Downsides Of The New iPhones: Has Apple Lost Its Touch?

As usual, yesterday’s iPhone reveal left many people in a frenzy, with some people that simply cannot wait to pay the big price tag for the newest version of the iPhone—whether it be the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or iPhone X. While people love new things and it’s easy to get excited, there are reasons to be down on the newest versions of Apple’s flagship product.

 

Glass back

The glass backing is one thing a lot of people aren’t too hyped about. It brings back memories to the iPhone 4, which seemingly everyone had a cracked version of not after long. However, the glass back is necessary for the wireless charging, a great feature that’ll make things more convenient for users. A purchase of AppleCare is probably necessary with the new iPhones though, which means more money for Apple. In terms of look and feel between aluminum and glass, they are about even, so I’m not sure the glass back is worth it. Apple does claim the glass is extremely strong and durable, so maybe it’s awesome and deals with drops like aluminum.

 

OLED
There’s finally OLED on the iPhone X, but it’s still not there on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. This shows that Apple is certainly behind in that department, as phones from competitors LG and Samsung have had OLED screens. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus would be much better if they had OLED screens.

 

Water and dust resistance

Perhaps the most disappointing of everything about the new iPhones is the lack of an upgrade on water and dust resistance. The iPhone 7 has IP67 water resistance rating, which is a clear step down from the IP68 water resistance rating on most other phones—such as Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and LG’s LGV30. When people pay hundreds of dollars—or in the case of the iPhone X, over a thousand dollars—for a phone, they expect the best. IP67 water resistance does not give that.

 

iPhone X underwhelming?

During yesterday’s unveiling of the iPhone X, Apple claimed the phone would change the next ten years like the original iPhone changed the ten years before that. What exactly does the iPhone X offer that changes things? Samsung already has IRIS scanning, while LG already has face recognition. Perhaps Face ID will be a step above (and animojis do look fun!), but it doesn’t appear to be ground-breaking. OLED has been around other phones for quite a while now, so that’s definitely not a new feature to “wow” people. And the full-screen display is something that’s also been around on Apple’s competitors.

 

 

There’s reason to be excited about the iPhone. The iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X are all new and improved versions of the most popular phone in the world. They’ll run smoothly and work great together with other Apple devices—like always, I’ll enjoy using it. It’s an iPhone and will be a good device, but let’s not push it.

 

Because it doesn’t look like Apple is.