Owning the iPhone X horns

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

The "notch" or, as the ears and forehead as Apple refers to it internally (and casually)— though it will forever be 🤘 (horns) to me — are the most distinctive visual design element of the upcoming iPhone X. So much so that they, and not the now-deleted Home button, are what distinguish the next-generation iPhone in next-generation icons and glyphs.

Marco Arment:

This is the new shape of the iPhone. As long as the notch is clearly present and of approximately these proportions, it's unique, simple, and recognizable.It's probably not going to significantly change for a long time, and Apple needs to make sure that the entire world recognizes it as well as we could recognize previous iPhones.That's why Apple has made no effort to hide the notch in software, and why app developers are being told to embrace it in our designs.

Being distinct — iconic, even — is a huge plus in terms of brand recognition. But whether that recognition is good or bad, admired or derided, is another matter.

John Gruber, writing for Daring Fireball:

My objection (again, after admittedly only spending 10-15 minutes with an iPhone X in hand) remains that Apple could embrace the notch on the lock and home screens, allowing for this new iconic silhouette, without embracing it all the time.I suspect (or maybe it's just hope) what might happen is something along the lines of the evolution of the new look-and-feel that debuted in iOS 7.

There are a few custom interface elements, like the Now Playing card in Music or Drafts in Mail, where the visual cue for the layering is considered important enough that it pushes the horns back and they get blacked out. Otherwise, the horns win.

OLED iPhone Display

OLED iPhone Display (Image credit: Rene Ritchie / iMore)

It's not so much that Apple has chosen not to hide the horns either. All those mockups and alternatives you've seen on Twitter or on blogs? Apple has considered and tested them and likely countless more before anyone on the outside ever heard the iPhone X project.

Beyond that, Apple built those horns to begin with. Apple could have extended the casing across the entire top of iPhone X. Instead, Apple spent an incredible amount of additional effort to make sure the display was shaped and could be filled in those curves. Not many companies have the hardware capabilities to do that. Apple does. And did (opens in new tab):

Using innovative folding and circuit stacking technology, the OLED panel follows the curves of the device into the farthest reaches of the corners. Then it uses a process called subpixel anti-aliasing to tune individual pixels for smooth, distortion-free edges.

Apple could have made the "forehead" run all the way across iPhone X (left), even before considering "hiding" them with interface tricks (center).

Instead, Apple spent a painstaking amount of engineering time, from the silicon on up, to get those horns designed and implemented. And is now, there's no mistaking it for Samsung (left) or LG (center) — it's immediately recognizable as iPhone.

A lot of people at Apple seem to genuinely love them. But do they love them because they're truly great or simply because they're distinctively Apple? A lot of people outside Apple seem not to. But do they not love them because they're bad or simply because they're unlike anything that's come before?

After having spent some time with the horns, they still stand out at me. I still see them. They still compete for my attention with the content the display is supposed to be prioritizing. (Just like the "flat tire" on the Moto 360. Though Apple, at least, had enough marketing sense not to name the device the iPhone Hornless...)

The horns may change over time. Famously, under Steve Jobs, Apple released a wide-bodied "fatty" iPod nano and an iPod shuffle without buttons. Both were rolled back the very next year. For now, the horns are a curious experiment in peripheral data presentation. How Apple handles the horns going forward is what will determine if they're momentarily distinctive or become truly iconic.

For now, though, Apple is all in. And, iIf you really hate the horns, there's an iPhone 8 for you. It has almost all the new features with nary a horn in sight. Otherwise, come November, you, me, and everyone else outside Apple gets to try iPhone X, horns and all, and decide for ourselves.

Updated October 2, 2017, to point out the work Apple had must have had to do to support iPhone X "horns" in hardware and the ramifications thereof.

