Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Finally, the Apple Watch

Here I am on a Thursday evening, super relaxed in knowing that I won't be waking up at 5:00 AM tomorrow morning to preorder the new iPhone 15 Pro. Because I am not making the upgrade this year, as I’ve written yesterday. TLDR: not enough improvements in the 15 Pro to entice me out of my 14 Pro.

The money I am saving by not upgrading will go towards buying the Apple Watch Series 9 (announced alongside the iPhone 15 Pro this past Tuesday). This will be my first smartwatch ever, and I’m excited to do one exact thing: be able to go on a run without my iPhone. I look forward to loading my playlist onto the Apple Watch and playing music off of it. No more clumsily holding onto the iPhone in one hand while I run. It can stay in the car for the duration.

Pro tip: if you’re leaving any computer electronics in the trunk for a period of time, be sure to shut down the device completely before tossing it in. Doing so stops the device’s bluetooth and WiFi antennas from broadcasting, thus preventing detection from thieves. Perps troll around parked cars with signal sniffers - that’s how they know to break into your trunk even though your computer bag isn’t visible.

Obviously, nothing you can do if they actually see you put stuff in the trunk. Eyeballs emoji.

Other than tunes whist running, I am also excited about the Apple Watch’s health tracking capabilities. It’ll be nice to constantly monitor my heart-rate, and get notified when there’s abnormalities (knock on wood). A more accurate step-count, too, will be interesting to keep track of. Just when I thought I was saving some money by not getting the newest iPhone, I go spend that cash on something else. Of course!

I’ve still never ridden on one of these.

No upgrade this year!

On second thought, I am not upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro. First time in seven years I won’t be getting the latest iPhone upon announcement. My current iPhone 14 Pro will solider on for a second year of service.

As a hobbyist photographer, the primary attraction in buying the newest iPhone every year is the improvements to the cameras. This year, the improvements are minuscule to unnecessary (for me). All three sensors sensors carry over from the 14 Pro the 15 Pro unchanged. The larger 15 Pro Max gets a new 120mm equivalent 5X zoom, which is not a focal length I want to use. I’m sure there’s subtle improvements to the imaging software, but I reckon not enough to warrant spending to upgrade.

If it were the new 5X zoom in addition to the 3X zoom, then it would be enticing. Sadly, the 5X replaces the 3X in the 15 Pro Max. I use the 3X zoom (76mm equivalent) so frequently on my 14 Pro that I do not want to give it up.

In previous years, the latest iPhone have had (largely) carry-over camera systems. However, there were always another killer new feature to make me want to upgrade. Like the physically larger screen of the XS Max, or 120-Hz refresh rate of the 13 Pro. The newly announced iPhone 15 Pro doesn’t have any new feature that’s killer enough. Titanium replacing the stainless-steel outer band is nice, but not a must-have. Same with USB-C charging (finally replacing the Lightning port): I’m not in a hurry to toss my Lightning cables just yet.

If the 15 Pro promises better battery life, then it would be enticing. But it doesn’t: same quoted battery life as the 14 Pro. No sale! I am quite happy to use this 14 Pro for another year.

Not enough juice

We are about two months away from the annual new iPhone launch in September (typically). I cannot wait to get a new one this year, because the battery life on my current iPhone 14 Pro has been the worse I’ve ever used. (And I’ve had every single iPhone since the 7.) The iPhone is famous for robust battery life compared to the Android competition. In my experience, this has been very true. I’ve never had to plug my iPhone in mid-day to top up the battery ever. It’s never gone down past 20% at the end of the day even in my heaviest usage days.

That is, until the iPhone 14 Pro. 10 months in, the battery life have not held up to standards. These days I’m down to 20% by the time I get home from work in the early evening. Mind you this is without any heavy usage of social media apps whatsoever. I’m only chatting with friends on Signal and reading ebooks on Kindle. I joked to my friends that I’ve become just like them: having to charge the phone battery during the day, otherwise risk running out of juice.

The forthcoming iPhone 15 Pro could have zero new features - only improved battery life, and I would still happily do the yearly upgrade.

