Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

morrick.me

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 606 posts

Re: I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

#131

Post by Mistletoe »

svachalek wrote: post #6
danpalmer wrote: post #3

This pretty much sums up my feeling on the new generation. I too don't understand what's "awe dropping" about it, and have finally switched from an iPhone 15 Pro to the Android ecosystem, where a flip phone is somewhat "awe dropping". I'm not fully convinced about it, but it's different, it's fun, it's clever, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. The only thing I disagree with here is about the Air. I think Apple's strate…

I don't know how widespread this is but in my little circle the orange Pro was the biggest draw, it's the first in the Pro line (or at least as far as I can remember) with real color to it. Most of them are grayscale or very muted colors. It's another "feel" thing but got more attention than the Air's thin body.

The people that I know laughed heartily at the orange.

Re: I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

#132

Post by VogonPoetry »

wpm wrote: post #85
Gigachad wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hot swappable batteries kind of became not so important after battery banks and fast charging became a thing. Makes more sense to carry one battery bank that can charge anything than to have 2-3 phone batteries in your bag (which would be exposed to puncture too). I still think the price of battery replacements is way too high from apple. It's $150 AUD here which feels far and beyond the cost of the part cost itself.

Because the "replacement" is "get two new AirPods". Even Apple can't take AirPods apart non-destructively. They are disposable. So much for their carbon neutrality.

Everything humans do is carbon negative. Breathing, eating, driving, pooping (Westerners: toilet paper, All: waste management) and building. Getting every human to be carbon neutral would be an amazing thing!

From searched / online numbers, Apple has shipped 150 million AirPods since 2016. The AirPods 3 weigh 5.5g. The gross weight of a basic Tesla model 3 is 1760Kg. I picked a Tesla because it has plastic, metals, magnets, copper, lithium - similar materials.

In the ~10 years Apple has been making AirPods the materials used (by weight) is ~ 470 Tesla cars. So, per year (avg, not really good for this), resources consumed is about 47 Teslas (by weight).

Apple claims 40% of AirPods 3 are from recycled materials, so ~ 290 crashed / discarded Teslas could provide part of these materials - on average 29 per year.

I did the above because it perceptually relates to "real things". Teslas are NOT carbon neutral, very much carbon negative.

The reality / HORROR of waste is far, far worse. Any single plastic bag used to dispose of weekly waste likely weighs more than a pair of AirPods. Any can, made of steel or aluminum, could likely could make a lot of AirPods. The toy or product you bought that had a flap that you could lift up - there was likely a magnet under there. Any disposed single use battery might have zinc, if it was a CR2032 or "watch" battery, lithium (or silver).

Yes, AirPods might be disposable. Do they improve the qualify of life of the humans that purchase them? What is the real cost in perspective - with everything else taken into consideration? If the AirPods are used to listen to music or entertainment, then the positive mental health aspects are likely significant in a positive value direction.

Re: I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

#133

Post by stateofinquiry »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #127
snowwrestler wrote: post #89

> it’s a company that I feel has lost its alignment with me and other long-time Apple users and customers. When OS X debuted there was a daytime radio talk show in my area called “The Computer Guys.” They capably covered all sorts of computing topics, but were clearly long-time Apple dudes. And they spent weeks complaining about what a disaster OS X was. The Dock was useless and violated Apple’s HIG. The Finder made…

what a disaster OS X was OSX before the final iterations of 10.4 was a half-baked shitshow.

maybe, but I think not as bad as MacOS "classic" 8.1 and 9 that came before it!

Re: I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

#134

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

doubled112 wrote: post #91
Gigachad wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hot swappable batteries kind of became not so important after battery banks and fast charging became a thing. Makes more sense to carry one battery bank that can charge anything than to have 2-3 phone batteries in your bag (which would be exposed to puncture too). I still think the price of battery replacements is way too high from apple. It's $150 AUD here which feels far and beyond the cost of the part cost itself.

I realize we're talking about Airpods, but hot swappable batteries don't make sense to me either anymore. I seem to have power almost everywhere. My phone spends a surprising amount of time on a charger. Most of the day while I'm at home, it's on a charger. I used to keep one at the office on my desk. The car has a charger too, and CarPlay so you might as well plug it in. I'm not sure if it's a coping mechanism for p…

I have an iPhone 16 Pro Max and an older version of this battery I use and when I travel:

https://a.co/d/3g3F4eC

It can charge my MacBook Aur M2 once or my iPhone 16 Pro Max 3-4x. The iPhone itself can easily last flying and layovers all day.

Re: I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

#135

Post by StopDisinfo910 »

raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #128
ambrose2 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My mom got her battery replaced at an Apple Store and the process broke the phones ability to connect to the internet or the cellular network. They ended up replacing the phone.