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Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

131 Comments
  • Too early to say whether these horns will be acceptable. But they do look very odd
  • So long as you have the option to shrink a video so that it isn't partially covered, I think it's fine
  • When did I say anything about design symmetry? Also you can shrink the video, I tested it in the iPhone X simulator in Xcode
  • the letterboxing of the video makes it feel like a waste of the screen when you shrink the vid. top and side bars added is definitely not the best look. might as well buy an iphone 8. At least the video will be edge to edge.
  • Well you need to choose an option between having it cut off by the notch, or letterboxes. Apple seems to have made it pretty clear that any new iPhones are based off the iPhone X, maybe they will change the screen, maybe not
  • The iPhone X screen is wider than 16:9, so unless you like cropping your video just to fill a screen, it would be pillarboxed *anyway*.
  • That’s the default behavior, the same as current iPhones for videos with an aspect ratio different than the screen.
  • Yep, makes sense, I think more people will prefer it that way
  • I love them. 1. It's an honest look that says, "this is who I am." 2. They naturally shows you where to pull down for the control panel or notifications 3. When the phone is rotated sideways, they make it clear which side of the phone is up.
  • Me too, it's different, people are complaining about it but try to hide all that tech is ridiculous, it's lots of stuff apple put in that notch
  • "When the phone is rotated sideways, they make it clear which side of the phone is up" The buttons on the upper portion on the bezels tells you which was is up.
  • Admittedly when in the dark I sometimes flip my phone the wrong way to go back to portrait, but that's not really a good reason for this design
  • LOL, you cant be serious.
  • He sounds pretty serious. And it looks like Apple is too
  • Well those are three good points as to the use of the horns. I think it is something that’ll take awhile of handling it before you get used it.
  • The best thing they could've done is include OLED displays on the 8 and 8 Plus. A HUGE shame and missed opportunity...
  • And who would make those OLED displays?
  • Why haven't they invested in their own OLED manufacturing? They're only the biggest company in the world...
  • The last time they invested in screen tech didn't end well, what with the sapphire glass manufacturing debacle.
  • All the money in the world couldn't possibly make up for the years of experience Sammy and LG have making OLED... even if Apple did that, it would take the better part of a decade to actually get it all together (not just design/manufacture, but the entire infrastructure necessary to get all of the individual components and minerals and whatnot that goes into it).
  • Dude, they're almost a trillion dollar company. They'll just buy out LG's division or something similar.
  • than apple had to spend extra money and perfect for apple to keep a 720p iphone around in 2017.
  • I think the best thing they could've done is include the dual camera setup on the smaller iPhone 8. Thought I realize space could have been an issue, it would have been awesome to be able to get the smaller phone with the best camera setup without the high cost of the X. I don't actually care all that much about the whole edge to edge screen thing, I just want the best camera setup available with portrait mode and zoom and all that jazz, but wish the Plus was smaller.
  • Totally agree with you!!! Why take a 3 year old iphone 6 design and continue making that with the same exact screen quality!?!?! Why is it that all android phones don't have a problem finding OLED manufacturers? We have had OLED screens on android for years now, it is unacceptable that Apple is still putting out these crappy LCD displays...so outdated!!!!
  • I'll reserve final judgement until I've tried one in the store but at the moment it does look very visually distracting and detracts significantly from the overall look of the phone. It was off putting enough to make me go look at the latest Samsung but it's not clear that the small bezels at top and bottom are better. I expect my preference would be to make it disappear more often in the software - certainly videos playing with the notch look horrible.
  • I imagine that there's an option to shrink videos so that the notch isn't covering them
  • I'm sure there will be a shrink option as well. I did find it a bit odd that during the reveal they were showing Wonder Woman with the horns eating into the image. It almost highlighted the compromises that Apple have had to make to incorporate Face ID.
  • There is a shrink option, I confirmed it in Xcode on the iPhone X simulator. Whether you want the horns cutting into the image is a matter of taste, I prefer it mainly because it's using as much of the screen as possible, but I imagine a lot of people might not
