.

[Paul Calf]

OS X doesn't walk over Windows in terms of UI anymore. Well Windows 7 doesn't anyway - the whole Windows 8 debacle is a real shame, but OS X has been standing still for a long time. They've really obviously stopped putting any effort into OSX.

It has a decent unix style shell, but I suspect Powershell is a good competitor, if not better, considering how much later it was designed. I've never had a good reason to learn it, unfortunately.

It really isn't. sh is a mature operating system interface with 45 years of support, software and development. Powershell is a hacky mess thrown out quickly when windows realised that cmd was an embarrassment, based on VB that's mainly used by C# developers. They might look similar, but they're worlds apart.

There's nothing in Windows that I wish was in OS X. Developing software in Windows is a productivity-sapping marathon.

[Twed]

I've not been an OS X user for five years (my iMac gave up the ghost, and I couldn't afford a new one so I built a desktop PC and put Linux on it) but the impression I had at the time was that they were trying to turn OS X into a bit of a walled garden - did that continue?

That's actually the situation I'm in (recently re-Macced) and fortunately I'd say their attempt failed. I haven't had to use the app store once.

To me, OS X fills the hole that Linux on the desktop never quite got right. Being designed for its own hardware is responsible for a large part of that, I suppose.

[Twed]

It really isn't. sh is a mature operating system interface with 45 years of support, software and development. Powershell is a hacky mess thrown out quickly when windows realised that cmd was an embarrassment, based on VB that's mainly used by C# developers. They might look similar, but they're worlds apart.

There's nothing in Windows that I wish was in OS X. Developing software in Windows is a productivity-sapping marathon.

Yeah, for me Powershell is the shell for people who would used ISS for a web server and Exchange for an email server. Get outta here with that.

[Twed]

The problem isn't with Apple. The problem is your company buying you stuff that isn't fit for purpose. They have the right to have proprietary stuff in their phones and take the hit of people not wanting to buy things they can't adapt. Most people don't care. The people who do will make an informed decision on what is best for them.

(assuming you just quoted the wrong person there)

[doppelkorn]

You can tell Spotify to cache its music on the SD card from within the app.

Would Karma

[Head Gardener]

[Puce Moment]

I have the 6S so I don't see what possible reason I would have to get the 7, other than vanity or it being paid for by someone else. I still have 12-months of paying off my 6S so would be awfully extravagant and wasteful and stupid.

[mobias]

Some interesting (and highly negative) reviews of the 7 and its lack of a headphone jack https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/13/iphone-7-review-roundup-headphone-jack



Hooray for a cable free future

[Ignatius_S]

Some interesting (and highly negative) reviews of the 7 and its lack of a headphone jack https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/13/iphone-7-review-roundup-headphone-jack
Hooray for a cable free future

I've only read a couple of those reviews but Ard Technica one, overall was positive. The Business Insider one's single biggest complaint was that the design hasn't changed much, rather than the lack of a headphone jack.

[Ignatius_S]

I have the 6S so I don't see what possible reason I would have to get the 7, other than vanity or it being paid for by someone else. I still have 12-months of paying off my 6S so would be awfully extravagant and wasteful and stupid.

So far, all the reviews that I've seen have said that if you have an iPhone prior to the 6S, the 7 is worth considering upgrading to.

Usually, there isn't a reason to upgrade to the next model and next year, IIRC, it's the iPhone's tenth anniversary and suspect that will provide impetus to provide a strikingly different design.

[mobias]

I've got a 6 and have absolutely no desire to upgrade. If the rumours are true that Apple will announce a new design of phone next year to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the iPhone then I might consider it then. I'd like to hold on to my 6 as long as possible though, especially considering it has a headphone jack. I really begrudge the notion that you should consider getting a new phone every two to three years. Not at the price Apple charge for them.

[Zetetic]

Is OS X lacking in anything that needs to exist for users?

It could do with integrating some decent windows management - Windows 10's work on this is lovely. Yes, there are third-party solutions for slightly ridiculous amounts of money (and there's Spectacle which free and Free, and I suppose I could hack on).

It will be interesting to see how Windows' *nix environment fares - it's not fit for many purposes right now.

[mothman]

Just tried upgrading my phone to ios10 and it screwed it up...

[Replies From View]

I've got a 6 and have absolutely no desire to upgrade. If the rumours are true that Apple will announce a new design of phone next year to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the iPhone then I might consider it then. I'd like to hold on to my 6 as long as possible though, especially considering it has a headphone jack. I really begrudge the notion that you should consider getting a new phone every two to three years. Not at the price Apple charge for them.

I have an iPhone 4S and it'll have lasted 5 years when December comes.  Quite why anyone is thinking of upgrading to a 7 from a 6 or 6S is beyond me.

