Hi, Speed - iPhone event confirmed for 10/13 (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

looks like I’ve got 5G ultra wide band around me.
but also this is my home reception, at best. I need Wifi calling to ensure stable phone calls. So I’m skeptical about 5G at home.

Looking at purchasing and Verizon plan options I learned that “Nationwide 5G” is standard but “5G Ultra Wide” is a $10/mo extra premium, including on the Unlimited plans.

 

[DaveF]

So, no free year of AppleTV+ TV with iPhone 12 purchase? Kinda bummed by that, I was assuming I’d get to watch Ted Lasso this Fall.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Hmmm... I forgot the Pro is actually (modestly) smaller than the regular version and the Pro Max only slightly larger.

I went w/ the regular 11 (128GB) instead of 11 Pro before mostly because it was substantially cheaper (and even has bigger screen) while not really sacrificing that much for my purposes (at least at the time) -- probably passing it to my youngest kid, which is a substantial reason for upgrading so soon at all. Since I'm not really considering the regular 12 this go-around (in large part because I do want the better camera now), I might just jump for the 12 Pro Max (256GB) instead and hope it'll last me a good long while (at least 3 years, maybe w/ a battery refresh/replacement after 2 years).


Not sure at the moment which my wife will upgrade to. She had thought maybe a Samsung or MSFT duo screen phablet, but we're concluding she's probably better off sticking w/ iOS and maybe go w/ a combo of a 12-something and an iPad Mini instead (for some frequent, but lite, business uses... often w/ Google Docs/Sheets/etc, maybe a bit of gaming and streaming, etc when the bigger screen is definitely desirable/warranted, but one she can still fit easily enough in most/all her more-business-like handbags, totes, etc alongside her phone). And if she's going w/ such combo, then the modestly cheaper, smaller 12 Pro (128GB) probably makes some sense -- she certainly doesn't do nearly enough w/ her phone camera to benefit meaningfully from the camera diff of the Pro Max me thinks.

The iPad Mini 64GB, which should be enough for her, happens to be on sale today at Amazon (plus I have a soon? expiring extra $50-off-150 deal for using my Discover card, which also currently has 5% cashback bonus for Amazon purchases). Yeah, too bad it seems a new gen iPad Mini isn't expected til next spring, but at least we're getting a pretty good deal right now...

And going w/ such a combo will also mean longer overall battery life compared to relying on just one phablet, especially an Android one, which typically offers less than iOS counterparts...

_Man_

 

[DaveF]

5G alone won’t be enough to justify buying an iPhone this year - The Verge

5G alone won’t be enough to justify buying an iPhone this year

www.theverge.com

The problem with 5G is that it’s not good yet. In a comprehensive, US-wide test of 5G speeds, PC Mag found them seriously lacking. In many cases 5G speeds were actually slower than 4G speeds. And the study also found that the other hyped-up reason for 5G, low latency, also isn’t here yet.

 

[Carlo Medina]

The iPhone X is a really good piece of hardware. I checked the battery on mine a couple of months ago with the coconutbattery app. At 419 cycles, 33 months, the battery is at 92% charging capability. I have not upgraded it to iOS 14 yet but I will shortly.

While it’s still a good iPhone, after three years I’d like to go with the 12. It feels like a real upgrade.

I have zero doubt that there will be a substantial improvement on many fronts over my X. Fortunately, my other "money sucks" I mean hobbies have conspired to have me on the phone less. So in a twist of irony, I'm spending a crap-ton more money on guitars and bikes so I can save a tiny amount on a phone upgrade .

But I guess on the other hand it means I'm in better physical and mental shape (if the studies are to be believed that regular exercise and playing an instrument do wonders for the brain and mood). The pandemic is really challenging on the mental side, but maybe this means if I weren't doing these things I'd be in really bad shape.

 

[Nelson Au]

Carlo, your guitar playing is definitely great mental exercise! I’ve often thought about trying to learn the guitar. I haven’t spent money on the fancy road bike I was considering, instead I’m on my old bike on the trainer!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Looking at purchasing and Verizon plan options I learned that “Nationwide 5G” is standard but “5G Ultra Wide” is a $10/mo extra premium, including on the Unlimited plans.