  • I think you're right in thinking that most folks wouldn't want their videos having the very rounded corners eat into the edges of their screen but also the horns. Most sensible people shrink the viewing area and wonder why Apple didn't just go for a rear fingerprint sensor.
  • Because a rear fingerprint sensor is awkward to reach, and just odd placement in general. Apple would never put a fingerprint sensor on the back, leave that to Samsung
  • You've clearly never used a Pixel, One Plus, LG or Huawei handset (and many others). Whilst Samsung chose to put their sensor in an awkward position, on these other phones it sits exactly where most folks' fingers rest when holding their device. Indeed it's far easier for me to reach the rear sensor on my wife's Pixel Xl than it is for me to access the front sensor on my iPhone 7 Plus. In many of the handsets the rear fingerprint sensor also allows gestures such as swiping down to bring down the notification shade. It's a brilliant piece of ergonomics that I miss whenever I use a phone without it.
  • I don't really see why those gestures can't just be done on the touchscreen, plus it makes more sense since you have the visual aspect of seeing what you're "swiping down". Each to their own, I personally wouldn't want it on the back, if there was one
  • Because to do so on screen you have to readjust your grip. Trust me it's a great feature.
  • Keeping on trolling Steve, keep doing what you're good at
  • From a design aesthetic the horns look dreadful, far more than a slightly misaligned port on the bottom on the phone (to offer up my own straw man to bash Rene's own one in the form of the Moto 360). Let's face it, the horns are the manifestation of compromise. Apple couldn't get Touch ID to work under the screen and were unwilling / unable to put a fingerprint scanner under the rear Apple logo (which IMO would have been awesome) or on the power button like Sony implement, so they shrunk an Xbox Kinect and plonked it on the front of the phone. They're an ineligant solution to a problem that could have easily been avoided.
  • Apple thinks Face ID is better than Touch ID. After seeing it in action last week, it was super fast. I'll need to try it myself for a few days to make a real decision, though.
  • Whether Face ID is better than Touch ID is irrelevant when the implementation is so clumsy.
  • It's better? I won't argue with it and trust Apple and believe it'll be faster. But the problem is usability, with touch id i unlock my phone in different angels (while taking from the pocket, lying flat on a side table next to me, million other scenarios). With face id i need to hold up in front of my face to unlock every time i want to use face id which is bit of a regression in terms of ease of use. It may be faster and more secure, but takes more time to get to the position where it can unlock. Personally, I'm still buying the X and will get used to it, but won't be defending the fact the touch id in fact is much easier to use in variety of different scenarios than using Face Id.
  • Touch ID has problems too. Hands wet? Touch ID won't work (but Face ID will). Touch ID doesn't work for me sometimes because my hands can get sweaty too, and it's a pain in the ****. I honestly think I'll be happier with Face ID, but each to their own
  • I like the home button. When I pick up my phone or grab it in low light I can tell which side is up based on the home button. I will lose that option now.
  • Rene, There may be another issue with FaceID, though; TouchID is passive... you have to actively touch the reader; is FaceID? What happens (since it happened to Federighi at the event) when you put the phone down some place where there are a lot of people (like a table, classroom, or even a car)? Since it can scan your face at an angle, there's a good chance FaceID will disable itself if anyone else is nearby and the phone looks at them, equivalent to having multiple people actively touching your fingerprint sensor. I suppose a way around that is to have a maximum distance to your face (say, 2 feet?), after which FaceID doesn't work? Is this implemented in HW/SW?
  • Rene, I just don’t think there is any way Face ID will be better/faster than Touch ID. Right now I can pick up my phone from my desk and in one motion already be pressing my finger to the home button and by the time the phone is lifted up in front of my face to view it is already open, very quickly. With Face ID, I will have to pick it up, look at it, wait for it to unlock and then swipe up from the bottom to view the home screen, More steps. I realize this is probably only seconds slower but seconds is seconds in today’s world. And this is if there is no fail on the Face ID.
  • it's a clear case of Apple phans rationalizing another bad design decision. If an Android phone had it first, you would hate on it like nothing else. Classic!
