I don’t think there is anyone who doubts that the iPhone X would not look like it does if Steve Jobs was still alive.<p>I don’t know what it would look like, nobody does, but I am pretty sure he would have never approved the camera sticking out in the back, since 6.<p>Having said that, I still think it’s the best phone out there. Wish they didn’t have to bump up the price, but hey-ho.
Symmetry and clean lines are nice but they aren't the only thing. It's never bad to let an object be what it is.<p>I don't mind that phone's notch because it just shows what it is. If the phone is a screen you just look at, then a clean, unbroken rectangle makes sense.<p>But the phone X is also an object that looks back at you. And listens to you and talks with you. The sensor array acknowledges that in a visceral, plain way.<p>In fact, hiding it would be a little weird... like the one-way mirror of an interrogation room. You know they're watching you but you don't know exactly who, how, and when. It a little off-putting to hide it and conversely, a little reassuring to make it obvious. And it's just nice and natural to have something to look at or talk to when you want the phone to see you or hear you.
Not a huge fan of the little face camera dingleberry at the top, but what I really find ugly on the iPhone X is the sides. You've got the screen, then a tiny little bit of black, then a tiny bit of bright, shiny silver.<p>It just looks all wrong and the shiny silver is horrible - too close to the first gen iPhone and it'll take all of about 2 days for it to get covered in scratches and fingerprints.
The Essential Phone, did the same thing with the front facing camera, placing it there, is a nice design choice, but apple wow, do you need that much space?<p>Also gone is the design compromise that was the home button.
I remember reading a while back that Steve Jobs hated the button on the iphone. The button was added as a compromise.<p>It may be, that this is the real vision of Steve Jobs. But that being said, I doubt if Steve Jobs will fully like the iphone X as I am reminded of the iPhone5 ad about size being a "dazzling display of common sense"(<a href="https://youtu.be/O99m7lebirE" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/O99m7lebirE</a>). So iphone X's design is just lacking in common sense?<p>FYI: I personally have a 5S, Nexus 7 2012 & laptop. I feel a mobile bigger than SE is impractical and its better to get a Samsung Note.
Worth noting there have now been more releases of iPhone (whether you count yearly announcements or iPhone versions) after Steve Jobs passed away than before.