Skip to content
Thoughtful, detailed coverage of everything Apple for 33 years
and the TidBITS Content Network for Apple professionals
63 comments

New “Apple Buying Advice” Website by Josh Centers

I recently taught an iPad class for the Naples MUG, and the organizers specifically asked me to add a few slides with my recommendations on which iPads and accessories to buy. After the class was over, I was reflecting on how many times per week I answer questions about which Apple product to buy or if it’s a good time to buy—from friends, family members, TidBITS readers, Take Control readers, and sometimes even people I haven’t seen since high school.

That gave me an idea: what if I put my recommendations on a website and sent people to that? That idea was the genesis of my new Apple Buying Advice site, which isn’t affiliated with TidBITS in any way. When my father-in-law called to ask for an iPhone recommendation while I was drafting content for the site, I knew I was onto something.

Apple Buying Advice website

The goal of Apple Buying Advice is simple: to recommend specific Apple products for those who are overwhelmed by all the options and have only one question: “Which one do I buy?” I offer quick picks on the home page, backed by short guides for each product category that explain my rationale and offer a few alternatives. Think of it like Wirecutter but with an exclusive focus on Apple products.

You may disagree with some of my choices, but they’re exactly the same recommendations I make to friends and family, and I think they’ll please the vast majority of buyers. For example, I recommend the base model iPad but upgraded with 256 GB of storage so owners don’t suffer from a storage crunch later. I caution against buying the iPhone SE right now since reliable sources suggest that a third-generation model will debut early next month. At appropriate times, I’ll adjust my recommendations and add warnings to delay purchases if possible, such as if someone is shopping for an iPhone in August before the annual September release of new models.

If you’re an advanced Apple user, you may appreciate being able to refer friends, family, and high school classmates you barely remember to Apple Buying Advice instead of having the same conversation over and over again.

As I noted, Apple Buying Advice is not a TidBITS project but purely my own thing. However, Adam Engst was the first person outside my family with whom I shared it, and he agrees with most of my picks for the everyday user.

The site is monetized through affiliate links, largely to Amazon, and I get a small commission when you make a purchase through them. But the affiliate commissions don’t influence my recommendations. For example, I often recommend less expensive products, and I skipped affiliate links for the iPhone entirely because Apple is the most reliable source for seeing purchase options. Apart from the iPhone, I tend to send links to Amazon because most people are familiar with it and likely subscribe to Prime (at least 60% of US households). Of course, there’s no requirement that readers shop through the affiliate links if they have another preferred vendor.

The business plan is simple: I paid a whopping $47.28 for a year of hosting with Bluehost and another $12.55 for my logo from logoflow on Fiverr. If I can’t make at least $59.83 in my first year, I’ll close the site. My main source of income is and will continue to be the managing editor of TidBITS—and thank you for nearly a decade of support!

Check out Apple Buying Advice, and let me know what you think.

Subscribe today so you don’t miss any TidBITS articles!

Every week you’ll get tech tips, in-depth reviews, and insightful news analysis for discerning Apple users. For over 33 years, we’ve published professional, member-supported tech journalism that makes you smarter.

Registration confirmation will be emailed to you.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. The Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Comments About New “Apple Buying Advice” Website by Josh Centers

Notable Replies

  1. Josh, just to warn you that in its infinite wisdom Norton Safe Web browsing thinks your site is a dangerous web site and blocks it.
    Since when is a little knowledge dangerous? Or on the other hand, I think I trust you a lot more than Norton.

  2. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll check with Norton and see what the issue is.

  3. I read that as Apple purchasing a web site from Josh Centers at first (Ala the New York Times and Wordle) and was all set to be congratulatory. This is fine too.

    :upside_down_face:

  4. That would be even better but is sadly not true. We’ve adjusted the headline now.

  5. Not intentional! We both happen to use simple WordPress designs with inspiration from the Apple rainbow logo. His navigation bar shifts colors over time, he uses a lot more colors, we have different fonts, etc. The demands of responsive Web design that works well on both mobile and desktop can be pretty limiting.

