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Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

wsj.com

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Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#81

Post by yequalsx »

beamatronic wrote: post #32
yequalsx wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible that Apple has analyzed the market and done some research and concluded that what you want would not generate enough profit vs. their current offerings. Your money that they left on the table is most likely dwarfed by the new found money they are getting. At least, if their research is correct.

They can't make a spectrum of products that appeal to a variety of users? Ah, I forgot they are strapped for cash.

They are not strapped for cash but they evidently don’t think it’s worthwhile to build what you exactly want. They can’t meet all needs of all users. They already have a spectrum of products. It appears one more is not what they think is in their best interests.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#82

Post by JustSomeNobody »

grimgrin wrote: post #55
Keyframe wrote: post #48

What's the average upgrade cycle of iphone users? I feel like there's diminishing features in every new iteration of phones in general now. I have a few years old Xperia Z2 and have been looking at new phones in stores when I'm near one. Cool screen, this and that, but in general absolutely nothing that I would need to buy vs what I have, and I'm even inclined towards parting ways with cash for it - just can't find a…

I would imagine a lot of people are on 12 month upgrade cycles. Either going straight through the carrier's 12 month program, or the iPhone Upgrade Program.

I doubt this is typical iphone user behavior. 12 months is way too short.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#83

Post by byte1918 »

pwinnski wrote: post #54
byte1918 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solid argument.

It's anecdotal, but given the track record of industry analysts regarding iPhone sales and demand, it's no less solid than the linked article, IMO.

Ok, well, very few of my friends decided to get an X (because of price, some missing features etc.), some even switched to Android. Does me saying this add anything new to the discussion? Not really. I expect ycombinator to be more than just people contradicting each other with anecdotal data.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#84

Post by yequalsx »

torstenvl wrote: post #68
yequalsx wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible that Apple has analyzed the market and done some research and concluded that what you want would not generate enough profit vs. their current offerings. Your money that they left on the table is most likely dwarfed by the new found money they are getting. At least, if their research is correct.

Unit sales and revenue for notebooks fell for Apple from 2015 to 2016. It picked back up in 2017, but not enough to bring it back to 2015 levels. That suggests that the shitty keyboard (which improved mildly in 2017) is a not insignificant factor at the margins.

Laptop sales have been declining overall since 2011. I’m not sure looking at unit sales declining is enough evidence that they have made a mistake. I got no dog in this fight. I don’t care either way but it seems foolish to think they haven’t thought things through. If they made a mistake, and they quite possibly did, they’ll try to correct it. In general assuming that personal tastes are normative can lead to incorrect conclusions. Put another way, Apple has way more data points to inform their decisions than you or I. Doesn’t mean they get right though.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#85

Post by adjkant »

ashark wrote: post #73
adjkant wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but that worse processor and -2 USB-C ports that I would never use thanks to having to have a hub anyways saves $500. Enough to upgrade the processor to an i7. > Plus it's still a little more expensive than the previous base model at launch, I think, despite being worse in quite a few ways. Besides USB-C, what else is worse compared to the previous model? I had the model before, so not too familiar.

Mostly the lack of ports. We had to buy a ton of new monitors at work because most of our existing ones wouldn't work or didn't work well, even with adapters. If you travel with them you have to carry adapters, because there's only about a 1% chance any given monitor you need to plug into on the road is USB-C. Ditto anything else you might need to plug in. Including your friggin' iPhone. Chance of my doing that with…

Yeah, all of that's fair. I would do the same as you, but my old one was on its last legs. In the end, I spent $150 on adapters and have been good to go on my personal setup since, traveling and at home. I'm sure this is a lot bigger nightmare at work.

To me in daily life, everything seems fine sans USB-C and touch bar. It's a one-time price hassle that sucks but in the end doesn't end the world. I travel with one adapter that has USB's, HDMI, and a USB-C on it and have yet to run into any issues with it. I wish Apple actually made decent hubs that didn't cost a small fortune, and I do hope they get their shit together next model as well.

I just think that the sky isn't falling. You said it was worse in quite a few ways, but I think it's really just 1-2 big ones that can be fixed.

> We had to buy a ton of new monitors at work because most of our existing ones wouldn't work or didn't work well, even with adapters.

The biggest issue is the adapter market is absolute shit. I got lucky with two good ones.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#86

Post by JustSomeNobody »

torstenvl wrote: post #68
yequalsx wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible that Apple has analyzed the market and done some research and concluded that what you want would not generate enough profit vs. their current offerings. Your money that they left on the table is most likely dwarfed by the new found money they are getting. At least, if their research is correct.

