I got excited for a moment, thought it was a new line of iPhone Mini -- you know, the actual handheld iPhones. I still use my 13 Mini.
This was the biggest letdown of clicking a link since my last Rickroll in the early 2000's
This was the biggest letdown of clicking a link since my last Rickroll in the early 2000's
And instead of making a practical phone that would fit my pocket, we get this stupid, overpriced sock. What a joke.
The Maxes are really huge tho
I just find it annoying to have larger one in my pocket, 5.3 feels ok or annoys much less.
Even if sometimes I would like to have bit bigger screen - I would rather optimize for comfort while holding phone in pocket’
-Apple
(See "you're holding it wrong" for an historical reference)
I had the same excitement: "A pocket sized iPhone!? Yes!"
Meanwhile this looks like this sort of man-purse that in my corner of the world is referred to as something that loosely translates to "quiver of righteousness".
The "righteousness" in question is a calque from the Russian adjective "правильный", meaning "correct, right, proper" and originates from prison slang. I believe the equivalent English term is "Original Gangster".
The term is of course used in jest in reference to how man-purses, out of all things, are normalized among people associating themselves with street culture, especially that my understanding is that those items were initially just fanny packs worn differently.
It's clearly intended to be used as bait for phone snatchers. That iPhone dangling loose a foot below your arm in free air is just too tempting… no thief can resist. But, then! You start swinging that motherf*cker, and your iPhone becomes a deadly weapon before any potential thief has time to think.
Third parties are sure to fill the market with the most obvious additions, e.g. metal spikes, studs, mildly poison-laced hooks. I assume there will also be training courses scheduled in Apple Stores around the world to clarify this accessory's purpose — not to mention, to teach proper technique and the ethical considerations of when to stop striking with the iPhone Pocket to avoid manslaughter charges in your region.
This is a move by Apple to subtly promote armed, deceptive martial arts as self-defence. To promote the Bushido spirit as a practical coping mechanism in these stressful times, and to empower its users in everyday situations. I for one think it's Insanely Great, and right on that bold frontier of innovation and Thinking Different that Apple built its reputation on.
largely don't exist because you can't do anything with the phone without the owner's password to reset it
What happens to the stolen phones? They're shipped in bulk to Huaqiangbei market in Shenzhen, there to be taken apart, reset, repaired, parts replaced, and resold to people in China who can't afford new phones.
The amusing thing is that the phones were probably originally built in Shenzhen.
[1] https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/08/21/britain-leads-t...
I don't have anything against Face Id, BUT I just don't see why they eliminate the sensor and remove the option.
It's worse than motor memory (no thought required) gesture, because it requires a more expensive non-motor-memory physical movement that depends on context of the human. Face ID requires moving and orienting phone close enough for the Face ID sensor to capture a 3D image of face and moving eyes for attention, so it's a function of both phone and human position.
TouchID is context free: grab phone and touch button in fixed position. By the time the phone has turned to facing the user, it is already unlocked.
Touch ID is much faster than Face ID.
I rolled back to TouchID after a few months, it was intolerable.
I have an impression this gets worse the more correction your glasses have.
I actually had to disable some FaceID stuff because it was too easy to get to the Home Screen when I wanted to just look at the clock.
Not hating on people who do, but I just do not use my phone enough to justify the hassle of having a freakin' cinder block in my pocket.
Looking at replacing my SE with a keitai supplemented with an Android emulator
Still have my SE. When I pick it up, it’s striking just how much better it feels.
No regrets, and saved $1800.