There’s a lot to like in the new iPhone 11 series, but there are reasons to be disappointed, too. Some features that should be a part of any handset released in 2019 are missing, and a few rumored improvements didn’t appear.

Here are four ways the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro models fell short of the mark.

Apple Arcade’s slate of more than 100 games for $4.99 a month looks like one of the best deals in gaming at first glance. But Apple’s new game subscription service fails to live up to the expectations of many iPhone and iPad owners.

That’s not because the games are bad. Or because there are hidden fees we weren’t expecting. It’s because Cupertino billed Apple Arcade as something special … and it just isn’t.

iOS 13 is pretty great on the iPhone, but the real deal is iPadOS 13. With the new operating system, Apple split its tablet and phone platforms for the first time since the launch of the original iPad, and the tablet went in a whole new direction. iPadOS is still iOS, but now there are contextual menus, multiple windows for apps, a home screen that isn’t just a blown-up iPhone home screen, and a proper web browser. You can even plug in mice and USB hard drives.

Apple managed a fine balancing act here. If you update to iPadOS 13 and don’t really think about it, then everything (mostly) works the same, with just extra speed and polish. But if you want to dig in, you will find a whole new computer just below the surface.

The Apple Watch has been around for almost four and a half years, and I’m just about to (maybe) buy my first one. This isn’t a new habit. I held off the iPhone for five years, until I could get a decent cellular data plan without a contract, and I’m still using an old iMac as my only Mac, 10 years after buying it.

So what is it about the Apple Watch 5 that finally makes it attractive? Well, there’s one obvious answer — and one reason that’s a lot less obvious.

I love 3D Touch. I use it all the time. It’s one of the handiest shortcuts on the iPhone. And now, with the iPhone 11, it’s gone. But I don’t care. Why? Because Haptic Touch is almost as good. Even better, thanks to Apple’s switch to Haptic Touch, you can use all those 3D Touch features on the iPad.

What happened to the Apple Tag? Rumors pointed toward an imminent launch for Apple’s tracking-tile competitor, and what better place to announce it than along with new iPhones? But the iPhone 11 event came and went without the Tag.

Will we still see an Apple Tag this fall? I hope so, because it could be Cupertino’s most important product since the Apple Watch.

It’s rare that the take-home message from an Apple keynote is, “Wow, that’s far more affordable than I expected.” But that’s exactly the reaction Apple prompted when it revealed the $5-a-month price tag for its new Apple TV+ streaming service.

In one fell swoop, Apple just threw down the gauntlet to its streaming rivals. Your move, Netflix!

Cupertino’s costly decision to cancel an Apple TV+ series starring Richard Gere due to the show’s darker tone is the latest bit of evidence that Apple wants only family-friendly fare for its upcoming streaming video service.

A diet of uplifting, positive messages is certainly laudable. But that sort of high-minded approach could pose a major challenge for Apple. Should fans be worried?

Years ago, somebody dropped my old iPhone 5, and the screen exploded into a crazed sheet of splinters. Yesterday I finally “fixed” it by sticking a glass screen protector over the whole mess. It still looks terrible, but at least now I can use it without glass shards lodging in my fingertips.

And, now that I can handle the phone again, I realize that I love it. And it got me thinking. Why doesn’t Apple make a phone sized like the old iPhone 5, or iPhone SE, only with an edge-to-edge screen like the iPhones X?

On the surface, Cupertino’s decision to spend massive piles of money on its upcoming Apple TV+ streaming service seems crazy.

Is this a company with too much money being suckered? Is it a huge display of hubris (as some say of Apple Park)? Or is it, just possibly, a clever strategy that could win Apple the streaming war?

Here’s why I think that third answer is the correct one. Dig a little deeper, and Apple’s spending spree looks nothing short of brilliant.