iPhone 11 here too. Pretty much the same thought process as you.
I never much cared for the camera, until iPhone 11. The camera is so superb that it’s harder to take a bad photo than in it is to take a good one, and I’ve developed a passion for it ever sense, so now very much want the latest greatest camera, and future proofed to an extent so I’m not tempted to upgrade year in year out for the camera.
Means better memories of my dog too as she’s getting old now. I actually sent a portrait I took of her shortly after receiving my 11 to Tim Cook and got a reply!
Their approach to camera updates is really annoyingly iterative and trickle down though, that it puts me off, as it means there’s rarely a good time to jump in. Like sensor shift being exclusive to the max, and only on the wide sensor at that. You know next year that it’ll come to iPhone 13, and 13 max will get it on the other sensors.
But if you pair that with their committments around Carbon Neutrality for their entire supply chain (not cheap), and using recylced [important metals] in all their phones when they don’t have to / need to, I think that puts weight behind it.
It’s obstensibly better for the environment to not have to produce an entire generation of plugs if their not needed - especially at the scale Apple operate.
Fair enough, there’s a benefit to apple here of cost savings, but if you want big changes to be made, you often need to big players to make the first step - and this clearly achieves both.
Tempted by the HomePod mini myself, and I’m not even sure why. It just looks lovely.
I was surprised to see they weren’t doing some sort of deal for a pair, considering they highlighted how you can make a stereo pair with two of them. I expected to see £99 for one and £179 for 2.
Exactly! The only difference is that for iUP they would have to send you an extra box to send your iPhone back. I’m actually thinking of keeping my 11, too scared to go to a big shopping centre with cases rising nationwide
Upgrade program is only available in store in the UK.
But for newbies, I should be able to join now, they can just send me a phone and do a credit check online, just like they do for the other finance option.
This will save a few cents per phone. Unlikely the motivating decision, considering Apple’s stance on environmental concerns for the past decade
True. Also has a huge impact on the number of flights required to move the same number of handsets. This is probably the biggest financial saving to Apple, but also the biggest immediate environmental impact, so I’ll call it a wash.
Apple just dropped the price on chargers & EarPods now they’re not included.
My husband loved the old flat sided phones so he is super hyped for the 12 just for that. But he says his old X is still a great phone so he’s torn.
I have the 11 Pro Max and am a little tempted by the 12 Pro Max buuuuut 5G isnt in my home town yet and with all the stuff happening I’m on WiFi 99% of the time anyway.
So in short a HomePod mini is a definite (maybe a couple) but I’m not sure about upgrading phones yet.
Related small rant: why have they ditched the proper pink colour accessories for watch and phone this year? “Pink citrus” looks like an orange that’s been poorly.
The OS being good or bad is entirely subjective.
I’ve owned two iPhones, the SE and the iphone 7, both are good . But when compared with my £150 Samsung it is a fraction of the price and much better in my opinion
Are android phones cheap and poor or is it that apple products are notoriously expensive for what you get ?
For the slightly technically uneducated [me] can someone tell me if I’m reading the Apple blurb correctly as I’m reading that the MagSafe charger will charge through the MagSafe credit card wallet? Presumably even with a credit Card in place? R-
It looks like an orange that has yakked its guts up 
