www.zdnet.com
Open in
urlscan Pro
2a04:4e42:4d::666
Public Scan
URL:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/i-went-to-an-apple-store-to-buy-a-new-iphone-and-i-may-not-get-over-it/
Submission: On April 30 via api from CA — Scanned from CA
Submission: On April 30 via api from CA — Scanned from CA
Form analysis 1 forms found in the DOM
<form class="c-smartSearch_form"><input aria-label="Search" placeholder="What are you looking for?" type="search" autocomplete="off" aria-autocomplete="list" aria-activedescendant="" aria-controls="c-searchSmartSearchResults" name="query" value="">
<button type="submit"><span class="search-go">Go</span> <svg>
<use xlink:href="#arrow-thin" aria-hidden="false"></use>
</svg></button></form>Text Content
/> X Trending * What is ChatGPT and why does it matter? Here's what you need to know * Apple sets June date for its biggest conference of 2023, with headset launch expected * What is Lemon8 and why is everyone talking about it on TikTok? * The best AI art generators: DALL-E 2 and other fun alternatives to try * ChatGPT's intelligence is zero, but it's a revolution in usefulness, says AI expert * * ZDNET Recommends * Testing RFID blocking cards: Do they work? Do you need one? * This almost-great Raspberry Pi alternative is missing one key feature * This $75 dock turns your Mac Mini into a Mac Studio (sort of) * Samsung's Galaxy S23 Plus is the Goldilocks of Smartphones * * Mobile World Congress 2023 * Best massage chairs * Best iRobot vacuums * Best headphones for sleeping * Best smart treadmills Tech * Gaming * Headphones * Laptops * Mobile Accessories * Networking * PCs * * Printers * Smartphones * Smart Watches * Speakers * Streaming Devices * Streaming Services * * Tablets * TVs * Wearables * * Kitchen & Household * Office Furniture * Office Hardware & Appliances * Smart Home * Smart Lighting * Yard & Outdoors Innovation * Artificial Intelligence * AR + VR * Cloud * Digital Transformation * Energy * * Robotics * Sustainability * Transportation * Work Life * * Accelerate your tech game Paid Content * How the New Space Race Will Drive Innovation * How the metaverse will change the future of work and society * * Managing the Multicloud * The Future of the Internet * The New Rules of Work * The Tech Trends to Watch in 2023 Business * See all Business * Amazon * Apple * Developer * E-Commerce * * Edge Computing * Enterprise Software * Executive * Google * Microsoft * * Professional Development * Social Media * SMB * Windows * * Digital transformation: Trends and insights for success * Software development: Emerging trends and changing roles Security * See all Security * Cyber Threats * Password Manager * Ransomware * VPN * * Cybersecurity: Let's get tactical * Securing the Cloud Advice * Deals * How-to * Product Comparisons * Product Spotlights * Reviews Buying Guides * See all Buying Guides * Best all-in-one computers * Best budget TVs * Best gaming CPUs * Best gaming laptops * Best gaming PCs * * Best headphones * Best iPads * Best iPhones * Best laptops * Best large tablets * Best OLED TVs * * Best robot vacuum mops * Best rugged tablets * Best Samsung phones * Best smart rings * Best smartphones * Best smartwatches * * Best speakers * Best tablets * Best travel VPNs * Best TVs * Best VPNs tomorrow belongs to those who embrace it today * Asia * Australia * Europe * India * United Kingdom * United States * ZDNET France * ZDNET Germany * ZDNET Korea * ZDNET Japan Go Most Popular * See all Topics * Finance * Education * Health * Special Features * ZDNET In Depth * ZDNET Recommends * Newsletters * Videos * Editorial Guidelines * Trending What is ChatGPT and why does it matter? Here's what you need to know Apple sets June date for its biggest conference of 2023, with headset launch expected What is Lemon8 and why is everyone talking about it on TikTok? The best AI art generators: DALL-E 2 and other fun alternatives to try ChatGPT's intelligence is zero, but it's a revolution in usefulness, says AI expert ZDNET Recommends Testing RFID blocking cards: Do they work? Do you need one? This almost-great Raspberry Pi alternative is missing one key feature This $75 dock turns your Mac Mini into a Mac Studio (sort of) Samsung's Galaxy S23 Plus is the Goldilocks of Smartphones Mobile World Congress 2023 Best massage chairs Best iRobot vacuums Best headphones for sleeping Best smart treadmills * Tech Gaming Headphones Laptops Mobile Accessories Networking PCs Printers Smartphones Smart Watches Speakers Streaming Devices Streaming Services Tablets TVs Wearables Kitchen & Household Office Furniture Office Hardware & Appliances Smart Home Smart Lighting Yard & Outdoors * Innovation Artificial Intelligence AR + VR Cloud Digital Transformation Energy Robotics Sustainability Transportation Work Life Accelerate your tech game Paid Content How the New Space Race Will Drive Innovation How the metaverse will change the future of work and society Managing the Multicloud The Future of the Internet