2024-12-06 22:02:02
First and foremost: if you haven’t read my previous piece, Switching to Android? it’s better if you do so before proceeding.
In that post I wrote:
Digital entrenchment is silly, and it’s wiser to have a more open-minded approach. Big tech companies aren’t your friends or even allies. ‘Rooting’ for one is naïve and cringe.
Unsurprisingly, 90% of the feedback emails I got about my post were from digitally entrenched people and Apple fans. I explained clearly enough what this transition means for me and the way it’s going to play out, but still the majority of comments assumed I’m going to ditch all my Apple stuff and do a hard switch.
I don’t have the time and the patience to write back to each of these people explaining what I have already said in my piece, so my general, public reply is simply, re-read the damn article.
Some other feedback I received, while not being openly hostile, insinuated that I’m going to regret the switch, suggesting that using an Android device is like tinkering with volatile machinery, while the iPhone and iOS ‘just work’.
Finally, a small percentage of readers and followers either welcomed me ‘to the other side’ or manifested genuine interest in my platform transition. Some gave me a few tips. And some, like Peter and Jeffrey pointed me to Asus’s Zenfone line as one good example of current compact Android phones. I actually remember looking into Asus and OnePlus as possible brands to consider when I started pondering Android as an ‘exit strategy’ some time ago; I even remember a very positive review of the Zenfone 9 by Marques Brownlee, but I hadn’t realised how relatively compact Asus’s phones are. The Zenfone 10’s dimensions are fairly similar to the iPhone SE 3’s, for instance.
Back to those foreseeing I’ll have a hard time adapting to an Android device because, unlike the iPhone, it involves more ‘tinkering’, let me give you a brief update about that.
I still haven’t removed my SIM card from the iPhone and put it in my Nothing Phone 2a. I’ve been busy these days, and the only things I had time to do were keeping an eye on the 2a’s battery life, searching for Android counterparts of the apps I use most on iOS, and enjoying the Nothing Watch Pro 2 smartwatch. So far, what I can tell you is this:
I’ve monitored battery life on the Nothing Phone 2a rather closely these days while using it as a secondary device at home and out and about. My phone usage could be considered ‘light to moderate’ by today’s standards. The 2a consistently lasts two full days, sometimes a little more. I charged it to 100% one morning at 10 AM, and it was about 20% at 11 PM of the following day. By turning on Battery Saver (Android’s Low Power mode), I managed to make it last until 9:30 AM of the third day. It’s a respectable performance. My iPhone SE 3 can last one day and a morning if I’m careful, which isn’t bad either considering that I’ve been using it for about one year and a half now. Sure, the Nothing Phone 2a is much newer, has a bigger battery (5,000 mAh versus the 2,018 mAh of the iPhone SE 3), but of course it has a much bigger and brighter display, and I’ve been keeping its Always-on Display feature turned on for the most part of the day.
Speaking of Always-on Display, I like that it’s not a simple toggle. You can set it so that it’s active only during a certain time of the day, which makes sense as you probably don’t glance at your phone during the night when you’re sleeping.
I still haven’t explored in depth the various things you can do with Nothing’s Glyph interface, but I’ve found the Glyph timer to be rather useful (you set a timer, then flip the phone, and as time passes, the illuminated portion of the ‘glyph’ on the back of the phone recedes, so you can see at a glance roughly how much time is left). Features like the volume indicator or music visualisation aren’t strictly useful or groundbreaking, but are fun to use, and represent the tasteful whimsy side of Nothing’s overall sober and minimalistic æsthetic.
When it comes to camera performance, it’s something that typically doesn’t concern me very much, since I prefer using real cameras to take photos and treat smartphone cameras as tools for instant photography of secondary importance. And coming from the ‘generally okay’ single camera array of the iPhone SE 3, Nothing Phone 2a’s dual camera array and front facing camera are noticeably better, especially in worse lighting conditions. Granted, pro iPhones and flagship Android headsets of the likes of Google, Samsung, OnePlus, etc. certainly outclass the 2a’s cameras, but for my limited needs they’re much more than enough.
One little cool detail when using the 2a’s camera (something the iPhone doesn’t have, as far as I know) is that if there’s some dirt on the lens(es), the phone gives you a warning in the camera app.
I’m positively impressed by the Nothing Phone 2a’s fingerprint sensor. It uses an in-screen optical scanner, so, instead of being a pseudo-button outside the display like the iPhone’s Home button, it’s a circular area inside the display and right at the bottom where your finger expects it. And it works remarkably well. The detection rate is much better than on the iPhone and, equally importantly, I get asked to use my passcode to unlock the phone less frequently than on the iPhone; which is perhaps the only thing that truly annoys me of Touch ID, because it seems to happen so randomly and often at the most inopportune times (you’re in a shop paying for something with the iPhone, there are people in queue behind you, and instead of the Apple Pay interaction, you get prompted to unlock the iPhone with your passcode first).
The fingerprint sensor’s haptics are also good. The virtual ‘click’ when the phone recognises your fingerprint is positive and satisfying, and for a split second you’re left with the impression that you’re actually digging your thumb into the display.
The haptic feedback in general really surprised me. Especially when typing with the virtual keyboard. It’s stronger than on the iPhone, and it gives the keyboard a pleasantly tactile feel as you type; which, in my case, also leads to making next to no typing errors.
This little smartwatch has perhaps surprised me even more positively than the phone. Nothing claims an 11-day battery life. With normal usage, in my informal tests I’d say it’s closer to 7–8 days actually, but it’s still impressive given that this is a traditional smartwatch with an AMOLED display (and a rather bright one at that). My Fossil Gen 6 Wellness Edition Hybrid smartwatch has a freakishly long battery life (one month average) because it’s a hybrid smartwatch with real watch hands and an e‑ink display behind them. But the Watch Pro 2 — for being what it is — is very good compared with similar WearOS-based smartwatches.
