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Recommend me an iPhone please
Hi,
So my current phone will become obsolete because of network changeover, and I've decided to go with an iPhone this next time. I kindly ask for some of your recommendations.
What matters to me:
- Lots of room for iOS apps and scratching together music ideas
- Won't store and keep my songs there for long though, I use an iPad for that
- Don't care too much about the camera, so long as it's decent
- No hard opinion on the size of the display
- Want the OS to run OK on it for the next three years or so. (Apple is pretty good anyway about hardware not becoming obsolete quickly, IME.)
- Not opposed to new, but I have had great luck in the past with refurbished Apple products
- Not looking for the cheapest thing, but certainly not looking to spend a ton of money for something just because it's newer or shinier
- Would greatly prefer a headphone jack. But I would begrudgingly do without it for the sake of other criteria noted above
Any recommendations?
Thanks!
Joe
Comments
I forged ahead with a new model that doesn't have a headphone jack but has 512MB storage.
Not having that headphone jack made me reliant on bluetooth headphones or the wired set that
has a lightning connector but I miss that headphone jack... desperately.
You needed wired headphones for low latency and using the wired version or the lightning or USB-C
adapter means there's no port for your audio interface. A larger audio interface for desktop creativity
solves this problem since they have a headphone jack.
Navigating this dichotomy of 1 or 2 ports in a mobile device is key. A phone is always with you so
I recommend the newest unit with the headphone port to avoid the frustrations of needing to carry
a backpack of extra gear. I'm always misplacing that stupid little adapter... if you go that route buy more than one.
Refurbs are great and give you access to models on longer on sale... I almost pulled the trigger on an iPhone 6 to have Touch 3D for MPE synths. Almost... it would have cost around $200 at the time. I wanted it for the SWAM apps and GeoShred. It's too bad Apple gave up on the idea of touch sensitivity
for force input that can be mapped to aftertouch or velocity.
I also got the largest screen model at the time and that's been helpful but most apps are still too small
to use tiny complex interfaces. I find I create projects and preset on the iPad and AirDrop them into the
iPhone for mobile use... especially complex AUM configs. I settled on a set of Universal Apps for my FX
mastering and synths. iPhones have a Zoom function and there are potential voice command interfaces
that could be mastered with effort.
I’d say the iPhone 11 128GB. Camera is decent, and you get similar specs to the new iPad because of the A13 chip. It’s efficient in battery life, and would most likely be at a decent price considering it has been out for over 2 years.
With a headphone jack? iPhone6S+ 128 GB. Phones with larger screen allow music apps to be rotated in landscape view. That said, there’s a chance it’ll not get the iOS 16 update, but it would make a great effect pedal, or project phone at a reasonable price.
The one thing I’d say is make sure you get 128GB as your minimum. When you start making projects, storing samples, or downloading apps, you’ll find that 64GB gets filled up fast.
Quick Google search shows a Walmart product:
https://forum.audiob.us/uploads/editor/6s/nl1np6hqmju2.png
Don't forget the Cellular technology to use it on with phone contract if desired (GSM vs CDMA).
I wouldn’t recommend the 6s. It doesn’t update far enough to avoid issues with cell phone providers that don’t properly let you activate over WiFi and I don’t think offer WiFi calling. We moved to an area with almost no cell phone signal. My 7s was fine with wifi calling enabled. My wife’s 6 would revert to the initial phone setup and fail there because it could not activate. The only way to get past this was to go somewhere with signal.
We replaced the 6 with a refurbished 8plus direct from Apple, popped the SIM card from the 6 in it, and everything works perfectly now even with no cell phone signal. Got a (practically worthless) free one-year Apple TV+ subscription out of the deal too.
Granted, her phone was a 6. I haven’t checked if the 6s would have the same problem. But frankly, I just wouldn’t go for anything quite that old.
[edit] I see I was wrong. The 6s can upgrade farther than the 6.
An other advantage of the 6s plus is that it has a 3mm Jack, 2 GB of Ram and is supported for IOS 15.
Ahh, so I was wrong. The 6s can handle current OS. The 6 is different. Thanks for setting that straight.
iPhone XS Max is the last phone that has 3D Touch. Pretty noticeable difference for playing things like GeoShred or FingerFiddle, or other MPE type things. No headphone jack though…
On the apple page you can literally line up the phones you are looking at and compare each detail.
This lets you setup and compare any 2 versions.
https://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/
That was a problem with the 6. The 6S supports WiFi calling. Using a 6S+ at the moment.
Another benefit is that it’s one of the last few phones that support 3D Touch. Pete Johns confirmed that 3D Touch still works on phones that support it. Think of it like having a ROLI block that is force sensitive.
That said, don’t feel super limited by the lack of a headphone jack. Getting the tiny dongle (you can buy a multi pack from places like Best Buy) can help mitigate that missed feeling. And definitely get the original camera USB + lightning dongle. You’ll need it when powering USB Hubs, MIDI Controllers, and interfaces.
If you’re not wedded to the headphone jack then an 8+ or 2nd Gen SE would be my choice. 8+ has the bigger screen and excellent battery life, but SE will have probably have a bit more longevity as it basically has the guts of the 11.
So how much of a bother is it not to have the headphone jack? Is it matter of carrying a hardware dongle around all the time? (I shudder to rely on another bluetooth device.)
Thanks for all the ideas, folks!
Depends on what you need it for. If it’s mainly for listening to music then I way prefer BT to wires nowadays.
