[Chicago Sandy]

Who spends a grand or more on a phone? Probably those who have to be “bleeding edge” to impress their friends or co-workers, are tech-comfy enough to easily learn new gestures, and either have that much $ burning a hole in their pockets or a deep-pocketed employer willing to buy it for them. Me, I’m not gonna blow $1K to essentially be an unpaid Beta tester for bragging rights. I’ve learned not to buy the first iteration of a product or upgrade to the first version of a new OS until a few bug-fix updates have been released. “Early adoption” is laudable for starting or expanding a family—not for tech.

My 5S had been relegated to use as an iPod, but suddenly it stopped recognizing both its and my iCloud passwords. Called Apple and they said I had to produce proof of ownership, such as a purchase receipt. Had bought it at Best Buy in 2011 (who saves receipts that long, especially when two newer iPhones found their way into my purse over the years?), but they told me that they remove purchase history from their computer systems after two years. So it’s a lovely paperweight that perhaps I can donate to a shelter that jailbreaks old phones for emergency use.

Tried my nail tech’s 6+ today—though I can’t really work it with one hand unless I use the little knob she installed on the back of the case, the fonts are a bit bigger; and so the 8+ will be a good fit for our aging eyes (lens implants notwithstanding). Told Bob to go hang out at a Best Buy or phone store and see if a 7+ fits into his pocket. If not, I'll order us a pair of 8s (or an 8+ for me for the better photo capability). Then when they arrive, we’ll head to the Apple Store to set them up and get pointers on the new features.

The more vexing upgrade path for me will be from this mid-2014 15” MacBookPro I’m using that came off AppleCare a week before my cat knocked it off a table and part of its screen got obscured. (The “Genius” told me a screen repair would cost $500, and his own MBPro has exactly the same problem and he’s not repairing or replacing it). The last Apple laptop to have USB ports is the 2015 version of my MBPro—about to be a “legacy” item. All the others have only USB-C. Because I don’t want to fart around with hubs & dongles, want to be able to keep it plugged in while using a peripheral, and don’t want to have to depend on wi-fi or the cloud, I need to buy one with at least 2 USB-C ports. My 2013 11” MBAir (128GB) is my travel computer—it’s in great shape but too small to use as my main machine, so I’m not replacing it till it croaks.