What never ceases to amaze me is that it’s a feature-packed smartwatch (it has a step counter, a heart rate monitor, a blood oxygen monitor, it even has GPS), it is well built and looks and feels premium overall, and it only costs $/€69.
As I mentioned in my previous piece, its companion CMF Watch app is well designed and pleasant to use. Data with the smartwatch is exchanged frequently and seamlessly, and the watchface gallery offers a lot of tasteful watchfaces, both in analogue and digital styles, with varying amount of information. Some faces offer further customisation once installed on the watch — for example if a face features a battery meter by default, you can choose to change it into a calorie or activity meter.
You also have the option of creating a customised watch face. The layouts are pretty basic, but you can spice things up by using a recently-introduced ‘AI’ tool that can create custom face backgrounds by mixing and matching choices you specify. In general, I’d say that the watchface gallery offered by Nothing is a good middle ground between the somewhat limited choices you have on the Apple Watch, and the dizzying selection provided by apps like Facer.
I don’t know if this is a consequence of playing with new devices after favouring one platform and one type of smartphone for so long, but this experience with the Nothing ecosystem feels refreshingly good and appears to have — at least for now — put a stop to a long period of tech fatigue and lack of enthusiasm. It’s not easy to explain why exactly. Nothing’s hardware and software aren’t especially groundbreaking. They’re well designed, decently built, and without doubt reflect a distinct personality and vision emanating from within the company and its founder and CEO Carl Pei.
If this reminds you of a certain company that used to make machines which were both powerful and whimsy, paired with good software and a solid UI and UX foundation, that’s exactly it; that’s the je ne sais quoi element I’m talking about. Not only do this phone and this watch just work, they’re also just nice.
2024-11-27 08:47:33
Last week, for my birthday, my wife got me a Nothing Phone (2a). No, it wasn’t an attempt on her part to turn me into an Android user (she uses an iPhone herself); two weeks earlier she asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and since I had recently shown her just how I liked the design of Nothing’s products and Nothing as a company, she said something like, Maybe you’d like a Nothing phone?
“I’d love to have a Nothing Phone (2), but I also like the (2a), and it’s even more affordable”, I replied. We had a deal.
The phone arrived via courier exactly on the day of my birthday; she got me the phone, an additional screen protector, and the transparent Nothing phone case. The unboxing was quick and fun.
I’m glad I chose the Milk colour variant. I think it makes the peculiar design of the phone’s back stand out more. It gives more of a ‘space age’ NASA vibe than the Black variant.
Also, as I was checking something on Amazon, I noticed they were already offering Black Friday deals, so as a little birthday gift to myself I purchased the Nothing CMF Watch Pro 2 (in orange). This smartwatch, already quite affordable at €69, was on sale at €55. I couldn’t resist.
So I have had the Nothing Phone (2a) for a week and the Watch Pro 2 for four days now. The general impression is that both these devices really punch above their weight. They may not be made of ‘premium’ materials, but neither feels cheap, either. Every time I look at the Watch Pro 2, and every time I consider just how seamless it was to pair with the phone, and to use the very good companion app, it boggles the mind that this is a €70 accessory.
Same with the (2a). It has a great display, decent cameras, great performance and responsiveness, and a long-lasting battery. One reviewer on the Nothing UK site said it well: It feels like a flagship, handles like an iPhone, but with a great battery life and a splash of personality. It also has two things I wish Apple gave to at least one iPhone model: a simple punch-hole front camera, and a fingerprint sensor using an in-screen optical scanner. These two features allow the (2a) to have a truly ‘all-screen’ experience — where the display doesn’t have an intrusive black area at the top like the notch or dynamic island on the iPhone — and I still can use a fingerprint reader to unlock the phone biometrically without being forced to enable an authentication method I don’t like. (By the way, the (2a) also features Face Unlock, in case you were wondering).
It’s still too early to write a proper review of this device, but first impressions do matter, and the (2a) so far has impressed me. My current smartphone is an iPhone SE 3, so the bump in performance when using the (2a) was expected. But sheer performance isn’t everything. There’s the UI too. And I really, really like what Nothing is doing with their Nothing OS. Visually, we can consider their apps and UI to be flat, minimalist design. But it’s done with intent, it’s mostly cohesive, and I feel it has the right balance between starkness/austerity and fun/whimsy to appear charming rather than bland. It certainly is distinctive.
Left: Nothing Phone (2a) lock screen, with the characteristic fluted glass effect applied to the wallpaper image. Right: Nothing OS Weather app.
Ever since I started talking about the Nothing Phone (2a) and the Watch Pro 2 on social media, a few have reached out asking me the predictable question — So, are you switching to Android? and the answer is: That’s happening, let me explain.
You see, with me and my kind of constant multi-platform curiosity, things are never black or white. While my main computing platform remains the Mac, I do own and use Windows PCs of various vintages, and even a ThinkPad with a Linux distro on it. While my main smartphone has been the iPhone since 2008, over time I have acquired and enjoyed Android phones, Symbian, Windows Phone, and MeeGo devices. My primary tablet is an iPad, but I also have an older Surface Pro, and I prefer reading ebooks on Kindle devices. Especially since the mid-2010s, I’ve always had a secondary device from another platform. Ecosystems are convenient, but they also trap you. And these aren’t the times to limit ourselves to just one platform, one ecosystem. Digital entrenchment is silly, and it’s wiser to have a more open-minded approach. Big tech companies aren’t your friends or even allies. ‘Rooting’ for one is naïve and cringe.
