For $699 (the iPhone 8) or $799 (the Plus), you get a device that makes calls, plays games, takes pictures, shows movies, gets you everywhere, and does everything better than ever before. And yet it’s already obsolete (Pierce, 2017). However, for the price of a laptop that vastly superior you too could be the proud owner of the iPhone X (it’s pronounced “iPhone 10” like the Roman numeral in Mac OS X). In addition to the new design and removal of the home button is the facial recognition. It will unlock your iPhone using facial recognition technology. Plus, this new technology allows for a new feature Apple calls Animoji (Warren, 2017). You too could be an animated piece of crap. Which is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.
You can animate emoji using your own face. Yes, including the poop emoji. What a time to be alive! #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/8gLR5tuWP6
— Buymobiles.net (@buymobiles) September 12, 2017
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Although, to be fair I believe the poop emoji before Apple integrated into iOS was actually an ice cream cone (Kleinman, 2015). You can now talk turd as the poop emoji in the new iPhone X text feature (McAteer, 2017). Thanks Apple for releasing the dumbest smartphone to date. I think I’ll stick to my iPhone 6 with broken glass than upgrade to that piece of garbage.
Apple is now making the new iPhone X more secure by using your face as the password. Although this seems to be more secure since you are potentially the only person to have it (unless your John Travolta or Nicholas Cage in Faceoff) it would seem reasonable to use it. However, could the iPhone facial recognition be tricked?
What if I took a picture of your face while you were sleeping using my iPhone then used that picture to unlock your new iPhone X with the facial recognition? Or if I help up a picture that your Mom has in her house of you in 8th grade. It supposed to be able to recognize changes in your face as you get older, grow a beard, new makeup, or a new pair of sunglasses. According to Apples’ White Paper they got that figured out by storing new facial photos from every successful login. Apple states, “Face ID is designed to work with hats, scarves, glasses, contact lenses, and many sunglasses” (Apple, 2017). Plus, your eyes have to be open for Face ID to trigger the systems. That means that your buddy will have to open your eyes when you’re drunk to unlock your phone. Apple recommends against Face ID use if you’re worried about someone with your facial features accessing your phone. Like when your evil twin comes to visit. Furthermore, Apple has built protections against printed photos and masks, but if there’s a real face with the same features as yours, it might slide through. That’s the price of a fast and seamless system (Brandom, 2017).
I have a feeling this will lead to many problems leaving people using the passcode to unlock their phone instead of Face ID. According to CNBC the alleged rumor that Apple told its suppliers to reduce the accuracy spec for FACE ID is completely false. The rumor was that to make it easier to manufacture they could reduce the face-recognition technology (Webb & Kim, 2017). That makes sense. Pay $999 dollars for a device that doesn’t work how it should. Dumb! Just another reason why the iPhone is not the best smartphone. Even if the rumors aren’t true as CNBC has reported it still goes to show that choosing convenience over security is a big problem. In an article by PCWolrd stated, Convenience or security: pick one. It’s actually not that cut and dry, but it is a sliding scale that requires finding the right balance between the two. Tools that make your life more convenient also tend to make it less secure. Technologies that make you more secure are also generally inconvenient (PCWorld, 2017).
If you want to see more reason’s why the iPhone is not the best smartphone check out my other article.
References
Apple.com (2017). Face ID Security Guide. Apple. Retrieved from: https://images.apple.com/business/docs/FaceID_Security_Guide.pdf
Brandom, R. (2017). Apple Explains How Face ID learns From Its Mistakes. The Verge. Retrieved from: https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/27/16373710/face-id-iphone-x-apple-facial-recognition-impostor
Kleinman, A. (2015). You Will Never Look At The Poop Emoji The Same Again. HuffPost. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/12/poop-emoji-ice-cream_n_6857388.html
McAteer, O. (2017). You Can Now Literally Talk Turn as the Poop Emoji in New iPhone X Text Feature. Metro.co.uk. Retrieved from: http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/12/you-can-now-literally-talk-turd-as-the-poop-emoji-in-new-iphone-x-text-feature-6923046/
PCWorld (2017). Why Convenience Is the Enemy of Security. PCWorld. Retrieved from: https://www.pcworld.com/article/257793/why_convenience_is_the_enemy_of_security.html
Pierce, D. (2017). Review: Apple iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. Wired. Retrieved from: https://www.wired.com/2017/09/review-apple-iphone-8-and-8-plus/
Warren, T. (2017). Apple Announces Animoji, Animated Emoji for iPhone X. The Verge. Retrieved from: https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/12/16290210/new-iphone-emoji-animated-animoji-apple-ios-11-update
Webb, Alex & Kim, Sam (2017). Inside Apples’ Struggle to Get the iPhone X to Market on Time. Bloomberg Technology. Retrieved from: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-25/inside-apple-s-struggle-to-get-the-iphone-x-to-market-on-time
All Systems (Are) Go. 