iPhone X

During Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings call this evening, Tim Cook touched on the supply and production issues that have plagued the iPhone X thus far. Cook explained that things are improving dramatically, but it’s hard to look too far into the future.

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Created by former Twitter for iOS tech lead Ben Sandofsky and ex-Apple designer Sebastiaan de With, Halide is a beautiful iPhone camera app with gesture-based pro controls that launched earlier this year. With the release of the all-screen iPhone X tomorrow, Halide is out with a major update featuring a new user interface designed from scratch for the new device.

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We noted last week that some of those who’d originally been given iPhone X shipping estimates of November 10-17 had seen these change to the launch date of November 3.

Apple now appears to be working on improving delivery times for those whose estimates originally read November 17-24 …

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has raised privacy concerns about developer access to the facial expressions of iPhone X users. In particular, they say that Apple allows developers to capture facial expression data and store it on their own servers.

When the iPhone X was launched, Apple was careful to stress that the 3D face recognition model used by Face ID was stored only on the phone itself. The data is never transferred to Apple servers. But the ACLU says that app developers are allowed to transmit and store some face data …

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There’s been a lot of noise about the iPhone X’s price point. The device is Apple’s most expensive iPhone to date, starting at $999. While the device is widely expected to help Apple increase its iPhone average selling price, a new analyst report from Morgan Stanley’s Kate Huberty explains the effect that the device could have on other markets during the holiday season.

Essentially, the device could very well be the grinch that eats up everyone’s shopping budget this year…

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One small nicety included with the iPhone X is a new ringtone called ‘Reflection’. Until now, every iPhone has defaulted to the ‘Opening’ ringtone since iOS 7.

‘Reflection’ is not only exclusive, but the default for fresh iPhone X setups. We’ve embedded it below so you can listen to it ahead of the phone’s release …

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There are key differences between Face ID on the iPhone X and Touch ID on other devices — facial recognition doesn’t care if you have wet fingers or gloves, while finger print recognition doesn’t worry about you wearing a ski mask — but which is faster? Early reviews put Face ID speed somewhere between Touch ID 1 and Touch ID 2, and Tom’s Guide has tested both and recorded the numbers. Touch ID beats Face ID in terms of speed, but there are a few things you can do to speed up the process.

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Apple has just issued a press release rounding up some positive comments from early reviewers of the iPhone X. This is an unusual step from the company, which is taking a different tack to reviews of this year’s flagship phone.

The press release has brief quotes from reviews by Buzzfeed, CNET, Creative Live Blog, the Evening Standard, Mashable, TechCrunch and the Wall Street Journal …

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One thing really jumped out at me yesterday reading Mashable’s early review of the iPhone X, and that was Apple’s response to a query by Lance Unlanoff.

One important limitation of Face ID: It only lets you register one face. That may strike many as unnecessarily limiting since Touch ID lets users register up to 10 [sic] fingerprints, but Apple says it found the number of people who register more than one person’s fingerprints is miniscule.

The idea that hardly anyone registers more than one person’s fingerprint didn’t ring true to me, and our poll shows that it’s not true for 9to5Mac users at least …

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The iPhone X will officially go up for sale this Friday, November 3rd and Apple has said that it will have stock in retail stores available for walk-in customers. Starting on November 4th, however, the company will also activate its Reserve and Pickup system in select countries…

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As iPhone X preorders started last week, news quickly spread about Best Buy charging an extra $100 for those looking to purchase the device outright. Now, after a lot of negative feedback, Best Buy has decided to only offer Apple’s latest iPhones on installment plans.

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There’s been a flood of iPhone X reviews surfacing this week and we’re hearing (and seeing) more details about Face ID. While Apple has touted that Face ID is more secure than Touch ID, it also shared that this isn’t the case for twins and those under the age of 13. Now that a few outlets have had more time with the iPhone X, we’re seeing some mixed results when it comes to identical twins tricking Face ID.

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It’s iPhone X review day and KGI is out with a new report on what to expect from next year’s iPhone update. Specifically, Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities has issued a new report on the possibility of new iPhones next year gaining TrueDepth Cameras with 3D sensing on the backside like the front cameras on the new iPhone X.

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With early reviewers finding that Face ID on the iPhone X is mostly reliable, if not perfect, the transition from fingerprints to face may not be too big a deal. But there is one clear drawback compared to Touch ID: you can only register one face.

With Touch ID, you can register multiple fingers – which can include a partner or child, for example – but Apple chose not to allow this with faces. The company told Mashable that’s because only a ‘miniscule’ number of people do this.

But that sounds odd to me …

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If you’ve ordered an iPhone X and want to track its progress as it slowly makes its way toward you, UPS tracking will provide some information. But FlightAware lets you actually track your phone in real time in the air …

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Updated with TechCrunch review, at the bottom.

We talked yesterday about how Apple is this year taking a different approach to pre-sale reviews of its flagship iPhone. Instead of giving all publications and sites the same embargo date, so that all the reviews hit the net at once, it’s layering them, with different people allowed to post different pieces at different times.

We saw some written pieces and several hands-on videos by YouTubers, and we’re today seeing some more first impressions pieces by writers who were apparently given their iPhone X models just one day ahead of their embargo time …

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On the heels of iPhone X pre-orders kicking off, Apple’s stock touched a new record high today. Despite pre-order numbers being unknown at this point, several analysts are bullish on early performance of the device and see the device being in high demand rather than purely plagued by low supply…

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They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, and it looks to me like Apple may be doing just that with the delayed launch of the iPhone X. The company appears to be taking a new approach to marketing this year’s flagship phone.

Apple normally has a very regimented approach to the way they the press – and hence the public – get exposed to a new iPhone, with two distinct phases …

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