In the end, for me, ‘switching’ to Android doesn’t mean going all-in on it, ditching my iPhones and iOS and obliterating any other platform. Currently, and more mundanely, it means taking out the SIM card from my iPhone SE and putting it in the Nothing Phone (2a). It’s a literal switch, not a move. It’s a switch between my primary and secondary platforms.
After 16 years of iPhones, I’m feeling a bit fatigued, to be honest. When Apple introduced the iPhone X in 2017, it was the first time I actively disliked the device’s design. Every iPhone that has come after has kept doubling down on that absurd design decision that started as a notch and has become a slightly-reduced notch (that’s how I see the Dynamic Island, sorry). This has severely reduced the appeal of the iPhone for me. (And of MacBooks too since they received the notch treatment).
I’ve also preferred Touch ID as a method of biometric authentication, and it’s also the method I prefer in user-interaction workflows. Paying with my iPhone is faster, and authenticating by placing my finger on the sensor feels more like a purposeful gesture than just glancing at the device. Face ID still feels too abstract and feedback-less for me. Clicking the Home button to quit an app feels less error-prone than a swipe. Having a Home button means I can swipe to scroll inside an app without worrying that I may accidentally quit it or switch to another with a miscalculated swipe.
And I still maintain that all the gestures to invoke Notification Centre, Control Centre, and the multitasking UI are better implemented on the traditional, pre-iPhone X design with the Home button.
But Apple has moved away from it. If it weren’t for the iPhone SE line, I would have already looked elsewhere. And given that it’s highly likely that the iPhone SE 4 will embrace the newer, notched design, it does really feel like the end of the line for me as an iPhone user.
And if I’m finding the iPhone hardware design increasingly off-putting, on the software side things aren’t getting better either. I still have a couple of devices on iOS 12, and I can’t really tell the difference between iOS versions after that one. Yes, on iOS 18 you can finally customise your iPhone screen the way you want. That and Apple Intelligence are what’s going to make this iOS version somewhat distinctive. That’s not something I find especially appealing or groundbreaking.
To be perfectly clear, while I find iOS increasingly stagnant and underwhelming as a platform, that doesn’t necessarily mean I find Android to be more innovative or attractive. But we have indeed reached a point of close similarity and feature parity. Yes, there are better-designed third-party apps on iOS; but most of the ones I keep returning to have equally good Android counterparts. One thing I’ve always loved about iOS, especially in the App Store golden era, has been the sheer amount of good-quality camera and photo editing apps. But I won’t miss those, as I’ll be taking my iPhone SE with me as a secondary device anyway.
There are, however, a couple of things in this personal transition (that’s how I prefer to call it, rather than a switch) from my iPhone to the Nothing Phone and the Android platform that make me feel a little bit hesitant:
Firstly, from a mere hardware standpoint, there’s no way around it: the Nothing Phone (2a) is decidedly bigger and bulkier than the iPhone SE 3. Here are their respective dimensions:
| iPhone SE 3 | Nothing Phone (2a) | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 4.7 inches | 6.7 inches |
| Height | 138.4 mm | 161.74 mm |
| Width | 67.3 mm | 76.32 mm |
| Depth | 7.3 mm | 8.55 mm |
| Weight | 144 grams | 190 grams |
In other words, size-wise, the (2a) sits roughly between an iPhone 15 Pro Max and an iPhone 16 Pro Max, while being fractionally thicker. But since it’s made of lighter materials, it’s a bit lighter (31 grams less than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, 37 grams less than the 16 Pro Max). Still, it’s a big phone — made even slightly bigger when enclosed in its protective case. I’ve been complaining for a while now that smartphones are getting more and more cumbersome and that Apple is happily following the trend. I really like the more compact size of the iPhone SE 3, which by now I can operate almost one-handed.
However, at least at the moment, if you’re looking to upgrade your smartphone, good luck finding one with the iPhone SE’s size. It seems that the only viable option to get a decently specced compact smartphone is to get a horizontally foldable device like the Motorola Razr or the Samsung Z Flip. Even if I liked the design of the current iPhones, and decided to get the regular iPhone 16, for example, it would still be a big phone for my hands.
So, if I have no choice but to get accustomed to a big phone, at least I now have one with an interesting and distinctive design and without those huge, unwieldy, and awful camera arrays a lot of other Android phones and the pro iPhones have.
Secondly and more importantly, there’s the privacy angle. Despite my growing disenchantment with Apple and my continued criticisms, privacy is something where Apple undeniably excels at. While I couldn’t wait to set up Apple Pay to easily pay with my iPhone when my bank finally decided to make their services available through Apple Pay, I’m still torn about enabling Google Pay on the Nothing Phone.
As for the rest, I don’t think this transition is going to be particularly rocky. I’m still at the first stages, where I’m familiarising with the new smartphone and looking for familiar apps in the Play Store. I’ve already found all the essentials, and now I’m mostly looking for ‘nice to have’ apps (I strongly encourage the Android power users in my audience to reach out with suggestions for great apps, especially in the photo and RSS feed reader categories).
All in all, choosing the Nothing brand at the moment feels right; the company seems like a little Apple in the Android universe, back when Apple was the underdog and not the giant it is today. There’s a strong sense of community, and the people at Nothing seem rather open, both in discussing their hardware and software design ideas, and in taking customer feedback into consideration. I think they’re doing a good job at presenting the brand identity and philosophy via their YouTube channel. They’re certainly being successful at making their customers (and me now) not feel like just another bunch of Android users, if you know what I mean.
