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Apple Card Rolling Out Today to Limited Number of Customers
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I’m pretty sure he/she doesn’t literally mean Apple isn’t a technology company, because it clearly is. The meaning of the statement is to emphasize that Apple, more than any of its competitors, realizes the importance of good design (industrial, user experience, and human interface) and uses it as a selling point.
Even with decades of experience building products and integrating hardware, software, and services, you can still have companies deciding to make a smartphone with a hardware keyboard, netbook, circular smartwatch, or a foldable phone.
The reason why Apple has not made any of these, and instead created iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and is now working of Glasses, is design.
Design is the magic ingredient, with Apple designers calling the shots, and searching for and having technology made to serve the product experience, not engineers excited about about new hot tech and trying to turn it into a product.
Apple Glasses vs. foldable phones is the latest example of Apple's design culture leading to an entirely different product than what engineering-led companies are doing.
My takeaway - it appears that for many tech analysts and writers, their view of the world is basically based on what they see around them most - cost leadership, divisional organizational structure, growth through M&A's, engineering-led.
For them, Apple is an enigma as it is not only different in every single way, but even thrives for it, and brings them discomfort. Rather than try and explain this phenomenon, the critics have instead chosen to ignore and explain it away.
They never learn.
Wow. Wow wow wow.
Thank you for this post. This is EXACTLY what I try to tell people when they ask “wtf is Apple doing?!”
Apple knows exactly what they’re doing and they’re doing it well. Are they perfect? No, but I’m loving the hell out of my 10+ Apple products and so are millions of others.
It’s actually the very underrated branding and marketing. Apple has always had a design focus, but it really was their commercials and branding that connected with consumers, at least in the U.S. I can’t speak for you in Singapore since you seem to be an outlier.
That is the magic ingredient.
When you break down what the Apple Card really is, it’s only highly regarded to the uninformed. Apple has done an excellent job of marketing, spinning, and making it appear as if it’s moving mountains.
I have been a fan of Apple products long before their advertisements started screening in my country. And even then, Apple's branding has had very limited impact on me, given that I pretty much know everything there is to know about their products via online forums by the time the ads screen anyways.
I am still in the midst of fully understanding the implications of the Apple Card and how it works (which is complicated by it being a product not available in my country, and my general lack of understanding of how the US credit card system may differ from my country's), but here's what I have pieced together thus far.
1) The card has relatively low friction in signing up, given that the entire process can be conducted entirely from the wallet app on the phone.
2) The pairing process is pretty cool (similar to how you pair AirPods to your iPhone).
3) If the criticism is that the rewards from the Apple Card is lacklustre as there is a better alternative out there, then pray tell - why isn't everyone else in the US already using this card with superior rewards? I am willing to bet that if we were to get down to the nitty gritty, there's probably a catch somewhere in terms of how the points or cash rewards are awarded. Maybe the rewards take a much longer time to accrue, or there are strings attached to how this "cash rebate" can be used, or some other limitation.
With the Apple Card, it's just a flat rebate at the end of the day. No muss, no fuss, no having to shop with specific merchants or meet certain criteria. In the very least, signing up for the Apple Card just to make Apple purchases alone more than pays for itself, especially when it comes to paying for apps and services.
4) Contrary to what other banks are doing, Apple seems to be invested in the financial health of their users. For one, I don't think that Apple is actually hoping that anyone of you here goes into dept just so they can rake in the interest payments. They want you to be able to better manage your finances, and I think the fact that so many banks dropped out of collaborating with Apple on this speaks volumes about how Apple is actively looking out for its user base here.
5) Apple doesn't want your personal purchase history, and has worked out an agreement with Goldman Sachs not to use it either. I suppose in light of the Siri revelation, it's understandable that everyone here be more than a little skeptical about how closely GS will actually adhere to this agreement, but I am willing to give Apple (and Goldman Sachs) the benefit of the doubt here. In the very least, this sounds a lot better than what banks are already doing with your purchase data currently.
What I see here is Apple using its control over hardware and software to push through its ideals of security and privacy via the Apple Card, because again, what other bank is willing to do the exact same things that Apple has done here? This is going to be something that traditional banks are going to find hard to replicate, given that you are essentially asking them to run counter to their own business model and give up a part of their own profitability.
In short, what I see here is consumers getting an added layer of protection, while enjoying an improved user experience, and I think that this can be worth just as much, if not more, than whatever financial benefits I am giving up in exchange. After 1000+ responses between two threads, I think it's time we moved beyond "But my Amazon card gives me 5%!" and start focusing on the other areas of the Apple Card, if this is going to be a meaningful discussion.
I logged into my account today and notice that my rewards are missing. I guess they stop the program for everyone and not just new customer
Thats an awfully long winded way of describing a tech firm which focus heavily on design.
They are criticised when their design principles lead to poor product decisions like workstation computers shaped like a trashcan that can't be updated or unreliable keyboards, this has nothing whatsoever to do with people not understanding because 'Apple is an Enigma'.
What do you want people to say about it?
It's a credit card, one that aims to lock people further into Apples platform. It has some benefits such as making it easy to track purchases and an increased focus on privacy but there isn't anything else to it. None of the financial benefits are particularly impressive apart from maybe the daily cash back.
I just don't think its an earth shattering advancement for most people.
I have a Barclay card and got an invite for the apple card
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I have a Barclay card and got an invite for the apple card
Mine arrived in Memphis about 2 hours ago, but I live in suburban Detroit, so that makes sense. I can’t make sense of why they didn’t just put yours on a truck and deliver it to you.Live in Southern CA, Card was shipped from Gardena, CA. Goes to FedEx LAX then out to their Memphis hub. Only to eventually come back. What a waste of resources
Live in Southern CA, Card was shipped from Gardena, CA. Goes to FedEx LAX then out to their Memphis hub. Only to eventually come back. What a waste of resources
You forget that your card brought the plane to the perfect weight for optimal miles per gallon. Without it the lift would have been miscalibrated and the autopilot would have kept increasing altitude as well due to the lightness of the aircraft.
The daily cash back is huge. The simplicity, instant, and easy to understand rewards are rare in this industry.
2% cash back on Applepay is quite good. Very few cards offer 2% on the amount of things eligible with ApplePay and this card has no fees.
What other financial benefits do you want? Few other credit cards offer anything significantly better from a cash back perspective and many are much, much worse.
A lot of talk has been given to Citi Double Cash. It’s a good card, but it has a 3% foreign transaction fee, which makes it worse than Apple Card if you travel.
Every card has its pros and cons, and the Apple Card has many advantages that make it appealing for more reasons that just because it’s an Apple product.
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The daily cash back is huge. The simplicity, instant, and easy to understand rewards are rare in this industry.
2% cash back on Applepay is quite good. Very few cards offer 2% on the amount of things eligible with ApplePay and this card has no fees.
What other financial benefits do you want? Few other credit cards offer anything significantly better from a cash back perspective and many are much, much worse.
A lot of talk has been given to Citi Double Cash. It’s a good card, but it has a 3% foreign transaction fee, which makes it worse than Apple Card if you travel.
Every card has its pros and cons, and the Apple Card has many advantages that make it appealing for more reasons that just because it’s an Apple product.
