I'll need to schedule regular meetings to make sure I get informed about what I will and won't enjoy.
Indeed.
This would be shockingly inconsistent with how I've felt after every other annual upgrade I've done, and I've done them all.
This would also be inconsistent with every other iPhone upgrade I've done. With the exception of the original iPhone, I don't believe I've ever made it a point to announce to the folks I know that I just got a new phone. Is this something I'm supposed to be doing? When do I start the announcements and what form should they take?
I include my current phone in my .sig here to give context of what device I have and my history with the phones. That certainly isn't a 'rush to tell everyone you know that you have the new iPhone'. I don't even know if anyone I know is on macrumors 🤔
Of course not. Why would anyone?
I never use a case. See my many posts on this topic over the years.
That said, as phones have gotten closer and closer to the ideal of a thin slab of glass, there will be fewer and fewer physically distinguishing features from one model to the next. But again, this falls under the 'why should anyone care' umbrella.
In all my years of owning the most recent flagship iPhone (this will be my 18th iPhone if my count is correct, which translates to 17 iPhone upgrades), I don't recall anyone asking me to show them something the new phone does. There have been times when someone has asked how to do XYZ on their phone, but no one has ever asked me "hey, show off the latest thingy for me, please!". Maybe I need more intrusive friends.
AI is in its infancy. Other providers and/or software packages have been including AI-ish things for a short period of time, sure, but no one has 'dropped the ball' whether that be Apple, or Samsung, or Microsoft, or whoever people wanna name. It's simply too new of a technology that people are still working on good, functional implementations for. No one else that's doing AI-foo in their software/services, no one, has developed the end-all be-all AI-powered product that has caught their competitors flatfooted, giving them a huge lead. Apple Intelligence won't do that for Apple, either. I have been enjoying the little slice we're seeing in the 18.1 betas, but even when they've released it in its entirety it's their first foray into an integrated wholistic solution (rather than piece-meal micro-assistants) and it will not be anywhere near a final effort.
Unlikely. I don't recall doing that with any other feature over the last 17 years. I could be wrong. That's a lot of posts to recollect on. I have periodically responded to threads where someone was talking about how cool or horrible some feature was to offer my perspective on said feature. But rushing to macrumors to gush about something I enjoy is not something I'm prone to do.
I have no idea how many times I'll use the Camera Control button. I take a lot of photos and video, so I'll certainly try it out a bunch. While I suspect it'll be a nice convenience when it comes to doing a super quick launch of the camera and being able to do some things single handed that are not practical now, I really have no way of knowing if that modality will be easier/more convenient for me or not. If yes, then great. Something else to enjoy. If not, no worries, I'm certainly not upgrading for that button.
Maybe I use it seven times and dismiss it after. Maybe it becomes part of my daily routine. In neither case will I start a thread anywhere about it.
I haven't. Well, I mean, I didn't purchase a Vision Pro so I guess you can say I contributed to the not-exciting levels of sales of that product, but in general Apple has been delivering solid products over the years. The iPhones continue to do exceptionally well, as do the watches and AirPods. I won't go down the entire product line, the earnings calls cover those in more detail, but I'm not sure it's accurate to characterize Apple's recent history as blighted with failures.
Also, the 16-series phones are far, far improved over the 11-series. In fact they are objectively improved over the 15-series of phones. Maybe the level of improvement isn't to everyone's satisfaction, but it doesn't change the fact that, yes, they are improved over the previous year's offerings.
For some, those improvements aren't of value. For many of us, they are.
And for that reason, I will absolutely enjoy my new 16 Pro Max like I've enjoyed and appreciated the last 17 upgrades to iPhones I've received.
