
Apple Limits Lengthy iPhone X Testing for Most Reviewers - skue
https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-limits-lengthy-testing-for-most-iphone-x-reviewers-1509466644
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binaryapparatus
John Gruber from daring fireball doesn't sound too happy about getting review
unit after all those youtube "stars".

> Thank god Apple seeded Mike Allen with an iPhone X review unit. Such great
> insight from his fucking nephew, the emoji expert.

~~~
oneeyedpigeon
I think that's post 3/3 in a series of "Thank god Apple gave X a review copy
before me" — it's incredibly bitter and a bit unseemly, to be honest.

~~~
kemiller
I don't get the impression that he was denied a review unit, just that his
embargo clears later. The Youtubers don't seem even to have been given a unit
at all — just access to them in Apple facilities.

~~~
aetherson
He got a review unit 24 hours ago, per his most recent post.

~~~
kemiller
Right, so the youtubers were just sort of teaser reviews. I do think it's
disdainful, and slightly obnoxious/elitist, but I don't read it as personal
bitterness.

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slg
My first thought is there are three possible explanations for this.

1\. Apple is not concerned about increasing demand with reviews because there
is already a backlog of orders that exceeds supply. This is similar to Tesla's
anti-selling of the Model 3 in favor of a product that already has wide
supply.

2\. Apple was really making last minute hardware and software changes that
prevented them from producing a large number of review units ahead of time.

3\. Apple knows there are flaws in the phone and wants to limit the amount of
time a reviewer might have in order to discover those flaws before the first
publish date.

Considering Apple's history, that they still provided week long review windows
for a handful of sources, and none of those sources are particularly technical
device reviewers, I would lean towards option 3.

Is there any other possible explanation for this change?

~~~
Eric_WVGG
I was thinking about the reception of the latest Apple Watch ("Series 3").

The Watch had some issues with Wifi common-use scenarios that Apple testers
failed to anticipate (obviously they wouldn't want these devices connecting to
random coffeeshop hubs, etc.); this resulted in many of the reviewers having
ongoing connection problems, which led to a lot of "this will be really cool
when they work out the kinks" reviews.

Compare to the early work on iPhone X: a bunch of "normals" just gushing about
how cool it is. The initial messaging is undeniably better.

Personally, I chalk it up to an experiment that they can afford, largely due
to your #1 observation.

~~~
ecesena
I wrote about the Watch here, if you're interested.
[https://hackernoon.com/im-returning-my-apple-
watch-3-cellula...](https://hackernoon.com/im-returning-my-apple-
watch-3-cellular-602d24899bfd)

~~~
ecesena
I see I’m getting downvoted and don’t really understand why, the parent
comment asks about experience with the watch and I was sharing mine with the
cellular version. I could copy & paste the article here, but what’s the point
of the www then.

~~~
Doxin
The GP comment is'n /about/ the apply watch. Plugging your review on a comment
that's only tangentially related to the apple watch might come off as crass
self-advertising to some.

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lechiffre10
This is the first time Apple has sent youtube personalities iPhone review
units. In the Steve Jobs era, they would carefully select certain tech
columnists. That coupled with limiting time for reviewers seems to be a
desperate attempt at convincing people to buy the phone. The verge says FaceID
is inconsistent in daylight and outside when beeing used.

~~~
developer2
It's exactly this. YouTubers are being given phones to drum up some uneducated
noise to dilute any criticism from technical reviews. YouTubers only care
about view counts and their popularity, and most will just shout about how
shiny it is without putting in any effort to find anything to criticize. Apple
needs some hype to convince consumers that the iPhone X's notch design, and
Face ID not working in sunlight or sitting on a flat surface, aren't deal
breakers.

That notch is the most gimmicky thing to ever make it past the concept phase
for a modern phone. The tech reviews I've seen so far are showing off just how
broken existing apps are because of the notch interfering. Of course all the
"big player" apps will be fixed within 1-2 months, but there are thousands of
apps that will never be updated to support the X's notch.

Apple needs to figure out how to embed these components beneath the screen.
Yes it will be an incredible technical challenge; but that's what we're really
waiting for: 100% screen space. Until that is possible, they shouldn't have
pushed such an unfinished concept as being "innovative".

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mankash666
iPhone X reviews are expected to receive the largest audience, so Apple's
strategy of starving time probably makes the reviewers be more favorable.

I've also known a reviewer who got into Apple's "Shadow Ban" list for a
negative review. In his case, Apple product reviews always garnered the
largest audience, thereby impacting his bottom line.

~~~
eridius
"Shadow Ban" seems like you're saying tech reviewers are _entitled_ to being
able to review Apple devices before they're released. But that's not true.
Apple always seeds a limited number of devices (rather than giving one to
anyone who claims to be a journalist), and it's their prerogative to give the
devices to the reviewers of their choice.

~~~
ksk
Right, but people can and do use a company's legal actions to make moral
judgements on them. If a web hosting company chose to give hosting space to a
hate-group, people would be upset too.

It's disappointing that Apple feels like they can bully people into only
giving them favorable reviews.

~~~
briandear
Is there ANY evidence Apple is bullying anyone? Being selective and choosing
new channels isn’t bullying — it’s smart marketing. Why would any company seed
a review device to a hostile outlet? That’s just stupid. All the people that
want to write negative reviews shall have their opportunity.

People are “mad” because they were looking forward to cashing in on web
traffic. Apple doesn’t owe anyone a preview unit.

~~~
ksk
>Why would any company seed a review device to a hostile outlet? That’s just
stupid. All the people that want to write negative reviews shall have their
opportunity.

I don't know whether choosing to highlight the flaws in a product is honest or
hostile. In any case, Apple is within their rights, and so are others to
express their opinion. Relax! Nobody is taking your toys away!

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oflannabhra
Did they limit the reviewers time with the iPhone X? Or did they limit their
time before the embargo lifted? Genuinely curious, some reviewers are saying
they will update their “impressions” with full reviews.

~~~
IBM
They gave them 24 hours until the embargo was lifted. I'm not sure why some
blogs are upset about it though, because they could have waited however long
they wanted before they published something. They clearly wanted in on the
initial review traffic.

~~~
Skunkleton
That is the whole point. Most of these review sites are trying to run a
business, so they need traffic. Launch day reviews are a huge source of
traffic, so they need to 1) post as soon as the embargo is lifted, and 2) stay
on apples good side so that they get early review units.

The effect is that we aren't getting entirely honest reviews of apple products
on launch day, and we probably aren't getting honest reviews afterwards from
any site that depends on the traffic from early review units.

~~~
oflannabhra
Launch day is Friday. Most outlets will have had the phone for the whole week
by then.

I really don’t see how this results is consumers having less information.
There is a 5-6 wait on any new iPhone X’s. If any issues arise, consumers will
be able to cancel their orders free of charge.

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lostmsu
Another way to grab some attention.

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Animats
Whatever. It's been less than two months since the last Apple phone release.
Are they trying to compete with the Sony Xperia line for number of slightly
different models?

~~~
Animats
Modded down to -4. Apple's PR operation is on the job.

