By: NATE HOLMER
Staff Columnist
A few weeks ago, Apple released the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, a new Apple Watch, and new operating systems for all of their currently supported devices. While that is interesting news, with the new separation of iPhone from the rest of the Operating systems, that is not what I primarily aim to discuss for this column.
Rather, I want to inquire about what the hell Apple was thinking when they made the iPhone 11 Pro.
After an extensive search both online and on campus, I cannot find one person who likes the new design. Honestly, I am not sure why they went with three cameras. I read the official reasons why. Each camera creates a different view point, from your usual camera view, to a 120 degree Ultra-Wide view. Neat, right?
Well, considering other cameras can do all of that (and more) I might add, for about the same price, it doesn’t seem as groundbreaking as it did at first. If one is looking for a professional camera quality, for the same price, I might suggest just going and getting a Nikon for about the same price as the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
It seems to me that Apple is playing catch up with their competitors in the hardware department. And it isn’t pretty.
Since we know that the outside of the iPhone 11 isn’t what the public enjoys, let’s talk about the new Operating System. Now that it has been about two weeks, it is safe to say that it has its problems. Not only do we get a day 4 patch, it leaves people a little unhappy with its lackluster features.
The prime option is the new “Dark Mode”, for all the night owls that want to keep their phones light unobtrusive. The Dark Mode feature is alright, but not universally supported, even in Apple’s own apps.
It is really underwhelming. Other features, such as a swipe keyboard, a reimagined Photos app, and the Volume Indicator getting it together, it delivers on things that I believe should have been done a while ago.
In a nutshell, while not as groundbreaking as iOS 12 was last year, this update has given Apple a fair playing field with its competitors, and once the bugs are sorted, should shape up to be something that doesn’t detriment Apple.
However, it isn’t all bad, since the biggest surprise of the Apple reveal was the price point. The arguably better phone, the iPhone 11 base model, is “only” $700 USD. Looking back, the iPhone X base model, at release, was running for $1000 USD.
The massive price gap is a good sign, because it means Apple has, at least temporarily, realized they aren’t as far ahead as the competition as they thought they were, and must cater to more kinds of people than before.
With the price gap, and the at launch discounts abound, the iPhone 11 base model is looking to be a semi-decent phone, and to some people, worth the price.
To wrap this up, if you are a diehard Apple user, like myself, and it is time for a contract renewal, I would go for the iPhone 11 base. The iPhone 11 Pro Max, for what extras it does bring to the party, just doesn’t seem worth it compared to other devices that can do what it is trying to do, better.
