Live data from Hacker News

Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

nytimes.com

181–190 of 527 posts

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#181
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until they make up a significant percentage of global R&D spending they could increase it while spending money on useful things.

Like what?

Camera tech seems to be an obvious choice. But, they could go as far out there as doing drug research. Apple is a giant multinational corporation, they could get into any market.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#182
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one of these major launches is a MacBook Pro with the same (or better) specs (esp video graphics) as their latest MacBook Pro, but without a TouchBar, they will get at least $2,500 from me. If one of these major launches is an iPhone X-like phone with a thumbprint reader (home button or otherwise), they will get at least another $1,000 from me.

I could not care less about touch bar either way, but I would not willingly go back to touch id from face id.

What's wrong with touch id? I never used face id, but fingerprint sensor on iPhone 8 is good. It unlocks at the same time I'm pressing on button, so most of the time I don't notice it at all. And I almost never getting false negatives. I can't imagine how face id might be better, but I can imagine how it can be worse.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#183
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's just no good reason for a general consumer to purchase an iPhone today * iOS (I prefer it over android) * customers already tied into the apple ecosystem * more of a focus on privacy (admittedly, this one is probably debatable)

The focus on privacy is not at all debatable compared to Android. There’s no way to argue that any Android device sold with Google Play Services (i.e. all of them in the US) is more private than an iPhone. iOS security and privacy is flawed in more than one way, but is infinitely better than Android.

Exactly what has been leaked from Google?

Google makes money by targeting users, not by selling their data.

I don't like ads in general, but privacy is not lost because of Google.

Cambridge Analytica run on FB for a reason.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fairly shocked to find that a community of seemingly technically competent people would forfeit their 4th amendment rights in order to save a few seconds keying in a passcode. This small detail feels like a microcosm of tech in general currently :/

Thank you. Reading the comments on HN always leaves me wondering if I'm the only one that doesn't have any interest in any kind of biometric unlock feature.

The kind of person who thinks this way used to be quite prevalent on HN but they've slowly disappeared. Unclear if they've simply aged out if reading HN and younger folks don't understand this mentality or if somehow HN is not preferring this mindset in general now. It's definitely missed though.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#185
post #116
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was an early adopter of iPhone X and the following year with XS Max, from my experience any unfamiliarity with FaceID is extremely short-lived, I wouldn't go back to a home button which feels archaic at this point and unnecessarily takes up valuable real-estate that should go towards a larger screen. The gestures also become fluid and second nature after a while. Even the next Pixel4 is moving to using FaceID, goin…

I like the gestures, but the unpredictability of when FaceID is going to work is maddening. Sometimes it works with sunglasses, sometimes not. Sometimes it works in the dim light of my bedroom, sometimes not. Sometimes it works when I absolutely don't expect it (half my face hidden in my pillow, towel wrapped around my face, complete darkness with face illuminated only by my lock screen) which only fools me into half…

When I am running and my hand is sweaty, it was impossible to unlock my old phone with fingerprint reader. Face ID works great in that case. I would say the fingerprint reader was the worst thing about my old phone. Granted I don't know how much better recent iPhone readers are in comparison but I expect they still have issues with wet or dirty hands.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#186
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ignoring the Apple Watch, which dominates the category and is a clear success.

Fair, but the Apple Watch has largely been an iPhone accessory rather than a standalone product. You could also point to AirPods. They sold a lot of them because a lot of people had iPhones. But neither is anything like the iPhone or the Mac in terms of defining a product category. Eventually, the Apple Watch is just going to be an iPhone on your wrist. More of a derivative, like the iPad.

the Apple Watch has largely been an iPhone accessory rather than a standalone product

The Apple Watch does not need an iPhone to function.

You could also point to AirPods. They sold a lot of them because a lot of people had iPhones

AirPods work with any Bluetooth device, not just iPhones.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#187

This is how it did compared to expectations EPS: $2.18 vs. $2.10 estimated by Refinitiv consensus estimates. Revenue: $53.8 billion vs. $53.39B estimated by Refinitiv consensus estimates. Q4 Revenue guidance: $61 billion to $64 billion versus $60.98 billion estimate by Refinitiv consensus estimates. iPhone revenue: $25.99 billion vs. $26.31 billion estimated by FactSet. Services revenue: $11.46 billion vs. $11.61 bil…

These estimates are amazingly accurate or is my amazement inappropriate?

Well, Apple provides guidance to investors, so it's not like they are starting from scratch. The rest is public markets doing exactly what they are supposed to do.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t even mind the touchbar. Just give me back the Escape key!

They removed the escape key? What the..... I'm never going to retire my 2013 MBP at this rate.

I have an esc key...?

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fairly shocked to find that a community of seemingly technically competent people would forfeit their 4th amendment rights in order to save a few seconds keying in a passcode. This small detail feels like a microcosm of tech in general currently :/

The fourth amendment covers search and seizure by the government, not the willful disclosure of information to a company by a user. But I get what you mean. Even without getting into my inherent distrust of facial recognition systems and the security/privacy implications of creating the infrastructure for it to work reliably, biometrics are usernames. They shouldn't be used as passwords.

I wasn't clear with what I meant, sorry. I was referring to how face unlock can be compelled but passwords cannot, though I realize now this is actually 5th amendment.

Re: Apple Reports Declining Profits and Slowing Growth Again

#190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They removed the escape key? What the..... I'm never going to retire my 2013 MBP at this rate.

It's very easy to remap caps lock to escape.

If only it were so easy to remap my hand! Caps lock is already dedicated to control and most apps don’t support ^[.
Post reply on HN