Damn! I kind of knew the carriers would charge extra for 5G access. So, now our phone bill goes up $10 a month when 5G Ultra Wide is finally available.

So, no free year of AppleTV+ TV with iPhone 12 purchase? Kinda bummed by that, I was assuming I’d get to watch Ted Lasso this Fall.

Nope. Apple has extended everyone's free subscription to February. And, as I reported above, Apple gives you 3 months of Arcade with the purchase of hardware.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Don't really care about 5G myself at least for foreseeable/near future -- just hope the tech won't drain our batteries any faster despite not having use for it. I don't even do unlimited data, so don't need a faster way to blow thru our family's shared data, LOL -- we have 30GB/month (including whatever permanent bonuses... plus frequently substantial carryover).

I do wonder though how that $10 5G fee would work w/ Verizon's tiered unlimited data plans. IIRC, they seem to indicate they throttle you down to DVD streaming quality for the lowest tier, so what exactly does that mean if you can add the 5G for $10? OR do they also require you to go w/ the highest tier plan before letting you get the $10 5G? IF so, then I definitely wouldn't care about it at all -- our family currently pays significantly less than the lowest tier unlimited plan and don't get throttled at all (near as I can tell) w/ our 30GB+carryover.

And knowing Verizon, that fee is per line too, right?

_Man_

 

[Carlo Medina]

Carlo, your guitar playing is definitely great mental exercise! I’ve often thought about trying to learn the guitar. I haven’t spent money on the fancy road bike I was considering, instead I’m on my old bike on the trainer!

Nelson you should totally get into it! There's never been a better time to get into guitars, even today's affordable guitars are better in quality than higher value guitars from decades past.

Here's a pic of my new iPhone...

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Nelson you should totally get into it! There's never been a better time to get into guitars, even today's affordable guitars are better in quality than higher value guitars from decades past.

Here's a pic of my new iPhone...

Maybe I should too... now that my right side "deficit" probably sets me back too much to do much w/ learning the violin/viola -- bowing (at least w/ such smaller instruments) is a pretty significant issue now. OR I guess I could pick up the cello perhaps -- I do actually have a pretty nice, intermediate student level one lying around. Yeah, we probably have as many bowed string instruments lying around our house as you do guitars (and bikes) -- the ongoing joke is I planned to retire from IT/sw-dev to become a luthier/repair-guy and/or run a violin shop out of our house, LOL.

Only have one Yamaha beginner guitar I never really learned to play from before all that back in the early 90's -- I found the strings too harsh on my fingers back then, but was fine w/ the violin a decade or so later.

I did also buy a Yamaha FGX800C for my college-aged son, who's out of town on an engineering internship, back during the Spring -- probably woulda gone for something a bit nicer, but (soon-in-stock) options seemed very limited at the time, and I actually ended up swinging this from B&H of all places (and saving on sales tax w/ their Payboo CC deal). He didn't have his nice violin w/ him (and we didn't wanna ship it under the circumstance) and needed something extracurricular to do...

He'd probably also like an electric bass, but we never figured out what would make sense -- we don't know much about going electric even though we do have some violin pickups and an entry level Fishman Loudbox.

_Man_

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Looking at purchasing and Verizon plan options I learned that “Nationwide 5G” is standard but “5G Ultra Wide” is a $10/mo extra premium, including on the Unlimited plans.

I just looked at Verizon's plans.

I am in the top tier plan. So, I don't have to pay extra for 5G Nationwide. That plan is $90 a month.

One of the nice perks of the top-tier plan is that it includes Apple Music, Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN +

There is also an $80 per month plan that includes all the same perks and if you don't need a lot of hotspot data access per month as the $90 plan then it's a better choice.

Of course, I realize there are people on lower-cost plans who now have to upgrade, but at least there are some perks attached.

