Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#181

Post by trap_goes_hot » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 10:59 PM UTC

alwillis wrote: post #133

drcongo wrote: post #2

Well now I'm a bit less happy about them putting up the prices on services the other day.

Are you okay with more money going to content creators? From https://9to5mac.com/2022/10/24/apple-music-tv-prices-going-u... : Apple said the increase in Apple Music subscription price was due to increased licensing costs. The company said artists and songwriters will earn more per stream as a result of the pricing tier changes. Regarding Apple TV+, the company said the increased price reflects the growing catalog of…

Apple's suppliers raised prices, so they just passed it on to the customer. Seems to be standard practice in corp America.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#182

Post by timeon » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 11:01 PM UTC

stereoradonc wrote: post #148

duped wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost every adult in the developed world needs a smart phone. They replace these devices about every 2-3 years. Apple makes one of the best in class of these devices, and has successfully designed one such that it's hard to switch to a competitor (rather it's easier to stay in the ecosystem). They've convinced about a billion people on the planet that the iPhone is the best device for them, so if you split that into…

Happy Samsung Galaxy owner here. Migration from my last Note to current S21 Ultra was completed in less than half an hour, including "settings", contacts, data etc. I had to log in to Fastmail and Telegram with a seamless sync. Using BitWarden to manage passwords. That is worth the premium too! Dropbox syncs my files (and back ups) seamlessly. No sweat. iCloud is pathetic in terms of features (no delta sync) and gene…

> completed in less than half an hour

From one Samsung phone to another and it took almost half an hour?

I'm not fun of iCloud but it is basically instant.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#183

Post by karlshea » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 11:03 PM UTC

tshaddox wrote: post #126

duped wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost every adult in the developed world needs a smart phone. They replace these devices about every 2-3 years. Apple makes one of the best in class of these devices, and has successfully designed one such that it's hard to switch to a competitor (rather it's easier to stay in the ecosystem). They've convinced about a billion people on the planet that the iPhone is the best device for them, so if you split that into…

> Apple makes one of the best in class of these devices, and has successfully designed one such that it's hard to switch to a competitor (rather it's easier to stay in the ecosystem). I wonder how many years it will take before I can convince some people that I actually just prefer Apple's phones to competing phones and that I'm not actually brainwashed or forced by Apple to never leave. But that's exactly what a bra…

> I wonder how many years it will take before I can convince some people that I actually just prefer Apple's phones to competing phones and that I'm not actually brainwashed or forced by Apple to never leave.

It will never happen. Those people are just not mentally able to understand that other people have different needs, wants, values, and opinions than them.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#184

Post by Reason077 » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 11:03 PM UTC

gopalv wrote: post #169

civilized wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Satya Nadella can pry my MacBook Pro from my cold, head hands.

The worry is that the person prying it, rather gently, will be Tim Cook. The only hedge against that is the ecosystem for phone & ipad development is still the macbooks - so it does hurt Apple to take away the ability to write your own apps on a Macbook. I got a new ipad this week and it is pretty clear that 99% of my non-work life can be lived on it - banks, games and all the streaming apps. I don't have any more co…

According to rumours, Apple has been working on a touchscreen-enabled variant of macOS for the iPad, due for release in 2023.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#185

Post by smoldesu » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 11:06 PM UTC

kjreact wrote: post #174

smoldesu wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iPhones make money, but services make more. The App Store alone made over 80 billion dollars in estimated revenue last year, just by existing. That's without accounting for Apple One, Apple Fitness, Apple Arcade, AppleTV Plus, or iCloud. Apple simply makes $80 billion annually for writing a payment processor everyone else has to use. Services are one thing, but playing both the gatekeeper and competitor to a number o…

I think the App Store model is probably still currently the best model for the average user who doesn’t know how to secure a computing device. I know we may be heading towards a future where we’re totally locked down, but what alternative do we have? I’m always hesitant to install software on my desktop because I never know if there’s a trojan hidden in the software. I’m a relatively technical user, but I have no ide…

> I know we may be heading towards a future where we’re totally locked down, but what alternative do we have?

Well, Apple could just... let people install other stores. The App Store will still exist for new users and security-paranoid users, but the right to install/manage software needs to be a universal right when you buy hardware from someone. Arguing the opposite is almost insanity.

> I’m a relatively technical user, but I have no idea how I would determine if the software was safe.

Do what F-Droid does, compare the downloaded binary against a first-party checksum for the release (usually provided by Github). Then you can tell if the software you're loading has been tampered before it runs, simple as that. This is what the App Store does internally (along with cert-checking) to provide your "premium" security experience. It's largely designed to be distributed.