  • The Android equivalent of this is Samsung's decision to position the fingerprint sensor on the S8/+/Note in a place that only E.T. can reach. Ergonomically knuckle headed but at least aesthetically pleasing.
  • I disagree that it's aesthetically pleasing, it's a big rectangle on the back of the phone. The terrible placement means it's awkward to use, and it's ugly to look at
  • I like the way it looks, especially on the gold Note 8; it has an almost brutalist design ethic to it, but it's of course a subjective opinion. What I should have said was that compromising with a rear fingerprint sensor leads to a more aesthetically pleasing facade on the S8 family than the iPhone X has thanks to the Face ID cut out.
  • But in fairness did you mock Samsung's terrible fingerprint scanner placement design or justify it? How about the Bixby button in a terrible place that's annoyed people so much they've finally provided an option to turn it off, but not re-map it so you're left with a dead button? I've found it a clear case that phans on both sides are equally sheep-like and biased completely. We live in a world of modern tribalism now, more than ever since humans literally lived in tribes.
  • I don't care one whit about these "horns" or the "notch" or the absolutely ridiculous outrage that has affected all the phone pundits on YouTube. I will care about it when those people start talking about the HUGE blank chin on the Pixel. They all think that phone is so fabulous, but what about that blank area that could be used for screen? If the Pixel 2 fixes this problem, fine, but I still won't care because it's Android and I just can't use it or recommend that anyone else does either because of its OS update problem, which the Pixel doesn't suffer from too horribly but exists nonetheless.
  • It's funny how we like to point out the huge chin on the Pixel but the new Iphone 8/+ has a massive chin as well, even though it's houses the home button. Apple could easily place that single button to the back of the phone and give consumers a bigger screen without having to ask them for to fork over 1k . As an Iphone user, these incremental changes are a slap to the face.
  • But putting touch ID on the back changes how you use a phone, and it's a design choice to have it on the front bottom, so compared to the Pixel, you have no argument. Apple couldn't just move Touch ID to the back of the iPhone 8 because that would require a compete redesign of the phone's internals. The iPhone 8 is the 7S, they just called it an 8 because of marketing (since the Galaxy line is up to 8 now). The Pixel could have made the screen bigger on the bottom chin, the iPhone 8 no because that is where Touch ID is. If you want full screen edge to edge, the newly redesigned iPhone is the iPhone X.
  • For what it's worth, I've not heard anyone say anything nice about the design of the pixels. When it was released plenty of people shat on the design. Apple and Android fans alike. No one using that phone from what I can remember ever tried to rationalize the bezels on that phone unlike what iphone users are doing with the design of the X.
  • LOL trying to defend something unacceptable, the notch in the essential phone is terribad, this is just worst.
  • Where did I defend it?
  • It's actually not a notch. Rene is right, it's horns. It's more screen, not less. The reason that's true and I'm right, is because you can't not have those sensors at the top. You can't not have a front facing camera. The Galaxy phones, for instance, and the LGs don't have a "notch" because they have a thicker top bezel, so they offer less screen at the top. The iPhone would essentially have the same top bezel as those phones, since they also have sensors and front facing cameras there, if the screen didn't have "horns". So instead, Apple gave you a little more screen, not less. The notch, in other words, is non-negotiable, for any modern phone. Having said that - I will say that while having the "horns" is a great idea, how they are implementing it in iOS isn't, and in my opinion, they should not embrace it but black out that top area to make it look like a thin bezel on other phones, but one that "magically" displays the clock and battery and signal icons! Some have made concepts like that and I think that would have been a better way to go.
  • Sure try to rename it. but it is what it is.
  • Fine - own them - but USE THEM. Either leave it as full time system status information, in-App status information, or in-App controls - but NOT for pictures, videos, game content, or other scrolling/panning data. As is, they only appear to be there to say you have a 5.8" screen, not a 5.5" screen, or whatever lesser diagonal. In fact, had the stuck with Touch ID, but just put it in the back logo, how much of a notch would you really need (thinking the Essential Phone) without Face ID?
  • Am undecided at the moment
  • Since I'm priced out of the IPhone X, and I haven't seen them in person, I really don't have an opinion on them one way or the other.
