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A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

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Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#81

Post by h4waii »

chrisseaton wrote: post #56
saagarjha wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why is any of this your business? Because I am the person paying for the thing?

But why do you care what their costs are? What will you do with that information? Either the product is worth it for what you need or it isn’t.

You're telling him not to care about their costs, but Apple is straight up telling him to care about their savings, but don't pass it on to the consumer.

Generally speaking, people care about saving more of their money, they care much less about how much money the company they are purchasing goods or services for is able to retain by providing less for the same (or more) price.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#82

Post by Polylactic_acid »

ProAm wrote: post #45
Bud wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's an optimal experience: my device cost went down, I get to choose what I spend that money on (such as superior 3rd-party chargers with multiple ports), and I get the satisfaction of knowing that Apple didn't waste planetary resources making inflexible single-port chargers and $5 wired earbuds that I will never, ever use. I do admit that it's not optimal for every single user, but I do think it's a net impr…

> For me it's an optimal experience You are a one off use case. The standard deviation for your experience is pretty large. Especially for first time iPhone buyers.

I just switched to an iphone recently and the brick would have been a non issue for me. I already have a bunch of USB C bricks from my android phones going back to the Nexus 5X

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#83

Post by fastball »

Zak wrote: post #59
samatman wrote: post #38

Literally every one of the existing options still works. Ok with charging at 5w? Plug your lightning-to-A cable into the little tiny cube charger they've been selling since forever. Already have a faster USB charger? It works. Ok with Qi at 7W? Works Oh, you want the new shiny MagSafe puck system? Great. Buy it. This analysis completely ignores that the new shiny system is supposed to be a better experience . It's co…

I'm disappointed Apple hasn't dropped Lightning and just made all their devices use standard USB-C. I could see their motivation for developing their own connector when everyone else was using micro-B, which has a number of disadvantages, but now USB-C is used to power virtually every other phone and tablet, and many laptops including Apple's own.

The theory I've heard is that they're planning to remove the charge port entirely in the iPhone 13, and therefore it would be a massive engineering waste to make only a single generation of phones with USB-C.

But yeah, I really wanted USB-C. Bought the phone anyway though.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#84

Post by e40 »

Zak wrote: post #59
samatman wrote: post #38

Literally every one of the existing options still works. Ok with charging at 5w? Plug your lightning-to-A cable into the little tiny cube charger they've been selling since forever. Already have a faster USB charger? It works. Ok with Qi at 7W? Works Oh, you want the new shiny MagSafe puck system? Great. Buy it. This analysis completely ignores that the new shiny system is supposed to be a better experience . It's co…

I'm disappointed Apple hasn't dropped Lightning and just made all their devices use standard USB-C. I could see their motivation for developing their own connector when everyone else was using micro-B, which has a number of disadvantages, but now USB-C is used to power virtually every other phone and tablet, and many laptops including Apple's own.

Given the amount of discussion USB-C gets here on HN, maybe it's not such a clear decision?

I think the biggest risk in USB-C, for me, it makes me really nervous when I buy a cable, and even then I'm not 100% confident. When I buy a lightning cable, I have no fears. And they're not even more expensive anymore. Some of those USB-C cables are just as expensive.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#85

Post by fastball »

petre wrote: post #73
Zak wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm disappointed Apple hasn't dropped Lightning and just made all their devices use standard USB-C. I could see their motivation for developing their own connector when everyone else was using micro-B, which has a number of disadvantages, but now USB-C is used to power virtually every other phone and tablet, and many laptops including Apple's own.

USB-C is great but the Lightning connector is still better designed. Oh and you can downvote me all you want, I'm an electrical engineer, not an Apple fanboy. Don't like the phone. Anyway, they should at least include a cable.

Disagree. I have had frequent issues with lint and other detritus collecting in Lightning ports, causing the device to no longer be able to charge until it is cleaned out. I haven't had that with USB-C (or any other type of port for that matter).

Also USB-C can charge my computer. Lightning cannot.

The entire reason I want something like USB-C is so that I can do everything with one cable. Lightning is not up to the task.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#86

Post by paxys »

radimm wrote: post #22
paxys wrote: post #3

I don't think even the most hardcore Apple superfans are buying the "reducing waste" argument. They have the right to make their products more expensive, and that's fine. People are going to keep buying them regardless.

Depends how you look at it. If I consider the amount of cables/charges/earpods we have as family this is logical move. We don’t upgrade all the devices every year but it still adds up. Most of them are just throwaway.

While people do have a million chargers lying around from over the years, almost none of them will work with the new iPhone. The average Apple enthusiast will still end up buying one or more separately.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#87

Post by alistairSH »

samatman wrote: post #38

Literally every one of the existing options still works. Ok with charging at 5w? Plug your lightning-to-A cable into the little tiny cube charger they've been selling since forever. Already have a faster USB charger? It works. Ok with Qi at 7W? Works Oh, you want the new shiny MagSafe puck system? Great. Buy it. This analysis completely ignores that the new shiny system is supposed to be a better experience . It's co…

The cable is a wear item. By the time I'm ready to swap phones (3 years or so), I'm also ready for a new cable.

If I bought an iPhone 12 tomorrow, I would, at minimum, also have to buy another cable, because the one Apple included doesn't work with my existing charger. Not the end of the world, but still annoying.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#88

Post by Polylactic_acid »

newbie578 wrote: post #49
Bud wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's an optimal experience: my device cost went down, I get to choose what I spend that money on (such as superior 3rd-party chargers with multiple ports), and I get the satisfaction of knowing that Apple didn't waste planetary resources making inflexible single-port chargers and $5 wired earbuds that I will never, ever use. I do admit that it's not optimal for every single user, but I do think it's a net impr…

Gahaha, this has to be a joke. Man, Apple doesn't even need a marketing department when they got fans willing to die on a hill for them. I refuse to believe that you are so obtuse to think that your device cost went down. Apple keeps increasing the price each year regardless of circumstances, their cost went down, not yours. What we should congratulate them for is to be able to skimp out on users, sell them a story a…

The value for money you get with each device keeps going up. The update support lifetime keeps going up to the point where devices are getting 6+ years of updates while the SoC gets further ahead of the snapdragon range every year.

I have both android tablets and an iPad from 2014 and the ipad still feels like a modern device with the latest OS version while the android tablets are stuck on a 2015 build of android and feel very slow.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#89

Post by tshaddox »

I agree that a major motivation here is that Apple will make a bit more money from some customers who are willing to pay. But I don't really agree with the claim that the environmental arguments are ridiculous. If everyone only buys the accessories they want, and assuming some customers previously received accessories in the box that they didn't need, then presumably this will actually reduce waste. There is still periodic "waste" when cable and charger standards change, which is happening right now, but that should happen far less often than the iPhone release cycle.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#90

Post by macintux »

ntsplnkv2 wrote: post #50

These "bitch and moan about Apple" posts on here are so tiresome. They're not smart, they're not funny, and serve zero purpose, except to cater to the echo chamber. Meanwhile Apple's phones continue to be extremely profitable. Lots of downvotes - I get it, I hit you where it hurts. But tell me where I'm wrong, discuss with me?

Even as an Apple fan I found this post to be useful perspective. It is indeed an awkward change for new iPhone users, and those who don’t have USB-C chargers lying around.

Apple ameliorated that by lowering the price on the auxiliary components, and I think it’s a good change overall, but the post still has merit.

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