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Why I'm Not Buying the iPhone X

Also, look at what happens when you drop it

By Rain Noe - November 8, 2017

in Object Culture

"I like the ideals this country was founded on, and I think its world leadership was great for years, but I'm no longer comfortable with the direction it's moving in." This political sentiment, which could describe the thoughts of people on both sides, is increasingly how I feel--if you replace "this country" with "Apple."

I see people are once again lining up outside of the Apple store in SoHo in the mornings, hoping to score an iPhone X. I won't be one of them, although I'm a longtime Apple user and former advocate who is invested in their ecosystem.

1. Cost

The idea of having a phone with a smaller body and a bigger screen sounded appealing to me, but I am not paying $1,000 for a smartphone that is going to be obsolete in two years.

2. Notch

I find the notorious notch at the top of the screen a poor trade-off. I see this as a case of the designers inflicting their will on the consumer for no appreciable benefit.

3. Home Button Removal

I'm not sold on the removal of the home button, for the same reason as #2 above.

4. Privacy

I don't like the idea of facial recognition being required to unlock the phone. I think this was added out of technological fetishism disguised as end user convenience, and is a particularly tone-deaf addition at a time when people are (or should be) more concerned with privacy than ever. (If you want to read about the negative effects on society that can be engendered by the abuse of facial recognition technology, check out this Economist article.)

5. Material

I don't like that the thing is primarily made out of glass. I am a klutz who has had to wrap my current iPhone in the most hideous, bulky protective case available, because I drop it all the time. What is the point of designing an aesthetically-appealing object if its very appearance must be hidden within a protective case?

On that latter note, what would happen if you dropped an iPhone X without a case? Well, this:

Enter a caption (optional)

Imagine that: You spend $1,000 on a phone, drop it, and now it no longer recognizes your face and you can't unlock it.

And yet, people are still waiting in line outside of the store.

o

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Comments

Andre Prudhomme

7 years ago

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Rain - disappointed in your (hot) take on this. You haven’t used the device and yet are commenting on usability concerns that have been downplayed by everyone who has actually used the phone.

Of all your concerns the only two that ring true to me are concerns about coat & durability. And the cost is more of a psychological barrier given the modest increase over the price of the 7 plus.

The notch takes up a very small part of the screen, and seems like a great trade off (uses less space than Touch ID, is more secure and seamless authentication method). You also know better than to imply that facial recognition (as implemented) is dangerous; the device doesn’t store your face just as it didn’t store your fingerprint previously.

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- Evan Timm
  
  Andre Prudhomme
  
  7 years ago
  
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  The notch doesn't bother me and neither does the lack of the home button. But the blatant disregard for durability and as Rain put it obvious technological fetishism at the expense of long term real world user experience are complete game breakers and should be condemned as the wretched examples of profit centric design over user centric design that they are.
  
  There is absolutely no point to all these borderless screen phones but to increase profits from repairs. By the third day of owning such a phone the novelty has worn off and you just wish you could put your phone down upside down sometimes, or feel the edge of the screen without looking, or...you know... hold it. Why can't we just have like a 2mm bezel around the screen. It would save like 50-70% of screen cracks by preventing the screen from hitting the ground and giving you a nice rim to grip so you'll drop it less often. Does that tiny increase in screen space justify a significant increase in breakage rate and unwieldiness?
  
  The borderless screen and no bezel means I'll never buy this phone. The lack of a headphone jack means I'll never buy this phone. That they made the back of the phone glass that breaks just as easily as the screen means I'll never buy this phone. That the glass covering the face recognition cameras is not separated from the rest of the screen and breaking it can cause the face recognition to fail (although I would absolutely never use it because a pin you store in your mind will always be the most secure authentication method) and lock me out means I'll never buy this phone.
  
  And don't you dare tell me to buy a case. I'm not going to drop $60 more dollars just so my $1000 dollar glass slipper can survive a trip to the nightclub. Besides 90% of cases are horrible and the well designed and made ones like otter-box or life proof are expensive, thick and unattractive.
  
  The design of the iPhoneX reeks of arrogance and greed and catering to the blogger elite rather than the average consumer. It's a lot like Paris Hilton, just collection of terrible ideas, wrapped in a sexy skin, that acts like like its the queen of life the universe and everything, just tastelessly throwing money around cause it lacks any defined purpose or role beyond being a status purchase for rich young morons.
  
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Prescott Perez-Fox

7 years ago

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There's an app to get rid of the Notch, at least on the home/lock screens — check out Notcho: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/notcho/id1294836169?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

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- Jeramie B
  
  Prescott Perez-Fox
  
  7 years ago
  
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  Mow the phone looks upside down... No thanks. Samsung all the way!
  
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- Henry Lee
  
  Prescott Perez-Fox
  
  7 years ago
  
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  A great solution to a problem that shouldn't have been there—adaptive behavior.
  
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- Juan Cano
  
  Prescott Perez-Fox
  
  7 years ago
  
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  Genius!!!!
  
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Jesse Cox

6 years ago

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Rain I could not agree more. I'm also invested in Apples ecosystem for a long while, but won't buy this phone. Aside from the home button removal the face ID is the biggest issue for me. I did play around with one at Apple Store, and just did not like the the user experience of Face ID. Its almost as if Im bowing to the phone and its controlling me instead of vice versus just to get it unlocked. Your security concerns for Face ID are very valid.

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Henry Lee

7 years ago

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Well said. I agree.

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Tom B

7 years ago

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Maybe I need to take my tinfoil hat of but some of these comments feel like they're written by apples PR department, hahaha

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Tiby Csapo

7 years ago

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I use two phones everyday for work reasons - iPhone X and iPhone 5S. I'm already trying to swipe up on iPhone 5S to open it. I agree with Juan Cano that the iPhones with the button feel archaic in such a short time.