  • True, they're gonna be in such sparse supply that it won't really matter.
  • It doesn't matter what people call that thing at the top of the phone. Loyal Iphone users will find ways to justify how innovative and design forward the decision was, I think Jony Ive and Apple can sell rocks and people will line up to buy them. As an Iphone user myself, I am not too impressed with the concept and I think time will truly tell if consumers can overcome the change of not only the "notch" but faceid as a whole.
  • I think they've been seen selling snow cones at McMurdo Station... PS - bets on that next year they "improve" the iPhone Xs with "Finger ID" through the front glass...
  • PPS - just think how much good they could do for the entire planet by eliminating ALL of those sensors and cameras on the front for a PURE SCREEN experience - including NO MORE SELFIES!
  • THIS PLEASE!!!! NO MORE EFFIN SELFIES WOULD BE AMAZING!!
  • Except the front camera isn't just for selfies.
  • i find the horns annoying but especially when watching a video in landscape the unibrow actually cuts into the video! that is blasphemous to me, they should have black-barred the horns. in the demo they showed wonderwoman and the unibrow was cutting into the movie!! im like whhhhhat!!!! how can anyone find that acceptable??
  • I believe you can double tap to zoom out the video to a 16:9 ratio. But it kinda defeats the purpose of a 5.8 inch screen.
  • Apple's design innovations have stalled since the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch Series 1. There's been 3 and 2 more iterations respectively which look exactly the same. Now the biggest design innovation on the 10th anniversary of iPhone is "horns". It's really sad what Apple has become.
  • the phone is pretty perfect, until our tech evolves and there are breakthroughs this is it, when was the last time you saw an innovative desktop machine? just iterations and faster chips
  • The Microsoft Surface Studio Not that long ago, is it?
  • How many people here have had the device in their hands? I thought so. Let's wait and see.
  • Much ado about nothing.
  • I get the idea that it makes the phone distinct, but I think losing part of a video, game, or anything else to the forehead means lost content. I have similar feelings about the rounded corners of the screen too.
  • There's no lost content because for apps that haven't updated, they'll be shrunk down to the "safe area", and for the apps that have updated, important elements won't be placed underneath the notch
  • What do you make of the photos of the iPhone X playing the new Wonder Woman movie with part of the movie obscured by the forehead, as well as in each rounded corner?
  • Not really Mr. Troll, also, videos start non-obscured, it's only if you use the zoom functionality do they obscure. So, a non-issue. Sorry Mr. Troll, you lost today :)
  • I never really had a problem with symmetry, given phones are never completely symmetrical since you have things like the power button and volume buttons which aren't going to be on both sides of the phone. My problem (and other's including Rene's) with the Samsung was misalignment, not related to symmetry. They're two different things
  • Oh come off it, the Samsung misalignment was so slight that it required Rene to scrawl lines all over the screen to prove his point. If it was Samsung and not Apple going down the horn route then Rene would be pouring scourn over it rather than "owning" it. In portrait orientation the horns are a distraction; in landscape they're a hindrance.
  • For anyone that works in design, the misalignment may be slight but it's visible and frustrating. The horns may be a distraction/hindrance to some, but it's not like Apple hasn't done their research into how many people will have a problem with it. If it's really such a hindrance, the iPhone X won't be popular, but I highly doubt that. The horns aren't misaligned or skewed to one side, and they are actually symmetrical in portrait, just not in landscape. Maybe that's a flaw, maybe it's not. We'll see how this pans out or whether Apple decides to change it
  • So to sum up, if the part of the phone you rarely look at is misalligned slightly then that's bad design, but having an asymeticrical screen along the x axis that you look at all day is fine because: Apple. I see the RDF has been turned up to 11.
  • There's no RDF when you know your phone is going to sell. Apple know what they're doing. Besides, who says that a phone has to be symmetrical on both axes?
  • Videos play on the iPhone X with black bars to ensure the content isn't hidden. You have the option of zooming it in so it covers the whole screen but obviously with it being partially obscured, so the option to see all the content is available
  • Does this implementation also keep the video out of the corners at the bottom? With OLED, black bars should be indistinguishable from the black bezel, so that should allow for both groups to be happy (most-screen-but-obscured, no-obstructions).