For making music I use an iPad Pro 10.5 which has the headphone jack, but the only time I actually use the jack is if I am mixing on the go or in bed using headphones, the rest of the time everything is connected via an interface of some sort.
It's more than just a single adapter fix... you drop from 2 external device ports to 1 in the process.
What external hardware (other than headphones) do you use typically? If none then the adapter
is fine but if you have a lot of the small audio/midi adapters (Korg plugKey, IK Multimedia iRig products)
then you'll want to insure those devices have headphone jacks.
The Korg plugKey (lightning only) has a headphone jack and a nice D/A converter to make it work.
I wish Korg would release a USB-C plugKey to save me the cost of a Bluetooth MIDI keyboard.
I have so many keyboards and many use USB for MIDI which means I need the CCK USB adapter and
damn I loose my headphone choices again. It's a regret for me... I'll need to re-purchase a lot of
products for USB-C but M1 is calling to me for a new iPad.
The main annoyance is when you need to charge your phone listen at the same time. Can’t do it without a different dongle that may or may not work.
But the real issue for me is I never, ever, have that damn little adapter when I need it. And they have this annoying way of disappearing until you break down and buy another one. Then they show up. But no matter how many times you repeat this cycle, so that in theory you should have about thirty of them around somewhere, there still will not be one around when you need it. Or, your battery will be almost dead at the time.
Bluetooth audio isn’t an option if you’re trying to do anything live with music.
Iphone se 2, I have one, it's a beast. It's small though, so do take that into account. Should have updates for at least the next 4 years, mine has 128gb of storage and runs music apps like a champ. No headphone jack but a dongle comes with it. Biggest issue is battery as it's small. but apart from that it's my dream phone
I have an iPhone XR with 128gb. It’s was cheap and works very well.
I mostly use airpod pros for audio but does have some latency.
If I need no latency then use the suppled dongle.
I also have a Korg Air keyboard which is midi Bluetooth which helps cut down on the required dongles.
I’m rocking 6s as well and have a 6s plus as a backup in the drawer!
I’ve replaced the charging port as well as the battery and it’s a beauty.
Still on 14.7 runs fine sketching stuff with Drambo and Loopy Pro Beta but the screen’s a bit cramped with the latter.
It it wasn’t for the headphone Jack I’d probably be on a newer phone but the dongle is a pain if you happen to have different sets of devices and sets of headphones.
I currently have iPad 11 pro 2020 usb c and Pro 10.5. The first one is always plugged into the interface and the second moves around with me.
It’s really annoying when I grab the one without the jack and later realise I don’t have the dongle with me!!!
@seonnthaproducer I didn’t realise 6s had 3D Touch. Can you recommend any apps that support it? Cheers
I had to return company phone just two days ago (it was iPhone XR) so I was in very similar situation. I was quite happy with it, but it is a bit bigger and heavier than I think is ideal size for a smathpone (and I do have "bigger" hands).
I had similar thoughts as you, just I didn't consider making music on it. I actually started making music on iPhone SE (the first one), but now I rarely use music apps on iPhone, I always get iPad for that. So only case for opening music apps on iPhone for me is when I want to show some app to a friend or so, or to quickly test something and I don't have iPad by hands. Sometimes I used iPhone as a MIDI controller too via TouchOSC or so, but that could be done on basically any model.
I ended up with iPhone XS, my reasoning:
And some tips for no headphone jack annoyances:
1TB 13 Pro Max.
@supadom - I only use a few apps with 3D touch. Garageband and Seaboard 5D are the ones that come to mind. It's similar to velocity, when you press harder, and it makes a louder sound.
There's an app called Velocity Keyboard that gives you a wealth of customization but I haven't got around to trying it out with the iPhone.
I recommend the newest and most expensive one. And you can repeat this advice in 3 years.
I always recommend buying the latest version of an iPhone, you'll get the most life out of it as well as the most support too. Buying a device that's 6 generations old because it has a headphone jack seems a little backwards to me (not everyone agrees I know). I'd much rather have the fastest CPU and memory along with a warranty, and the caermas are LIGHT YEARS better now too if you do ever need it. The headphone dongle is one of the best DACs you can buy, and it's easy enough to just leave it attached to your headphones when you're not using it.
I picked up an opened-but-unused iPhone XS with 256GB for $400 on ebay (still had the screen plastic on). Felt like a good deal being pretty speedy and also having a nice camera with 2x optical zoom.
The missing headphone jack is annoying but that's just how iPhones are now. I'm not a fan of Face ID so I just don't use a lockscreen (I don't have that many accounts hooked up to my phone anyways).
Note: the 6s+ is still a great solution if you don't need a ton of cpu or a great camera.
Same here, with pretty much same comments. $449 for the one with 128GB. Processor power wise it's way up there; don't let small size fool you on that.
Get the newest one with the most memory if you can afford it. If not, life goes on.
I have a 6+ and iOS12 is as far as it goes.
Yep, the 6 ends at iOS 12. The 6S goes all the way to 15.
Yeah that’s a great phone as well. It’s using the same chip as the iPhone 11, except it has only 1 camera, smaller screen size, and uses Touch ID. They both lack the headphone jack, and will support the same OS. The iPhone 11, and second Gen SE seems to fill the same space that the older iPhone 6S and first gen SE did, back in 2015/2016.
I’ve got an iPhone 12 mini (purple), because that’s about the size & also colour that phones are supposed to be