Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Day of updates

First world problem: it’s always a tiresome day when Apple rolls out software updates to all its products. Each one has to download its respective update, prepare it, install, then restart. The whole process takes about 45 minutes, during which I am deprived of functional usage. Thumb twiddling is a great exercise!

Of course, the real problem is I own too many things from Apple - that’s why updating takes so long. Not one, but two laptops (granted, one is from work). There’s my beloved iPhone, and an iPad. Two sets of AirPods (though these update whenever, automatically). An Apple TV 4K and a HomePod mini. Finally, there’s the newly-purchased Apple Watch, which oddly needs to be actively charging in order to run updates. These things all delightfully enrich my life, to which I am sure Tim Cook is very happy about.

But just a humble request to Apple: stagger the software updates to different days, for different device type. It’s such a chore to update all my Apple products at once.

What isn’t a chore is deciding to not upgrade to the refreshed MacBook Pros. The M3/Pro/Max chips in the new refresh may be two generations newer than the M1 Max in my current MacBook Pro, but functionally the delta is mere icing on the cake. The M1 Max chip still chews through everything I can throw at it, a testament to how great the first-generation Apple Silicon chips was and still are. There’s zero enticement to upgrade, not even the new black color. Truly gone are the days when I bought a new MacBook Pro for three straight years…

Not of this reality

It seems what’s popular these days amongst millennials and Gen Z is buying old iPhones to take pictures. I guess these folks don’t want the latest and greatest in imaging technology that Apple has to offer? An iPhone 7 offers a comparatively nostalgic look in its photo processing, yet still has enough megapixels to do prints. (I remember it was around the iPhone 7 era that I was able to use photos taken with the phone in making calendar-sized prints.) I often see on social media people carrying two phones: an older iPhone strictly for photography, and a modern one for everything else.

I can understand why. Honestly, I am not a fan of how the modern iPhone processes its photos. It’s too sharp, too crunchy, too much HDR. Computational photography deserves kudos for what it can do with such a small camera sensor in smartphones, but at some point it gets to be a bit too processed, a bit too perfect. A photograph’s job is to be evocative, to elicit an emotional reaction. A direct technical copy of how a scene is in real life is not a requirement. A black-and-white picture taken from the real world of color is a great example of this notion.

It seems nostalgia and retro-ness always have a place. What was once old becomes new again. Just look at the return of bell-bottoms and baggy pants (that was the fashion of my high school days). We all think a decade ago were better times: we were objectively younger, with less ingrained responsibilities. The photographs from that time have a certain look, which explains why people are buying older phones (and cameras) to replicate that feel.

The instant film - be it Polaroid or FujiFilm Instax - will never go out of style, even though smartphones have surpassed it in technical image quality a long time ago. It’s the look that people want: a feel that isn’t of this reality, because our reality it too burdensome to bear. That’s how instagram came to its immense popularity, isn’t it? Nostalgic filters to make a photo look not of this present. I too have rose-tinted fondness for the early days of instagram.

Somewhat FOMO

It was a weird feeling being at the Apple Store this past Friday. For the first time in eight years, I won’t be getting the latest iPhone. So to be at the Apple Store on iPhone launch day, then, gave me some modicum of FOMO. It was bittersweet to be amongst the eager revelers standing in line for their pickup appointment, minutes away from getting their hands on that new titanium. That could have been me also! Honestly, if money was no objection, I’d be standing right in line with them. But, as the saying goes: “Not in this economy!”

I was there on iPhone launch day because it was also the launch day of this year’s latest Apple Watch. The 9th iteration of the Apple smartwatch proved to be the right amount of waiting for me to get my first ever (smartwatch of any kind, that is). I’m not a watch person at all; it’s been years since I’ve worn a “dumb” watch. I stopped wearing that Hamilton watch soon as the battery died. I was too lazy to take it to a watch repair shop to get it serviced. That’s how unenthusiastic I am about watches.

And that’s also why it took me - a huge fan of all things Apple - so long to get an Apple Watch. I reckon nine years is a decent enough length for the Apple Watch to mature into a well-rounded product. The Series 9 receives a processor and screen upgrade over the Series 8, which is just lovely. A smartwatch can never be too fast, and its screen can never be too bright in battling the outdoor sun. I bought the cheapest model: the aluminum 41mm. Well, count ourselves lucky if we can refer to $399 anything as “cheap”.

More so than telling time (I’ve got an iPhone for that), I bought the Apple Watch for its health tracking capabilities. Already I am learning quite a lot from just the heart-rate monitoring function. The data (so far) says my resting hear-rate is 49 BPM, which is apparently quite good. When I’m walking, the average BPM is 90. I’ve yet to do a run with the Apple Watch (air quality was horrendous this past weekend), so I’m very excited to see what my vitals are during workouts.

And those hourly reminders to get up and stand for one minute is pretty effective. Got to close those activity rings!

No upgrade this year!

On second thought, I am not upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro. First time in seven years I won’t be getting the latest iPhone upon announcement. My current iPhone 14 Pro will solider on for a second year of service.

As a hobbyist photographer, the primary attraction in buying the newest iPhone every year is the improvements to the cameras. This year, the improvements are minuscule to unnecessary (for me). All three sensors sensors carry over from the 14 Pro the 15 Pro unchanged. The larger 15 Pro Max gets a new 120mm equivalent 5X zoom, which is not a focal length I want to use. I’m sure there’s subtle improvements to the imaging software, but I reckon not enough to warrant spending to upgrade.

If it were the new 5X zoom in addition to the 3X zoom, then it would be enticing. Sadly, the 5X replaces the 3X in the 15 Pro Max. I use the 3X zoom (76mm equivalent) so frequently on my 14 Pro that I do not want to give it up.

