If you tend to suffer from a nasty case of upgraditis (the affliction that keeps you looking for the “next best thing”) there is nothing that serves it better than the smartphone industry. I got on the iPhone train at the inception of the iPhone 3G. The original iPhone was impressive, but very expensive and limited in many ways. So when Apple launched the 3G, I felt that Apple had ironed out many of the first generation issues. The App Store was born. I have since been upgrading to every other second generation version of the iPhone. The ‘tock’ rather than the ‘tick’. If you don’t know what I mean by that, do let me know!

I skipped the 4 and waited for the 4S. The 5 passed me by and I plumped for the much improved 5S, and similarly I skated past the 6 and made a big jump to the 6S Plus. That last phone has served me well for the last two years, but one feature was a bonus and a pain. Its size. I loved having the bigger screen and it meant my iPad Mini Retina was used far less than before (but not eliminated). Carrying the Plus in my back pocket was much more of a pain. Every time I went to sit down, I had to remember to remove the phone and ostentatiously place it on the table in front of me, or try to jam it into my front pocket of my jeans (not a comfortable thing to do).

So, after two years of ownership of the Plus, I was anticipating the 7S to be the next logical upgrade, but Apple threw a curve ball and it became apparent that it was to be called the 8. No big deal. The bigger issue, was the arrival of the iPhone X (ten). Now I was in a real quandary. I should stick to my ‘tock’ purchasing of getting the 2nd gen of each iteration, but in fact the 8 was pretty much a 3rd generation of the 6S. The X was a much bigger jump.

The promise of a next generation OLED screen sounded great but I wasn’t going to jump for that alone. It was the promise of a high resolution screen in a smaller form factor that got me. I was concerned that a narrowing of screen acreage was going to make it harder to type in portrait mode. Thankfully this has proved to be unfounded. I can type equally badly on the X as I did on the wider 6S+ keyboard. In fact I am typing this post on the X.

Sidebar: I’ve just discovered that taking a screenshot, whilst connected to Apple CarPlay, gives a snap of both the phone screen AND the car display. Good times! ? Even that little voyage of discovery amuses me! It’s quite tragic really.

People love to complain about how something is worse than before, or they don’t understand the new features. I think they are something to puzzle out, or workaround. This may just be a character trait, but it does mean that I don’t get stressed by change.

The new iPhone X is much faster than before. Much more wieldy due to its more compact frame than a Plus and a mild dunking in the bath shouldn’t kill it either. The camera is a spectacular improvement over the 6S+. A walk along the South Bank produced some lovely low light images.

At the end of the day, there is no getting away from the fact that the X is an expensive device, but for those who value the functions it offers, there’s always a way to justify such a purchase to yourself.