Apple CEO Tim Cook: Customers Are Holding on to Older iPhones 'a Bit Longer' Than in the Past

[RickInHouston]

I never understood people who upgraded their phone every year. I've always been on a three year cycle myself.

That's now the sweet spot cycle. The upgrade is noticeable and you experience the tick and the tock in phones (even though I think that is disappearing. You know, tick - new phone (design, look, cpu, ...) tock (same design, new cpu, less bugs usually).

My two year wasn't a big deal, so onto three years, for me, as well.

 

[Rocketman]

I think the extension of service life, just like with the Mac, because it got to the point the tech was "good enough" and further upgrades were incremental after the processor can handle 95% of use cases. With iPhone that threshold was achieved IMHO with iPhone 7+.

Apple has an incentive to deploy more bandwidth hog OS's and app field constraints to encourage upgrades. BUT I hope Apple OS's of the future detect iPhone model and offer a THIN version for older phones. As they go worldwide and want to offer lower price point phones, they can do that by selling older models refurbished.

The great news is each person who turns in an older model buys a newer model. So the trade in program should be expanded greatly.

 

[robertpetry]

Thats what happens when you get caught slowing people's phones down and they realize that their phone is not slower because its older but because you quietly did so in purpose and a battery replacement would resolve the issue. How many people would have chosen to replace their batteries in the past had they known that their phones would function as fast as when they first started instead of spending hundreds on a new device. Apple kept this hidden long enough, reap what you sow and live with the consequences as it is only going to get worse. I am an apple fan boy and I don't plan on upgrading any time soon as I don't care for any of the new gimmicks. I might even consider Android if I have to even though I will hate it at first but enough is enough, that's the only way to let apple realize that consumers deserve better.

Nonsense. You are a sucker for whatever the media feeds you. Apple didn't slow down phones, they kept the chips from speeding up when processing tasks were more demanding because the old batteries in phones couldn't handle the additional load. This kept the phone from crashing. You're suggesting they should let the phones crash?

And slowing down the phones? Did you try iOS12? How many upgrades have you found in the past added complexity and got faster?
[doublepost=1548860787][/doublepost]

Hmmmm, interesting. Apple create a battery problem for it's users, Apple decide to rectify the problem but they are advised by some analysts not to do it because it will mean iphone owners will not upgrade their phone because now it will last longer due to having the battery changed!!!!

I think Apple need to disclose who these analysts are because to tell Apple not to rectify a problem they caused because it will affect their sales is downright disgraceful.

Dude, Apple did not "create a battery problem." They tried to address the problem by keeping older, warn batteries from causing crashes on phones and then offered $29 upgrades when the media distorted what they were doing (all to sell advertising- Gotta love the media these days)
[doublepost=1548861854][/doublepost]

Tim the only reason why you are apple CEO is because you were the best choice at the moment
Steve didn't have much time left to pick someone, so he had to make a rush decision and he picked you

under normal circumstances I'm sure he would it have picked someone else
but he did the best he could with the little bit of time he had left
can't really blame him

while you are not that bad, you are not that good either
this just proved that you are lost and you have no clue of what's going on

hello Tim, not everybody is rich on planet earth
we have poor people and middle class, also people are getting fed up with the lack of innovation
and the drop in product quality, did I forgot to mentioned the ridiculous price

lower the prices and I'm sure that will increase sales
not only the quality of the device has suffered but also the software quality is a complete disaster

learn how to say, "that is not good enough" "do it better"
but that's what happen when your main focus is to make money
I guess you just had a dose of reality
good for you

that is exactly what you deserved, now you realized that you are not as good as you thought you were

More nonsense. All publicly owned companies have a long term succession plan. Tim was the choice for many years. And most would say he has done an outstanding job. According to Forbes "Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011. On that day, shares of Apple closed at a split adjusted price of $50.53 per share."

Apple closed yesterday at $161.74 which is an increase of 220%. That is way lower than the high since the overall market pullback from November till now. I think the company is doing fine.
[doublepost=1548862042][/doublepost]

I would imagine that the on-call duty Galaxy S2 phones at my old company are still around... It's not like Android phones from 2011 magically stopped working; their OS is just frozen in time. 2011... That was Android 4/"Ice Cream Sandwich". Which is still the version developers should target when they want to support 100% of all available Android devices...

Shall we google "security holes in Android ice cream sandwich?"

http://******.com/?q=security+holes+in+Android+ice+cream+sandwich

That looks like a really good choice for an "on-call duty" phone. lol

 

[skinned66]

Incremental updates with a sprinkling of generally unproven technologies with a price increase to boot is at least partly to blame. I'd say mostly to blame.

 

[Defthand]

Regarding battery replacement program:

According to Cook, while analysts suggested Apple shouldn't do it, the company "strongly believes it was the right thing to do for [its] customers."

Absolute BS. Apple behaved like a corporate meme and did what seemed best for the bottom line—not the customer. If Apple was sincere about empowering customers, it would not have withheld knowledge that a battery replacement would restore a phone's performance. Also, their standing policies discouraged, or prevented, batteries from being replaced as a matter of maintenance.

Let's be realistic. The bad PR, and numerous lawsuits, from Apple's failed exploit, is potentially more expensive than the damage control. Either way, the same woken customers are going to hesitate to buy another iPhone until Apple regains their confidence.

 

[jerry333]

When any tech product is purchased, the key to happiness is to purchase the best you can afford, and then don't purchase another until what you have no longer does the job it was purchased to do. There's just not enough improvement in this year's iPhones to induce me to upgrade.

