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Apple Might Discontinue the iPhone X This Summer (bgr.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the X-Tinct dept.

BGR shares a startling prediction from Ming-Chi Kuo, the Apple analyst at KGI securities: Kuo -- who we should note has an exemplary track record with respect to iPhone rumors -- adds that Apple may opt to discontinue the current iPhone X entirely if sales are underwhelming. "KGI also expects a trio of iPhone models in the fall of 2018," AppleInsider notes. "He predicts the iPhone X will be 'end of life' in the summer of 2018, instead of being retained as a lower-cost option in the following year." If Kuo's projection pans out, this would represent a marked shift in Apple's iPhone sales strategy. Going back nearly a decade, Apple has always positioned older iPhone models around as a wallet-friendly alternative for users who weren't keen on paying a premium for Apple's latest and greatest.

3 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. As long as... by jawtheshark · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As long as they keep the SE in the current form factor. The SE is basically the only iPhone that has good price/value ratio. I had the philosophy of getting my wifes old iPhone when she gets the latest model every two years. Last one she got was a 7 and, as such I got her old 6. Never again. These phones are so thin, I basically let it slip all the time, and within two weeks I let it fall, shatter the screen and TouchId was ruined too. Third party repair was so-so, and a half functioning phone sucks. So, I ponied up for the cheapest SE, getting back the 5 form factor. I couldn’t be happier. First time in over 10 years, I actually paid for a new phone.

    --
    Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    1. Re: As long as... by Brockmire · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In the Vancouver area, I regularly see Asian women with phones the size of their faces. It's kinda comical. They also seem to hold them closer than most people, so you can often see a head with hair and a phone/tablet looking thing for their faces.

  2. The iPhone X is a terrible phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's not surprising. The iPhone X is a terrible phone, and Apple has been caught trying to trick people into upgrading.

    Face ID is a failed experiment. It manages to combine barely working with being insecure as hell: you have to hold the phone at very specific angles to get it to see your face, meaning that casually unlocking the phone is a chore. But it will also unlock using a simple folded photograph if held correctly, making it trivial for adversaries to unlock. Face ID needs to go away.

    The removal of the home button is disastrous, if only because Apple already delegated a ton of functionality to it that now has to be redistributed across the rest of the phone. The home button used to perform different functions based on if you tapped it, or clicked it, or double-clicked it, or double-tapped it, or triple-clicked it. But now they've removed that button entirely and replaced it with ..... nothing. So now the power button has to take over for functions like accessing Apple Pay and Siri. Meaning that as simple a thing as turning off the phone now involves secret button combinations. (It's click volume up, click volume down, then hold the power button, in that order. I kid you not. Hold the power button briefly to bring up the power controls, longer to forcibly reboot.)

    The new "home space" as the bottom means that a ton of apps now have UI that is right next to it, making triggering it incredibly annoying. Of course, "legacy" apps that aren't "optimized for iPhone X" have giant black bars on the top and bottom, meaning that the apps that place controls on top of the "home space" are in theory "optimized for iPhone X" but developers don't seem to have figured out how to deal with a giant dead area at the bottom of the screen.

    And then there's the notch, transforming a somewhat nice looking display into a horned ugly mess. You'd think this being an Apple decision the status bar wouldn't have been an after-thought, but quite a few pieces of information are flat-out missing on the iPhone X because there flat-out isn't space. Don't believe me? Swipe up the control center and .... no, wait, it's now swipe down the control center, but only from the right horn, because the left horn handles the old "swipe down" gesture. Anyway, swipe down the control center, which will display the "old" iPhone status bar, and look at all the icons that used to be hidden. "Minor" things like bluetooth status and battery level, for those bluetooth headphones you now have to use because there is no headphone jack.

    So, anyway, I'm not surprised. The iPhone X is a disaster even if you ignore the price.