That’s it for now. I plan to keep you all posted about this personal transition as it unfolds, and to speak more at length about the Nothing Phone (2a), the Watch Pro 2, and Nothing OS (especially after the big upcoming update to version 3.0) in the following weeks. Meanwhile, I really welcome any kind of feedback from iPhone users who switched to Android in recent times. I’d love to know more about your experience and if you have thoughts you want to share. Check my Contact page for ways to get in touch.
2024-11-14 23:46:45
I have been a very happy Spotify Premium subscriber since 2010. While I don’t necessarily like or agree with certain decisions and stances the company took in the past, from a mere customer experience standpoint, I have had nothing to complain about. Last year I took advantage of a coupon I got at a local electronics store and tried Apple Music free for three months. But I only lasted four weeks before cancelling and keep using Spotify. While I think Spotify’s app UI could be improved, the music selection, the seamless experience of streaming what I’m listening to any other connected device, and especially the fact that Spotify doesn’t mess with my iTunes libraries, all this makes Spotify the superior choice for me.
The only, truly irritating thing with Spotify has happened to me three times in the past few months.
So, when you log into your Spotify account from a new device or a modern-enough device you’ve just installed the Spotify app on, the login is usually successful, but Spotify sends you an email message that looks like this:
This kind of practice is rather common today. Steam, Dropbox, Box, other cloud services and other companies do this — and it’s good. It’s a good approach to security. You’re told that a new login happened, and if it was you, all is fine, proceed as usual. If it wasn’t you, here’s a link to secure your account.
But back in October I was checking a few things on my fourth-generation iPod touch running iOS 6, and since I wanted to take some screenshots of Spotify’s older interface, I opened the app and (predictably, I’ll admit) I couldn’t log in or load anything. Apparently, Spotify took this as some kind of ‘suspicious activity’ and unilaterally decided to reset my account password and force me to create a new one.
I hate changing passwords for no reason. Especially when I have Spotify installed on several different devices and I have to update the login credentials on all of them. What I just don’t understand is, why not send me the same kind of email reserved for logins on ‘new’ devices, as seen above? Or send a similar message but with a slightly different wording, like: We noticed you tried to log in from an unsupported app or device. If it was you… etc.
Of course, having no other choice, I begrudgingly changed the password. Only to have the same exact thing happen again earlier this month. I was using my 2008 black MacBook running Snow Leopard, and in late 2023 or early 2024 I managed to download and install a version of the Spotify app that could be used on Macs running Snow Leopard and Lion, and I remembered using it successfully as recently as maybe March or April 2024. So I launched it, and everything seemed normal; it of course prompted me for my account credentials because I had changed the password in October. But after entering my credentials, I got a login error and — you guessed it — an email message telling me my password had been reset due to ‘suspicious activities’ and I had to change it. Again.
One thing I’ve always praised Spotify for is their fairly extended app support, giving me the ability of listening to music even from older Macs and iOS devices. For example, I just logged in from my 2017 iMac running High Sierra and the operation was successful. When opening the app, I did get a warning that “my operating system is out of date”, but the app technically still works. But at this point, it’s a guessing game. One day I might open the app on this Mac again, or on my old iPhone 5s running iOS 12, and the app might not work, and I will have to change my password yet again, against my will, just because Spotify considers this ‘suspicious activity’.
There’s nothing else to do here except venting my frustration, I know. But I wish these kinds of processes failed more elegantly.
2024-10-21 01:36:07
On October 15, via press release, Apple announced the introduction of the new, 7th-generation iPad mini. The following day, Amazon announced the new Kindle lineup, comprised of:
Saying that I was ‘in the market’ for a new iPad mini and a new Kindle is stretching it a bit, because these aren’t primary or even secondary devices for me. I have an 8th-generation iPad, which is almost overkill for what I use it for. Recently I also purchased a used second-generation iPad mini for €30, and after updating it to its maximum supported iOS version (12.5.7), I found it to still be a surprisingly capable device.
As for the Kindle, I have an older Kindle Paperwhite (7th generation, a.k.a. Kindle Paperwhite 3), plus a 9.7‑inch Kindle DX Graphite, which was the best and last of the big Kindle DX line, released in 2010. Despite the Paperwhite being much more advanced and more portable, I tend to enjoy the bigger DX more, which is still a great device for reading and perusing PDF documents, magazines, typeface catalogues, and any digital publication that takes advantage of the larger format.
So, despite me not needing a new iPad mini or Kindle, I was keeping an eye on both products. The iPad mini has intrigued me since the major redesign introduced with the 6th-generation model. I have extensively handled it several times in various stores, truly astounded by its lightness, size, and display clarity, and especially by its potential of being a really handy digital sketchbook/notebook.
On the Kindle front, I’ve been tempted to get an Oasis, due to its form factor, which I’ve found very nice to hold and operate, and especially due to it having physical buttons for navigation. My Paperwhite is nice and compact and all, but when it comes to touch interaction it’s no Apple device (credit where credit’s due) and it’s a bit awkward to use.
So, as time passed, I was telling myself that I should wait for the introduction of the next generation of both of these devices before making decisions or impulse purchases I would end up regretting.
Now that the new iPad mini and the new Kindles are out, I can tell you that they both have one thing in common: they have sold me on the previous generation of their respective models or product lines.
