Yeah, the new SE is fucking huge. It’s as big as my 6s.
And for the record…the 12 mini is still bigger than my Xperia, which is also too big, but not obscenely so.
And did they fix the glitch of no headphone jack on the new iPhones?
Kinda. It doesn’t have a headphone jack, but it has a MagSafe charger that leaves the Lightning jack free so you can plug headphones into that while still charging the phone.
Their out is it’s 5G with a little E. It’s still 4G. You’d think misrepresentation like that would be illegal, but this is America Land of the Snake Oil.
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I don’t think that’s true anymore. I haven’t seen the “5GE” icon on my iPhone in a long time, and AT&T seems to have scrubbed all mentions of 5GE from their web site.
My understanding is that AT&T has been rolling out true 5G like VZW and TMo, although it’s not yet ubiquitous (including in Austin).
After my employer discount I’m paying $275/month ($115/month + $20/line/month) before taxes/fees for eight lines on my old Unlimited Plus family plan. It looks like the new Unlimited Elite 5G-capable plans would be $280/month (flat $35/month/line) before taxes/fees if I use autopay. So the math is really close, even considering the fact that I’d be upgrading 7 non-5G devices to 5G plans.
Unless AT&T forces me to change my plan in order to activate the iPhone 12, I’ll probably just wait it out for a while anyway.
Is Verizon still hellacious, or is it a viable option these days?
I was looking this up today - the 12 mini piqued my interest - and the 5G “Sub-6” that is the standard 5G offering from AT&T has speeds +/- 4G. Yes, plus or minus 4G. So it’s technically 5G, as only 5G phones can pick it up, but there’s no speed advantage whatsoever at best.
I don’t know if there is any other advantage to the Sub-6 band, though. Anyone know if it can’t get through a couple of sheets of paper like AT&T’s 4G?
I had a mini freak-out at that, but then I remembered what I pay. It’s $150/month for two phone lines and a watch line. I have tried to cut this every which way, and it just never makes sense. The only way to truly get a deal is to change carriers (hence the above Verizon question).
That’s a pretty good deal. With company discount, I’m paying $47 + $40/line. Of course, I’ve only got two lines, so that’s still better than $115 + $20/line, but you get a better volume deal per phone.
If I switch to the 5G unlimited elite plan, it’s be a flat $65/line, so it’d be $130/month vs the $127/month I’m paying now. Pretty much a wash.
For the record (I just checked), the 12 mini comes only with a USB-C to Lightning cable. No MagSafe connector and no wall plug. The MagSafe charger is $39, is USB-C also, and does not come with a wall plug. A USB-C wall plug is $19.
Apple are just so good at finding new ways for their new stuff to not connect to fucking anything.
No doubt it’s a cost-cutting measure, but they make a compelling case for it being an environmental decision as well. Anyone who is coming from a previous iPhone or a USB-C Android phone will already have a suitable charger for the iPhone 12 family.
Also, while standing in line to vote, I’ve got a 5GE symbol on my iPhone, so I guess I have to walk back what I said a few posts up.
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I guess the assumption is that this is not the first re-chargeable electronic device for anyone, so they’re most likely to have an existing USB wall plug. That’s not a deal breaker. No headphone jack may be.
In other Apple news (I was reminded by the whole connectivity thing), I bought a set of Airpod Pros recently. I am in an apartment now where the A/C is pretty loud and the dryer sounds like a 747, so I wanted to be able to watch TV without constantly having to turn the sound up and down and/or having it so loud as to annoy the neighbors. Also, the spatial audio thing looked like a solution to not having to add surround sound (again in deference to the neighbors).
They are a better fit than standard Airpods and the noise-cancellation is excellent. When you engage it, outside sound just vanishes. It reminds me of this:
The buds actually sample the sound inside your head as well as outside, so as to cancel the sound of chewing etc. and also to ensure that the sound in your ear matches what is being put out by the speakers with all other noise eliminated. The battery life is supposedly better, but I haven’t challenged it yet so I don’t know. The charging pod is bigger, and comes with a USB-C to Lightning connector (no wall plug).
However, I found out that spatial audio only works with iPhones and iPads - and not my Apple TV - because, supposedly, the source device needs a gyroscope too for it to work. This makes no sense as my TV is at a fixed angle and location, so why does it need a gyroscope? Strike one!
Strike two? I got a kitten, so now I have to keep my wits about me to avoid being attacked and to make sure he’s not breaking shit. So noise cancellation is no longer an option at home at least.
The headphone jack is never coming back to the iPhone. They’ve allocated its real estate to additional battery space and extra processing capabilities, and that genie is never going back in the bottle. If that is a dealbreaker for you then you can definitively kiss the iPhone goodbye forever.
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No, that’s Gov. Abbott trying to make voting more unpleasant.
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Yeah, but a USB-C wall plug? I have an iPad and an iPhone don’t have one of those at all - USB-As the lot of them.
Haven’t Samsung et al started following suit too?
Thanks for your take on the AirPod Pros. My BeatsX buds are down to <1 hour of battery life (can’t even do a full slate of yard work on one charge anymore) and I wasn’t too enthused about going the AirPod route until I saw the Pro capabilities. They’re on my Christmas list.
So you can pair the AirPods to an Apple TV? Does it shut off the audio going to the TV? That would be a big deal when watching TV while my wife is asleep next to me.
Do your iPhone and iPad not charge with a lightning cable?
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Yes, they are dwindling on Android as well, but I suspect low/mid range Android phones will continue to include them for quite some time.
I hate earbuds of any type. And I like open-back headphones precisely because they don’t filter out ambient noise. You hear everything around you as if you weren’t wearing any headphones at all. This has its advantages and its drawbacks.