The notch really is not a problem. The extra screen space at the top and bottom more than make up for the minor aesthetic inconvenience, and having the phone unlock just by looking at it truly feels like magic. In the car I just tap the phone, look at it and then ask Siri to launch an app - no fumbling to get my finger onto the button. It unlocks in the dark, in sunlight, with sunglasses on - it just works.

Swiping and gesturing do everything else, without having to actually click a home button. The previous action was a bit incongruous due to the light swipes and hard clicks on the button when just navigating. This is fair more fluid.

The fragility is nothing new for people who had iPhone 4, but yes it could be better.

As for price, this is a non-issue if you use the device as intended - a powerful pocket computer with many hours of use each day for almost all aspects of life.

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Folk Yes

7 years ago

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1. I don't think paying 1000 dollars for something you use all day everyday is that insane. It takes pictures and helps you edit them, it allows you to browse the web, it is your concierge, your travel companion, its your education device in a lot of cases, its your social media device. You are buying a computer that fits in the palm of your hand, that does everything for you. So why not spend 1000 on it if its something you can use all the time. People spend that much on things that you could consider not worth the money for example a fancy down all season sleeping bag , you use it for one activity camping... That is not worth the money that they make it for.
2. I am surprised that you didn't mention that the notch will eventually disappear. Apple put this on there because they are masters at engineering, they know that it will eventually go away and that your phone will have a completely seamless interface, perfect for designers.
3. Home button removal is a little strange weird but I think this goes into what I said before about the completely seamless screen. I think the challenge will be creating a user interface that is as easy as previous models.

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- Bobtato Smith
  
  Folk Yes
  
  7 years ago
  
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  The notch will doubtless go away, but not from the iPhone X you buy today, and more importantly, it adds a hassle for app developers (particularly games developers) which won't go away for years. Some apps won't deal with it gracefully, and for those that do, the developers will be that bit less inclined to develop for iOS first, since its "one size fits all" appeal is eroded by variations like this.
  I can sort of appreciate the no-apologies approach of having the notch, but only if it were justified by some genuine benefit; it's very hard to make that case.
  Similarly with Face ID; I could accept a compromise like that if the fingerprint reader had to go, but did it? I'm not really clear what is gained at the expense of being able to unlock your phone on a table, say, or while wearing a veil as millions of Muslim women do.
  
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- Dan Lehman
  
  Folk Yes
  
  7 years ago
  
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  I don't think the sleeping bag is a great example — a high quality sleeping bag is worth every penny because it will be durable, 100% functional, and won't ever be obsolete.
  Also, there are plenty of people (like me) who, due to sitting in front of a computer all day, don't actually use a phone all that frequently.
  I think Rain was approaching this from the standpoint of return on investment. Of all the conveniences you mentioned (of owning a smart phone), none are specific to only iPhones. The market proves that these conveniences, when combined in the form factor of a phone, do not in fact cost $1,000. I also definitely agree that for $1,000, an iPhone should be virtually indestructible for everyday use.
  
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  - Folk Yes
    
    Dan Lehman
    
    7 years ago
    
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    I don't want to be rude but I don't think you understood the point I was trying to make. Sleeping bags are only practical in one use case outdoor camping. If i had to choose one to buy out of practicality I'd probably buy a phone, because the phone is a work tool a sleeping bag is a recreation tool. The point I was trying to make was that spending money on a thing that you use all the time isn't crazy but spending money on something you use almost never is. Doesn't really matter the example, think of your own.
    
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Noodle Time

7 years ago

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is it apples fault that the screen breaks? or is it the millions of customers that gladly bend over and pay ridiculous amounts of money and time for sub-par hardware?

surely if the customers had will power, they could demand with their checkbooks that apple give them unbreakable screens... you know, the ones that motorola, HTC and others have been using for some time.

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Steve W.

7 years ago

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Its an ugly device with a horrid notch in the screen for way more than its worth. the X is a major fail

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AdVille Co

7 years ago

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nobody is interested in your politics. This is a design blog

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Paul Duv

7 years ago

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Privacy: Apple is not only leading the tech industry towards respect for our privacy, it’s pulling that, and oh, just the banking industry as well, that way as well. Not only that, Apple is intensely focussed on the technology that keeps your data private.

Home button removal: doesn’t sound like you’ve tried it. I haven’t heard a single comment to the effect of, “I sure wish I still had that button”.

“...no apprexiable benefit”: You mean aside from the fact that the chin area isnreplaced with screen? That you are securely identified with fewer actions? That it’s actually more secure? I’m not sure how long a list you need before you consider it to be doing something. It doesn’t solve world hunger, id that's what you mean.

Complaining about Apple is a big passtime these days, but you should be honest as you do so.

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- Evan Timm
  
  Paul Duv
  
  7 years ago
  
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  Face recognition is not more secure than a passcode. Give me your iPhoneX with face recognition, I'll break it in less than 24 hrs. 3 photos of you off facebook, some software and a 3d printer and I'll have a full scale model of your head before you know it. And thats just the most elaborate hack I can think of. I'll I'd really have to do is pickpocket you and point the phone at your face before without making a scene of it before I disappear. Or with the increase in VR maybe one day I'll find a VR recording of you and use that to get in.
  Meanwhile ill give you my phone with a six digit passcode and you tell me when you get in. I'll give you a hint, theres exactly 1 million possible code permutations
  
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- Juan Cano
  
  Paul Duv
  
  7 years ago
  
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  I played with it yesterday and I thought not having the home button was great, after 5 seconds my 7 felt obsolete. I really liked the size of it and not as slippery as my 7. I didn't care the notches were there, it separates information on the screen. I may get one. With a warranty for dropping it.
  
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