The 7th-generation iPad mini is essentially a gentle speed bump of the previous model, and little more. By comparing it with the 6th-generation iPad mini on Apple’s site, the only differences I’ve found are these:
| iPad mini 6 | iPad mini 7 |
|---|---|
| A15 Bionic chip | A17 Pro chip |
| Does not support Apple Intelligence | Supports Apple Intelligence |
| Wi-Fi 6 | Wi-Fi 6E |
| Supports Apple Pencil (2nd-gen) and Apple Pencil (USB‑C) | Supports Apple Pencil Pro and Apple Pencil (USB‑C) |
| Capacity: 64GB, 256GB | Capacity: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
| Does not support Apple Pencil Hover | Supports Apple Pencil Hover |
| Camera has Smart HDR 3 for photos | Camera has Smart HDR 4 for photos |
| Bluetooth 5.0 | Bluetooth 5.3 |
The rest of their tech specs are identical: same camera technology, same display, same size and weight, same battery life. And as you can see, the differences are actually nothing to write home about. I suspect that the iPad mini 7 has also more RAM than the 6, given that it supports Apple Intelligence and the 6 doesn’t. So I guess the biggest difference — for those who absolutely care — is the chip and Apple Intelligence support. The ‘problem’ is that today’s iPads are all fast enough for normal use, and from what I hear, even Pro iPads are more than fast enough for pro users. Their speed and performance differences can only be appreciated by looking at artificial benchmarks. I still have to try an iPad mini 7 in person, but I suspect I won’t be saying, Oh, it’s noticeably faster than the previous model, because when I picked up the older iPad mini 6 in a store three days ago, everything I was doing with it felt instantaneous and lag-free.
The only two practical advantages of choosing the newer iPad mini over the previous one that I can see are:
Given that I still use older iOS devices with older iOS/iPadOS versions, and that they’re still working great, advantage №1 is somewhat tempered for me. My iPhone 7 Plus is updated to its maximum supported system, iOS 15.8.3, and all the apps I use are still working fine. When it comes to app functionality, in day-to-day use I virtually see no difference between this phone and my main iPhone, an SE 3 running iOS 17.6.1. My iPhone 8, purposefully left on iOS 12 (long story), still works fine for the most part — there are a few apps I can’t update anymore because they require later versions of iOS, but the core functionality is still there; if it weren’t for work and for the fact that the battery has severely deteriorated, I would probably still be using this iPhone today.
As for advantage №2, in my case it’s not significant, either. If I think of what I would use an iPad mini for, 64GB are plenty. Both my iPhone SE 3 and iPad 8 have 128GB of storage: on the iPhone I still have about 50GB free, while on the iPad I still have almost 90GB free. On the iPhone, most of the storage is taken by thousands of photos, and that’s the only reason why I have ‘only’ 50GB left.
But at this point, the most appealing feature that makes me prefer the iPad mini 6 over the 7 is the fact that it doesn’t support Apple Intelligence. Even if Apple Intelligence appears to be an opt-in feature on supported devices, its complete absence gives me a special kind of peace of mind, you know? Call me old-fashioned if you like. I’ll take that as a compliment.
As for the new Kindles, I’m not saying they’re bad devices. The Colorsoft looks nice enough, and I’m sure the Scribe has improved over the first iteration. But when it comes to personal preferences, I’m with Michael Tsai:
Sadly, the Kindle Oasis was not updated and is, in fact, discontinued. This was my favorite design, as it had physical page-turn buttons, a more comfortable shape to hold, and the lightest weight (131g without the cover).
I imagine that, from a manufacturing standpoint, devices with physical buttons may be annoying because they have parts and components that are subject to stress and wear. But physical buttons in ebook readers — especially when well placed — are crucial and make for a much more pleasant experience; they’re exactly where your thumbs rest while holding the device, and turning pages becomes a frictionless action; you click the button instinctively, without having to constantly move your hand away from holding the device to tap on the screen (hopefully in the right place). Amazon should have kept at least one Kindle with physical buttons instead of going touch-only across the whole lineup. Last week, at the local second-hand electronics shop I frequently visit, I’ve seen a Kindle Oasis at a good price, so I guess I’ll go with that.
2024-10-04 22:11:24
I have loved the concept of the iPhone SE since the beginning. The introduction of the first-generation iPhone SE back in March 2016 managed to surprise me in a way that later iPhone introductions did not. At the time I remember thinking it was a very un-Apple move to make. Not because it didn’t make sense; quite the contrary — it felt like an unusually user-friendly decision. Having a phone with (most of) the capability of the then flagship iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models, but in a smaller package that retained the iPhone 5/5s size and design (what I consider the best iPhone design) and at a more affordable price range — the 16GB iPhone SE cost €250 less than the 16GB iPhone 6s in my country — felt like Christmas in March. And for those users who weren’t thrilled about the size of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus the year before, and the 6s and 6s Plus now, the iPhone SE truly was a Christmas gift delivered in spring.
That first-generation iPhone SE for me really embodied the idea of a ‘Special Edition’ iPhone. The classic, iconic design of the iPhone 4/4s/5/5s, was being relaunched with a more modern engine under the bonnet. The different timing (March, not September) immediately suggested a different pace, a separate timeline. Moving in an eccentric, inclined orbit, the Pluto of iPhones. One of the first things my nerd friends and I chatted about some days after the iPhone SE was available, was whether there was going to be a second-generation iPhone SE. Our first impression, our gut feeling about that iPhone was that it was going to be one of a kind. A Special Edition iPhone. Maybe Apple would not discontinue it after just one year; maybe it would last a bit more. Different timeline, different orbit, remember?
It did last two years. In March 2017, the iPhone SE was refreshed with new storage sizes, more reasonable storage sizes for the time. Instead of the initial 16 and 64GB capacities, now it was available in 32 and 128GB.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus introduced in 2014 were a huge success for Apple. It’s been a while since I bothered to look at statistics and graphs, but I believe that these iPhone models are, to this day, the most sold in the history of the iPhone. Oh, apparently Wikipedia has a List of best-selling mobile phones and indeed, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are the best-selling iPhone models, with a total of 222.4 million units.