I fail to see the issue. Apple broke the phone during a repair and replaced it I assume for free.

Something to last a couple of hours became a change of phone with a mandatory round trip to Apple. Apple themselves are sometimes not able to properly repair their own allegedly repairable phone.

I see a lot of issues here personally.

Re: I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

#136

Post by socalgal2 »

raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #78
avidiax wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is a hostage of its own marketing. A modular iphone that has an easy to replace battery, easy to replace screen and is maybe 2mm thicker to account for it? That would be a sellout. A convertible Macbook Air with a touch screen? It would be sold out. Neckband-style airpods with all-day battery life? Might not sell out, but would be popular. A best-in-class TV powered by Apple TV? Would probably sell well. But al…

And this is why you shouldn’t listen to the “less space than Nomad. No Wireless. Lame” tech crowd [1]. A TV is bulky, race to the bottom commodity that is only replaced every 5-8 years. > Neckband-style airpods with all-day battery life? Might not sell out, but would be popular. I don’t think Apple has any issue selling AirPods. But honestly, I do like my $70 Beat Flex for traveling. I don’t have to worry about them…

> A TV is bulky, race to the bottom commodity that is only replaced every 5-8 years.

True but, can't you kind of say the same about phones? My sister buys Moto-G's. They cost her $120. Apple charges more. They make their own market. I don't know how much I'd be willing the pay but I feel like I'd pay for an 65" Apple TV. Sony, LG, Samsung, Roku, TCL, all make crap TVs that want to spy on you. They are almost universally underpowered for their apps and OS and are all jank AF. i have an AppleTV plugged into my Sony and a few times a month I bump the bad remote and it switched to Google TV and tries to get me to sign in so it can serve ads at me.

The market for an apple branded TV might not be the same size as phones but I suspect it's big enough to become 5% of their profit.

Who would have guess headphones would do so well before they did so well?

Re: I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

#137

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

MangoToupe wrote: post #77
bombcar wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirPods are one of Apple’s best products in forever and their size forgives them battery complaints, to me. Even phones and laptops I’m willing to give a pass on, ever since USB-C got “good enough” and the battery life long enough. If I had one complaint it’d be that they should sell one fat phone with no camera hump (because it has more battery). Edit: I should have clarified as AirPods Pro are the ones I have exper…

Airpods are very, very expensive compared to competitors with 90% of the same features. I've been using a $30 set for several years and the main drawback is it's difficult to switch devices—because apple doesn't allow third parties to use access the proprietary comms that allows this for airpods. Also, I think the white is ugly. But kids seem to love it.

I doubt very seriously your $30 headphones sound as good as AirPods Pro or have the ANC.

But you can buy much cheaper headphones with the H1 chip for fast switching between devices by buying one of the Beats headphones. I love my $60 Beats Fiex with the double flange ear tips for traveling.

Re: I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

#138

Post by StopDisinfo910 »

Gualdrapo wrote: post #2

A few days ago I tried to express a similar opinion here - regarding design and taking in account the liquid glass thing and the iphone air, it feels they are doing "innovation" for the sake of "innovation", and got downvoted. They're doing (arguably) huge improvements in processing and computing yet they want to disrupt user experience just because.

I wouldn’t mind them innovating if Liquid Glass wasn’t so bad. It’s a clear step back in usability with all the things you can’t properly read.

The updated applications which Just clearly copy Android are nice however.

Re: I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

#139

Post by socalgal2 »

xadhominemx wrote: post #46
avidiax wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is a hostage of its own marketing. A modular iphone that has an easy to replace battery, easy to replace screen and is maybe 2mm thicker to account for it? That would be a sellout. A convertible Macbook Air with a touch screen? It would be sold out. Neckband-style airpods with all-day battery life? Might not sell out, but would be popular. A best-in-class TV powered by Apple TV? Would probably sell well. But al…

“A modular iphone that has an easy to replace battery, easy to replace screen and is maybe 2mm thicker to account for it?” Definitely not! This would be an inferior product in almost every respect for 95% of customers.

> A modular iphone that has an easy to replace battery, easy to replace screen and is maybe 2mm thicker to account for it

This is a false choice. There are thinner phones that have replacable batteries already.

Re: I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers

#140

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

999900000999 wrote: post #88

Or course. Case in point, iPads don't have headphone jacks. While these devices are very capable of audio production, that's a joke while using Bluetooth. But that's not Apple's concern. Airpods sell billions of dollars worth every year. Every other phone manufacturer said ooh, cool and instead of getting pro level audio in my 1000$ Android phone I have to settle for Bluetooth which still hasn't caught up. Airpods, a…

You can use any USB C device that supports the industry standard USB c audio profiles.
Post reply on HN