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The 128gb Note 9 is $999. The 256gb Max is 25% more expensive. It sure as heck not 25% better. I'm getting the Max because I get bored of both iOS and Android after awhile and I have a Samsung S8+ now. Both are excellent platforms. Vote with your feet and buy the Note 9 if you don't like these prices! Apple doesn't care if you're upset but they do care if enough of their customers bolt. Instead of complaining about being treated like sheep, stop acting like sheep.
 
Maybe it's time to skip a generation and tell them that we're not gonna put up with being milked this easily?
I’m the other way around. It’s finally time to buy my first ever iPhone. With 7nm they have caught up with Intel/AMD and further semiconductor process shrinks are less likely in the future, also this CPU is seriously multi-core; so the A12 should be good for a while. On the other hand, they have stripped the XR from all the fancy technology, I don’t care about and don’t want to pay for. I dislike huge phones, but at least now they offer an all-screen-display for under $1000. And these are not left-over LCDs like in the iPhone SE, Liquid Retina is the best Apple can do without OLED. If it brings down the price, I’m all for it. Last years iPhone X was a joke at that price, this years iPhone XR is the smartphone you always wanted. Especially the white one looks super clean with silver aluminum instead of shiny stainless steel. I’m going to fall in love with this phone and keep it until it breaks.
 
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Its offensive that Apple puts a 326 ppi LCD screen on a phone in 2018 and sells it for €850. It is strikingly worse than the 401 ppi screen of the plus models, let alone the OLEDs. Thats a major dealbreaker since you literally look at the screen every time you pickup the phone. The new old stock iPX would be a much better value in my view despite the older processor.
 
Its not gimmicks, and its pretty nice that you don't need to use third party apps. Hey, like I said, if the phone doesn't interest you, no one is forcing you.

I like what it has to offer, simple as that
Suit yourself! No wonder Apple is a trillion dollar company if there are people willing to pay one grand for a couple of new features introduced via software updates HAHA
 
The 128gb Note 9 is $999. The 256gb Max is 25% more expensive. It sure as heck not 25% better. I'm getting the Max because I get bored of both iOS and Android after awhile and I have a Samsung S8+ now. Both are excellent platforms. Vote with your feet and buy the Note 9 if you don't like these prices! Apple doesn't care if you're upset but they do care if enough of their customers bolt. Instead of complaining about being treated like sheep, stop acting like sheep.
Apple has always been more expensive then the competition. But what most non-apple users don't understand is the apple ecosystem. The way my macbook, apple tv, apple watch and iPhone work together is just unbelievable. if you buy the iPhone just to use the iPhone it is probably not worth the extra price, but together with al my other devices it does. Plus the insurance that I get software updates for at least 5 years is a big bonus. And hey, when I sell my devices, I still get a reasonable amount of money for it. While an android device is almost worthless after 2 years.
 
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I’m coming from an 8+ and I’ll likely preorder a XS Max tomorrow. Getting an optically stabilized telephoto lense is a big deal for me. I also take a lot of HDR shots, so I’m interested to see how good Smart HDR is.

Yes, other apps do the f-stop stuff for adjustable bokeh shots, but most people don’t want to use a third party camera app. They just want to pull their phone out, swipe from the lock screen and shoot.
I'm afraid you're gonna be disappointing if you're looking for a big camera upgrade. My BF has an 8 Plus and I have an X. Their cameras are pretty much identical with some minor improvements in low light. If you check the official Apple comparison chart, it looks like the sensor in the X and XS is the same.
 
We all know Apple has been becoming progressively greedier and greedier and many people have been ok with that, but this year i think it's time that we say stop.

$999 for a phone that has literally not a single new feature besides slight improvements in water resistance and some "bokeh" crap that could literally be added as a software update. The a12 has only a 5-10% increase in performance cpu based on slides and the gpu upgrade won't be noticeable for at least the next 2 years.

the Xr could have been a success but it ended up too expensive considering it's a single camera with removed features like 3d touch. and what's with that disgusting bezel that looks worse than the iphone 8's bezel??

Maybe it's time to skip a generation and tell them that we're not gonna put up with being milked this easily?

IMO I think this is exactly what will happen, many more consumers will skip one or more generations of phones. I know I will be buying the XsMax because I need the larger screen, but I'm pretty sure I will keep it 2 or more years where previously I would update every single year. Keep in mind though that we live in a lease world, where everything now is geared towards tying you up with some kind of leased or rent to own payment. Consumers are more and more accepting of this as time goes by. Just as you pay your mortgage/rent, electric bill, cable bill, cell phone bill, car payment, etc., so all these companies bank on you also accepting payments on their products and to expect to have those payments forever. Once you ascribe to this way of thinking then it might make sense to just pay the monthly cost forever. I'm not saying it will make sense to everyone, but with the high expense it may make more and more sense to consumers.
 
I am not sure exactly what everyone expected. it's an S cycle update... There weren't going to be many major surprises here, between technically 2 generations of phones released last year and the iOS 12 announcement in June - things pointed toward a more muted incremental update before the flood of leaks. It's clear Watch got the focus this year IMO.

Sure the price is a little higher than many 'hoped' but that's also always the case. For many folks people aren't buying these devices outright so the sticker shock is muted a bit on monthly payment plans - but I would agree the cost of a smartphone is starting to reach the boil stage of the frog in a pot.
 