  6. I do have to say something about getting the cellular version of the watch.

    For men, it’s not an issue. We normally keep our phones on us in our pockets, so our phone is never far from the watch. For women who tend to not have pockets or tiny pockets, they keep their phones in their purse, getting the cellular version may be worth it. My wife goes hiking and her morning walk exercising without her purse and thus without her phone. That means contacting her is impossible. I got her a Watch SE sans cellular, and I wish I got the cellular version.

    For me, cellular is not necessary. For my wife, it is.

    I never understood the always on issue and why it’s so important. I have an Apple Watch Series 3 and every time I look at it, the display is on. Maybe it’s not on most of the time, but if I have my arm by my side, I really don’t care.

  7. Looks like a nice, useful, time-saving site. Good luck with it!

  8. One more advantage of the cellular version of the watch: you can get the cellular version and never activate a plan on the watch, but you can still make an emergency call with a cellular watch that does not have a plan (in most countries). If you are out and about with your watch and your phone, and your phone is stolen, breaks, runs out of battery, etc., you can still make an emergency call if you need help from the cellular watch. You cannot do that with the GPS only watch if the paired phone is not in bluetooth range or you cannot make a WiFi connection.

    As for always-on, I won’t get a watch without it myself. It was always so frustrating to be out on a run with my old Series 2 and glance at a dark watch because I didn’t raise it in the proper way to light the display. In those cases I needed either to tap the display or do an exaggerated wrist raise, both of which can be awkward while you are running. However, I can understand saving money on that feature if you can’t afford the Series 7.

  9. You might want to fix the Slack channel feeds as well then… I thought this was your retirement announcement having sold out big time for sixty bucks!

  10. Congratulations and best of luck! Please be sure to let us know when you have a search button so we can suggest it for Rob Griffiths’ Websearch shortcut for Keyboard Maestro.

  11. It’s standard practice for many site blockers to blacklist sites that have a low number of visits which, of course, will apply temporarily to all new sites until somebody complains or the site goes viral.

  12. Very informative site. I especially like the links to further information, eg the outlook for new Apple Silicon models in 2022. Keep up the good work and I hope your business plan works out!

  13. The SSL certificate domain is correct, but the hostname doesn’t match the public URL (the hostname is “cpanel”, which isn’t used in the public address.

    It doesn’t generate a trust warning, but it might raise red flags for Norton.

  14. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll check with Bluehost and see why that is.

  15. Great idea! I haven’t dug into this properly yet, but two things that I noticed pretty quickly…

    1. The main image seems to be broken on my machine. I’m using Safari 13.0.4 on 10.13.6. It renders ok in Chrome, though. Hmmm.

    1. I’m in the UK, and use amazon.co.uk, not amazon.com. I suspect the current affiliate links might only work well in the US? If I follow the link to Beats Flex from Find AirPods right for you - Apple Buying Advice, I see “Currently unavailable”:

  16. I’m not sure what you mean. I did repost the Facebook and Twitter links after we changed the title.

    Oh, sure, it has advantages and I recommend one for Family Setup (because you have to have cellular). But for most people, it’s unnecessary headache and expense. I liked the idea of hailing an Uber directly from my watch, but Uber has dropped their Apple Watch app, unfortunately.

    Guilty until proven innocent is a lousy policy. I’ve started the process with Norton to review the site. Apparently, they unfairly flag sites all the time, making you deal with them to get the flag removed. I’m not sure I’d recommend any Norton product. I installed their anti-virus back in the '90s and it screwed up my PC.

    I have received a lot of traffic and newsletter sign-ups! Thank you all!

  17. Very nice Josh. But I have to take exception to this:

    Don’t worry about the color because you should keep your iPhone in a case. The right case will save you from expensive replacements and repairs

    And the recommended case is a monster! I have rarely seen any uglier case than an Otterbox Defender. It weighs 5.6 ounces! The iPhone 13 only weighs 6.14 ounces - you are doubling the weight. :cry:

    The only time I ever needed a case was with my iPhone 8 - because it was way to slippery - and I understand that people have different levels of klutzy but I don’t think as a general recommendation that a mil-spec plastic case that doubles the weight of the device is required for the vast majority of iPhone users.

