New Apple Lust Objects for 2010 and onward

My 6 has been great on 11 except for increased battery drain and some slowness with launching Siri. They just released 11.0.1

Is there no lightning-ready mini DAC on the market ?

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/9501457075919728060?lsf=seller:1057813,store:12938073204014769012&prds=oid:7234063464684290058&q=lightning+DAC&hl=en&ei=c5rKWZDkJ8TcmQGq36eIBQ&lsft=gclid:Cj0KCQjw9afOBRDWARIsAJW4nvzQJUbkO71LEo8olg6Tu5OUalwpOMdsCfM1Xp5SuUZ_26aUwVh5sS0aAmM3EALw_wcB

and many more

though reviews for that one say it's not noticeably better than apples own adaptor

there are, but if you have any usb dac or sound card you can go ahead and just use that

fwiw the iPhone dock has the same chip as the adapter dongle, afaik

11.0.1 has made quite the difference

Will try 11.0.1 tonight. 11 does appear to have impacted battery life on my SE, but I can't really tell if that might be down to (i) obsessively checking the Federer-Kyrgios score when I was in the park Sunday evening (it was basically an exhibition event!) and (ii) using it frequently as a *phone* due to impending house move requiring actual conversations. It's into the 20s by the time I get in from work, at 8:30pm or so, which is not great, considering how little I'm on it in the office.

On a contract with the SE until Jan 2019, so I hope this is resolved. 4s and 5s were well in their dotage(!) before they started having battery life issues. 4s still acceptable for the elder daughter, despite the hammering of YouTube. Really don't like the size of 6/7/8/X or the proposed 9 but I'll probably just fall into line with everyone else in a couple of years (me in 2010: "I will never need a smartphone"; me in 2012: "I have no interest in overpriced Apple crap").

High Sierra has had some odd effects on my 2014-ish MBP too. Keyboard just freezing after a few minutes of inactivity - unable to type in Notes, or Cmd+Tab to another app (getting "bonk" sound). Esc and re-entering password at lock screen solved it each time.

yeah I think I'm gonna stay away from high sierra for some time.

Hoping 11.0.1 does something about this awful battery situation. Wishing I'd avoided 11, hasn't given me much tbh

too many 32bit apps on my computer to comfortably update to High Sierra yet. Some are fun little old apps that will probably never get updated, some are current essential tools that probably will eventually.

I honestly don't know if I have any 32bit apps and I really should have made the effort to find out :/ Certainly my free battery health monitor has vanished from my menu bar.

autumn of the hoonjadoonjas

32bit apps still run on High Sierra, but this is the last release that they'll run "without compromise". They're only dead on iOS 11 so far

i used the (non-cellular) series 3 watch a lot more today: showed it to some people for a while, demonstrated apps, played with watch faces, replied to a heap of messages, controlled podcasts and music, set timers, asked siri to give me 45 minutes of driving directions. at 11 pm the battery’s on 72%. apparently i can’t kill even half the battery. i love the hell out of this thing.

I know it must be me but as always whenever there's a new iOS and OS update, everything's...perfectly fine. Odd glitch in Mail w/r/t links but other than that, *shrug* -- and battery life on the phone is fine.

Ned and I apparently got the special version

The battery in my new 8 is about a billion times better than my 6; similar usage pattern on the 6 where I'd be down to 20% by the end of the day has me around 75% on the 8.

soooomebody got an iPhone 8

xpost part of that will be the new battery effect tho i think

I was on a relatively new 6, though; my original one tore through two batteries and they gave me a new one to replace it about 7-8 months ago.

My 5s is still behaving just fine in speed and battery life, but I've been thinking about the inevitable upgrade. I was thinking about a 6, but it sounds like the SE is more reliable.

Don’t forget batteries die of old age after a few years (and can be easily replaced).

I kind of still love my 5. Can the battery in that be replaced easily? I must confess I sometimes take my SIM card out of my 6+ and revert to my 5 for a bit

yes it's not very difficult, and the replacement battery is very cheap https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+replace+your+iPhone+5+battery/10587, https://www.ifixit.com/Store/iPhone/iPhone-5-Replacement-Battery/IF118-001-4

if it's otherwise sitting in a draw then you can't do any harm, and if you absolutely need it to work then you can pay someone in a strip mall to do it for next to nothing, or apple will do it for $80 iirc

I think Apple longer supports battery replacement for the 5 but yeah I’m sure one of these little fixit places could do it

*no* longer

The entry level small 8 is more than twice the price of the entry SE. Crazy

the se is very good value for money, due a spec bump though

Through my carrier, it's only $160 ($200 for the 6).

i somehow saved money per month when i went from an old dying 5 to the SE abt a year ago

recently i've picked up a series 3 apple watch (non-lte), some airpods and now an iphone 8+, and i really think these are the three most impressive apple products i've ever owned. the watch has surprised the hell out of me by how useful it is, everything about the airpods is properly ingenious, and the 8+ is light years ahead of the 6+ in so many ways despite looking almost exactly the same. this is a really good time to own apple things.

Good to hear. What do you like about the watch?

what makes the 8+ much better than 6+? that's what i've been sitting on, probably just gonna wait for iphone 9.. whatever

Good to hear. What do you like about the watch?

