If you know me, you know that I have this thing for technology. I really like it. Like really like it! And in particular, mobile technology. Not a day goes where I am not amazed at these mini computers we carry around everywhere that we use to tweet and order Ubers to either take us away or bring us food. It’s rather incredible how far we’ve come in a short space of time.
When Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone Series 7 (yes that was its real name), I was enthralled. iPhones had become the norm, and I was looking for something different. The addition of integrating into my digital life a lot better, as well as the forward thinking Live Tiles, Hubs and the promise of ‘the same app across all devices’ made the choice to jump to Windows Phone an easy one for me. Alas, we all know how that story ended. And before you ask, yes I am still bitter about it.
So in 2017 when I invited Rebekah to live tweet the Apple event with me, my heart was already set on trading in my well loved Microsoft Lumia 950XL to pretty much what ever Apple was going to announce. I’d had had enough. And I was coming back home to Apple.
And then it happened. Blah, blah, iPhone 8, blah, blah, iPhone 8 Plus, blah, blah. The usual, the dependable, the expected from Apple. Nothing ground breaking, just a solid upgrade to the iPhone 7. Then Mr Cook said something I had not heard in years… “One. More. Thing.” Shivers! Every time! This was the iPhone X (pronounced 10 because of reasons). And it was amazing. Edge-to-edge display, amazing camera, amazing screen, amazing CPU. The Rolls Royce of iPhone had arrived and my socks were blown halfway across the room. Oh, it wasn’t a surprise – the phone had leaked in some manner for the past few months – but it was now real! I could hold one in my hand. I could put it to my head and make a phone call.
You can ask Simone – I made sure when it came to pre-ordering, I sat and waited for it to go live and then got my order in in the very first minutes! I was excited. Windows Phone had served me well, but it was time to move on. Microsoft was not the same Microsoft I liked and supported anymore. So without many tears, I retired my Lumia 950XL.
For the past two years I have stuck with the iPhone X – which is decades for a serial-upgrader like myself. And it never let me down, not once in two years. I was always impressed with it. It became the best phone I had ever used. Which, if you think about it, should happen when you’re upgrading. I never felt the need to jump to the XS Max (the dawn of what shall be called The Stupid Names Era).
So here is an ode to my old iPhone X. It’s time has come to box it up and send it off to someone who will use it and love it as I have done. I have moved on to iPhone 11 Pro Max (arrrrr, the name, it pains me), and I did it for three reasons
– The cameras are seriously impressive. Apple knows mobile photography probably better than any other right now.
– The screen size. Bigger is better, and this is a very big boi. I am still getting used to it.
– The mobile CPU. Year over year, the A chips in Apple’s hardware outstrip the competition. Even now, the little A11 in the iPhone X is comparable to the latest Snapdragons. Everyone agrees that Apple is a minimum of 2 years ahead of any competition here.
All my Thailand and Singapore photos were taken on this phone, and it performed like a champ. I’ll be sad to see it go, but all things come to an end.
I got the phone on day one and was so excited I had to take the customary just-unwrapped-the-plastic-box-not-even-open-yet pic. And of course for bragging rights to my family back in SA. Because you have to have someone to show your latest purchases to.
The last photo I took with my phone. A group of friends decided to do a photo-a-day challenge for September and I really loved getting into mobile photography. After the challenge ended, I tried to keep up the photo a day thing, and this was a random photo I took while walking in the rain on my way back to work. I love how it says CLEAR and yet the end of the tunnel is blown out. Kind of a photo joke I did. Apparently I have a photo style…
And the last photo of my phone before I boxed it up and got it ready to sell. I like the composition of this photo, I tried to make it look like things were exploding out the phone – to a degree. Also, its great shot for selling, if I do say so myself.
And the first real photo I took with the iPhone 11 Pro Max. I think I going to call it the 11 Prax. Much better! The wide angle lens is awesome, and it even got my finger in it… I might need to change the way I hold my phone now.
I’ll miss my iPhone X. It was a great companion device. I only hope someone out there gets as much joy from it as I did.