In previous years, the latest iPhone have had (largely) carry-over camera systems. However, there were always another killer new feature to make me want to upgrade. Like the physically larger screen of the XS Max, or 120-Hz refresh rate of the 13 Pro. The newly announced iPhone 15 Pro doesn’t have any new feature that’s killer enough. Titanium replacing the stainless-steel outer band is nice, but not a must-have. Same with USB-C charging (finally replacing the Lightning port): I’m not in a hurry to toss my Lightning cables just yet.

If the 15 Pro promises better battery life, then it would be enticing. But it doesn’t: same quoted battery life as the 14 Pro. No sale! I am quite happy to use this 14 Pro for another year.

Big spending season

It’s September already, and that means big spending days are coming ahead. The $250 annual fee to host this very website on Squarespace is coming due. So is the $1,100 six-months insurance premium on my BMW M2 Competition (I’m just glad it didn’t increase). On top of that, the $600 California license fee is due on the BMW. A surprise to nobody: it’s expensive to own a high-dollar sports car. At least maintenance is still free this year (also this month), the final one of three.

Traditionally, September is new iPhone month as well. As a person who’ve bought a new iPhone ever year since the iPhone 7, I’m staring at yet another thousand dollar outlay (spread over 24 months, whatever, all the same) on top of the aforementioned. But perhaps not? I’m kind of considering not making the upgrade this year.

The reason I’ve been buying new iPhones annually is because of the camera improvements on every new model. I’m sure the forthcoming iPhone 15 will be no different. However, this year I bought a Fujifilm X-T5 camera, and I’ve simply fallen in love with using that wonderful device. I’ve fallen back in love with photography, too. Now that I’ve unencumbered myself of any arduous editing, my desire to go out and shoot photos have increased dramatically.

What does this have to do with the iPhone? Well, I’ve come to dislike the photos taken with my iPhone 14 Pro. The iPhone’s over-sharpened, high-dynamic range look compares poorly to the warm and sultry tones of the Fujifilm. It’s a throwback to the early days of smartphone cameras: for the serious stuff, you want to take the photos with your “real” camera. Nowadays, I want to take photos with the X-T5 as much as possible.

It’s not the iPhone’s fault: computing power can only do some much against the laws of physics (much larger sensor in the X-T5, obviously). Apple will have to wow me plenty come next Tuesday to entice me enough to upgrade this year.

Not enough juice

We are about two months away from the annual new iPhone launch in September (typically). I cannot wait to get a new one this year, because the battery life on my current iPhone 14 Pro has been the worse I’ve ever used. (And I’ve had every single iPhone since the 7.) The iPhone is famous for robust battery life compared to the Android competition. In my experience, this has been very true. I’ve never had to plug my iPhone in mid-day to top up the battery ever. It’s never gone down past 20% at the end of the day even in my heaviest usage days.

That is, until the iPhone 14 Pro. 10 months in, the battery life have not held up to standards. These days I’m down to 20% by the time I get home from work in the early evening. Mind you this is without any heavy usage of social media apps whatsoever. I’m only chatting with friends on Signal and reading ebooks on Kindle. I joked to my friends that I’ve become just like them: having to charge the phone battery during the day, otherwise risk running out of juice.

The forthcoming iPhone 15 Pro could have zero new features - only improved battery life, and I would still happily do the yearly upgrade.

Obviously, this is the most first world of problems. Here’s some quick perspective to bring me back down to earth. A new coworker of mine recently remarked that in all of his previous jobs, he’s never had the major holidays off. In the typical service industry-type jobs, the holidays is when you definitely have to show up for work. That’s where the money is made: restaurants needs tables filled, shows need to go on, and parcels need delivering. That coworker’s remark is a humbling reminder that I’m so lucky to only have had jobs where major holidays are actually a thing.

It reminded me of my younger (than me by 10 years) brother. He’s currently working his way up from the bottom at entry-level service jobs. There are no holidays off. And should he wish to take any time off, he has to find others to cover his shift. A two week vacation? He can certainly take one, but just don’t come back to work afterwards. It’s tough work for not that much pay. Fingers crossed he can eventually find a job that provide proper benefits and time off - like my coworker did.

Naked iPhone!

I’m going to try something: use my iPhone without a case again. It’s been a few years since I’ve done this. I use the iPhone X (my favorite iPhone design ever) sans case for an entire year. Dropped it a few times, but only suffered a few hard nicks to the stainless steel band. I guess the reason I went back to using a case is for the additional grip. The camera bumps have also continually gotten larger on iPhones, so having a case sort of balance out the incline when resting on a flat surface.

But even that’s not the case anymore: using the official Apple case, my iPhone 14 Pro still cannot rest completely flat. The cameras bump is simply too enormous.

The reason I’m trying case-less again is because of the realization I’m covering up the full tactile experience of the iPhone. The beautiful textures of the stainless steel and glass, the clicky buttons - all gets covered up by an albeit expensive piece of polyurethane. The rubber case also covers up the beautiful purple color, exclusive to this version of 14 Pro. Why pay so much money for a phone only to dilute the full experience? I want to see the gorgeous color and feel the design every single day.

Of course, the main worry now is dropping the phone. The pristine surface would be no more. Case or no case, I actually don’t drop my phone that much, if at all (I’ve yet to drop this iPhone 14 Pro, knock on wood). Besides, I get a new iPhone every year like clockwork, so any defects due to negligence will be short-lived. I just hope it won’t be too mangled, affecting the trade-in value.

Chinese people of my parents’ generation would buy furniture only to cover them up with plastic (or larger towels) immediately. That’s their version of using a smartphone with a case. What are you preserving, exactly? And for who? I think it’s better to use things as is. Doing things to prevent wear is trying to control the future, which as we all understand, is futile.