  • My first impression without having hands on is that it the ears were included to be different rather than having a beneficial function. In 2017 we have seen several phone manufacturers use different techniques to achieve the "bezeless" look. With the galaxy s8 the Curved edges are hard to use and result in unintended touches on the screen. The draw back to the iPhone x technique is there amount of usable screen real estate.
  • Hmm, not for me, not at first blush anyway. Maybe in the hand it'll be different. Lets be honest, if Apple could do without them, they would. They're just making the most of an enforced compromise, but to my mind its very un-Apple. For a company that's championed simplicity, elegance and symmetry in its devices, its just clunky. What's worse is that within 6 months every tom, **** and harry will be producing bezeless phones, so its not like Apple can argue that the notch is a necessary by-product of some rare manufacturing technique that only they can manage. Within 12 months I expect even the mid-range android producers will be at it. Apple are going to look very dated if they don't get rid of the notch in a year's time, particularly if someone else cracks under the screen fingerprint readers. Not sure what to make of Apple at the mo. This reminds me of the touch bar on the MacBook pros, an odd decision that just isn't what I'd normally expect from a company that normally has such an iron commitment to clean design principles.
  • I don’t really care about the horns, but I think Apple should’ve just blended them in with the notch and used the area strictly for status icons.
  • Hey, the horns are distinctive and even functional!
    The iPhone X is a bit lacking in distinctive features. This one is just dandy! Thank you Rene for giving us a more colorful way to refer to this than that mediocre term 'notch' that has been gaining recent popularity...
  • Apple did not want the notch, in the first place. That is why they were trying to come up with a solution to hide the sensors behind the screen. However, due to time constraints and public pressure to release an iPhone with new bells and whistles on the tenth anniversary, they ended up with this, an iPhone with a notch, ears, horns, or whatever. If I base my decision alone on hardware, I wouldn't be sticking with Apple anymore. Good thing for them, my whole ecosystem is Apple based. I won't be buying the iPhone X though. I'll stick with my iPhone 7 Plus on iOS 11.
  • Bingo, down to a **** T. If someone complain about the iPhone 8’s lack of design change and then complaints about the iPhone X’s design, they have no one to blame but themselves for b******* about how a cell phone looks like on the outside. This is why I can’t stand these stupid millennial YouTube reviewers right now. Literally all the ones I follow that are under 30 all complain about how the 8 is an obsolete device when 80% of the iPhone X’s features are on the 8.
  • I really wanted to get the X as a replacement for my 7 plus. Mainly for the smaller footprint. The 7plus terrible proportions. It is very ungainly and hard to hold with one hand unlike the Galaxy Note series. However for the price I won't be jumping out there on this one. I will wait and hope they get the design right next year. Everytime Apple has a design flaw they spin it and make it seem like a benefit. That notch is ugly and serves no purpose. I bet Samsung is laughing at them all the way to the bank.
  • That’s why I was waiting for it. The Galaxy S8 is like a Hershey bar. The screen is so narrow that it’s unisable for me. But I’m definitely passing on this. I might get the Pixel 2 XL and just deal with the large size. I’m tired rebuying the same phone, so the iPhone 8 Plus is not an option.
  • Maybe if you try to justify the odd look enough times you’ll think it’s ok? That’s what I’m assuming you’re doing Rene. Not sure why you’re going to such lengths to defend it. I understand why Apple is trying to defend it because that’s oddly what they went with for the X. It’s a swing and miss when combined with no Touch ID. No debate needed
  • Yeah I’m not liking the notch at all. I wonder if anyone @ Apple had felt the same way about this notch. So In landscape mode the notch will always cut into a movie, game, page we’re looking at? That’s terrible. Apple thinks that looks awesome? Why don’t we see notches on tv’s ? Cause they would look ugly that’s why!......smh
  • I'm going to get a X. I don't care if anyone laughs at me for having a horned phone.
  • I'm with ya!
  • It’s an incomplete that Apple didn’t want to release but rather, needed to as people wouldn’t stop b******* about the design (big deal, it’s a cell phone for crying out loud). That being said, it’s your hard money and you are allowed to do as you please with it. Any grown adult that laughs at you because of a design of a cell phone has more to be worried and be embarrassed about.