Obviously, this is the most first world of problems. Here’s some quick perspective to bring me back down to earth. A new coworker of mine recently remarked that in all of his previous jobs, he’s never had the major holidays off. In the typical service industry-type jobs, the holidays is when you definitely have to show up for work. That’s where the money is made: restaurants needs tables filled, shows need to go on, and parcels need delivering. That coworker’s remark is a humbling reminder that I’m so lucky to only have had jobs where major holidays are actually a thing.

It reminded me of my younger (than me by 10 years) brother. He’s currently working his way up from the bottom at entry-level service jobs. There are no holidays off. And should he wish to take any time off, he has to find others to cover his shift. A two week vacation? He can certainly take one, but just don’t come back to work afterwards. It’s tough work for not that much pay. Fingers crossed he can eventually find a job that provide proper benefits and time off - like my coworker did.

Naked iPhone!

I’m going to try something: use my iPhone without a case again. It’s been a few years since I’ve done this. I use the iPhone X (my favorite iPhone design ever) sans case for an entire year. Dropped it a few times, but only suffered a few hard nicks to the stainless steel band. I guess the reason I went back to using a case is for the additional grip. The camera bumps have also continually gotten larger on iPhones, so having a case sort of balance out the incline when resting on a flat surface.

But even that’s not the case anymore: using the official Apple case, my iPhone 14 Pro still cannot rest completely flat. The cameras bump is simply too enormous.

The reason I’m trying case-less again is because of the realization I’m covering up the full tactile experience of the iPhone. The beautiful textures of the stainless steel and glass, the clicky buttons - all gets covered up by an albeit expensive piece of polyurethane. The rubber case also covers up the beautiful purple color, exclusive to this version of 14 Pro. Why pay so much money for a phone only to dilute the full experience? I want to see the gorgeous color and feel the design every single day.

Of course, the main worry now is dropping the phone. The pristine surface would be no more. Case or no case, I actually don’t drop my phone that much, if at all (I’ve yet to drop this iPhone 14 Pro, knock on wood). Besides, I get a new iPhone every year like clockwork, so any defects due to negligence will be short-lived. I just hope it won’t be too mangled, affecting the trade-in value.

Chinese people of my parents’ generation would buy furniture only to cover them up with plastic (or larger towels) immediately. That’s their version of using a smartphone with a case. What are you preserving, exactly? And for who? I think it’s better to use things as is. Doing things to prevent wear is trying to control the future, which as we all understand, is futile.

Grand opening, grand closing

And… I have to return the AirPods Max. The weight penalty of the aluminum and stainless steel construction is just too much, however nice the materials feel to the hand. Headphones should not be this heavy! After an hour of wear, I had pressure pain at the parts above my ears, and top of the head where the headband rested. The AirPods Max is useless to me if I cannot wear it for an extended period without discomfort. Granted, I have an idiosyncratically big head, so your mileage may indeed vary. I’m sure there’s plenty of happy AirPods Max customers out there, with regular sized noggins.

What I will not be returning however is the iPhone 14 Pro. Not that there is any danger of a new iPhone being such a disappointment that I would exchange it for an older unit. The new 2,000 nit peak brightness display is super handy: the full gamut of colors and detail remains highly visible even in direct sunlight. I appreciated this feature the first time I stepped outside with the new phone. No doubt it’s murderous on the battery to boost the screen to this brightness level, but it’s nice to have when you need it.

Also nice to have is the now always-on display. It’s a bit disconcerting at first, after nearly a decade of using iPhones without it. Unlike competing android phones, the iPhone 14 Pro’s entire display remains on. Brightness goes way down, obviously, but in certain situations it is still rather bright. I kept mistaking the always-on lock screen for someone calling me. Other times I would, out of habit, press the power button to turn off the display entirely. Because I thought the phone was still on.

The stars of the show of any “pro” iPhone is naturally the camera system. The camera bumps on the iPhone 14 Pro have once again increased in size. Necessitating yet another new case to go along with the new phone. (Otherwise, the iPhone 13 Pro case would have fit!) Rest in Peace forever to smartphones that sit completely level on a flat surface - once you’ve put a case on. I’ve not yet done enough shooting to really see and feel the latest improvements. The 13 Pro is already so damn good. But, the larger sensors in the 14 Pro can only be a good thing.

