The State of the iPhone in 2018
What is the state of the iPhone in2018? It has been an interesting year for the iPhone.
Apple has moved on from the older style of iPhone that drove the company to the highest point ever and moved towards what they hope is the future. But that future comes with a cost.
So what is the state of the iPhone in 2018?
The line-up
This year, Apple has moved the line forward with three new phones, the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR while cutting others from the line-up (the iPhone SE).
The size of the standard iPhone has grown yet again this year. While you can still get a phone with a 4.7-inch screen (the iPhone 7 or iPhone 8) those phones are still just as large as the iPhone XS, but the XS has a larger screen in the same size body. These older phones are also the only phones that still have a fingerprint sensor.
The newer iPhones have that iPhone X sense of style. The entire face of the phone is a screen. It has glass front and back for inductive charging. All of these phones have FaceID for security and the camera is one of the best on an iPhone.
As long as you don’t want a phone smaller than the 4.7-inch screen, Apple has an iPhone for you. iPhones now have screen sizes at 4.7”, 5.5”, 5.8”, 6.1”, and 6.5”.
Colors have once again invaded the iPhone line-up this year. While most of the phones are either Space Gray or Silver, Apple added gold to the iPhone XS line-up and the XR has a wide range of colors which all seem to pop.
Grade: A
Apple has provided plenty of options this year as long as you want a phone on the larger side. But starting with that 4.7-inch screen, you have plenty of options. If you want a colorful iPhone you are restrained to one model. Luckily that model is one of the better ones.
If you want a smaller phone, you are out of luck unless you can find an iPhone SE for sale at a provider or online. Still, phones are growing larger each year. I’m not sure how much more they can grow. I’m happy with my current iPhone XS Max’s size, but I wouldn’t want them to go much bigger
Design
The build quality of the phones has remained amazing. While there are some things that have gotten off about the design of the phone like antenna lines or the moving of the lightning port, the phones still look and feel like better products than most of the competition.
The XS line of phones use stainless steel around the edges, while the rest of the line-up feature aluminum. Still all the phones feel premium in the hand.
The glass front and back of the phones are stronger than ever it seems (that’s not something that I really want to test). I have dropped the phone on accident a couple of times and it has held up.
The iPhone XR is full of colors, but not all the colors work well. As much as they tried to color match there is a difference between the glass and the aluminum band around the phone. The colors are close, but the yellow seems to really stand out here.
Grade: A
Apple still leads the way in industrial design and build quality in my book. While they have made some concessions in the design like the camera bumps or antenna lines, they still look like a more premium device than devices from other companies.
Internals
Unquestionably, the iPhone is faster than ever. It’s faster than many laptops as well. The A12 chip inside is probably the most advanced chip out there in a consumer device. It might not rival the top of the line intel chips in the iMac Pro, but it is gaining ground. The chip allows the iPhone to do pretty much anything and with speed.
The cameras are by far the best cameras that Apple has ever shipped. There
I have taken photos now that I never would have dreamed of before.
I will say that Google does best the iPhone when it comes to photography though. The recently release NightShot by Google is amazing in the amount of light that it lets in. Will Apple respond next year with something similar?
Apple has also dedicated some of the inside chips to machine learning. This helps with the photography, Siri, and many other parts of the phone. I don’t think the average user will notice it being there, but it is doing things behind the scenes that greatly affect how the phone works.
Grade: A+
Apple is leading the way when it comes to chips these days. The same (but beefed up) chip is inside the iPad Pro and it is outclassing many of Apple’s own laptops.
The camera is amazing. It might be beaten by Google in certain areas, but it is still one of the best cameras out there now.
Price
Which brings us to the price. While I mentioned the price increases in the line before, it is worth mentioning now.
Last year, Apple released the iPhone X to a $999 starting price. There were rumors all year that they would lower the price of the new iPhone XS this year. That didn’t happen. Instead, Apple created the XS Max which increased the price even more.
The technology inside these phones cost more money than in previous years. It also has nicer finishes than phones of the past. Still, $999 is a tough pill to swallow for a phone. With that price, you also get a paltry 64GB of storage. For most people, they will want to get a step up in storage which jumps to 256GB and an increase of $150. The most expensive phone you can buy right now will run you $1449.
But Apple knows that not everyone wants to spend that much money on a phone, so they also debuted the iPhone XR. The XR brings all of the new aspects of the iPhone XS but at a lower cost. While pretty much everything inside it is the same, the XR jettisons things like ForceTouch, telephoto lens, and stainless steel. It makes concessions on things that most people probably don’t use very often. This makes it a great phone for most people, but it is still more expensive than the iPhone 8 when it released last year.