    I find it ironic that Apple engineers and designers spend their entire professional life trying to shave off millimeters of thickness and creating a beautiful hunk of metal, only to have it covered up with a clunky case.

    Keep up the good work!

  18. I agree with the advice on not needing cellular on the watch but disagree on the iPad. My wife and I are retired and take long trips (2-3 months at a time) in our RV. Verizon limits my hotspot data to 15gb per month. I can burn that up in a short time. My cellular on the iPad is unlimited and while it may be deprioritized it’s never been a problem. Not uncommon for the two of us to go through 100-150gb of cellular data a month.

  19. I need a new iPad. My iPad Air 2 needs a new battery and I’d rather put money toward a new iPad than just fixing this older one. So I am looking forward to learning when a new iPad Air will be released.

  20. I think they intentionally make them as thin and minimal as possible knowing that most people will use a case. The Otterbox Defender is indeed a big, chunky monster, but I recommend it because it’s what I use. I also have small children who sometimes grab my phone and fling it across the room, and my armored iPhone is in near-mint condition. I did have a reader say that the case could degrade battery life by trapping heat in, which is worth investigating, but I don’t have a great way to test.

    My wife uses a much slimmer purple Otterbox with a built-in pop socket, and it’s also great. I might add it as a recommendation, but it seems like most people either have strong case opinions already or buy the cheapest thing they see at the store, which is perfectly fine.

    I do mention that some folks are better served with a cellular iPad, and they usually know if they are. RV life is a perfect use case for a cellular iPad. As is frequent business travel. But I figure it’s an unnecessary expense for 90%+ of people.

    I have a recommendation for you on the site! I think the base iPad would be a great upgrade to the Air 2—it was a huge upgrade from my 10.5-inch iPad Pro in most ways. If you want a new Air, I would hold off. A new one is anticipated in March. In my opinion, the base iPad is great for most people. It’s been my mom’s main computer for the past few years.

  21. Josh, I did read your recommendation for the Base iPad. What is the difference between the base and and Air iPad?

    I wish Apple would produce the 128 gig again. I need more then 64 gigs but less then 256!

  22. It’s more like the iPad Pro in that it doesn’t have a Home button and it supports the Apple Pencil 2. It doesn’t have Face ID, but instead a Touch ID sensor in the top button. I also think the screen is a little nicer. The Air has an A14 while the iPad has an A13, but I don’t think there’s a big practical difference between the two.

    Same here! When my father-in-law bought his iPhone SE last year, I recommended spending the extra $50 to upgrade to 128 GB and it was a no-brainer. He’s very glad he did. Buying more storage than you need is a one-time problem. Having less than what you need is a constant problem.

  23. FYI, I just heard from Norton and they have recategorized the Apple Buying Advice website as Technology/Internet instead of malware. I’m glad they cleared that up quickly.

  24. Cases are one of those personal things…sorta like whether you have a washer and dryer in your full time life RV…one either hates them or loves them. We’vealways had cases on ours but have always had the Incase line which while it does add a little weight provides some drop protection and grippy-ness as well. Everything but the models with the square sides has always been a bit slippery for our tasted and with the camera bump the case allows them to lie flat on a table.

    You’re right though…those heavy ugly monsters like the Otterbox are way too much…unless that’s what you need, in which case they’re not way too much.

  25. I was still seeing the old headline - but that may also be linked to Slack’s fun random outage in the last 24 hours.

    f
  26. I’d welcome an article discussing which models of iPhone and iMac are worth owning and keeping, or, buying used. I’m in my 70s and no longer have any work justification for the hottest newest hardware, but I also really hate buying hardware that’s destined for an early trip to the landfill.

    For example the iMac11,2 --can’t be updated, doesn’t to Night Shift, and has what appear to be slow or flaky graphics. Or the iPhone4, truly a useless dinosaur. Not a lemon but not something I’d recommend. But what’s better in the used category?