> Conversely, it would be interesting if an independent pro-privacy company (such as DuckDuckGo?) were to make a configurable smartphone for the more technical crowd that was both secure and allowed side-loading.

That's not the point either. The iPhone is fully capable of loading alternative App Stores and even alternate OSes. Apple is the only one stopping the user from doing these things. The fact that Apple explicitly does not allow people to distribute software unless they profit off has drawn incredible antitrust scrutiny. All of this can and will be alleviated with Apple giving up their iron grip on the 30% tax. What alternative do we have?

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#186

Post by pwinnski » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 11:10 PM UTC

samatman wrote: post #60

retskrad wrote: post #15

Holy moly, the Mac keeps growing like crazy. It’s amusing how Apple wanted the iPad to disrupt the Mac but the advent of M-Series chips on the Mac has really nipped that ambition in the bud.

I remember when I got my first Retina laptop screen, it was nice but I quickly just got used to it. Then, I found myself using the earlier machine, without the high DPI. That learned me. It was hard to imagine all the work I'd done staring through a screen door at those pixels. Similarly, I've been using the M1 MPB since I got it. I only remember that it never makes noise when I'm reminded of it, such as in this conv…

Oh man, I'm sitting with an M1 Mac mini and an M1 Pro MacBook Pro on my desk, and until I read your comment, I'd completely forgotten that computers used to make noise!

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#187

Post by rcarr » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 11:15 PM UTC

colinmhayes wrote: post #131

rcarr wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> AAPLE has $23B in cash, down 1/3 from this time last year. Mostly given back to investors. Probably nothing to worry about here:) Didn’t they have over a hundred billion in cash reserves a while back? This seems significantly low compared to what it used to be. Mac revenue will be down next year but whenever they release the M3 on the 3nm node I think they’ll have another bumper year. Probably 2024. Also Apple Glas…

I thought TSMC is taking 3nm to volume production starting Q4 22/Q1 23. Why would the 3nm mac processor be on hold until 2024?

I don’t think personally they will make the M2 Pro and Max MacBook Pros as 3nm as they’re due next month. I think you might see an M2 Ultra chip at 3nm for the new Mac Pro. I think they’ll wait a year before they release new M3 MacBook Airs and Pros which means you won’t see them appear until either end of 2023 or sometime in 2024. We might even end up in an odd situation where the iPad Pro gets the M3 before the laptops. Could be completely wrong though, just my speculation.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#188

Post by lotsofpulp » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 11:16 PM UTC

makeitdouble wrote: post #159

lotsofpulp wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give an example of how the US government has made other countries use products from those 3 businesses?

That's more subtle than that, and probably closer to how French treat their wine business for instance. An example of gov intervention: banning Huawei as it was rising as a global phone maker, international tarriff negociation (the whole stupid tarriff war happened as China was rising as high end device exporter), protecting Apple's business when challenged on anti-trust grounds (Apple's open stance to the judge was…

How is that an example of US government influencing other countries’ purchasing decisions?

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#189

Post by mrep » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 11:16 PM UTC

electriclove wrote: post #33

Did they announce anything in regards to share buybacks? They reduced outstanding shares by ~37% over the past 10 years. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/AAPL/apple/shares-...

Wouldn't surprise me if they stopped and switched to dividends with the additional tax on buybacks.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#190

Post by shubb » Thu, Oct 27, 2022, 11:18 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #107

SoftTalker wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course. But I don't see there being enough of those people to drive that kind of revenue to one company. Apple makes money like a fashion brand because that is what they are. They are very innovative and very good at doing it. I'm not trying to detract from their success. Just amazed that it works and has worked for so long. But I don't own any Apple technology and can't think of a reason I would buy any. Yes I do…

I don't think it's the mystery you do - they make money because they make the very best technology, that makes people who work with a wide range of workloads more effective, and so those people are willing to spend money with them. If Apple is compiling my application 1.5x as fast and lets me work 1.5x as long without recharging, that saves me genuine time in the day, either to do more work, or to work on my hobbies,…

I think he's struggling with the question - why do so many people buy sports cars and SUVs when they drive slowly in a city.

Most people don't use a laptop much at home, preferring to consume media on a phone or smart TV. At work, most people use web applications and microsoft office and not much else.

So why do they need a fancy car? People like fancy cars. They have been buying them for years, and they aren't going to stop.

Now you are driving your jeep off road on your mountain ranch saying some people need an SUV and you are right, but you aren't rebutting what he is saying.