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IMO I think this is exactly what will happen, many more consumers will skip one or more generations of phones. I know I will be buying the XsMax because I need the larger screen, but I'm pretty sure I will keep it 2 or more years where previously I would update every single year. Keep in mind though that we live in a lease world, where everything now is geared towards tying you up with some kind of leased or rent to own payment. Consumers are more and more accepting of this as time goes by. Just as you pay your mortgage/rent, electric bill, cable bill, cell phone bill, car payment, etc., so all these companies bank on you also accepting payments on their products and to expect to have those payments forever. Once you ascribe to this way of thinking then it might make sense to just pay the monthly cost forever. I'm not saying it will make sense to everyone, but with the high expense it may make more and more sense to consumers.

Those of us who are crazy and DO update every year are the vast minority. MOST people upgrade at most every two years but probably don't even upgrade that often.

I for one will be happy to always have a monthly payment on my phone to always have the newest one though, but like I implied I have a bit of a problem ;)
 
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Not my issue how people spend money but seeing some people on some Major UK mobile forums like EE,o2 complaining about mobile bills.
Some people are willing to pay £90 here for 24 months contract (OVER 2 GRAND CONTRACT) for the new iPhoneXS Max and complain about expensive saying I cannot afford this. HELP LOL
 
I hate the life situation: you drive behind the car and suddenly it stops and allow other drivers to merge your line at an intersection in front of him/her. The driver thinks that he/she makes a favor for the "merging" person, but he/she doesn't think about all the cars behind him/her. He/she makes a decision for the whole line.
 
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Apple has always been more expensive then the competition. But what most non-apple users don't understand is the apple ecosystem. The way my macbook, apple tv, apple watch and iPhone work together is just unbelievable. if you buy the iPhone just to use the iPhone it is probably not worth the extra price, but together with al my other devices it does. Plus the insurance that I get software updates for at least 5 years is a big bonus. And hey, when I sell my devices, I still get a reasonable amount of money for it. While an android device is almost worthless after 2 years.
Interesting...I have everything you have except the MacBook but never felt the need to integrate them all in the 'ecosystem.'
 
Apple.com
Open their comparison chart and compare the X camera to the XS and XS Max. Do you see any difference in terms of the sensor? I don’t!

Do you see differences in RAM? Apple doesn't publish all hardware changes.
 
I'm afraid you're gonna be disappointing if you're looking for a big camera upgrade. My BF has an 8 Plus and I have an X. Their cameras are pretty much identical with some minor improvements in low light. If you check the official Apple comparison chart, it looks like the sensor in the X and XS is the same.

Eh. Like I said, OIS on the telephoto lense is absent on the 8 Plus and i find myself wishing I had that at least once a week. And while the sensor is obviously important, it’s not everything when it comes to image quality. Image processing is pretty important and Apple is finally augmenting theirs with machine learning. HDR and portrait shots should be noticeably better, and I take a lot of HDR shots.

This all might be incremental for you, but everyone’s use case is different. ;)
 
My 6S is feeling old now and the XR to me feels like a bit of a downgrade from last years 8 so I think i’ll just save a bit of money and get that. I wasn’t impressed by the fact it’s 750 quid and is missing 3DTouch either. Nobody is forced to buy this year’s phones and most people I’ve spoken to today are either getting an 8 or an X by taking advantage of the discounts.
 
I'm afraid you're gonna be disappointing if you're looking for a big camera upgrade. My BF has an 8 Plus and I have an X. Their cameras are pretty much identical with some minor improvements in low light. If you check the official Apple comparison chart, it looks like the sensor in the X and XS is the same.

Well, according to this article over at The Verge, it's a brand new sensor with larger pixel size. That coupled with suspected new optics and all the extra processing power in the A12 should mean a marked improvement in photo quality. Of course, we won't know for sure until some hands on reviews next week at the earliest.
 
Hello. My 10 cents. The way I see Apple transitioning to a Luxury brand the likes of BMW, Audi and Cartier is kind of sad. Being in my 60's, I'm happy I could use Apple products from the very beginning up too, let's say 2013 when the transitioning was beginning. Now it's time to understand that the iPhone is no more. It's not a phone, it's a personal mini computer with the option of placing a call is needed. Hence the very high prices. I bought my last new iMac in 2013, my last new iPhone (5s) in 2015, my last new iPad Air 2 in 2016 when the prices were still affordable. At least according to my earnings. Now I have a used-but-like-brand-new iPhone 6s and I also bought used-but-like-brand-new iPad mini 2. No more brand new Apple products for me. I also predict a price jump in used iPhone. Still no Android for me.
 
And that’s where the worth of upgrading comes.
It's also where the value is in splitting the phone costs out of the service plans. Back in the 2-year-contract days it was usually better to upgrade every contract cycle since you were already "buying" the phone via the embedded phone subsidy costs.

Now with them split, you can use the same phone for three or four years -- or go buy last year's model as the "gotta have the new one" people are selling their prior model.

To be honest I'd quite possibly still be using my old iphone6 if it weren't for AT&T's offer two years ago where they'd credit the Next payments on an iphone7 with trade-in. If they were to do something similar this year I might consider it, otherwise I don't anticipate upgrading.
 
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