Apple iPhone X

The Apple X has been announced for $ 999.00 in the USA (without tax of course) .
In Germany this model costs € 1,149.00.
The flagship (264GB model) will cost € 1,319.00 ($ 1,149.00).

Introduction

The questions are:

1. Do I wanna buy an iPhone X, or do I wait for an improved model?
2. Why do I wanna wait for another iPhone?

Upgrading?

Apple iPhone X

Current iPhone	Battery	Memory	Data Roaming
Currently I have an iPhone 6 Plus, bought in September 2014. I am not buying every new iPhone, only when important improvements are made or my iPhone is getting out of service.	I have already changed the battery of my iPhone 6 Plus. The iPhone battery dried too quickly. Also I have bought an Anker Power-Bank 20,000 mAh to avoid power problems. Ever since I have an Apple watch the iPhone battery runs out faster.	Next my iPhone 64 GB memory is becoming too small. I have already removed several apps, have transferred my music and photos to external sources. Now I have 9 GB free, but my original music is some 80 GB and I have only 9 GB stored on my iPhone. The 256GB memory seems to me very attractive.	Furthermore I live in Germany, but I am Dutch. Since the new European rules for Data Roaming I can freely use Internet in the complete EEG (at last), but I do not want to spoil my 3000 MB in a month completely.

The real important improvements are of course the Screen of the new iPhone X and the TrueDepth camera.
Minor are the memory size of 256 GB, the improvement of the camera to 12 MB. These are minor because you need not the buy the X but can also buy the 8 Plus.

Price

The price is high, but for me that's not the biggest issue.
The iPhone lacks some important core features which causes me to doubt.

Missing features

TouchID	Headphone jack	Solution 1	Solution 2
First of all there is no touchID. That means the very easy way of unlocking apps has disappeared. And it did not disappear because Apple does not want a touchID. Due technical problems with the new OLED screen and therefore the removal of the Home Button makes it (until now) impossible. To me this is a real failure and I wait for the reviews on this subject.	Next the removal of the headphone jack. The slim design leaves no place for it anymore.	Apple's solution for the missing jack is a Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter and the EarPods with Lightning connector (which never stay in my ears). Ok that works but is of course a fake solution for the real one.	Apple's second solution is the bluetooth Headphone/Earpods. But I have already a perfect HeadPhone, so I am forced in a direction I don't want.

New features

Face Recognition

When I mentioned the missing features, I deliberately did not talk about the new Face Recognition feature. This new option is not a replacement for the TouchID imho, but the tests will have to prove my statement.

Camera

Issue	iPhone X	iPhone 7s Plus	iPhone 6s Plus	iPhone 6 Plus
Size	12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras	12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras	12MP camera	8MP iSight camera with 1.5µ pixels
Apperture	Wide-angle: ƒ/1.8 aperture Telephoto: ƒ/2.4 aperture	Wide-angle: ƒ/1.8 aperture Telephoto: ƒ/2.8 aperture	ƒ/2.2 aperture	ƒ/2.2 aperture
Optical zoom	Digital zoom up to 10x	Digital zoom up to 10x	Digital zoom up to 5x	Not applicable
Panorama	Up to 63MP	Up to 63MP	Up to 63MP	Up to 43MP
Lens	Six‑element	Six-element	Five-element	Five-element

The camera is much better than the iPhone 6, but only fractional better than the 7s Plus. But it has now the 3D technology for Face Recognition in the front camera (TrueDepth Camera).

Battery

Issue	iPhone X	iPhone 7s Plus	iPhone 6s Plus	iPhone 6 Plus
Talk time (wireless)	Up to 21 hours	Up to 21 hours on 3G	Up to 24 hours on 3G	Up to 24 hours on 3G
Internet use	Up to 12 hours	Up to 13 hours on 3G Up to 15 hours on WiFi	Up to 12 hours	Up to 12 hours
Video playback (wireless):	Up to 13 hours	Up to 14 hours	Up to 14 hours	Up to 14 hours
Audio playback (wireless)	Up to 60 hours	Up to 60 hours	Up to 80 hours	Up to 80 hours

I can not find Apple's statement that:

• iPhone 7s Plus is up to 1 hour longer battery life than iPhone 6s Plus
• iPhone X lasts up to 2 hours longer than iPhone 7.

At least the given statements do not have any backup in the given technical numbers.

Charging

The iPhone 8 and X are the first iPhones to support wireless charging based on the Qi-technology. So you can charge the iPhone by plopping it down onto any Qi-compatible wireless charger and it’ll start juicing up.

Miscellaneous

The weight of the new iPhone is 174 gram. That's 2 gram heavier than my iPhone 6 plus, but 18 gram less than the iPhone 6S plus).

Compare 8 with X

The new iPhones has the following common features:

• Same processor: A11 Bionic
• Same primary 12-megapixel camera
• Same 7-megapixel selfie camera
• Same video recording capabilities: 4K at 60, 30, and 24FPS. 1080p slo-mo at 240FPS
• Wireless charging
• “The hardest glass ever in a smartphone, front and back.”
• IP67 water and dust resistance
• Same maximum screen brightness
• 3D Touch
• Fast charging
• 64GB or 256GB storage options

The differences of the X:

• It’s a big screen in a small overall form factor. The iPhone X measures a bit bigger than the iPhone 8, but it’s nowhere near the dimensions of the iPhone 8 Plus.
• The OLED screen has better contrast than the displays on iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and it supports HDR video.
• Face recognition.
• No TouchID
• Animoji and Portrait mode

Conclusion

I will wait for the reviews on the loss of the Home Button, the loss of the TouchID. The home button replacement with swiping gestures is also not complete clear.
Furthermore I expect that the technical issues with a digital Home Button will be solved in the near future, and that Apple will come with an iPhone Xs that has this feature!

To be not biased I make my decision list clear now:

1. Home Button, are the new Gestures a real replacement?
2. TouchID gone, is Face Recognition a replacement?
3. Design, is the new OLED Screen not over-rated-important?

I also would like to make a statement. In the past Apple made a big mistake with

• Apple ProDOS, an improvement on the storage,
• Apple Lisa Computer, an improvement introducing the first GUI

After the famous Apple ][ Plus, these new devices/software almost bankrupted the firm (Microsoft ruled the world). I hope that Apple does not fall in the same gab!

The inventor-life is not without problems.

See also

• TechCrunch, I dont want the new iPhone X and I cant be alone.
• GSM Arena, Specs of the iPhone 6 Plus (september 2017).
• Independent, First impressions on iPhone X, loss of TouchID is a huge loss.
• The Verge, Wait for the review of the iPhone X.