  27. Josh, this is very very well done and informative.

    I do think you’re giving the M1 Mac mini short shrift, though. Even though it doesn’t come with a monitor, unlike the iMac you get to choose from a wide variety of options. I’m personally running with a 34" LG Ultrawide curved monitor that gives me way more real estate than any iMac option. Yes, it’s not a Retina display, but it’s a nice display and a whole lot bigger!

    I would also encourage spending the extra money to get 512MB storage on an Apple Silicon Mac. 256GB is way too confining and you could find yourself shelling out money too soon for additional external storage.

  28. Hi, everyone. I’ve received messages about people not being able to enter their birthday on the mailing list signup form, which I didn’t even know Mailchimp asked for. I have deleted the field entirely, which also deleted the birthdays collected so far. I want to collect as little personal information as possible.

    I’ve shared it a couple of places and still see the old headline. Sorry, not sure what’s up with that.

    That’s a good idea, but I would need a lot of free time for that sort of research.

    There’s nothing wrong with the Mac mini. It has the same M1 as most other current Macs. It has a niche, but I wouldn’t call it “best for most.”

    I always encourage more storage. You can never have too much. But I think most people are served fine by 256 GB. For instance, I’ve been trying to help a young woman with her MacBook Pro that she’s owned for three years and she had used maybe 60 GB of the 256 GB capacity. I am not one of those people. If Apple offered a reasonably priced 4 TB option, I’d upgrade in a heartbeat.

    The real crunch seems to be iPhones and iPads. Many base models didn’t have enough storage and now the owners are constantly fighting their devices. I am so glad the iPhone 13 comes with 128 GB by default.

  29. My sister and her family have been living the nomadic life for the past 2-3 years. They got a mobile hotspot device that connects to their cellular carrier (T-Mobile, I think), which provides Wi-Fi internet in their mobile home and the immediate vicinity. Their iPads, laptops and other Wi-Fi devices all connect through that Wi-Fi connection.

    Of course, some places they visit have really bad cellular coverage, which means they need to find an Internet café of some kind in order to do their day jobs. But most of the time, the mobile hotspot works great.

  30. Very nicely done, @jcenters. I like your simple layout and the on-point advice. I bet this will be a great resource for many non-techy folks who just want some quick and reliable advice on which model to buy.

    Just one little bit of nitpicking: on the Mac page you still reference the 15-inch MBP. That should read 16" these days I suppose.

    If you don’t quite make up for your expenses through your affiliate links, drop me a PM and I’ll be glad to send you an Apple Pay donation to make up for the difference. Sweet website! :slight_smile:

  31. Is there a way Josh could put a subtle “donation” button on the site, to cover maintenance and updates? I’m sure many of us would like to support his efforts.

  32. It can be hard to find a truly unlimited hotspot plan. I used to have one via an AT&T reseller but it was discontinued. It was a life saver in one location where we had poor Verizon service but good AT&T. Since we are no longer full time it’s less of a need.

  33. Thanks for an excellent and nicely concise site. Good timing for me on several purchasing fronts for the family.

    I will suggest it to friends who ask for purchasing advice. I have sent them to other “Buyer’s Guides” in the past, but they are too wordy and tech for a lot of people.

    I look forward to seeing your updates this year after upcoming product announcements from Apple.

    And please do consider the good suggestion to add a donation button. It would get nice to be able to continue to read this without you needing to add ads someday, even with your affiliate link revenue.

    Well done, Josh!

  34. Thanks for confirming it’s not just me, Mark!

    @jcenters, if I right click in Safari and choose “Download Image”, I get a file named ABA-logo.png. But when I try to open that in Preview.app, I see:

    image

    Acorn.app 6.6.1 also refuses to open it (saying just The document “ABA-logo.png” could not be opened).