Unit sales and revenue for notebooks fell for Apple from 2015 to 2016. It picked back up in 2017, but not enough to bring it back to 2015 levels. That suggests that the shitty keyboard (which improved mildly in 2017) is a not insignificant factor at the margins.

Well, Apple has given themselves an "out" recently by saying that "Jony's back!!!" Maybe, they'll change their minds on some of their recent design decisions.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#87

Post by taylodl »

waterphone wrote: post #67
codq wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still powering through with a mid-2009 Core2Duo. I've wanted to upgrade for a while now, but just don't feel an unassailable 'oomph' to do it. Lots of folks say the 2015 rMBP is the gold standard best laptop Apple has ever put out, and I can't disagree. I'd drop some serious cash in a heartbeat for a brand new model that touches on those notes, but the new MBPs just are not even close to where they should be.

I used a 2011 MBP for 6 years until the GPU finally failed, and then downgraded to a 2010 MBP. For most things, I hardly notice any issues with it being underpowered, and I intend to keep using this indefinitely until it no longer functions and isn't easily repairable. I'm unmotivated to buy a new computer I can't repair myself as easily or replace the batteries when they wear out, because I like using my computers f…

Apple only charges $199 for a new battery for the MBP's not having user-replaceable batteries. Which sounds horrible until you realize a new battery for the old MacBooks was $129 (I've replaced a couple). So really, you're just paying an extra $70 and you're only going to need to do it once over the lifetime of your system, which should be 8-10 years. Not bad.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#88

Post by [deleted] »

yequalsx wrote: post #84
torstenvl wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unit sales and revenue for notebooks fell for Apple from 2015 to 2016. It picked back up in 2017, but not enough to bring it back to 2015 levels. That suggests that the shitty keyboard (which improved mildly in 2017) is a not insignificant factor at the margins.

Laptop sales have been declining overall since 2011. I’m not sure looking at unit sales declining is enough evidence that they have made a mistake. I got no dog in this fight. I don’t care either way but it seems foolish to think they haven’t thought things through. If they made a mistake, and they quite possibly did, they’ll try to correct it. In general assuming that personal tastes are normative can lead to incorr…

[deleted]

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#89

Post by ashark »

adjkant wrote: post #85
ashark wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mostly the lack of ports. We had to buy a ton of new monitors at work because most of our existing ones wouldn't work or didn't work well, even with adapters. If you travel with them you have to carry adapters, because there's only about a 1% chance any given monitor you need to plug into on the road is USB-C. Ditto anything else you might need to plug in. Including your friggin' iPhone. Chance of my doing that with…

Yeah, all of that's fair. I would do the same as you, but my old one was on its last legs. In the end, I spent $150 on adapters and have been good to go on my personal setup since, traveling and at home. I'm sure this is a lot bigger nightmare at work. To me in daily life, everything seems fine sans USB-C and touch bar. It's a one-time price hassle that sucks but in the end doesn't end the world. I travel with one ad…

> I just think that the sky isn't falling. You said it was worse in quite a few ways, but I think it's really just 1-2 big ones that can be fixed.

Well, it was several ports they replaced :-)

But yeah, it's not that I think the new ones are junk or anything. I have one for work. It's fine if you have USB-C stuff with it and if making sure you have that crap is someone else's problem, and expense. There's just no way I'm paying more for one of them than the previous model, for my personal laptop, because I use every port on there all the time—except the Apple ones (lightning/displayport? I can never keep the names straight) and don't have a single USB-C device in my house. If the new model came with a really great multiport hub/dock thingy to get us through this (multi-year) port transition period that'd at least make it less off-putting.

Re: Apple’s New iPhones Get a Lukewarm Reception from Buyers

#90

Post by scarface74 »

tolmasky wrote: post #58
rock_hard wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This couldn’t be farther from the truth! Happy iPhoneX user here. FaceID is a complete game changer IMO...a paradigm shift! Not just for unlocking the phone but the fact all of my apps (banking, etc) also support it makes authentication be a problem of the past...all friction gone! It’s amazing and can probably only be expierenced in person...which might be why sales have been weak.

A paradigm shift indeed. Anyone can pick up your phone, point it at you, and then get access to all your apps (banking, etc). I recently went to Disneyland and the way it works with normal passes now (not year round), is that they point an iPhone at you and take your picture. If you enter a new country, they take your fingerprint and take a picture of you. We are training people to use the two pieces of information t…

A paradigm shift indeed. Anyone can pick up your phone, point it at you, and then get access to all your apps (banking, etc).

You have to be looking at the phone. How much that helps is another question.

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