Yet that didn’t mean people stopped liking smaller phones. I remember crafting a cardboard mockup of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to see how they would fit in my hand. I had an iPhone 5 at the time, and was considering an upgrade, but I found the sizes of the bigger iPhones difficult to handle, especially the Plus model, which felt heavy, awkward, and unpleasant to use one-handed. A lot of friends and acquaintances found the sizes of the iPhone 6 and 6s off-putting. And it’s interesting to see on that list of best-selling phones that, while there’s no trace of the first-generation iPhone SE, the iPhone 5s is actually the third Apple best-seller (164.5 million units sold), after the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (222.4 million), and the 6s and 6s Plus (174.1 million).
After a while, that question came up again: would there be a second-generation iPhone SE? And if so, what would it look like? I remember an email from one of my readers, back in late 2019: they were hoping Apple would maintain the iconic design, maybe simply making the SE a bit bigger, and giving it the specs of the previously-released iPhone XS, like the A12 Bionic chip, and the same camera array. And this reader wasn’t alone in their hopes; many others — perhaps thinking I had some kind of special access to otherwise secret product information, or could talk to someone at Apple to let them know my readers’ wishes — wrote me expressing their idea of the iPhone SE. That it should either be a once-in-an-iPhone-lifetime model, or an iPhone that essentially remained the same on the outside while being updated on the inside. Again, a Special Edition, a constant iconic presence along with the new iPhones on the block.
But Apple had less ambitious, more pragmatic plans in mind. In April 2020, the second-generation iPhone SE was revealed and it was, more mundanely, an iPhone 8 on the outside, with the internals of the iPhone 11 for the most part. At that point, us fans of the iconic design (and size) of the iPhone 5 and 5s, realised that the iPhone SE had very little ‘Special’ in its ‘Edition’. The pattern seemed to be more like, The SE is just last-generation design integrating modern-enough tech specs. Or perhaps Apple’s executives were underwhelmed by the sales of the first-generation iPhone SE and didn’t want to risk re-proposing something with the same design or with the same size.
When the third-generation iPhone SE was expected in spring 2022, then, I anticipated a product with the internals of the iPhone 13 line and with the design of the iPhone X. On the one hand it made sense considering the previous two iterations, on the other that would have been a bummer for me, because in 2022 I found myself needing to upgrade from my iPhone 8, and didn’t want an iPhone with a notch and without a Home button with Touch ID (that was the reason why I purchased an iPhone 8 instead of an X when both models were released in 2017). So imagine my surprise when the third-generation iPhone SE came out and it featured the same exact design of the second-generation iPhone SE (and the iPhone 8).
And imagine my joy: the last time I was like, Shut up and take my money! had been when I purchased the iPhone 4 more than ten years prior. Well, in all honesty, I would have been happier if the iPhone SE line had preserved the size and look of the iPhone 5/5s/SE1, because that’s what had been feeling more comfortable and with a big-enough screen for me. But ever since purchasing the iPhone 8 I had grown accustomed to its physical size over time. Anything bigger still didn’t work for me: for work-related reasons (testing the UI of localised iOS apps on a bigger iPhone screen) I also bought a second-hand iPhone 7 Plus, and while I could see why smartphones this big may appeal to many people, I also couldn’t see myself rocking such a big phone on a daily basis and when out and about. The only articles of clothing with pockets big enough to accommodate a ‘plus size’ iPhone were my winter jackets and my raincoat. Considering how little it rains where I live, and considering that I may be wearing my winter jackets only occasionally over the course of one month and a half in a whole year (because that’s how long is the ‘cold’ season here, typically), taking the iPhone 7 Plus with me when not at home was a rather awkward affair and had to put it in my backpack or laptop bag. Even in the biggest pockets of my cargo pants it was uncomfortable to carry. As for the handling, it’s always been a two-hands phone for me.
But I digress. I was happy to upgrade to a third-generation iPhone SE in 2022, but I was also puzzled by Apple’s decision to keep the previous design without any external change. The ‘pattern’ I seemed to have identified two years before went straight out of the window. Was Apple reconsidering the concept of a ‘Special Edition’ iPhone and settling on a definitive design, deciding to keep offering a ‘small’ iPhone with Touch ID and a proper Home button for all those users who preferred this solution over Face ID and a no-Home-button iPhone?
Or, less imaginatively, was Apple more satisfied with the sales of the second-generation SE — which did sell respectably according to that afore-linked Wikipedia page, 24.2 million units — that they decided to play safe and keep the previous design? Not that risking an upgrade to the iPhone X look would have been such a risk, however, given that the iPhone X has sold 63 million units (source: that same Wikipedia page). Was it simply a matter of having lots of parts available for manufacturing, and therefore not changing the SE design was the path of least resistance?
I don’t know, but looking at how the main iPhone lineup’s design has evolved over the years, I was starting to like the idea that Apple had made a more ‘conceptual’ choice and settled on the older, ‘new classic’ design of the iPhone 6/7/8 to keep offering a reasonably-sized phone, with a classic, properly rectangular display unmarred by dreadful notches, and with a reasonably reliable Home button with Touch ID. If Apple released a fourth-generation iPhone SE that looked like this while featuring most of the internals of the iPhone 16, I would, for the first time in my life, camp outside the local Apple Store the night before the official release and be among the first to buy it. (Yeah, I can hear your snark from here — It wouldn’t be such a long queue, Rick, don’t worry).
However, since the fourth-generation iPhone SE was expected in spring 2024 but didn’t materialise, with some even speculating that maybe it was the end of the line for the SE spinoff, the rumour mill has been active for a long time by now, and it would seem that the most likely scenario for the next iPhone SE is that it will probably feature the internals of the iPhone 16 and the outer design of the iPhone XR.
