My Microsoft powered laptop and Xbox just had the most frustrating drag race in the world. Which one could load the slowest? This would decide whether I wrote this article or continued playing Call of Duty World War II. As you can see, my four-year-old laptop won. Or wait, did the Xbox win? The laptop loaded first, but only just. Ah, screw this…
I’m Buying a MacBook
I’m putting this old girl out to pasture in the next few weeks and I’m making the big jump to buying an Apple laptop; a MacBook Pro to be exact. Anyone who knows me that this is a big deal. I’m not anti-Apple, but I do struggle to justify how much tech you get in return for your money. Not too long ago I carried out some research on how iPhone users not only spend more money online than Android users but they spend a massive three times more on average. This begs the question – are Apple users just more free spending with their cash?
Samsung Throw Serious Shade at Apple
Have you seen Samsung’s latest ad yet which throws serious shade at Apple?
It’s one of those ads where you kinda have to stop and ask “can they do that?”. The short answer is yes.
In case you missed it, Samsung takes aim at some of Apple’s latest innovations, highlighting that many of them have been available on Samsung devices for years. You’ll see bigger being better, waterproofing and wireless charging all make appearances.
This ad got me thinking, yet again, about Apple users’ spending behaviour.
The iPhone X is a Great Phone
I’m not going to pretend like I’ve had a chance to play with one yet, but as far as I can tell so far, the iPhone X has yet to disappoint many. The chrome sides, a clear hat tip to the iPhone 3GS are considered to be classy and the facial recognition seems to be working well. So, that negates the need for a home button and I’ve already accepted that Apple was right to remove the headphone jack on smartphones. They can feel vindicated for that.
The unavoidable jaw-dropper for the iPhone X is the price. The entry-level version of Apple’s mega-flagship will set you back €1,070…
Yup, it’s crazy money but I have the Samsung Galaxy Note8, which is itself ridiculous expensive, but only about €100 cheaper than the iPhone X. You could argue it’s cheaper to expand the memory of the Note8 but 64GB is a lot of memory and it’ll serve most.
We Need a Quick Reality Check
Samsung has kept this idea for a shade-throwing ad in their back pocket for quite some time. For years, their smartphones have been technologically streets ahead of Apple. Personally, I think they’ve played this card at a really weird moment. Yes, I can hear you now. “Ohhhh here he goes, he’s turning into an Apple head”, but hear me out. The iPhone X offers plenty of uniqueness that the Note8 doesn’t and visa-versa.
The iPhone X offers amazing augmented reality while the Note8 has a genuinely useful stylus – trust me it’s amazing. Samsung has had stronger moments in the past to play this card of one-up-manship but they waiting until they were actually on a more level playing field. It’s just an odd move to play this out between the iPhone X and the Note8 because they can genuinely go toe to toe, unlike the iPhone 8 and Galaxy S8 where the latter just has too much in the tank for Apple to compete with.
So What About the Phone Insurers
Right, well just like two wrongs don’t make a right,  two really expensive phones don’t make for good value. These are silly prices for smartphones. Yes, I’ve paid a silly price for a smartphone. I’ve accepted that and I’ve moved on. I’ve also insured it because, well come on! The damn thing is worth a small fortune. If you’ve bought a Note8, but especially an iPhone X, you really better be considering insuring it.
After seeing some early drop tests, the iPhone X might be taking the title from Samsung and the Galaxy S8 for most fragile phone on the plant. I missed Samsung getting another dig in at Apple after viewing that ad for the first time. The dude in the line, well his haircut is cut in the shape of the iPhone X’s distinctive “notch” screen. That is one of the unique design features of the iPhone X which has made repair costs for the uber-flagship skyrocket.
The Cost of Fixing an iPhone X Screen
To fix your iPhone 8 screen with Apple is fairly expensive. You’re looking at €181.30 in total. A fairly hefty fee for any device repair. Still, you can look on smugly has iPhone X users will pay €321.30 for a screen repair and an unbelievable €611.30 for repairs falling under the classification of other. Yup, you’d pick up a OnePlus 5 for that money.
If you’re buying with Apple, it might be worth considering AppleCare+ which dramatically reduces the cost of repairing screen and other damage for your iPhone X.
If you’re buying from elsewhere or from an Irish retailer, you really should pick a phone insurance company to cover you. Honestly. Actually, you know what? Stop reading this article right now and head on over to our other article that talks about phone insurers. Go on. There’s nothing else to read here anyway.
