So there were the usual queues of Apple "fans" spanning blocks when the iPhone X was released.
After waiting a few hours and paying $1579 (or more, depending on what type they wanted), customers excitedly unwrapped their minimalist packaging to find ... a slippery, shiny, 14.36 x 7.09 x 0.77-centimetre slice of electronic metal and glass with microchips lodged inside.
But if you suspect the iPhone X might just be an expensive way to do things you can already do on existing smartphones, you're right.
Apple's appeal has never been its price point, though; it's in its innovative, sleek design that makes users feel like their quotidian gadgets – such as their laptop or phone – are pieces of art.
The new facial recognition technology replaces the fingerprint sensor found on other iPhones. How well does it work?
Yet, despite the fact that people will voluntarily stand in huge crowds for the chance to touch one, the iPhone X is a departure for Apple. It's bad design.
There are three new features Apple is really pushing with this new release. First, the entire face is a high-quality screen, which means there's no "home" button to help navigate the phone. Instead it relies on the user remembering different, unintuitive gestures that are each confusingly similar to each other to control their own phone.
Mystifyingly, the screen also has a "notch" where the front camera goes, which obstructs part of the screen and affects the visibility and usability of apps.
The iPhone X will also feature facial recognition to log into your phone. Instead of tapping out a passcode or swiping a fingerprint to use your phone, you just look at it. Aside from being a super-creepy feature that nobody asked for, Wired has already identified several security issues.
Finally, Apple are also spruiking wireless charging. It sounds like magic! But it isn't! You have to put the phone on a specific charging pad that is plugged into the wall, so it's not unlike plugging a phone in.
iPhones have always been associated with innovation, but the iPhone X is a clear indicator that things have changed. Not only are the new features questionable in quality, they offer nothing different from earlier iterations of the phone. It's the same thing but worse. Once the transparent Apple stores have cleared of diehard fans after the iPhone X's release, the rest of us should leave the airy spaces empty.