  • The easiest way to critique the horns is by asking "what would Steve Jobs do?" I'll bet an Apple Pippin that he would have took one look at it and hairdryered the poor designer that dared to sully his office with such an abomination of form and function, the antithesis of what his legacy should be..
  • Horns, shmorns. Not sure what the issue is except that people need something to yak about.
  • Welcome to the Internet.
  • I like what you did there :-) (bovine, anyone?)
  • I love how Rene has spent many a post about symmetry and how Apple just does symmetry right, and that's one the things that's just screams "Apple". Now when they do something that is VERY unsymmetrical, Rene explains it away by saying that Apple intended it this way, so it's OK. Dude is such an Apple apologist it's sickening.
  • getting paid at the cost of misinforming/manipulating/lying to readers... every man's dream job
  • If you understood the definition of symmetry, you would have saved yourself some embarrassment. The iPhone X "horns" are perfectly symmetrical. I'd suggest reading a dictionary and then post an apology to Rene.
  • I'd suggest you look at that screen again and tell me how that screen is symmetrical. Go ahead, pull your dictionary out, I'll wait. You're trying to tell me that screen is symmetrical when watching that Wonder Woman video? After you're done, I suggest you post an apology to me.
  • Try looking at it in landscape view.
  • I salute everyone who’s going for the iPhone X. It’s good to see new technology find its buyers. Personally, I’ve embraced the classic iPhone 8 design - I may be a tad conservative.
  • Yep the new technology of the iPhone X was indeed incredible when I first used it on an Xbox Kinect back in 2010.
  • and we have to live with it for the next three maybe four years...
  • The horns haunt my dreams and pollute my sense of self-worth. Or: Hadn't noticed hem Or: don't
    care, I'm not buying one right now. or: The curves on the Samsung phone leave me yearning for the beaches of my youth
  • There's just no way around it: the "horns" are a terrible design element. The phone would have looked 10 times better with the screen merely being cut off below the sensors. All developers should just make that portion of the screen black and stick with a rectangular screen, regardless of what Apple says. Apple's design cred has taken a serious noise dive lately. See: https://theoutline.com/post/2352/apple-is-really-bad-at-design for a really good analysis of the new "horns." Much better than Rene's Apple groveling.
  • I’ve just upgraded to the 8 plus as I didn’t want to wait and pay more for a phone with horns. Makes no sense. The more people try to justify it the less sense it makes.
  • Most of these comments exemplify why I can't stand "techies" who live such empty lives that they feel anguish, pain, and disdain because Apple decided to go with a particular design. Get the eff over it. The design has flaws. Sure. But the design also has merit. This is the only smartphone that offers a screen that wraps around all four corners of a phone. It's immersive in a way other smartphones simply aren't. It looks like you're holding a window pane into another world (yes, when you look out a window, the "content" is obscured by bezels). For better or worse, this is exactly the kind of "think different" design I expect from Apple. Again, the design isn't perfect, and it's flawed in some respects. Safari in landscape is rough. But I can't stand arm-chair-know-betters and charlatans who claim with certainty that Jobs would never have approved this design. The same was said when iPhone 6 had external antenna bands and a protruding camera: https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2014/09/26/would-steve-jobs-have-allo... Design is a constant push-and-pull struggle between form and function.
  • I couldn't agree more, even if my name were "Mr Agree", and I lived in #1 Agreeable st, Agreetown, Agreeshire-on-sea. It's just ANOTHER phone, another phone that will be tossed to one side like a discarded toy (manchildren...) come this time next year. It amuses me greatly just HOW seriously people take a slab of glass which fractures one's attention span and steals your life away. Get a grip, world.
  • I've been rather amused by rants against the 'horns'. People obsessed over the things. Now, I'm amused someone would write in praise of them. I'll walk a middle ground on this topic. ;-)
  • If this was on a Samsung phone, you'd all be criticizing it. But since it's on an iPhone, hey, it's okay. I'd rather watch video without an annoying black bar beating you in the face whenever its playing.
