The camera upgrade is really the one thing that has be one the edge of upgrading my 7+ to an 8+, I'll still probably wait until next year's model.
I'm still considering getting a full-format mirrorless system someday, because even with as great as smartphone cameras are getting there's only so much you can do with an image sensor the size of a pea - but damned if they don't take good looking pictures regardless.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with skipping the current year's iPhone. I don't know why people have this mentality. For any brand, really. Most new phones nowadays are incremental upgrades, not "evolutions" so to speak.
I'm on my iPhone 6 (not even the 6s) right now and I'll be upgrading after three years of having it, but only because the screen is shattered, battery life is bad, and sometimes it's a bit slow.
I so wish Apple would make a full sized camera. Include the A11 and a touch screen and even cellular if you want, I don't care how much it costs. Imagine all this hardware and software applied to a real image sensor.
It's been a secret little dream of mine for quite some time that Apple would just buy Sony.
Sony's imaging hardware is the best, full stop. Their software sucks, full stop. I wish Apple would just buy them and fix that and my god, the things that could be done. An Apple/Sony a7Riii.. what was the phrase?
I think we may start seeing Apple partner with more camera brands rather than buy them outright - see the current RED partnership they have for entry-level “cinema” cameras. It’s be nice if they did joint R&D instead of marketing/sales, though.
DSLRs plus skill plus lenses plus effort still produce the more interesting photos under the broadest range of circumstances. But smartphone cameras definitely should make anyone question purchasing a low-end DSLR with a kit lens that they only use to take pics on full auto.
That's not true. Some of the best photos I've seen were not taken with an DSLR. You'll definitely get higher quality photos, but that doesn't mean they're more interesting. But I do agree that buying an entry DSLR with kit lens isn't as tempting to some when smartphones are as good as they are today.
Interesting was probably the wrong word. Put cameras in the hands of 1 billion+ people who carry them 90% of the time and you'll get many images that photojournalists just wouldn't historically have been there to capture. [ADDED: And some of those will be inherently interesting.] But to me, quality/composition/control help lead to [most of] the most memorable photos, especially those that aren't just capturing an inherently interesting moment, but mileage on that may differ.
I'm still considering getting a full-format mirrorless system someday, because even with as great as smartphone cameras are getting there's only so much you can do with an image sensor the size of a pea - but damned if they don't take good looking pictures regardless.