    In Terminal:

    $ file ABA-logo.png 
    ABA-logo.png: RIFF (little-endian) data, Web/P image
    

    So - I suspect that, despite the file extension, the file that is being served isn’t actually a PNG… it is WebP - Wikipedia, which my older browser & OS don’t understand.

  35. If you’re still using DOS, I’d highly recommend Norton Commander. Excellent product for its time and platform constraints. :joy:

  36. Back when Peter Norton was running the company and developing the software, it was great. Once Symantec (since renamed NortonLifeLock) acquired everything in 1990, it all started to spiral downhill.

    See also: Peter Norton Computing - Wikipedia

  37. I’m surprised that no one has mentioned existing sites with the same focus (market research opportunity).

    For years I’ve used the macrumors buyers guide. What I find most useful personally is the time since last update, mostly for a quick check on my own memory and the update timing history. Otherwise, as someone who follows tech news I have a general idea of what I’m looking for, but do use it to refer other people to. So definitely think a resource like this is useful, and the more specific recommendatins than just providing the info are great.

    I do find the main page to be hard to parse quickly, the different sections all visually run together for me. Perhaps more people will use the tabs at the top to go to the specific pages, but still believe the landing page is a good resource if easier to navigate.

  38. I hate to beg for donations, but since so many people have requested it, I’m going to look into the best way to implement this. Ideally, something that accepts Apple Pay and maybe even crypto, plus handles the tax stuff.

    I think I may have solved this problem. I use AutoOptimize to maximize site speed, and that may have been auto converting the PNG into a WebP (a format I hate). I turned that off and have switched to the JetPack image optimizer. When I loaded the site in Brave, the logo loaded as PNG, so hopefully that fixed it.

    If that doesn’t work, I’ll convert the logo to JPG, but I like PNG for the transparent background, which plays nicer with Dark Mode. (I have not enabled or tested Dark Mode for the site, but I know some folks use extensions to enable it anyway and I try to respect that.)

    There’s always Midnight Commander, which should be installable on the Mac via Homebrew.

    I’ve used the Macrumors guide for years and it’s an invaluable resource to the community, but I wanted to offer a little more hand-holding. It tells you when to buy, but not why to buy. But it’s great if you already know what you want.

    Do you have any specific recommendations? I parse it easily, but I’m one of those Millenials. I could try to put horizontal rules at the top and bottom of each section to better distinguish them.

  39. The lines between seconds help, that was part of it. But even the info in each section my attention is a bit haphazard. (big caveat that I’m not a designer).

    Section title: larger font but not stronger. It doesn’t stand out much compared to the larger orange boxes. So I see the rounded box, but the text listing what it is representing comes later. Feels backwards to me.

    Recommndation links: My eyes are drawn to these first, but what they are comes a second later, by reading upwards in most cases. Are these buttons? Links? Styled like buttons, but wasn’t clear what would happen when I clicked, even though I guessed it was a link (but also not clear). Details on why that’s the best, or link to buy the product?

    Bold lines: This is additional info, but not inset or differentiated in any way. Also bold, so seems like it’s supposed to be more important, but isn’t really. I’d use placement (right justified or indented maybe?) to differentiate vs the bold.

    Again I’m not a designer, so not the best to offer alternatives, but I would find other visual ways of differentiating the different types of info than the ones used. I should also qualify I’m reading on a desktop, haven’t checked it on mobile.

    HTH

  40. The image is showing correctly for me now, thanks!

  41. Good news: I have enabled donations. I remembered I set up a Stripe account over the weekend for my non-Apple-related Substack, so implementing that took all of about 5 minutes. I’ve set the price at $10 per year. Let me know if that seems like a reasonable amount. Unfortunately, Stripe makes me set up a different “product” for each possible donation amount, so I wanted to keep it simple.

    However, I must say: please become a TidBITS member first. Your membership funds everything we do here, including my salary as managing editor, Adam’s salary, fees for contributors like Julio, etc. Your TidBITS membership will have much more impact than your Apple Buying Advice donation.

    That said, you can donate to Apple Buying Advice here. That link is also available on the home page. If you are a crypto person, you can find BTC and ETH addresses on my about page.