I was wrong

I have in my hands the brand-new iPhone 14 Pro. Getting my annual iPhone upgrade could not have been easier, if you discount the fact I had to wake up at 5:00 AM two Fridays ago to preorder. I am lucky to live only a few blocks away from an Apple Store. That is precisely where I chose to pickup the new phone last Friday. No need to play the UPS waiting game for shipping.

I chose a 5:15 PM pickup time so that I can go after work. I am not too rabid a fan that I cannot wait a few more hours to get the new product. In fact, I didn’t even activate the iPhone 14 Pro until the next day. As expected, there was a significant queue outside the Apple Store. I however had an advantage: my appointment was purely picking up. I’m not trading in a device (at that time, anyways), nor am I setting up the new iPhone at the store. Just hand me the device and I can get out of there.

So I bypassed a bunch of people in line with more complicated transactions. Perfect.

Not sure why people want to trade-in a device at the store without first transferring data to the new phone. Apple makes it absolutely easy with “Quick Start”: put the old iPhone next to the new one, follow the prompts, and about an hour or so (depend on how much stuff you have), I was done. In Apple parlance, it is indeed magic how effortless this data transfer method is. No more restore from iCloud backups for me, henceforth.

Also surprisingly easy was the transition from physical SIM card to eSIM. I had reservations when I found out the entire iPhone 14 lineup in the United States will feature eSIM only. I feared that the new activation procedure won’t be as simple as taking the SIM card out of the old iPhone and put into the new. Worse, it read like a perfect opportunity for Verizon to play games and force customers to pay the extortionate $30 upgrade fee. Want to transition to eSIM? Pay up, sucker!

I was wrong! Switching to eSIM is super easy. The Quick Start process transferred the data from the physical SIM inside my iPhone 13 Pro right onto the new iPhone 14 Pro. It was done in matter of minutes. No need to call Verizon or go to the Verizon website. Apple have really thought this process through to make it as seamless as possible for the customer. Bravo.

Another new iPhone

It is well into September, so you know what that means: it is new iPhone season! Like clockwork, Apple announced last week the latest iPhone 14 lineup. And of course I am trading in my iPhone 13 Pro for the 14 Pro. Just like I’ve done since the iPhone 7: a new phone every year. For something that is our most often used device, I feel like it’s well worth the expense. As the cliche goes, life is too short to use a smartphone for more than one year. Treat yourself!

So I woke up last Friday super early at 5:00 AM to preorder the new iPhone. Thankfully, Apple makes it somewhat painless. Customers are able to fill out their order information ahead of time. On that Friday morning, all I had to do is click a few buttons to confirm whether I want shipping or in-store pickup. 10 minutes later and I was back asleep in slumber. Not sure it was worth interrupting my all important sleep to preorder. The last few years I was able to grab an in-stock unit at an Apple Store on release weekend with no fuss.

Perhaps I’m just excited about the innovation I always most look forward to in the newest iPhones: the camera. There’s a massive improvement to the iPhone 14 Pro’s main camera. The sensor is physically larger, and the megapixel count jumps - for the first time in a decade of iPhones - from 12 megapixels to 42 megapixels. As someone’s whose photography hobby have completely migrated from the traditional camera to the iPhone, it’s good to see Apple continue to innovate in this area at a rapid rate.

This is why I upgrade to the new iPhone every year.

What’s not so exciting about the iPhone 14 lineup is the elimination of the physical SIM card slot in the U.S. models. The 14 will be eSIM only. This means users are forced to pay the ridiculous upgrade fee to Verizon when they buy a new iPhone. Past years I simply take the SIM card out of the old one and stick into the new. Can’t do that anymore! For the iPhone 14 Pro, I will have to go log in on the Verizon website to register it. Which means there’s no avoiding the $30 charge of pure and extortionate profit.

It will also make travel slightly difficult as I can no longer buy a local SIM card. I have to count on carriers in a particular country to offer eSIM support. That’s going to be a pain, I reckon.