I’m not sure what to expect in the future from iPhone prices. I really hope that once the FaceID system matures, prices will start to come back down. If the trend continues to increase the price, I’ll stop upgrading as often as I do.
Grade: C
I while I think that Apple was smart to bring out the XR, I wish that they would work on bringing the price down. Even if they could have chopped off $100 from the XS I think it would have gone a long way to satisfy their fans.
Prices have gone higher lately when it comes to Apple products. I don’t think Apple should ever shoot for bargain basement, everything has to go prices, but I do wish that it would scale back a little bit. I would imagine the success of the XR will determine what Apple chooses to do in the future.
Software
iOS 12 has been one of the best releases for the iPhone in some time (check out my review here). iOS 12 sped up and smoothed out the front facing aspects of the operating system and made it a joy to use again.
I applaud Apple’s focus on speed. I’m not sure how many companies would have really buckled down to make a
But they didn’t just fine tune everything, they also added. Siri got smarter and learns about you better during your day. You can now track how much you are on your phone. The iPhone can stop bugging you at night, and more. Notifications got a welcomed overhaul as well.
Oh yeah, and we got Group FaceTime finally.
As far as the iPhone goes, iOS is headed in a great direction. The platform is maturing, so I’m not sure how often we will get giant leaps, but that might not be a bad thing either. When Apple slows down and really focuses on improving the experience, that is where they shine.
Grade: A
I feel like Apple really hit it out of the park this year with iOS 12. Sure, there have been somethings lagging behind, like FaceTime coming out later, but they have made sure that everything really works.
I love it when Apple goes back and really works the system to be more efficient like this. I’m impressed that they could do that, and bring in more features as well.
App Store/Apps
The Apps store seems to be in the same place it’s been for the last year or so. Apple’s redesign to get more content out daily has increased the downloading of those apps. The content marketing team should be pleased. I have noticed that I go to the App Store more often to see what is being highlighted.
There are still problems with the App Store though. Developers are gaming the system or finding that they are having to do that to get to the top of the charts where you can actually make money. I’m not sure what Apple can do to combat that honestly, except creating a team that looks for this stuff and boots those developers out.
Apps are also tending towards the subscription model as well. If you are using apps that are heading that way, you might start finding yourself paying much more every week than you were when you were having to buy the software. I don’t see this model sustaining for too long, especially as more apps head towards it.
Paid upgrades seem like the way to go, but Apple doesn’t allow that just yet. I wouldn’t mind companies offering free scaled down apps, ones that offer in-app purchases to expand or even upgrade, but that has been a wish since the App Store came out.
Still quality apps are prevalent on the App Store. You can find apps for whatever you need, and apps you didn’t know you needed could be the star of the App Store the next day.
There are also pretty powerful apps that you can carry around on your phone. GarageBand is one of Apple’s more powerful apps and you can take it around with you in your pocket. LumaFusion also provides a desktop class video editor for your phone. It’s crazy what is possible on the iPhone.
Grade: B+
I think the App Store has been heading in the right direction, but I also worry about the direction many app developers are headed down. I’m not sure that’s Apple’s fault.
Still I’m growing weary of apps moving towards the subscription model.
However, the apps that are out there are powerful. I’d be interested to see what happens down the road as the iPad grows more powerful. Will those apps follow them onto the iPhone as well?
Going Forward
Honestly, I’m not sure where the iPhone goes from here. I’m not tired of the look of the Operating system like I was when iOS 6 was transitioning to 7. The system has sped up greatly as well.
I do wish for a cheaper entry though. The iPhone has become so expensive, it’s creeping in on the MacBooks in regards to cost. I think that Apple really needs to bring the price down.
Chips and cameras will continue to push the envelope in these pocketable computers. It will still be the center of our digital lives but what new things will connect to it?
I don’t think we are ready for VR just yet, but I imagine whatever form it takes will connect to your phone.
Cameras will continue to get better. Will Apple invest in machine learning like NightSight to improve the iPhone camera? I don’t think it really has a choice.
Honestly, I’m not sure what to expect from an iPhone these days. I’m pretty happy with what I have, and I’m not screaming for more.
Wrap up
I think the state of the iPhone is great right now. There could always be improvements, but I’m really happy with what I have. My major issue comes to cost. I hope that Apple will find a way to bring the costs down.
I also love the iPhone XR and all of its colors and I hope that also continues.
But really these are great phones.
Make sure you check out our iPhone Buyers guide. I hope its a tool you can use to help you pick a new iPhone.
What do you think about the state of the iPhone? Hit me up on Twitter if you disagree, or if you want to see something in the next iPhone.