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Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

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Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#251

Post by KerrAvon »

ac29 wrote: post #161
chrisseaton wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,…

> If Apple is compiling my application 1.5x as fast The M1 Max (the highest end chip available in a Mac laptop) is slower than competition from Intel and AMD, though. I'm not sure what its supposed to be 50% faster than, unless you are only comparing it to old Intel Macs.

You have to cherry-pick pretty brutally to make that statement true.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#252

Post by bobbylarrybobby »

gigel82 wrote: post #245
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 don't know why developers are so infatuated with laptops (and at this point I'm too afraid to ask? :)). But seriously, I need a full-sized keyboard, a mouse, and at least 2 monitors to feel productive. Yes, I realize you can probably hook those up to a laptop with a bunch of adapters and hubs too, but I also use my machines to game, so...

I would guess it’s because developers are really finicky about the software side of their setup, and a laptop lets them have that wherever they are. With a desktop you need to keep multiple devices in sync, which is not yet quite as seamless as it should be.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#253

Post by smoldesu »

kjreact wrote: post #213
smoldesu wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

> Well, Apple could just... let people install other stores. So the solution is to let another big tech be the gatekeeper? If a customer thinks Google is a better gatekeeper then they should stick with Android. Nothing wrong with that. > Do what F-Droid does, compare the downloaded binary against a first-party checksum for the release (usually provided by Github). But my issue is not that something has been tampered…

> So the solution is to let another big tech be the gatekeeper?

No, the solution is explicitly stopping big tech from being a gatekeeper. Apple can continue to sell their "premium" App Store with amazing security benefits and brilliant moderation, while advanced users can toggle the "freedom mode" setting or whatever and go get IPA files off Github. It's not some pie-in-the-sky concept, it's how software distribution was meant to be done.

> I don’t have the expertise to look through the source and verify that no trojan has been added by one of the contributors. A checksum doesn’t solve this problem.

Good, then don't use any app outside the App Store. Apple will do their job to keep you perfectly safe from all those nasty, moneygrubbing developers who disagree with their rightful tax. You can remain loyal, but their monopoly literally cannot persist in a just world.

> As for the right to install/manage software, I view it similarly to what the FDA is doing now [...] Is such a view considered insanity?

Not until you start telling me that I don't have a right to eat food that the FDA hasn't approved for me. If you only eat FDA-certified food, good for you. It's a service the government provides free-of-charge, and some people like it. If you try shutting down your next-door neighbor's kid for selling non-certified lemonade, their dad is going to give you a black eye. The problem is, we quite literally lack an institution large enough to give Apple a black eye. There are governments fining them millions of dollars and they shake it off like Godzilla worrying about some pests. Their attitude towards democratic leadership is appalling, and deserves to be brought to heel.

> In the end is all this talk about rights and freedoms really just a veil for the fact that some devs just want to make more money?

It's absolutely mind-blowing that you will say that in defense of a company that consists of "some devs [that] just want to make more money". Yeah, maybe they do want a chance at competing against the largest software company in the world. Is that a big ask? Maybe I want to install FOSS apps that Apple won't let people publish to the app store. You don't have to, but you can't argue that I shouldn't be able to. Apple doesn't have the right to decide which browser I use when I pay for their hardware. They shouldn't make you pay $99/year to temporarily install a nerfed app to your iPhone. It's one of the most oppressive rackets in modern internet history, and I'll gladly refute any arguments against that claim.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#255

Post by scarface74 »

ethbr0 wrote: post #250
tbrock wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On android you’d be lucky to get more than a single OS update that added new features or functionality.

Or just buy a Pixel if you care about that. Why people buy Samsung or other manufacturer phones, and then gripe that the company is as stingy with backwards support and updates as they've always been boggles my mind. Why would anyone ever think this time would be different?

And then you will get at most three upgrades!

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#256

Post by rkagerer »

duped wrote: post #74
spaceman_2020 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their numbers seem utterly unreal to me. How on earth do you sell $205 billion worth of just a single product (iPhone) every year? This is simply the greatest business to have ever been created. I can't imagine anything else ever topping it. The margins AND the volume are both insane.

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…

They replace these devices about every 2-3 years

As someone who buys a good smartphone then hangs onto it for 5 years, can someone help me understand the need for this?

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#257

Post by ethbr0 »

scarface74 wrote: post #255
ethbr0 wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just buy a Pixel if you care about that. Why people buy Samsung or other manufacturer phones, and then gripe that the company is as stingy with backwards support and updates as they've always been boggles my mind. Why would anyone ever think this time would be different?

And then you will get at most three upgrades!

At the 6+, it looks like it's at 5 years (or more). https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705?hl=en

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#258

Post by AOsborn »

smoldesu wrote: post #93
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…

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…

> That quite literally cannot be the status quo going forward.

Honestly, I disagree. The Apple customer experience and product ecosystem is just so far ahead of any competitors I don't want to use anything else. As far as the store is concerned specifically, I want to be able to use one store with a clear policy around payments, subscriptions and refunds - not a myriad of half-baked competitors with fragmented offerings.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#259

Post by smoldesu »

prepend wrote: post #129
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…

> The App Store is a fundamental de-facto monopoly on software distribution and (as we've seen with Spotify) service development. This would be true if Android didn’t exist. But it does, so apple isn’t. What would be funny is if Google stops developing android, since it’s lot lucrative, so they can sue under antitrust to improve their ad business that apple keeps hampering.

> This would be true if Android didn’t exist. But it does, so apple isn’t.

This would be true if iOS and the App Store weren't separate entities. But they are, so it isn't.

If Google stops contributing to the AOSP, they would not be able to sue under antitrust because Android still exists.

Re: Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

#260

Post by mostlysimilar »

smoldesu wrote: post #185
kjreact wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Well, Apple could just... let people install other stores.

The only way I would be okay with this is if Apple required any app you provide in an alternative store must be available in the official App Store as well.

The last thing I want is for Meta to come along and mandate you install their 3rd party app store in order to use Instagram. I don't even want this app on my phone but I use it to keep in touch with friends that just won't use anything else. It's not _necessary_ but it's nearly necessary.

I would never install an app from a Meta-controlled app store, and the first thing they would do if Apple was forced to allow it is launch their own and take Instagram etc. off the official Apple App Store.

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