Tag: Apple

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Apple: Premium e-Waste and Normalizing Disposability

Let’s be frank. If I hadn’t put “Apple” in the post title, would you have clicked on it?

The reason this article is going to focus on Apple, they are the highest profile company pushing these kinds of manufacturing decisions. If you’re a fan of Apple hardware, I’m sure there will be an inclination towards defending your brand.

“Other companies are doing things like this too.”

Other companies should be criticized too.

Though, we should acknowledge that many of these companies wouldn’t be following this path without Apple. AirPods show how profitable it is to make expensive headphones as disposable as possible. Apple stands to take the lion share of the profits with this tactic. It’s my belief we should start with the largest companies, and THEN work down to smaller players copying Apple.

We should “punch up” with our criticisms. Apple is currently the king of this e-waste hill. We’ll start with them. Continue reading “Apple: Premium e-Waste and Normalizing Disposability”

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Silly Tech Geeks! Of course the Pixel 4 is worth $100 more than an iPhone 11!

I feel we all get swept up in popularity trends. It can be difficult to swim against that stream once a general consensus has been agreed upon. I have to be honest here, as an editorialist, I happen to enjoy those situations where I can shine a light on a topic, and maybe poke at that popular trend.

Whether I’m responding to a mega-youtuber about a jack-of-all-trades phone, correcting a popular Android blog about audio, or explaining how camera crop factor works when people flip out about a 3X zoom, I enjoy ruffling a few feathers to spread better data on complicated subjects.

The Pixel 4 was one of the worst kept secrets of 2019. It may be one of the worst kept secrets of all time. Now that it’s finally arrived, the tech community is in first stage of impressions and reviews. What makes the Pixel 4 different, we knew pretty much everything about the phone a month before it launched. Google isn’t facing a community just beginning to form opinions on the new Pixel, they’re facing a community that has already made up its collective mind on the Pixel.

It’s pretty clear that Google is setting their sights on Apple as the primary competition. For better, and for worse. When Apple does something, it seems to motivate a LOT of the decisions made by Google’s hardware team.

When the original Pixel launched, we all lovingly joked about it being “Google’s iPhone”. For a hot minute, I really tried to get the nickname “gPhone” to stick.

With the Pixel 4, it would seem Google took those early sentiments to heart. The Pixel 4 seems a purpose-built iPhone competitor, the closest way to recreate an iPhone-style experience, but in the Android ecosystem.

It’s entirely fair to compare Pixels against the phones Apple released this year. What’s frustrating though, is seeing folks cherry-pick one or two features to declare a winner, and to highlight “worth”.

Phones should be judged holistically, and any phone can win or lose a showdown if we move the goalposts to align with a user’s pre-determined bias. The common criticism I see now, is declaring the Pixel 4 unworthy to compete even against the cheaper non-pro iPhone 11. It’s a causally delivered verdict, folks kind of nod along. It’s a surface statement that sounds good, and throws a thumb in the eye of Google.

“The Pixel 4 can’t possibly be worth $100 more than an iPhone!”

The issue is, that statement doesn’t really hold water… Continue reading “Silly Tech Geeks! Of course the Pixel 4 is worth $100 more than an iPhone 11!”

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Sorry Apple, iPhones aren’t for pro video! -OR- What I learned arguing with people on Twitter!

The main takeaway, which became resoundingly clear over the last 48 hours?

Marketing works.

Tuesday we all sat through a round up of new product announcements from Apple, with the stock boiler plates of innovation and improvement. The most amazing products yet created. The most powerful products on the market. We were shown this year’s collection of bar graphs touting the huge lead Apple hardware enjoys over the competition.

Revealing “pro” versions of the iPhone, Apple leaned heavily into video creation to showcase the new cameras and the new A13 chipset.

The iPhone 11 Pro is so powerful you can make movies on it! Just don’t pay attention to the multi-million-dollar sound-stage, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on equipment, lighting, and the talented team of filmmakers behind the phone, but I digress…

It’s those bar graphs though. Since the PowerMac days, Apple has had a love affair with simplistic, unlabeled bar graphs. We’ve seen them through so many keynotes over the last decade, that we just take them for granted. It’s just common knowledge that iPhones are more powerful than Androids.

But what happens when we test Apple’s performance claims against their video production claims?

iOS fans on Twitter get REAL flustered… Continue reading “Sorry Apple, iPhones aren’t for pro video! -OR- What I learned arguing with people on Twitter!”

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Apple Watch Series 4 LONG Term Review: The cure for the common iPhone…

I’m on a quest to stay connected, but I want to handle my phone less. Where I was somewhat disappointed with recent changes to iOS, I was hoping the Apple Watch would deliver more organic interactions. Did it live up to my expectations? Of course it did!

But that price tag though…

Let’s take a look! Continue reading “Apple Watch Series 4 LONG Term Review: The cure for the common iPhone…”

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What do we really get from “more powerful” smartphone processors?

