A thousand dollars is an awful lot to spend on a smartphone. But $700 (or $800) isn't exactly small change either. Your existing phone, whether an older iPhone, a Galaxy device, a One Plus or something else, is likely completely and utterly fine -- in fact, it's still amazing. I'm not trying to state the case for upgrading every time the Apple Store goes offline, but I do want you to make an informed choice. There must be some sort of mental disconnect if you're willing to buy the iPhone 8 when you've already seen the iPhone X -- a device that Apple itself says marks the future of its smartphone ambitions.

The iPhone X is only marginally bigger than the iPhone 8, but it has a screen larger than that on the iPhone 8 Plus -- the best of both. There's no Timelord magic here, just those gorgeous shaved bezels we're seeing on an awful lot of phones in 2017. Apple's most expensive phone yet also marks the first time the company has gone for OLED with its phone screens.

This is widely regarded as the best mobile display tech, and reaffirms Tim Cook's claim that the X will inform the next decade of iPhones. (Even if Android phones were using it years ago -- shush.) Better dynamic range (it can handle HDR video) and improved contrast are some of the major benefits with OLED -- it's just taken a while for Apple to get on board. The iPhone X also touts a higher resolution to complement that new screen tech. It's simply a better display, at least on paper, than any other iPhone.

An edge-to-edge screen comes at a cost, however: It means bidding farewell to the home button. It's fair that some people don't like change, but most of us will adjust. Touchscreen keyboards were pretty divisive too -- ten years ago.

To substitute for the loss of the button's fingerprint scanner, Apple's Face ID combines an infrared sensor, a flood illuminator and a dot projector to identify you and unlock your phone with, well, your face. This is probably the new feature I have the most concerns and questions about -- Nicole Lee has already explained how laborious it seems at this point, especially when Touch ID seems to do the same job so much more elegantly.