    Bad news: Stripe’s Apple Pay integration is not yet enabled due to an error. I have been in touch with Stripe support and they are as flummoxed as I am. I am hoping they can fix it soon (Stripe has an excellent reputation). But in the meantime, it’s a huge bummer since Apple Pay is so painless, at least from the user end, and you miss out on that extra 10 cents of Apple Card cashback per year.

    Before you donate, please understand:

    1. This is a donation and I can’t offer anything in return other than trying to keep the site running. I work on this site in my spare time so I can’t always fix and update things as quickly as I would like.
    2. While I’m always open to feedback, and I’ve been responsive to it, all decisions about the site are ultimately mine and mine alone.

    Again, thanks for the huge response! Traffic has been crazy and I’m shocked and impressed Bluehost has managed to keep up.

  42. One thing that is always helpful on a site that wants to be seen as current is the date the page was last edited. It is reassuring when the date is relatively recent, and a warning when the site has been left to languish. Either way, the date is useful. Thanks again for this, I will be pointing friends and relatives your way!

  43. That’s my pet peeve too!!! It’s often the first thing I look for when visiting a site. No date, immediate deduction.

    Great site Josh!

  44. Hi Josh, thanks for the fix. Your logo image now loads and looks fine here too, both in Safari and in iCab. (And in Chrome, too, of course.) I like the 6-color design, using 2 pairs of complementary colors, a la Apple logo originale.

  45. Thank you! Glad to have one technical issue knocked down!

  46. 100% agree. When my wife decided she wanted an Apple Watch (before I got one!) I was frugal and got the GPS version. But I never considered that my iPhone is always in my pocket which isn’t the case for her. So after a few months of it being fairly useless for her, we sold it and bought her a cellular model. Now she’s getting the most out of it.

    It’s easy for us as men to not consider what it’s like for someone who doesn’t have ample pockets. I think it would be a big service to at least mention that in the paragraph that recommends the GPS model.

  47. I’m also not a professional designer but I agree with all of Angus’s observations. The relative lack of visual distinction between sections was the main thing I noticed; the h3 headings are the right choice to semantically separate and describe each section but I find their font, size, and placement too similar to the body text.

    Adding the hr between sections helps a lot. Other ideas would change the appearance of the headings more; a more distinctive font for the headings, maybe something “chunkier” and/or serifed, having them “outdented” from the rest of the text (though this should be different on larger and smaller viewports), and/or a background-color.

    It’s almost always best to let users be in control of when they open a link in a new tab or window; I’d remove target="_blank" from the call-to-action shopping links.

  48. A bit of cool news: Apple Buying Advice is now on the first page of Google results when you search “Apple Buying Advice.” The TidBITS article link is #2, behind the MacRumors guide.

    I clearly am not either! Playing with the front page design is on my list of to-dos when I find the time. What it really needs is images, but I’ve prioritized site speed above all else. Unfortunately, this week has been absolutely bonkers, which is both good and bad. Here’s my current to-do list:

    I’m not quite sure what to do with the newsletter. I’ve had way more sign-ups than I anticipated. Of course, I’ll send something out when new Apple products drop, but I’ve also considered sending good deals I see. But I’m hesitant to clutter your inbox because mine is like a war zone.

    Thanks for that feedback. I didn’t quite know how to handle those. I personally like it when a link opens a new tab, but I didn’t want key stuff buried, so I used that more for background information. It’s on the to-do list.

  49. Good news, Apple Pay is working! You can donate here. Of course, you must be in Safari for this to work.

    IMG_6816

    If you’re interested in nerdy details about the problems I had:

    First problem was site verification. I had to upload a file, but I first put it in the wrong place. I fixed that but it still wouldn’t see the file. Support was stumped. I tried it again last night while cleaning up browser windows and it suddenly worked. But I still had no Apple Pay button so I emailed support again.

    Support explained this morning that it won’t show up if you have automatic sales tax collection enabled, which was not mentioned anywhere. They sent unhelpful developer docs, but I figured out how to turn it all off. Unfortunately, you can’t edit much on a payment link after the fact, so I had to create a new “product” and a new link.