When a new phone is announced, manufacturers often point to improvements like new processors and GPUs as things consumers desire. We want more powerful gadgets, but what does that really mean? What do we actually get with these generational improvements?

More gratifying benchmark scores don’t correlate with performance improvements for your favorite services.

Continue reading “What do we really get from “more powerful” smartphone processors?”

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AirPods 2: Better tech, but still going to wreck your hearing…

Better Siri support! Better audio quality! An optional wireless charging case for $40!

But, I’m sad to see the same “open ear” design, which does nothing to block or reduce surrounding noise.

As rates of hearing loss continue to rise in all age demographics (but fastest in kids in young adults), it’s always worth pushing back against a fashion trend, and sharing good data with people you care about.

Even though they look ridiculous, and will make you go deaf sooner, it’s pretty likely that the AirPods2 will be one of the most popular wireless headphone solutions of the year. If that’s the case, we can at least share tips and tricks on how to use these earbuds (and Apple’s wired EarPods, and Google’s lame PixelBuds) as safely as possible. I made a video on setting volume limits in iOS, to show where those volume and normalizing settings live on your iPhone.

And for more information on hearing loss, please check out my interview with Dr. Alison Grimes, head of Audiology at UCLA.

Remember, once you damage your ears, they never really fully heal or recover. Even if your hearing is already damaged, it can always get worse. And, while BT headsets are relatively cheap and convenient, hearing aids often cost around $5000 a pair, and usually aren’t covered by insurance.

Listen healthier. Listen happier.

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iPhone XS One Month Later: Good Phone, POOR Value

Every manufacturer makes claims about their products, but Apple is makes a HUGE claim about their smaller, premium, iPhone XS by attaching a HUGE price tag. Judging value is extremely difficult (and often very personal), but let’s break down the pros and cons one month later. Does the iPhone XS live up to its price tag? Continue reading “iPhone XS One Month Later: Good Phone, POOR Value”

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Friendly Reminder: You Have Two Months Left to Replace Your iPhone’s Battery for $29

Just got my iPhone SE back from the Geniuses, and all is right with the world.

Apple got into trouble for throttling performance on iPhones as their batteries aged. It was a reprehesible business practice disguised as a consumer experience “benefit”. Apple installed a meager battery capacity, basically the bare minimum size battery your phone would need to last the day brand new. As those batteries aged, they would no longer power your phone completely through the day.

Instead of disclosing this, Apple’s “solution” was a special (low) performance mode baked into iOS. Apple activated this mode with no user notifications or permissions. At around the one year mark, your phone would get slower based on the wear and tear on the battery. Right around the time you might be looking to shop a new phone, if you like to stay on the leading edge of Apple hardware…

This was a consumer hostile move towards planned obsolescence, and it isn’t the first time Apple has had issues with phone batteries. This manufacturer ignored iPhone 5 problems until the weight of a class action lawsuit forced Apple to address the issue out of warranty. Of course, by the time the iPhone 5 issues had been disclosed, the iPhone 6 had already launched. Wouldn’t it just be EASIER to get a shiny new phone then deal with a battery warranty issue on your OLD iPhone?

The situation with performance throttling was a bigger deal still, spanning SEVERAL generations of iPhones. The resolution? A cheaper out of warranty replacement for anyone affected (basically everyone who owned an iPhone).  From the iPhone 6 to the iPhone X, you can get your battery replaced for $29, instead of the normal price of $79. The price on this repair jumps to $49 after December 31st on all phones except the iPhone X which jumps to $69.

Of course, Apple hasn’t made a lot of noise about this replacement program. Your phone doesn’t alert you in any way. You have to dig into the iPhone settings to see your battery health, but it’s not like there’s a link to schedule a service appointment there. You have to know where and what you’re looking for on the Apple Support site to get the right info, which I’ll just go ahead and link directly, right here.

There was a brief flutter of discussion about this issue in the general media. Tech enthusiasts held on to this conversation a little longer. What’s disturbing though, this replacement program has reached NONE of my family and friends using iPhones.

Aunts. Cousins. Grandparents. I’ve sent roughly twenty people to the Genius Bar, but each one of them had to be told and reminded about this situation individually. Every single one of them has decided to hold off on a future iPhone purchase. Before the replacement they were all complaining about terrible performance. With a new battery, it’s like their phones are brand new again. Why spend more money on a new phone, when their old phone FEELS new again. It’s almost like you could make a business model out of breaking a consumer’s gadget, and charge them to fix what you broke… Apple would never do that right?

If you’re reading a cranky editorial like this, you’re probably a  little tech savvier than the average bear. It’s also VERY likely that you’re a resource for your family and friends when it comes to making future tech purchases. I think all of us gadget enthusiasts have a responsibility here. The message on this battery replacement program really didn’t break through to general consumers. With only two and a half months left for this program, I would highly encourage all of us techie folks to reach out to our family and friends. Make sure the people we know personally are aware of this program, and are able to take advantage of it before the price hikes.

Everyone I’ve encouraged to do this replacement has felt better about a $30 battery, than having to buy a more expensive new phone.

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