iPhone 15 launch day!
Happy iPhone Day
Ordering New iPhones
For the crazy folks who order iPhones for Day 1 arrival, this most recent ordering process was a bit of a mess. Typically, you can pre-enter your order details in the Apple Store app and then submit it order time. This time, that system failed for 15-20 minutes for many folks, pushing back many people’s ordered by a couple of weeks. This might have been compounded by supply constraints.
So if you’re ordering at that crunch time at 8am when sales start every year, you should try to order thought the Apple Store app, but also through the Apple website. If you have an iPad, try that too at the same time.
For people who were delayed in ordering or forgot this year, you can try to get the iPhones in the Apple store. This is a site that will show you what nearby stores have availability:
https://iphonechecker.herokuapp.com/q/22201/i15ProMax/unlocked
And of course, for all the normal people, you can just wait untill November, when iPhones should just be available.
Preparing for Theft
Unfortunately, I’ve had several clients who have been robbed. The most recent was when a laptop was stolen from a car. There are some actions that you can take to avoid the worst outcomes if a theft does happen.
- Set Up Passwords:
- Use strong, unique passwords or passcodes for both your device and your accounts.
- Enable biometric authentication methods like fingerprint or facial recognition if available.
- Enable Remote Tracking and Wiping:
- For smartphones, enable features like Find My iPhone (iOS) or Find My Device (Android). For laptops, use tracking software like Find My Mac (Apple) or Find My Device (Windows).
- Set up remote wipe options to erase your data if the device is lost or stolen.
- Backup Your Data:
- Regularly back up your device’s data to an external drive or a cloud service. This ensures you can recover your important files even if the device is stolen. Both Apple and Microsoft offer cloud backup services.
- Protect your Passwords
- Especially important today, don’t let people see you type your phone or laptop login password. This “shoulder surfing” is now common before a theft. Once people can log in, they can change your password and actually lock you out of your accounts.
Visible Mobile
I recently considered Visible Mobile as my phone carrier, to potentially replace AT&T prepaid.
There are many factors to consider with carriers:
Price: Visible is cheap. If you figure out how to join a Visible “party pay” , you can get a single line for $25. See Reddit to join a random person’s party, still with no need to share personal information. You can add an Apple Watch for only $5/month compared to most everyone else who charge $10/month. Currently, if you let their free trial expire, Visible will offer you a $100 gift card to join.
Data Caps: The price is amazing considering it’s for unlimited data and unlimited hotspot. My AT&T plan has an 8 Gb cap. Perhaps coincidentally, after I started the Visible trial, AT&T said they’d give an an additional 5 Gb per month.
Coverage: Visible uses Verizon, so it’s arguably got the best coverage available in the US. Having traveled through Wyoming and Yellowstone, I’ve found that Verizon had better coverage. Your mileage may vary. In major cities, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile should all have good coverage.
Speed: Here’s the rub. Speed isn’t great, typically at around 2-8 Mbps. This compares to around 100 Mbps from AT&T. Still, this would probably work okay if not for the ping times of 100-200ms compared to 30-40ms for AT&T’s prepaid plans. In the real world, that makes a webpage load in 6 seconds instead of 2. Carriers prioritize their traffic and give prepaid and cheap plans the lowest priority. So at busy areas and times, speed and ping times might get worse. Some Visible users claim 80 Mbps speeds but didn’t see any decent speeds or ping times in Virginia, D.C., or Wyoming.
While I didn’t make the switch to Visible, I loved their free 15 day trial using an esim. This can be added to an iPhone while not losing your existing carrier. During the trial, you’ve got two carriers. So if you’re traveling somewhere and want extra coverage or unlimited bandwidth, give Visible a try.
iPhone 11 day
It’s Christmas Day for iPhone fans.
Should you upgrade? To me and for most people, it depends on the camera. If getting the best quality pictures matters a lot to you, then yes. Otherwise, you could be on a 6S from 2015 and still get the latest iOS 13 features.