Pragmatically speaking, it would make some sense. If the pattern for the iPhone SE line is indeed, The SE is just last-generation design integrating modern-enough tech specs, then an iPhone SE with the size and design of the XR would fit such pattern. Given the current sizes of the main iPhone lineup (6.1 inches for the regular 16, 6.3 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro, 6.7 inches for the iPhone 16 Plus, and 6.9 inches for the iPhone 16 Pro Max), the iPhone SE 4 would still be a small-ish iPhone by current standards. And it would feature the new notched look introduced with the iPhone X back in 2017, marking a decisive departure from the iPhone 6 look. This notched look is apparently considered ‘iconic’ by Apple and many fans (who have no design taste at all, but that’s a flame war for another time), so, again, in many ways an iPhone XR-looking fourth-generation iPhone SE would make sense.
Would it really, though?
At the time of writing, the iPhones Apple is still producing and selling are the current iPhone 16 line, the non-pro iPhone 15 and 15 Plus (starting at $799), the non-pro iPhone 14 and 14 Plus (starting at $599), and the third-generation iPhone SE (starting at $429).
This is exactly the same situation we had when the third-generation iPhone SE was introduced in spring 2022. At the time the lineup was the then-current iPhone 13 line, the non-pro iPhone 12 and non-pro iPhone 11 offered at slightly lower prices than when they were new.
And rewinding a little more, in April 2020, the lineup was the then-current iPhone 11 line, the iPhone XR, and the second-generation iPhone SE.
Of course, back in 2016 things were a bit simpler: the first-generation iPhone SE only shared the spotlight with the then-current iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, and discounted iPhone 6/6 Plus models. Keeping the 5s still in production made no sense, obviously, given that the SE looked exactly the same.
The iPhone SE has historically been positioned as the most affordable iPhone, and engaging in a sort of trade-offs battle with the oldest regular iPhone model still on offer.
For those wanting a smaller, more affordable iPhone with a powerful-enough CPU, the iPhone SE 3 remained an interesting pick. And given that the iPhone 14 still retains the A15 Bionic chip of the 13 Pro and the iPhone SE 3, and is currently offered at $599, the $429 iPhone SE 3 still remains a viable solution for those with a tight budget.
Now, imagine a hypothetical fourth-generation iPhone with an A18 Bionic chip (or perhaps a specially-designed A17 Bionic, sort of a nerfed-A18?), the single-camera setup and technology of the iPhone XR, and of course the external design of the iPhone XR, featuring a 6.1‑inch screen (maybe with a slightly updated display technology), Face ID, etc. Let’s say it would replace both the third-generation iPhone SE and the iPhone 14 in Apple’s current offering. Its trade-offs battle would be against the regular iPhone 15. And it would be a tough one. Yes, it would have a better chip, but given how recent performance gains in iPhones have become basically imperceptible in everyday use, would such an iPhone SE 4 be a better proposition over the 15 when all it had would be same or better CPU speed and a lower price? The display would have the same size, the display technology would be worse, it would feature a notch while the iPhone 15 has a dynamic island, it would feature a decidedly worse camera setup… Sure, $429 would be a bargain compared to the $699 of the iPhone 15. But its form factor is too similar and, apart from the CPU, all the rest would be the same stuff but worse in all respects. Unless Apple is planning to do some unexpected changes, like offering a single-camera setup but with a better camera than the XR’s 12-megapixel affair, to make the next iPhone SE more appealing, I don’t see anything particularly special or worth considering in it.
Sure, the iPhone XR has been an unexpected hit — the combined total sales of the XR, XS and XS Max have been 151.1 million units (source: that same Wikipedia page) — so it’s understandable that its design and form factor would be a good candidate for the iPhone SE 4.
But you know what I think would make more sense? I know I come from a biased position, but to me it would make more sense if the design and form factor of the next iPhone SE would be those of the iPhone 12/13 mini. Maybe the 13 mini, since it has a smaller notch on the front and a better battery performance.
It makes more sense for me because the trade-offs against the iPhone 15 would be more interesting. You would have a better display technology compared to the iPhone XR’s, but on the other hand you would have a smaller 5.4‑inch display. Those who are happy with bigger iPhone screens could choose the 6.1‑inch iPhone 16 or 15, while those who still love smaller iPhones could see in the SE 4 the long-awaited refresh of their beloved iPhone 13 mini. The camera array could be the same as the 13 mini, too: worse than the one in the iPhone 15, but not that comparatively bad as the one in the XR. Overall, it would still feel like a ‘Special Edition’ phone: compared to the mainstream iPhone lineup, it would be different/special enough, appealing enough, modern enough, all the while maintaining that classic, truly iconic design that harks back to the lines of the iPhone 4 and 5. Apple could even sell it at $499 instead of $429. Heck, I could even put aside my long-standing deep-seated distaste for the notch if I could buy a smaller iPhone with current tech specs.
I’m too cynical to really hope Apple would make such a design choice, though. Oh well, one can dream.
2024-09-26 19:43:44
The day before yesterday, I got a message from my brother-in-law: Want to know something? My iMac has developed a series of horizontal lines all over the screen, more noticeable at the bottom.
And he shared a link to a discussion in the Community forum on Apple’s website. His iMac is the 24-inch M1 iMac model released in 2021. Apparently this issue is not uncommon. I’d like to quote the ‘Top-ranking reply’ in that forum thread in its entirety because it explains the issue with clarity; then I’ll add a couple of personal remarks. (Emphasis is the original poster’s.)
“Jotap62”:
According to the Apple support team I contacted, it’s an LCD malfunction and the only solution is to replace it.