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Saturday, 21 October 2017 20:31 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is what i do with it every day:

• replying to messages (pre-selected response, speech-to-text, writing letters on the screen like a palm pilot)
• controlling music and podcasts playing on my phone (jump back 10 seconds, pause, change volume)
• public transport times, delays &c.
• weather
• all the usual fitbit-type stuff (steps, kilojoules/calories, stairs climbed) but with some coaching
• setting timers while my hands are covered in food (until we get a google home mini for the kitchen)

• sat nav (yelling at siri works after the third or fourth attempt)
• paying for stuff when my hands are full, which happens surprisingly often
• dictating quick notes (i use onenote for this)
• it's an apple tv remote
• some of my music's on it (there's no sound equaliser but it's still convenient)

really it's all about convenience, but i won't be sticking this in a drawer like others did in the past. the series 3 is so quick to respond that it's completely painless for doing everything, even just checking the time.

what makes the 8+ much better than 6+? that's what i've been sitting on, probably just gonna wait for iphone 9.. whatever

― Nhex, Sunday, 22 October 2017 05:03 (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

• vastly better camera (and two cameras!)
• waterproofing (which means dustproofing, which i hope means no crap on my camera sensor this time)
• much better build quality (no chance of bendgate, this thing is rock solid)
• no mechanical home button to break down after 14 months
• remarkably good speakers
• wireless charging, if that's your thing
• more ram (3 gb), which iirc translates to faster camera operation (the camera in the 6 & 6+ got sluggish under ios 10 & 11)
• fast as hell
• a few small things that are really nice: instant touch id, raise to wake, "hey siri" without being plugged in
• a few small things i don't really care about but are sort of nice: live photos, 3d touch as a nifty shortcut in apps like music

waiting another year probably makes sense though, if you can wait long enough for a 9+ (or x+?) with an edge-to-edge screen, and if you can endure ios 11/10 on your 6+ for another 11 (or 23, or 35) months. the 8+ does look dated up against the pixel 2 xl, galaxy s8 etc etc.

One other biggie is much faster wired charging, though you'll need to buy a USB-C to Lightning cable and charger (or use the charger that came with your recent Macbook) to take advantage of it. Up to 50% charge in 30 minutes, Apple says.

Speed and better camera are the best reasons. Almost always the best reasons to upgrade your phone.

tbh those are the progressive generational bits that make buying every other or every few phones worthwhile, other studr takes a while to trickle in as necessities

Apple Pay is nice

thx for the input, aa

any time!

jeff & mh otm, 2017 phones are so insanely useful and powerful that you can hang on to one for a long time. i expect i'll be using this 8+ until at least 2020 if it doesn't die.

One other biggie is much faster wired charging, though you'll need to buy a USB-C to Lightning cable and charger (or use the charger that came with your recent Macbook) to take advantage of it. Up to 50% charge in 30 minutes, Apple says.

― Lee626, Sunday, 22 October 2017 10:52 (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that explains why i couldn't find a compatible fast charger today. i had no idea usb-c was required. 10w ipad chargers (usb) seem to be quicker at charging these than the usual 5w ones, so that'll do for now.

Yeah thanks AA for taking the time. Still not convinced the watch is really for me but I’m always curious to hear how people use theirs irl

yeah, if fitbits lasted longer than nine months i probably wouldn't have got an apple watch. i could probably go without it but it's nice to have.

We just got an Apple TV 4K and the screensavers are a thing of beauty. Apple are really pushing this Live Photo thing and they are using it an 4K to great effect. There’s a fantastic swoop through Hong Kong harbour, but the amazing one is a fly over LAX, planes move during the slow sweep, as do cars and busses, you can even see the fans on top of the cooling plant move. It’s a minor thing but I spend five minutes this evening watching a screen saver.

on my apple tv I used to use a collection of mid-century graphic design as my screensaver. Then I used a folder of William Eggleston photos. But my baby kept staring at the screen and getting distracted so I made a black jpg my screensaver so I can keep playing music but immediately black out the screen.

that explains why i couldn't find a compatible fast charger today. i had no idea usb-c was required. 10w ipad chargers (usb) seem to be quicker at charging these than the usual 5w ones, so that'll do for now.

― rove mcmanus island (Autumn Almanac), Sunday, 22 October 2017 07:39 (yesterday) Permalink

Yes, iPad chargers (or any reputable-brand 2.1A or 2.4A chargers, which are inexpensive) will juice up your 6 or later iPhone noticeably faster than the wimpy 1.0A (5w) charger that Apple supplies with your phone.

Apple issued these guidelines for 8/8+/X fast charging; thusfar it seems only Apple makes the needed USB-C to Lightning cables, but Anker and Aukey both have suitable 29w USB-C charging blocks that sell for about USD $25 which is half of what Apple's own charger costs. I expect both of these items will become much more widely available & less expensive in the next few months, but it's still ridiculous that Apple doesn't supply the needed hardware to fast-charge their newest and most expensive phones in the box given that their Android competition does (and has for years). At least third parties have confirmed Apple's charging speed claims - it actually recharges slightly faster than claimed and about 50% faster than a Samsung S8.

my baby kept staring at the screen and getting distracted

man u got yr baby doin homework or what

you know, distracted from things like nursing!

lee626: thanks for the detail. 2.1a is probably fast enough for most people, especially considering how light the new phones are on battery (and might get better still once apple sorts out ios 11).

jeff & mh otm, 2017 phones are so insanely useful and powerful that you can hang on to one for a long time. i expect i'll be using this 8+ until at least 2020 if it doesn't die.

― rove mcmanus island (Autumn Almanac), Sunday, October 22, 2017 3:39 AM (yesterday) Bookmark

i mean this is how i felt about my iphone 6 back when i got it but now it's been borked by ios 10 and 11.

you'll notice that nobody talks about how new ios or macos updates makes their older machines feel 'snappier' anymore