I wish Apple stock would fall so I could buy more.
On Thursday I bought myself a new iPhone 11 Pro Max. Here are its cameras:
I brought it home. Susan took one look and said she wanted one also.
So, back to the Apple store to spend another $1,249.
Where I couldn’t resist the new Apple AirPods Pro at $249.
Those two Apple store visits cost $2,747.
I was in Portland, Oregon for a surprise 40th birthday party for my wonderful daughter-in-law Anne.
There is no sales tax in Oregon. I saved $250, which is marginally better than a slap in the belly with a cold fish.
No sales tax may have been one reason the downtown Portland Apple Store was mobbed.
Maybe. Though, down the street, the Microsoft store was sadly empty.
How do I feel about spending more on a phone than I spent recently on a laptop?
Surprisingly good. Here’s why, in order:
+ The phone is blazingly fast. That means your cellular now seems three times faster. You can do Internet things — like search the web on cell (not WiFi) — much faster than you could before, on the same cell service.
+ The camera and its software is a million times better — especially using “portrait” mode. The camera doesn’t seem to care about lack of lighting. It will shoot in horrible lighting and turn out remarkably good photos and videos. Someone told me that Apple has more engineers working on photo stuff than Nikon, Canon, Fujitsu, Sony and all of them combined.
+ I do like the much larger screen.
+ It has a much longer battery life than my old iPhone 8 Plus, which I was perfectly happy with — until I got the new iPhone 11 Pro Max.
+ I like the Face ID which works faster than my thumb print. It hasn’t told me “You’re too ugly for this nice new phone.” Yet.
+ I do like the zillion new techie features — from fast and wireless charging to faster WiFi. Apple lays them out on its web site here.
Some caveats:
+ It’s not easy (or quick) to move your life from your old iPhone to your new iPhone 11 Pro Max. My take: Give your old phone to the Apple store and come back in two hours. You can do the transfer yourself, but it’s time consuming and not intuitive.
+ Most of your old apps will work immediately on your new phone. I had to reinstall my favorite Kindle software, including log in to Amazon and download their latest version — which is really good.
+ “Delete and reinstall” works on Apple. Fixing it doesn’t. That works for connecting your new Apple Watch Series 5. Oh, I forgot, I bought one of them also. That was another $429.
+ Make sure you remember your Apple ID and password. Know how to enter it easily. You’ll be asked for it a million times. The shortest one is easiest to remember.
+ You absolutely need a case. The watch is shiny. On the way home, it slipped out of my pocket onto the floor in an Uber. I almost lost it the day I bought it. I ordered a battery case from Mophie. Click here.
+ Five states do not have sales tax: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon. I bet most have an Apple store.
Yahoo Finance gives Apple a trailing P/E or 21.59 and a forward P/E of 17.38. Which is cheap.
Here’s Apple stock over the last year:
This is the Apple AirPod Pro. It’s bigger, better and has noise cancellation. Music sounds incredible.
The noise cancellation does not work as well as these ones from Bose. But the Apple ones are easier to carry and you won’t hear any airplane noise if you’re listening to music. You can’t use the AirPods to listen to movies on the airplane, since they don’t have a cord. The Bose ones do.
Sick of income inequality discussion
The last time income inequality got traction, it spawned a couple of innovations:
As I said in the last column, Elizabeth Warren is nuts. Click here.
Favorite recent cartoons
Wonderful weekend in booming Portland:
Pictures courtesy my new iPhone 11 Pro Max:
This is Eleanor
This is Sophie.
This is Zoe and me.
See you tomorrow. — Harry Newton
