The blue iPhone 12. A peculiar object of love.
They call it a upgrade, not true?
When you fly, the word automatically fills you with joy because you get something better for free.
However, if you buy a phone, the price of an upgrade can be steep and the accompanying joy chart may not enjoy such a sharp upward gradient.
Still, Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri said in an analyst call last week that demand for the twelve exceeded our own expectations at the beginning of the quarter.
It may be, but when I upgraded from iPhone XR to iPhone 12 six weeks ago, I did not have strong internal expectations.
Apple’s phones have not come as a surprise in recent years. When the XR and XS came out, I did not see the point in paying exalted dollars for the just pleasant iPhone XS.
A relationship of ease must end.
I chose an iPhone XR to replace my iPhone 6, which should tell you that I do not need the supposed instant gratification of every new iPhone.
When I bought the XR, it was my first time giving in to Face ID. Getting off the iPhone 6 means you have to accept larger size and weight. Somehow I still believed the XR feeling like an iPhone. I was still wondering if I would keep it as long as I had the iPhone 6.
I told myself I like the XR’s battery life. I told myself I loved how sturdy and reliable it was.
I often tell myself lies, especially in relationships.
Within a year, I realized it was a convenience relationship.
The XR started weighing me. Apple tells me I use my phone for an average of two and a half hours a day. Holding it in one hand becomes (first-world) tiring. Sometimes I would stretch my thumb to click on an app, and the rest of my hand would start hurting. It was an annoying imbalance.
Yes, the battery life has been a huge improvement on previous iPhones. But as the XR began to age, I began to look at it with a touch of pity. And also not so loving pity.
It never became lovely. It has become like the portable vacuum cleaner you keep at your couch to quickly stop your carefree falling crumbs. Useful, but never inherently adorable.
To say goodbye to it, then, was not a sweet sorrow either. It was more like a Hollywood actor divorcing a famous star at the end of their carefully worded marriage contract.
We shake hands. We said thank you, it’s time, and goodbye.
Six weeks with iPhone 12. It gets creepy.
I was not at all convinced that iPhone 12 would make a big difference.
I did indeed go to an Apple store to research it myself before indulging in a completely surprising sales experience.
The sales lady did not oversell the 12. Instead, she told me, “This is probably the best you have. The difference between the 12 and the 12 Pro is the tele-lens. So if you’re some kind of videographer, get the Pro.”
I’m not (yet) a spy, so I chose the 12.
I will admit that I found the blue color slightly appealing. When I bought the phone, I mumbled, “The 12 feels lighter and slightly slimmer than my XR, weird but not unpleasantly retro, and now, I now have two cameras, something I’ve never consciously wanted. “
You see? No absurd enthusiasm there. Just a feeling that this thing could at least be a touch by hand.
The past six weeks, however, have tended toward the creepy. I enjoy myself from the square edges of the phone. I think I think back to the rounder sides of the iPhone XR and conclude that they look cheap.
I also believe that the screen has a noticeably sharper resolution and a much better microphone. It clearly also takes significantly better photos. I actually like to hold this phone. Looks like someone spent a little more time adjusting the ergonomics to my hand economy.
What bothers me the most is that I am starting to feel a slight affection for this object. Not a phone.
I pick it up with a little reverence, rather than with a grip of impatience. I even look at it every now and then and think, “Oh, you look really pretty.” (Thanks, Sauvignon Blanc.)
Yes, I may have the Lockdown delusion syndrome. It could be a sad, bizarre return to the iPhone 5 – where the 12 drew much of its inspiration – and how much more exciting life was in those days.
No, I’m not in love. It might just be a silly phase I’m going through. However, I still wonder if this particular iPhone, even if retro, can have a lasting impact on the twisted annals of the design.
This phone cost me less than the XR, yet it feels so much smarter.
Maybe that’s why Apple claims that the largest number of people upgrade in one quarter.
Most of them just did it for the infinitely improved cameras, right?