What they didn’t say was why this problem is occurring after two years of using the iMac on so many computers.
So, as Apple hasn’t yet assumed that it’s their fault, what I did, given the lack of concrete answers from Apple, was to take my iMac to a technician and ask him to assess the problem to see if it’s a construction problem or just a random fault.
The explanation I was given was as follows:
In terms of circuitry, everything seems to be working properly.
The problem, apparently, lies in a cable that also powers the LCD, which is located on one of the tops of the screen, and which, in order to be replaced, requires detaching the screen glass from the LCD itself, which is a very sensitive operation and almost impossible to carry out without damaging the LCD.
So the only option is to replace the entire LCD (LCD + main boards + screen glass).
Also, according to the technician’s explanation, this cable (of the FFC/FPC type or Flat Flexible Cable / Flexible Printed Circuit) has to sustain a very high voltage (around 50V) to power the LCD (this despite the iMac’s power supply being 15.9V), and it heats up a lot!
So, what happens after a while (in this case after about 2 years) is that it starts to burn out and degrade at the connector, to the point where it lets the signals leak between the various connectors and short-circuits some of them, which ends up causing those lines that we are all unfortunately familiar with.
The level of brightness makes a fundamental contribution to this problem. Thus, the higher the brightness used, the sooner the problem occurs.
This is easily understood by measuring the difference in temperature at the top of the screen when it is at its lowest brightness level, compared to when it is at its highest. It’s quite a big difference!
When it’s at its lowest brightness, it’s practically room temperature; when it’s at its highest, you can almost “fry an egg”!
I think that as soon as Apple recognizes that there is a problem with these computers, the first thing it will do is make a change to the OS that reduces the maximum brightness limit allowed (to less than 500 nits). Time will tell…
Why does this happen?
For at least one of three reasons:
- A design flaw — so this problem is likely to occur in a large number of devices;
- A defect in components — the problem is limited to a few cases;
- Use of components below Apple’s standards — the problem may be limited, or more widespread.
This was the explanation I was given. I’m not a technician. Only Apple will know the exact reason(s).
If I had to guess, I’d say that I don’t believe it’s a design fault, because Apple has an obligation to be very careful about that; I also don’t think it’s a fault with the component(s) because it seems to be happening all over the planet and doesn’t seem to be localized; so I think it’s due to the use of component(s) below, or at the limit of, Apple’s standards which, when put under extreme stress (higher brightness), end up failing.
I think it’s already clear to everyone that this is a design or manufacturing defect in this Apple model.
So let’s hope that Apple takes on this construction problem and repairs it or at least contributes part of the cost of the (overly expensive) repair of our computers.
If it were a car, surely all our computers would be called into the workshop to replace the component that has broken down or is in the process of breaking down.
As it’s a computer… let’s hope that Apple will behave in a way that suits its customers, who believe in the above-average Apple standard…
So keep presenting your cases to Apple.
Since I’ve been out of the tech loop for a few months this year, maybe this issue has already been discussed. Anyway, here are a few scattered thoughts.
My first reaction was to add this to the series of duds in Tim Cook’s Apple (see my previous post to better get what I’m alluding to). It’s true that Apple is not new to this kind of problems. Several iterations of past MacBook Pros were plagued by graphics card issues that rendered the computer basically unusable. And some Intel iMac generations met the same fate, unfortunately. (I really feel for my brother-in-law, because his previous iMac — a 21.5‑inch 4K iMac from 2013 or 2014 — was exactly one of those with graphics card issues).
But while “Jotap62” above says that they don’t believe it’s a design fault, I’d say this is very much the case. Apple wanted to redesign an already-slim-enough iMac to produce something that was strikingly thin for a desktop computer. The space inside such a thinned down chassis is so tight that Apple had to make the power supply external to the iMac, just like a laptop’s AC adapter. When you work within tight spaces and with strict tolerances, things can go wrong. 13- and 15-inch models of MacBook Pro manufactured between 2016 and 2017 presented an issue with the display flex cable. As explained here, in those MacBook Pro models, the flex cable connecting the display to the board is now wrapped around the hinge and is a spring-ed ribbon cable. This makes it even more susceptible to breakage over time due to the constant tension and relaxation when opening and closing the lid, unlike the previous design, where the wire connecting [the display] was tucked inside the hinge cover and never moved.
This issue also surfaced in the ultra-thin 12-inch retina MacBook models, as if the butterfly keyboard was not enough of a blunder.
Now, back to the iMac display issue, as the technician contacted by “Jotap62” explains, if the iMac’s display flex cable “has to sustain a very high voltage (around 50V) to power the LCD (this despite the iMac’s power supply being 15.9V)”, I find it hard to believe that none of the hardware gurus at Apple didn’t know that. I’m not an engineer, nor a hardware guru, but what I suspect is that those responsible of designing and assembling the innards of the 24-inch M‑series iMac were given the daunting task of fitting everything into that super-thin chassis, and something got to give. And this kind of flex cable was a compromise, the ‘okay-enough’, ‘it’ll last enough’ solution.
What infuriates me is that this is the kind of problem the manufacturer certainly knows about, but they also know it won’t trigger immediately. Customers then are faced with a costly out-of-warranty replacement, where the right thing to do would be to treat this as a known manufacturing issue and offer a free replacement. (Especially considering that — and this is the other infuriating bit — even after a replacement the issue is likely to reoccur). Maybe it’s also a case of components that are below Apple’s standards or requirements, but the outcome is the same — customers shouldn’t pay for these mistakes.
But this would be very costly for Apple, I already hear some say. Well, no one asked them to make this stupid, unnecessarily thin iMac redesign in the first place.
