iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone XR

Photo courtesy: Apple

I'm only 10 months into paying my iPhone 8 Plus, so I won't be eligible for an upgrade for a while.  But, if I were to upgrade, would I be interested in the new iPhone XR?

Last year, I didn't feel the extra money was worth getting the iPhone X. Is the XR worth upgrading from the 8 Plus?

Why I'm a getting a 2018 iPad (or, Too Cool For School)

Courtesy: Apple

After four years and five months, I have decided to upgrade my 128GB LTE iPad Air.  Thank you, educators and students!

So, I'm getting the sixth-generation iPad, Wi-Fi-only, with 128 GB of storage for $429.  I ordered it today (March 28) from Best Buy to take advantage of the $25 Best Buy gift card to offset the cost of an Apple Pencil.

So, why am I taking the plunge now?

My first iPhone failure

Courtesy: Apple

After having owned an iPhone for the last 10 years, I finally encountered a problem that left my iPhone 8 Plus dead.  Thankfully, it happened in the first three months of having the 8 Plus and it was covered under warranty.

Every night I usually put my iPhone on the charger so I have a 100% battery every morning.  Last Thursday, I woke up and found my iPhone was off.  I tried to turn it on using the wake button and it didn't go on.  I followed the steps in this support article to try and get my iPhone to turn on without going into DFU mode and erasing the whole thing.

For some reason, I couldn't get the Apple Store app to make a reservation with an Apple Genius.  It kept trying to take me to Apple Support.

So, I went to the Ala Moana Center Apple Store and checked in and made a reservation.  It took me about an hour from the time the store opened at 9:30 a.m. to get a "new" iPhone 8 Plus.  I spent the rest of the day restoring my backup from iCloud.  All of my apps downloaded by the evening.  I have 214 apps.

All in all, it was fairly painless to fix the problem.  I don't even know exactly what the problem was with my original 8 Plus.  But, I don't really have to know.  I just needed a phone because I was expecting a call that day.

Finding a sweet spot for the price of the Apple Watch Sport

Courtesy: Apple

Apple is estimated to have sold 10.6 million of its Apple Watch in 2015.  That's a lot of wearables.  But, the device is nowhere near ubiquitous compared with the iPhone, the iPad or even the Mac.  I don't know many people who own and wear the Apple Watch everyday.

Recently, Apple dropped the price for its Sport models by $50.  That's a good start in finding a fiscal sweet spot for the device.  But, I think Apple can do more.

Back to 4"

Photo courtesy: Apple

Although I'm perfectly fine with my 18-month-old iPhone 6 Plus, I'm recommending the "new" iPhone SE to some of my friends who have an iPhone 5s.

It's basically an iPhone 6s tucked into a 5s minus 3D Touch.  In addition to a beefier processor and a much-improved camera, the SE comes with Apple Pay functionality, Live Photos support and a much faster Touch ID experience.

To 4.7" or 5.5"?

The rumors on the new iPhone 6 are pointing to two new sizes this fall.  The iPhone 5/5s saw the screen size increase from 3.5" to 4".   The new screen sizes are supposedly 4.7" and 5.5".  With my disdain for extremely large phones (e.g. Galaxy Note, Mega), at one point I was dead set on getting a 4.7" iPhone.  But, the rumors have me really thinking about getting the 5.5" version.

IBM chooses Apple for mobile enterprise

"If for some reason, we make some giant mistakes and IBM wins, my personal feeling is that we are going to enter sort of a computer Dark Ages for about 20 years.  Once IBM gains control of a market sector, they almost always stop innovation. They prevent innovation from happening."

- Steve Jobs, 1985 interview with Playboy magazine

Thirty years after the 1984 Super Bowl ad that imagined a bleak future with IBM in control, Apple has formed an exclusive partnership with IBM to bring enterprise solutions to the iPhone and iPad.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is no stranger to IBM.  He was IBM's North American Fulfillment director for its personal computer business for 12 years.

Apple has worked with IBM before.  From 1995 to 2005, Macintosh computers and laptops were built on the PowerPC architecture.

But, as you can see from the Steve Jobs quote, Apple and IBM have been fierce competitors.  Somewhere along the line, Microsoft replaced IBM as Public Enemy #1.  In Apple's mobile phone era, Google became a target after purchasing and developing a competing mobile operating system, Android, while then-CEO Eric Schmidt was still on the Apple board.  After Samsung scored hits with the Galaxy SII and SIII, Apple focused on the South Korean company.

IBM announced in 2004 that it would be selling its PC division to Lenovo.  While Microsoft, Google and Samsung are still competitors, IBM hasn't been competing in the consumer hardware or software industries for years.

It's interesting that at a time when Apple is about to introduce at least one new product category, as Tim Cook has promised, that a deal like this can still be done.  The iPhone and iPad, without plan or design, took over enterprise as employees brought in their own devices, like myself.  Even though none of this was planned by Apple, the Cupertino company is ready to take full advantage of the current situation at the workplace.

So, when can I replace Outlook at work?