As an IT pro who is not an active developer, my annual Apple jam is iPhone launch day. (WWDC seems like tons of fun, but it’s hard for me to justify a week in California.) While I am waiting for the glass doors of my local Apple Store to roll back and herald the arrival of this year’s new smartphone, I wanted to bring something to the party that will be fun. In years past, I have used my original iPhone (aka the iPhone 2G – as in the really slow AT&T Edge network iPhone) as my new iPhone reservation check in device.
OG iPhone welcomes Space Grey iPhone XS to the family.
This year, I thought it would be fun to get the white iPhones out of my museum collection and bring them along when I pick up my new Silver iPhone 11 Pro.
The iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPhone 5c (top), and iPhone 7 (bottom) getting ready for launch day.
While white/silver iPhones have been indeed popular, and heavily used in Apple’s promotional materials in recent years, other iPhone models and colors have been used as brand ambassadors. For example, the Blue iPhone XR was featured in many hero images. In 2019, the Midnight Green iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max seem to be the new Blue iPhone XR.
Might there be another “Max” device in “Midnight Green” that could crash the party on Friday? Who knows?
Pre-orders for the 2019 Apple iPhone models are set to start in just about an hour. So, now seems like a good time to get another cup of coffee and review my ordering plans.
While I have been a member of #PlusClub in the past, I really have grown to love the 5.8-inch iPhone X and iPhone XS phones. So, this year, while I did spend some time considering a Max, I have decided to get an iPhone 11 Pro. Not a surprising pick, really. When I find something that I like, I tend to stick with it. What I am changing up this year is the color. Unlike years past when I have ordered Black, Space Black, Grey, or Space Grey iPhones, this year, I decided I really liked the look of the polished stainless steal band. So, I’m getting the Silver (White) iPhone 11 Pro. I will also be picking up the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Midnight Blue (Grassia Standard Navy Blue) leather case. I think that the polish stainless steal band showing at the bottom of the iPhone and the white showing through on the back camera bump (area) will really look nice.
To recap, I hope to pre-order a 5.8-inch unlocked iPhone 11 Pro, in Silver, with 256GB storage. I insta-bough the leather iPhone 11 Pro Midnight Blue case on Tuesday after watching the Apple Fall keynote. I pick the case up today at my local Apple Store.
Update:
The Apple online store when live about a minute or two after 8:00am EDT. I was able to order my iPhone 11 Pro without any hassle right in Safari on my iMac. Super easy. I used Apple Pay, and confirmed the purchase on my iPhone XS.
I hope you also got the device(s) that you were looking for too!
For super Apple nerds, it’s the most wonderful time of the year again.
Today, Friday, September 13, the Apple Store is offline getting ready for the 2019 iPhone pre-order rush!
The way this works is that at 8:00am EDT the Apple Store goes back online, and in Black Friday fashion, there is a digital mad dash to get into the web store so that fans can place their orders for Apple’s new gear. This year, Apple is rolling out the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
First up, is iPhone 11. The iPhone 11 is the direct replacement for the very well received iPhone XR released in 2018. Available in six colors. In addition to the usual options of space grey (black), silver (white), and (PRODUCT)RED options, iPhone 11 is also available in three new colors, bright yellow, mint green, and mauve.
Getting themselves out of the Roman numeral mess, Apple is chucking the X (read, ten) naming convention and rebranding the top tier phones as iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max. What’s “pro” about these devices you ask? The price, in my opinion. If you purchased an iPhone X, iPhone XS, or the Max editions of these phones, and you aren’t eagerly awaiting the opportunity to spend $999 exactly at 8:00am, then there is no reason you need the buy this year’s new Pro iPhones. iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are available in the usual space grey, silver, and gold. New this year is the Midnight Green color, seen above, which reminds me a lot of Apple’s other mobile device, the age old Newton MessagePad.
Without getting into all of the super nerdy stuff about the A13 Bionic, with it’s super fast GPU, and four high efficiency cores, or its slightly improved battery life, Apple is throwing their weight behind the new three lease camera system. I’ll be the first to admit that the three lens camera bump looks damn weird. (Can we still call it a bump? I think we need to refer to it as the “Optical Area”.) For the trade off in taking all of that space on the back of the iPhone, Apple is shoving some pretty impressive tech into the camera system. And to be sure, camera nerds and professionals who know what they are doing, this camera system is going to be impressive. If you are alike me, and are more of a point and shoot kinda guy, the new camera system combined with the nerdy stuff in the A13 Bionic CPU, will help improve your photos by looking at the picture and computationally, as in lots of complicated math done as blazingly fast speeds, spit out a photo that will look the best that it can be. If you take a lot of photos in low light situations, like when the family is gathered around the table singing Happy Birthday with the lights down low, the new automatic Night Mode camera feature will help reduce noise and bring details out of the shadows to give you crisper looking photos.
Apple is also rolling out Watch Series 5 this year. Series 5 is an incremental upgrade over last year’s Series 4 model. If you are still using an Apple Watch Series 3, or earlier, this is the year to upgrade. I replaced my original Apple Watch with a Series 4 last year and it is fantastic! The big deal feature for Apple Watch Series 5 is the new screen technology which allows the screen to be on all the time. This has been a major complaint of people who prefer the ability to glance at their wrist and see the time without having to move their arm.
Finally, Apple is also releasing a new 7th Generation 10.2-inch iPad. Starting at $329, this is incredible device because now, you can optionally add an Apple Smart Keyboard ($159) and the Series 1 Apple Pencil ($99). Combined with the new iPadOS 13, due out later this month, the entry level iPad will also be able to read and write to external USB devices, like flash drives. If you love using your iPad, and are still using the 3rd Generation 9.7-inch iPad, or the iPad Air or iPad Air 2, this is the model to get. I was using this same configuration with my iPad Pro 10.5-inch last night at a meeting. It was just the right machine for taking notes, looking up information, and not getting in the way of other papers, drinks, and appetizers that were on the table. Your mileage may vary, but the new 7th Generation iPad has gone from a content consumption device to a full-fledged portable computing device that is up to most tasks