The New Rules of Work The Tech Trends to Watch in 2023 * Business See all Business Amazon Apple Developer E-Commerce Edge Computing Enterprise Software Executive Google Microsoft Professional Development Social Media SMB Windows Digital transformation: Trends and insights for success Software development: Emerging trends and changing roles * Security See all Security Cyber Threats Password Manager Ransomware VPN Cybersecurity: Let's get tactical Securing the Cloud * Advice Deals How-to Product Comparisons Product Spotlights Reviews * Buying Guides See all Buying Guides Best all-in-one computers Best budget TVs Best gaming CPUs Best gaming laptops Best gaming PCs Best headphones Best iPads Best iPhones Best laptops Best large tablets Best OLED TVs Best robot vacuum mops Best rugged tablets Best Samsung phones Best smart rings Best smartphones Best smartwatches Best speakers Best tablets Best travel VPNs Best TVs Best VPNs * More See all Topics Finance Education Health Special Features ZDNET In Depth ZDNET Recommends Newsletters Videos Editorial Guidelines Business Home Business Companies Apple I WENT TO AN APPLE STORE TO BUY A NEW IPHONE AND I MAY NOT GET OVER IT What do you do when you want to say goodbye to your iPhone XR? If you're me, you want to try the newest iPhones in person. I wasn't, though, quite prepared for how it would go. Written by Chris Matyszczyk, Contributing Writer on Dec. 13, 2020 * * * * * MUST READ I used ChatGPT to write the same routine in 10 programming languages Read now x Replay video Large play-pause toggle Play pause 00:00 00:00 Live Closed captions Share Fullscreen Some relationships are never going to be perfect. MORE TECHNICALLY INCORRECT * How I learned the hard way about Southwest Airlines' awful technology * I bought Apple's M2 MacBook Air and now I'm weeping * I just spent a week with a robot cat and my life will never be the same * One of America's most hated companies hired a security robot. It didn't go well We'd been through a lot together. Well, we spent a lot of time together. We'd traveled as the world unraveled. We'd had a lot of dinners where it was just the two of us. But as we were locked up, I began to realize the relationship was weighing me down. Somehow, I became conscious that my iPhone XR was a little heavy in the hand and not exactly the most timelessly gorgeous piece of hardware. With sensitive timing, Apple released new iPhones. I am, however, a person of (some) principle(s). I won't buy a new phone without first being able to see it and hold it. So what could I do but go to an Apple store and see if I'd be allowed to feel, as well as see. IT'S LOUD IN HERE. AGAIN. Having been checked as medically fit to enter, the first thing that struck me was the din. The noise was one of the reasons Apple stores had become a little tough to tolerate. I'd imagined, given that my county was restricting retail to 20% capacity, that the store might be blessed with a serene air. Instead, it was like the anticipatory buzz of a Selena Gomez concert. I'd made an appointment and was soon greeted by a masked specialist. She was wearing what seemed to be a designer mask, conical like a lampshade at Design Within (A Few People's) Reach. Immediately, I realized this was all going to be a little different. I'm used to going to Apple stores and fighting for a small corner of a table to chat about the product in question. Here, thanks to the rigors of social distancing, I was shown to a large table that we had all to ourselves. As if this was Tiffany's -- or, perhaps, your local bakery at the crack of dawn -- the specialist stood on one side of the table, spread her arms out wide, and said: "Here they all are." Four each of iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and the iPhone Mini, all in different colors. All there for me to peruse. Before I could even ask a polite question, the specialist added: "Feel free to touch them and hold them." This was oddly remarkable. A pandemic had increased the sense of personal service rather than diminish it. Each time I picked up a phone, the specialist was there to wipe it down afterward and replace it on its stand. Each time I picked up a phone she explained what it had going for it. I showed her my XR and she immediately suggested the 12. "That's probably the most similar to what you've got. The difference between the 12 and the 12 Pro is the telephoto lens. So if you're some sort of videographer, get the Pro," she said. "I'm no sort of videographer," I admitted. THE DECISION WAS A LOT EASIER THAN LEBRON'S. I certainly didn't want to go bigger. I'm not sure why people buy the Max phones, unless it's to game and watch videos. Which, I suppose, are two of the three biggest phone usages these days -- taking forty photos a day and posting them to social media being the other. Gosh, that telephoto lens will come in useful. As for the Mini, it felt so small as to be the children's version. It's astonishing how Samsung managed to