  • If Samsung did it, Apple fans would knock it and point out all it's flaws… until Apple did it and controlled the apps embrace of it. Then Android fans would complain Apple is behind and they had those great notches first. As it stands, people are very divided, and even Rene isn't sold on them, even quoting Grubber's criticism. The real criticism of modern Apple is the decisive design choices that they are consistently making. As it stands, I don't like the notches appearance, but I do like it's functionality. I would like to see the time on fullscreen apps. They can solve a problem for me, personally. I also use apps almost exclusively in dark modes, where available. That notch will basically not exist for me, yet I'll reap the benefit of it. (Yes, most dark modes are not fully OLED black, but that will come. iA Writer is an example. Still good enough for me as is.)
  • Also, please don’t lump all us Apple fans into the same person in your mind. Apart from what you think of us as a whole, we are all individuals with differing opinions and different ways of looking at things. I, for one, applauded Samsung’s use of space for their Edge line, and am very glad that Apple is doing something similar, but still unique.
  • It’s optional:
    https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/6zr6i4/confirmed_you_can_watch_m...
    And because of that it is absolutely awesome.
  • Whats with Americans and having Poo photos. Surly there is more appropriate photos can be used. All it does is turn people off these products.
  • It's an iPhone, not iPhone. Use the definite article.
  • If "own them" meant system or status information, screen controls, or other auxiliary purposes, then I'd say go for it. But when you define your device as being "all screen" cutting that much out of a video, photograph, game, or other application, then it is a UI error of the highest magnitude, and clearly unsymmetrical. Those horns should in effect be "invisible" to the user, not stick out like a sore thumb.
  • Lots of ignorance floating around here. This is such a nonissue. Apple made the best choice to optimize space on the device but many seem more concerned wanting a virtual bezel instead. The front cameras are dazzling tech that will enable great things but simply ignored with the unwashed worried about "that notch." Apple is years ahead of any competition with the iphone X but I'm not sure they did a good job selling it just yet to the masses.
  • sorry like it or not the horns are a bad design choise, an annoying for everyday use rather make the phone bigger and avoid it all along.
  • No, I agree with him. They’re an awesome use of space. And, correct me if I’m wrong, I seem to remember from the Keynote that you can choose not to view video and other media content with the notch protruding, but rather cut the video off at the notch for a clean line. Of course, you lose some screen space that way, and if I am indeed remembering that correctly it is terrific that this option is given to the user. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. But it is there to display information if you so choose.
  • I fail to understand why so many people are obsessed with this, positive or negative.
  • Oh no... I'm never going to be able to look at the iPhone X again without thinking of Bevo.
  • What, no pics of THE iPhone X face down on concrete?
  • Personally, I'll pass on this one. I would be fine with the background extending to the horns, but the notch and rounded corners on videos is totally unacceptable. It's like the hipster jerk in front of you in the theatre who insists on wearing his hat. DOWN IN FRONT!
  • It’s optional during video playback and an ingenuitive way to display information, in my opinion. I’m looking forward to playing with one in-store and then make my decision from there.
  • Definitely a game changer for me. Trying to watch a video in landscape mode and having those "horns" disrupt the flow of the screen would drive me nuts. Overall very disappointed in the iPhone X. Aside from the unforgivable "horns", there's the protruding camera lens, and the ridiculous high price. I'm currently using the iPhone 6S Plus, and was hoping to upgrade this year with the 10th anniversary edition of the iPhone, but now the Galaxy Note 8 is looking better and better. Such a shame.
  • I have loved iPhone since iPhone 4 but now I'm not sure. Maybe it's time to change to Samsung or LG now :(
    I was so excited about the iPhone X but the ugly top was definitely a game changer for me as for many others. Very disappointed!
  • I would have taken small bezels at top and bottom. With the way it’s designed, the screen is effectively 5.5-5.6” and narrower than that of the the iPhone 8+. It also makes watching video in landscape quite awkward That sounds nice if you spend your days in Facebook, messaging or Twitter apps. Not so hot for reading eBooks, viewing images or video, or viewing web pages. It also makes two handed usage harder, especially when typing, because of how narrow the phone is. I cannot type with two hands in a Galaxy S8, for example; and I don’t even have large hands. The phone is just too narrow to hold comfortably (and securely) while typing.