I was also looking at AT&T's 5G network plan. The only perk included is HBO MAX.

Unfortunately, I do have 5G in my area under AT&T but not Verizon, the carrier I am currently using and prefer.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

What my family (and actually, most everyone in my neighborhood) can really use is improved general/LTE coverage here in my neighborhood near downtown Brooklyn.

It's kinda nuts I can't get a reliable signal in my house -- mostly just 1 bar (that occasionally drops out) on our various iPhones and inconsistently 2 bars if right by a window perhaps. Even outside our house, it's a spotty 3 bars max unless we go down to a major, commercially populated avenue... and we're not exactly out in the boondocks or anything here...

It's part of the reason we still keep landline service (for now) -- and have to rely on wifi calling on my mobile phones...

_Man_

 

[Carlo Medina]

Yeah the other reason I'm not chomping at the bit is my apartment is apparently a cell phone dead zone, despite living in a very well populated part of L.A. And it's not carrier dependent. My roommate has Sprint for work and Verizon for personal, I have AT&T. 1 bar. If we're lucky.

So 5G means nothing to me, in terms of how I use my phone.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I rarely have met anyone that has decent cell phone service in their homes and/or apartments. I think building materials have a lot to do with that.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I rarely have met anyone that has decent cell phone service in their homes and/or apartments. I think building materials have a lot to do with that.

At least in my area, it's probably mostly just lack of sufficient cell towers. It's only moderately better if I step outside the house -- at most 1 extra bar -- but waaay better as soon as I walk down to the nearest major avenue. Probably a NIMBY thing that prevents more/newer/better cell towers I guess...

Was kinda painful when our Spectrum service went down 2x recently, especially since my kid is going full remote for school, etc. First time, we went w/out for 2-1/2 weekdays waiting for a repair-guy to come reinstall our line, which got mysteriously (and seemingly deliberately) cut down from above our (and neighbors') small backyards -- the Spectrum guy suspected some Verizon FiOS guy did that when our new neighbors had their service installed recently.

Had to have my kid set up in front of the house outside and use her phone's hotspot (w/ just 2 bars signal) when that happened -- too many mosquitos in our backyard these days to do it back there...

_Man_

 

[Nelson Au]

Nice looking guitar Carlo!

 

[DaveF]

Don't really care about 5G myself at least for foreseeable/near future -- just hope the tech won't drain our batteries any faster despite not having use for it. I don't even do unlimited data, so don't need a faster way to blow thru our family's shared data, LOL -- we have 30GB/month (including whatever permanent bonuses... plus frequently substantial carryover).

I do wonder though how that $10 5G fee would work w/ Verizon's tiered unlimited data plans. IIRC, they seem to indicate they throttle you down to DVD streaming quality for the lowest tier, so what exactly does that mean if you can add the 5G for $10? OR do they also require you to go w/ the highest tier plan before letting you get the $10 5G? IF so, then I definitely wouldn't care about it at all -- our family currently pays significantly less than the lowest tier unlimited plan and don't get throttled at all (near as I can tell) w/ our 30GB+carryover.

And knowing Verizon, that fee is per line too, right?

While 5G isn’t any better than LTE today, I’m happy to get 5G in my next phone in case it matures and becomes better in the next few years.

MacBreak Weekly noted that the iPhone drops down to LTE if it’s not getting 5G speeds, to save battery.

$10/mo gives you Ultra speeds for data access. I didn’t see anything about better streaming.

I don’t understand why Verizon gives me HD streaming on my $90 plan, but would degrade it to SD air i *upgrade* to a $140 plan!?!?

 

[DaveF]

Compare Phone and Tablet Sizes Side by Side

A website for comparing and viewing the relative visual size difference between different mobile phones and tablets devices.

phonesized.com

 

[Ronald Epstein]

That is a great site, Dave. I was able to bring up these two phones and realize there is nearly a negligible difference between the two sizes.


(Click on photo for larger image)

 

[Carlo Medina]

I gotta unsubscribe to this thread. Y'all are making me want to consider upgrading...