introduce the idea of much bigger phones before Apple claimed it had invented it all along. For me, the 12 felt lighter and slightly slimmer than my XR, oddly but not unpleasantly retro and, hey, now I have two cameras, something I've never consciously wanted at all. Oh, of course, I got the blue 12. I'm gullible and superficial, so it was created just for me. The specialist talked me through phone plans, told me to stick with AT&T if the signal was good at my house and offered me $250 for my XR and even a free setup. And then, as if to complete the personalized experience, she held up the box and, with a small game-show wave, said: "You'll notice the box is thinner this year." She was right. "That's because we don't give you headphones anymore," she explained. ZDNET RECOMMENDS THE BEST IPHONES You can find iPhone models directly from Apple starting from $449. Read now AND THAT'S WHEN THE FUN STARTED. I'm used to store employees start to set up my phone, then leave me at a table while all the downloading, restarting, and re-setting up goes at a sometimes glacial pace. "I'd usually put you in the corner," said the specialist, momentarily making me feel I'd committed a faux-pas. "But because of social distancing there's only space for two people up there against the wall, and there's two people there already." So there we were at this expansive table, able to chat, address the world's problems, and muse philosophically about so many things. "I see you've got a security guard out there. But you're supposed to let thieves steal things if they perform a raid. So what does the security guard actually do?" I asked. I worried that, like one or two things at Apple, he was there just for show. She raised an eyebrow, which I think of as the masked version of a smile. I discovered she really enjoys working for Apple, that the company has treated all its employees very well during the pandemic and that the worst sort of customers are the pretentious ones. "They think they deserve extra because they're a CEO or something," she said. Oh, those people. Yes, I've met one or two. We talked about Portugal, studying psychology, picking a career, getting a job at Apple corporate, the joys of walking asymmetry and quite a few other things that I won't mention here because you wouldn't either. Not once did she try and hurry me along, start to serve another customer, or do anything but be a serene representative for the brand. So many phone store employees have performed far beyond what should be demanded of them during the pandemic. They, like many others in retail, have suffered increasing levels of abuse from the ignorant. They've still come to work and been immensely tolerant. When my iPhone 12 was finally set up, we bid each other goodbye. We didn't wish each other Happy Holidays. Instead, we wished each other good luck with our dreams. If that isn't a fine punctuation for 2020, I'm not sure what is. SMARTPHONES Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Best smartphone of the year (so far) Which iPhone is right for you and how do the different models compare? The best Android phones: Top picks from Samsung, OnePlus, and more This hidden iPhone feature can help you fall asleep faster Foldable phones might be the next big thing: Here's what you need to know * Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review: Best smartphone of the year (so far) * Which iPhone is right for you and how do the different models compare? * The best Android phones: Top picks from Samsung, OnePlus, and more * This hidden iPhone feature can help you fall asleep faster * Foldable phones might be the next big thing: Here's what you need to know Editorial standards Show Comments Log In to Comment Community Guidelines x player version3.2.1stream typeHLSplayback state1duration393.6929999999999current time0.43buffer length90.07total dropped frames14average dropped (fps)0.04playback framerate (fps)0.00switching modeautotransition statecompletestart index bitrate (B/s)-0.00kcurrent index bitrate (B/s)508.41kcurrent bandwidth (B/s)0.00k Apple's Home Pod just got a cool new software feature and it didn't even require Replay video Large play-pause toggle Play pause 00:00 06:34 Live Closed captions Share Fullscreen Learn More Click to unmute RELATED MY IPHONE'S BATTERY DOESN'T STAY AT 100% FOR AS LONG AS IT USED TO. IS THERE A PROBLEM? THE BEST VPNS FOR IPHONE AND IPAD (AND WHY YOU SHOULD USE ONE) APPLE'S AR/VR HEADSET RUMOR ROUNDUP: WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW SO FAR ZDNET we equip you to harness the power of disruptive innovation, at work and at home. * Topics * Galleries * Videos * Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information * about ZDNET * Meet The Team * Sitemap * Reprint Policy * Join | Log In * Newsletters * Site Assistance * Licensing * * * * * * © 2023 ZDNET, A Red Ventures company. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Cookie Settings | Advertise | Terms of Use Cookie Settings