    Thankfully, no one had donated yet, so no trouble there. I also updated the link above so it’s correct. Also, it seems like I don’t fall under sales tax nexus until I’m collecting six figures, which I don’t see happening, and if it does, that’s a good problem to have.

  50. Thanks, @jcenters. I don’t want to sound like a nag here, but do you also have an option for one-time payments? I try not to do subscriptions, not with content, not with software, not with donations either I’m afraid.

  51. Name a donation amount that sounds fair to you. Of course, you’ll have to realize I then have you nag you every year for another donation ;-). If I had my way you could enter your amount and chose whether it’s recurring or not, but Stripe doesn’t make that easy.

  52. Hi Josh, just an FYI — two days after you went live I still can’t see the site. I use a Raspberry Pi on my local network for DNS (Pi-Hole ad blocking), and its upstream for DNS is Quad Nine: 9.9.9.9. That service still does not know about applebuyingadvice [dot] com.

  53. Thanks for the heads up. It looks like they have blocked it :roll_eyes:. I’ve sent them a message.

  54. I wonder if the various blacklistings you are running into might be because Bluehost had put you in a bad “neighborhood,” IP-wise. The server I rent from Digital Ocean periodically shows up on badlists, including Google’s, although the behavior of sites I host there is exemplary. :smiley:

  55. Apologies, @jcenters, I didn’t realize it was Stripe that’s forcing the subscription. No worries, not a biggie. :slight_smile:

  56. No, they don’t force the option, but they make it so you have to provide fixed payment “prices.” So I can do like $10 annually, $10 one time, $1,000 one-time, $1 per month, etc. I didn’t want to present a bunch of confusing options, and I figured $10 per year seemed reasonable because if six people sign up for that, that covers site expenses.

    Maybe. It’s still a lousy practice.

  57. I see it as a really personal choice where a one-size-fits-all piece of advice just doesn’t work. Some people are more klutzy and are always dropping their phone – sure, those folks would be better served with a more rugged case.

    For me personally, I have a good track record over the years of not damaging my phone (knock on wood) so I search out the most minimalist slimmest case I can find; and I never use a screen protector. After all, what’s that gorilla glass for, anyway? The case I’m using now is transparent so the color of the phone (red) can actually be seen. I like devices that are a bright enough color that they’re easy to find in a dimly lit room. I HATE black stuff for that reason!

  58. Exactly my approach to cases. I want something that gives me better grip but still allows the phone to fit in my jeans pocket. I use the RhineShield bumper style case. Protects against drops and it keeps the screen and back from touching the surface when laid down. My wife wants a screen protector but has moved to a slimmer case. She has broken 3 or 4 screen protectors but hard to say if its absence would have meant a broken screen. Son did an around the world deployment on a carrier carrying an iPhone 6s with no case. Lots of wear on the case but no screen damage.

  59. I too have a clear screen for my iPhone 11 so I can see the color, which matches the color of my iPad mini and a Hydroflask. (When I was feeling squirrelly stuck at home during the first year of the pandemic, I also bought a mask that matched as well.)

    I’ve been considering going without a case in the future, but I may start using screen protectors. My phone, I’ve noticed, has a few scratches on the screen. It seems like the glass Apple uses is more scratch prone than in the past, but it could just be my imagination.

Join the discussion in the TidBITS Discourse forum

Participants

Avatar for jcenters Avatar for Simon Avatar for mac Avatar for janesprando Avatar for Mark_Nagata Avatar for Laine.Lee Avatar for jzw Avatar for tjordahl Avatar for neil1 Avatar for jbh Avatar for ddmiller Avatar for erik Avatar for fearghas Avatar for rmcken Avatar for chirano Avatar for doug2 Avatar for david19 Avatar for Shamino Avatar for ashley Avatar for angusC Avatar for Gary_J Avatar for glenthompson Avatar for Technogeezer Avatar for kdawson