Although a heavy Mac Book user and lover, I had been away from Apple phones, I saw them as more restricted and expensive versions of their Android counterparts but that changed recently when my company gave me a corporate iPhone 8 Plus 256Gb.

I’ve used the phone for roughly two weeks and I would like to comment on everything that I came to realize it’s wrong with it.

Lightning Port

Why in the hell did Apple not substitute their proprietary 1-star lightning cable for the superior USB-C?  This is extremely annoying, the whole industry is moving towards USB-C as a standard, it’s de facto for new Android phones, and contradictory enough, for the new Mac Books. Even legislators such as the European Union are looking into forcing manufacturers that want to sell phones inside the EU to adopt a common charger, to reduce e-waste. But Apple has different plans…

Having a lighting cable means that I need to carry two chargers now, one for my Mac (USB-C) and one for my iPhone (lightning), before, with my Android, my Mac charger would suffice, as I could charge both with it.

Also, connecting my Mac and iPhone out of the box is now impossible. You are forced to buy a USB-C to USB extension for your Mac.

Earbuds

I was actually excited before receiving the iPhone 8, I thought I’ll have some of those Bluetooth earpods that everybody seems to love, or at least they seem to carry around with impunity. So there I am, opening the iPhone 8 Plus, a 1000$+ phone in California, when I discover the uncomfortable truth.

Apple has not included the Bluetooth earpods, instead, they have included wired earbuds. But it get’s even worse, because of the lack of a jack connector, the earbuds are lighting too, which means that you can only use them on your phone. Now, if you travel with your laptop and phone, you have to bring two sets of earpods. And yes, to add to the inconsistency, the Mac Book Pro latest model does have a jack connector.

At least two things that they could have done to remedy the situation, first, if I am paying more than 1K$ for a phone that doesn’t have a jack, don’t nickel and dime me for extra Bluetooth earbuds, include them “for free”. Otherwise, put a USB-C connector on the iPhone, and include wired earbuds, that at least work on my computer and phone.

The Design

Supposedly Apple was at least good at this one, but I am starting the hesitate. The iPhone 8 design is almost an exact copy of it’s much older brother iPhone 6, and time is starting to show, those huge bezels at the top and bottom are not cool anymore, the home button, even if maintained, could have been squeezed as some Androids have done to increase screen real estate, or even placed behind.

The glass back is cool but is a fingerprint magnet, and dropping it is a liability. Haptic feedback and force touch are in my opinion underutilized features, I barely use them, and including them makes for a thicker phone.

Overall, it feels like Apple didn’t put much time or effort into this one. They were focused on the iPhone X that got all the media attention, and for the iPhone 8 they basically took the 7 and put in a slightly better processor and a higher price tag. For the foreseeable future, I will stick to Android.