Apple iPhone and related items (cont.)

[sim667]

Are you sure?

Buying an iPhone 8? Here's our round-up of the best deals

I could only find 24 month finance when you actually go to order though, which has 16.9% APR applied.

Anyway the credit card is a good shout for me. If I'm flush I can pay it off faster, if I'm poor, I've got six months leeway. If I suddenly walk into some money, I can pay it off without penalty.

 

[cybershot]

I could only find 24 month finance when you actually go to order though, which has 16.9% APR applied.

Anyway the credit card is a good shout for me. If I'm flush I can pay it off faster, if I'm poor, I've got six months leeway. If I suddenly walk into some money, I can pay it off without penalty.

You have to do it in store, you can't do it online.

But yes, I'd probably have gone down the route your doing myself and pay it off quicker or have some flexibility for when real life happens, well, no probably. I did.

 

[sim667]

You have to do it in store, you can't do it online.

Ah, thats why then!

 

[paolo]

Some of the Apple finance deals are hard to figure out what you’re actually getting. It’s not that they are bad per se, but needs a spreadsheet to work it all out.

A common misconception is that the “upgrade” programme gets you AppleCare for free. Which it totally does not. The standard AppleCare pricing is rolled into the loan.

And the “free upgrade”, is effectively these two things:
- A new loan (24 months)
- Old loan cancelled with offset of the value of the existing phone. (If it’s good enough, the old loan nets back to zero)
- Old AppleCare contract cancelled, new AppleCare contract started, and built in to the new loan.

It’s not a *bad* deal, but it’s not a *good* deal either.

Just free credit at the end of the day, but with temptations built in to keep you in the loop for as long as you like.

 

[sim667]

The upgrade program is good if you're heavily invested into the ecosystem, are keen to have a new phone all the time and are willing to spend the money to do so.

But I like to own my phones at some point, so when upgrade time comes I've got £150 to put into getting the new shiny shiny.....

Its been 14 months since I've been eligible for an upgrade now though, so that 14 months reducing to a sim only contract has save me £500 ish, so it is possible to do stuff relatively cheap, if you're patient and willing to explore your options. But the time has come to upgrade my phone, especially considering how much I use it.

 

[Virtual Blue]

You need to pay admin fee plus Apple Care for the upgrade programme.

 

[cybershot]

Siri’s news bulletin feature goes live in the UK and Australia

 

[editor]

Siri’s news bulletin feature goes live in the UK and Australia

Alexa does this but the novelty wore off in minutes.

 

[cybershot]

My bet with myself that the first comment would be 'Alexa already does this' is a winner.

 

[editor]

My bet with myself that the first comment would be 'Alexa already does this' is a winner.

Well it's an obvious comment and not everyone has Alexa. I guess Google Home does it too, but it's not a particularly amazeballs feature.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

What's the advantage of doing this as opposed to just asking to play your favourite news podcast?

 

[editor]

What's the advantage of doing this as opposed to just asking to play your favourite news podcast?

None that I can see.

 

[sim667]

I have it with google home, I can either ask for the news summary, or when I get up in the morning I ask it about my day, and it will tell me the weather, whats on my calendar for the day, and then goes to the news, you can configure what news you want too....

I still haven't decided what news I really like so just default to the BBC.

 

[sim667]

I've finally decided to go for the iphone 8, picking it up afterwork.

Had a play with an x, lovely phone, and whilst I'm willing to spend good money on a phone I really like (I mean my current one has literally been everywhere with me for about 3.5 years), I just can justify the cost of the x.

 

[sim667]

Got it and all set up. Really liking Taptic and the Live Photo’s. it’s so ducking fast too, can actually keep up with my typing [emoji16]

 

[cybershot]

Live Photos are really useful, but do take up a bit of storage.

 

[sim667]

Does anyone else have a wireless charging pad? If so, which one? Been eyeing up the Belkin one

 

[editor]

Does anyone else have a wireless charging pad? If so, which one? Been eyeing up the Belkin one

I've got a lovely super-slim flat Anker one in my office and a generic fast charge upright one by my bed. They cost around a tenner each. They're all much of a muchness I think.

 

[Gromit]

So on the 10th January I use my Apple Support App to book a replacement battery for my 6s.
Earliest appointment is 15th January.
I go in 10 mins early and check in with a ‘specialist’.
After 20 mins someone comes to see me.
What the issue I’m asked.
I’ve booked a battery repair.
What’s wrong with it I’m asked.
I’ve had the phone ages. It’s time.
Okay we’ll order one in and email you when it here. You won’t need to book, just turn up and it will take about an hour and a half.

You knew I was coming in for a battery replacement. Why wasn’t one here.

A consultant has to verify that you need one.

I ordered one, I’ll be paying for one, it’s not like you are doing it for free, it’s been in the press, why the hell does it has to be verified? I’ve spent time and petrol to have a conversation with you that could have been done on the phone. Plus I answered a load of questions in the app to get to this stage. Was that all just a waste of time?

That’s the procedure sorry...
[Checks his iPad]
When did you buy the phone?
Years ago.

You are in luck. Yours is one of a batch which had battery defects. Your replacement is free.

So it looks like I didn’t have to wait for the price drop. Could have had this free previously.
Waiting now for my come back in email.

 

[cybershot]

Does anyone else have a wireless charging pad? If so, which one? Been eyeing up the Belkin one

I'd wait for the new Belkin ones with the 'slot' rather than just flat ones, there's no way a slippy iPhone 8/X is going to stay on one of those current Apple approved Belkin ones, and I don't like charging inside of a case due to increased heat = killing the battery lifespan.

 

[cybershot]

You are in luck. Yours is one of a batch which had battery defects. Your replacement is free.

Since when is buying something defective, lucky!

 

[strung out]

I'd wait for the new Belkin ones with the 'slot' rather than just flat ones, there's no way a slippy iPhone 8/X is going to stay on one of those current Apple approved Belkin ones, and I don't like charging inside of a case due to increased heat = killing the battery lifespan.

The belkin ones have got a rubber ring on them. My glass backed iPhone stays on it fine.

 

[sim667]

The belkin ones have got a rubber ring on them. My glass backed iPhone stays on it fine.

I've got a case on my phone anyway.

iPhone 8 Armorbox Dual Layer Holster Case | i-Blason.com

 

[editor]

And another

Abug that can cripple an iPhone with a single text message has been discovered.

The so-called "text bomb" can crash, or re-start, a device upon receiving a text message containing a link to malicious code - and the victim does not even need to click to be affected.

The bug also slows Safari browser used to surf the internet on Macs and drain battery levels.

Apple 'text bomb' can crash iPhones with a single message

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Link is broken

 

[cybershot]

Link is broken

He removed it. He said he'd disclosed this to Apple, so I'm assuming he's only gone public with it because it's been left unpatched after 180 odd days of letting them know, otherwise he's a divvy. Although to be fair, this does nothing other than be annoying.

 

[Winot]

I'm having an odd problem with my iPhone 8 and Touch ID in that I quite often cannot unlock the phone but it works perfectly when using Apple Pay and going through tube barriers etc.

There's lots of advice on the web about fixing a general Touch ID problem (e.g. here) but I can't see why it wouldn't be working for unlock but works for everything else.

Any ideas?

 

[sim667]

I sometimes have an issue if I've got damp hands.

 

[Winot]

I sometimes have an issue if I've got damp hands.

Yeah but wouldn’t that effect unlock and Apple Pay equally?

 

[cybershot]

Assume you've just wiped it completely from settings and re-enrolled.