So in keeping with tradition, this was banged out in the device itself. I was three years since my last company Phone, they had already ordered loaded iPhone 8 Plus devices for staff, and I presented a use case for the larger screen of the iPhone X as well as a willingness to test against our security standards.
Reader, they bought it.
This is only the second time I’ve had a new iPhone on launch day. The first was the iPhone 4 on the day after that epic 2010 day with the Isner match at Wimbledon, the firing of the chief officer in Afghanistan, the Lawrence Taylor arrest and the greatest USMNT goal ever when Landon Donovan slotted it to beat Algeria in the closing seconds. Yesterday was not nearly as eventful. Maybe it was and I just don’t notice the world anymore. But anyway.
It’s big. It’s a hair bigger than the 6/7/8 line, smaller than the Plus, and the geometry of no bezels makes for some awkward handling when you don’t have all the new swipe gestures down yet. It’s a bit awkward in the front pocket for sure.
I did this for two reasons. One was the ability to test whether I can live with the phablet as the One Device. The iPad, the Kindle, the travel phone(s) – all on the shelf. One iPhone X to rule them all at least for the next few weeks, and see how it works out. This is clearly the way the world is headed and I need to see if I can adjust to it.
The other reason, honestly, is that Apple crossed the finish line with TouchID and NFC in 2013/14. Everything has largely been iterative. The iPhone 6 was compelling to me simply because I needed off that dreadful Verizon 5, but the only new iPhone I’ve paid for myself since launch day 2010 was the iPhone SE. Nothing else was compelling. But with the OLED display and FaceID and the emphasis on viable AR and the shift to a gesture-driven UI, Apple is plainly making a case that this is their future vision. And if work will float the cost, I’m willing to play in their sandbox for a bit.
The look is distinctive. The rounded corners and the notch on a screen that covers almost the entire front all combine to shout that this is Something Different. I’m curious to see how long it takes developers to adapt. I’ve left all the bits and bobs turned on with screen animation and raise to wake and Hey Siri and everything else, because I want to experience it the way they want you to use it and see what happens. BeatsX buds, Apple Watch paired, and let’s see how it goes.
But I have to put my drink down to use it. That isn’t gonna go well.