"Hello; advice please.  Two years ago I spent loads of money on a brand new kitchen.  Should I now rip it all out for no reason and replace it with something almost identical?  Thanks in advance for your replies."

[Twed]

Some people are on iPhone Forever, innit. Like my wife.

Our phone bill is $170 a month.

[Cloud]

To be fair on the design, there are only so many ways you can design a rectangle of glass and aluminium.  Maybe edge to edge could shake things up, but then I think having a slight border around the screen makes "swipe from edge of screen" gestures a lot easier...

Dug out the 5S I got for £130 on eBay.  Credit where it's due, for now quite an old phone it's still working pretty well on iOS 10.  I think iPhones go from "painfully expensive" when they're new, to "actually maybe the best value for money if you need a phone on the cheap" after a few years. I think I'd rather get one of those than some shitty "budget" Android phone that is slow as molasses as soon as you put a few apps on it and has about 8GB of storage and a half hearted screen.  That or a second hand S4 or S5, but you certainly won't get the latest OS on either of those (S4 is still stuck on 5.01 I believe!)

[Zetetic]

You can fairly reliably (and I have) get a second-hand (32GB) Nexus 5 for less than £100 now. (For comparison.)

I'd guess that, particularly with encryption, that the N5 might feel quite a bit slower but I don't really know. It's just hitting EOL as well although there'll likely to be rather hacked together if generally stable Nougat ROMs with some semblance of security updates; it's those security updates that are the greatest worry for me.

[Twed]

The only phone security I think is acceptable is not having anything on your phone that will cause you great problems if it's compromised. Phones are hopeless.

[mobias]

"Hello; advice please.  Two years ago I spent loads of money on a brand new kitchen.  Should I now rip it all out for no reason and replace it with something almost identical?  Thanks in advance for your replies."

The answer is clearly yes you should upgrade. The new kitchen I can sell you comes with a kettle that boils water better than it did before and a toaster that never burns toast but is also wireless with no headphone jack to clutter its looks, its also now waterproof. Other than that the cutlery drawers and plate cupboards are all of the same design as the kitchen you have.

To be fair on the design, there are only so many ways you can design a rectangle of glass and aluminium.  Maybe edge to edge could shake things up, but then I think having a slight border around the screen makes "swipe from edge of screen" gestures a lot easier...

From what I've read the next iPhone will just be one entire screen that also wraps around the side (a bit like the new Samsung Galaxy) They're also rumoured to be doing away with the home button entirely.

[Replies From View]

The answer is clearly yes you should upgrade. The new kitchen I can sell you comes with a kettle that boils water better than it did before and a toaster that never burns toast but is also wireless with no headphone jack to clutter its looks, its also now waterproof. Other than that the cutlery drawers and plate cupboards are all of the same design as the kitchen you have.

Cool; an umbrella with a smaller umbrella inside it, you say.

[MojoJojo]

From what I've read the next iPhone will just be one entire screen that also wraps around the side (a bit like the new Samsung Galaxy) They're also rumoured to be doing away with the home button entirely.

If they're talking about the actual physical button, they'll be mimicking android from about 4 years ago.


Not that it's an actual advance - yes you get more screen space, but from watching my kids with things it's massively important. It's a safe button -I don't know what's going on, phew the home button gets me somewhere familiar. Yes it takes up a huge amount of space in a way unnecessary for experienced users, but that easy retreat is very important to those learning (to be incredibly patronising).

Also, having screens to the edge isn't good - unless you put your phone on a pedestal, your fingers will obscure some of the front. And if touch is involved, it just hampers - it's a bit of an issue with my honor 7.

[Replies From View]

unless you put your phone on a pedestal

A lot of people definitely do.

[Ignatius_S]

If they're talking about the actual physical button, they'll be mimicking android from about 4 years ago...

Also, having screens to the edge isn't good - unless you put your phone on a pedestal, your fingers will obscure some of the front. And if touch is involved, it just hampers - it's a bit of an issue with my honor 7.

That's the rumour - but that, and the other design about the front that movies mentioned, has been mooted for over a year. In the case of no physical home button, there were plenty of stories recently (even a month ago or less) suggesting that there wouldn't be one on the iPhone 7.

I wouldn't be surprised if the next design did incorporate these features, but wouldn't bet on it. The rumour mill doesn't have a good track record and sometimes countless stories reporting on the same thing are based on a single news report.

*edit* Sorry, re-read your post - the iPhone 7 doesn't have a mechanical button unlike previous versions, what's been mooted is removing it entirely.

[Milverton]

I have a 6S with 128GB and I'll be giving the 7 a miss too.

After sodding about with the changes made to Apple Music in the update I might not be interested in the 8, the 9 or the 10 either.

Every single time it's a nightmare.