Listen to me. I’m only telling you this for your own good: DO NOT buy the iPhone X when it comes out in November.
Last week, Apple finally announced the iPhone X (pronounced “ten”) at their new Apple campus. Chris wrote a good post about it from the Ghanaian perspective.
The iPhone X is great and all and looks absolutely gorgeous but the cost is absurd. The iPhone X costs $999(!) when it comes out in November of this year.
Here’s what you could buy for $999:
- A trip to the Caribbean for one person
- ASUS Zenbook UX305 Laptop
- A Microsoft Surface Laptop
- 6 Fitbit Altas
I could go on and on but you get the picture….
If you’re a tech nerd, you’re probably an early adopter and would love to get a new device when it first comes on sale. I can understand that. Here are some of the following reasons that some people would want to get the new iPhone X:
- It’s gorgeous! This is the first iPhone with a 5.8 edge to edge OLED and a stainless steel frame.
- It has a Face ID unlock. It’s basically like living in the future where all our devices recognise us by face.
- The selfie camera is crazy good. Thanks to the new front-facing camera and new technology, you can take selfies which allow you to take portrait shots with blurred backgrounds (and Portrait Lighting) which most other iPhones and other smartphones can’t do.
- It has a better camera than all the iPhones and will probably be one of the best phones on the market.
That’s cool and all. But let’s be reasonable. Here are the reasons that you need to give your bank account a break and NOT buy an iPhone X:
- It’s crazy expensive! $999 in GHC translates to about 4500 GHC if you use the current rate. But I haven’t even factored in other costs which would basically bring the price of the phone to about $5000 GHC(!)
- Face Unlock is unproven for security. Yes, it looks cool but it’s better to have the good old PIN code for security.
- New gestures to learn. Thanks to the removal of the home button, iPhone users will now have to learn all new gestures for their phones. That could be annoying and take time to learn how to use a smartphone.
- The “notch” at the top? Sorry, that looks distracting. Yeah, it could eventually just blend into the background but it’s still there regardless.
Buy the iPhone 8 Plus
Yes. You should buy the iPhone 8 and kill your dreams of buying the iPhone X. It’s sad how the iPhone 8 has been pushed to the background and everyone is swooning over the iPhone X.
Yes, the iPhone 8 looks more like a hardware upgrade than a big revolutionary push but it’s still manageable and should be worthy of your attention. Here’s why you should buy the iPhone 8:
It costs $769 and NOT $999!
What more reason do you need??!! The iPhone 8 Plus has dual cameras and wireless charging. It still has Touch ID and a home button and good battery life.
If you’re not into the iPhone 8 Plus which costs $769, then you can get the regular iPhone 8 for $699.
At this point, if you’re buying the iPhone X, you’re basically buying it to be the alpha person and to be ahead of the curve in terms of technology and gadgets.
But if you’re just an average joe like me who likes tech devices and is not swimming in Mark Zuckerberg money, then I would look elsewhere for your gadget needs.
Besides, Apple is notorious for making hardware upgrades to their devices very quickly. Maybe you should wait until next year when the iPhone X Plus comes out or when the price comes down.
But if someone wants to buy you an iPhone X, jump at it! If not, save your money. It’s best for you and your bank account.