 

[indychris]

And Tim is THRILLED for that because Tim is all about the environment! At least that’s what he keeps saying amidst doing everything he can to get people to routinely upgrade phones with only minor improvements.

 

[imola.zhp]

I went ahead and upgraded to the XS after waiting, but I wish I had waited longer, Apples trade in might have been a better deal than the $300 I got from Verizon for my pristine 7+ 128gb.

We still have two SE's in the family that need to be upgraded... sucks they are not an upgrade option from Apple, both pristine too, one rose gold 64gb and one black 128gb.​

 

[Jyby]

Science Rules!

 

[ldandp0]

Nonsense. You are a sucker for whatever the media feeds you. Apple didn't slow down phones, they kept the chips from speeding up when processing tasks were more demanding because the old batteries in phones couldn't handle the additional load. This kept the phone from crashing. You're suggesting they should let the phones crash?

And slowing down the phones? Did you try iOS12? How many upgrades have you found in the past added complexity and got faster?
[doublepost=1548860787][/doublepost]

Nice false dichotomy. Or another option: being transparent about what is going on with the phone and that a battery replacement would help resolve the issue. That would be the consumer friendly approach, at least.
[doublepost=1548869845][/doublepost]The fact is people do not need a more powerful phone. Instagram and facebook will still work on an iPhone 6. Apple hasn't made IOS an operating system capable of any productivity, so how much power do you need to consume things? If you are buying any of their new phones you are simply subsidizing them as a company.

 

[robertpetry]

Nice false dichotomy. Or another option: being transparent about what is going on with the phone and that a battery replacement would help resolve the issue. That would be the consumer friendly approach, at least.
[doublepost=1548869845][/doublepost]The fact is people do not need a more powerful phone. Instagram and facebook will still work on an iPhone 6. Apple hasn't made IOS an operating system capable of any productivity, so how much power do you need to consume things? If you are buying any of their new phones you are simply subsidizing them as a company.

Perhaps they could have been more transparent. But that does not mean that Apple was intentionally slowing down phones to increase upgrades. Speaking of false dichotomies - you just made one. I was responding to a specific individual who was making this claim and the media that drove that false narrative.

 

[KPandian1]

And Tim is THRILLED for that because Tim is all about the environment! At least that’s what he keeps saying amidst doing everything he can to get people to routinely upgrade phones with only minor improvements.

If the snake oil salesman rolls into town and hawks something, there is no compulsion to buy his wares; no need to stand and even watch the show.

Tim/Apple can do what they want - no one is forced to buy the newest phone available in October. That is peace, knowing you don't have to be swayed, what you have works well enough - it is a communication device.

The only reason to upgrade will be the additional bands (e.g. 700 MHz) that might improve my experience by not not dropping calls.

Tim is about the environment; he could do worse. A side note - removing existing ports because it is cheaper to make a phone or computer is anti-environment, Tim!

Perhaps they could have been more transparent. But that does not mean that Apple was intentionally slowing down phones to increase upgrades.

They were definitely slowing the iPhones down - for reasons we now know, the dying batteries couldn't handle the load.

They should've told the customers why this was happening and urged new batteries - instead they chose money and compromised their integrity. That is straight out used-car salesman trick, and will forever be the stain on Apple and Tim Cook.

 

[Gogeta-Blue]

Nonsense. You are a sucker for whatever the media feeds you. Apple didn't slow down phones, they kept the chips from speeding up when processing tasks were more demanding because the old batteries in phones couldn't handle the additional load. This kept the phone from crashing. You're suggesting they should let the phones crash?

And slowing down the phones? Did you try iOS12? How many upgrades have you found in the past added complexity and got faster?
[doublepost=1548860787][/doublepost]

Dude, Apple did not "create a battery problem." They tried to address the problem by keeping older, warn batteries from causing crashes on phones and then offered $29 upgrades when the media distorted what they were doing (all to sell advertising- Gotta love the media these days)
[doublepost=1548861854][/doublepost]

More nonsense. All publicly owned companies have a long term succession plan. Tim was the choice for many years. And most would say he has done an outstanding job. According to Forbes "Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011. On that day, shares of Apple closed at a split adjusted price of $50.53 per share."

Apple closed yesterday at $161.74 which is an increase of 220%. That is way lower than the high since the overall market pullback from November till now. I think the company is doing fine.
[doublepost=1548862042][/doublepost]
Shall we google "security holes in Android ice cream sandwich?"

http://******.com/?q=security+holes+in+Android+ice+cream+sandwich

That looks like a really good choice for an "on-call duty" phone. lol

I really like your keyword telling everyone else that their comment is nonsense
have you ever stopped for a second and consider that you comment can also be consider nonsense as well
??????

with all due respect Sir, you can see it your way but yes there is a always a but
many people might think that apple is successful just because of those numbers
the point is that most likely apple might still will have those numbers regardless of you put in the CEO chair
apple is living off their reputation that Steve created
Tim didn't made the iPad or iPhone, Steve did

you can say nonsense all you want and play an apple lawyer defending them
but you can't deny the facts
you also need a reality check because it seems that you live in denial and you can't handle the truth

Sir

if you consider that Tim is doing an outstanding or excellent job
then that is your opinion and I'm not here to change your way of thinking
you can believe in fairy tales if you want while you at it

why I look is at customer satisfaction and quality control
outrageous prices, bad low quaility devices like the new iPad Pro and then have the audacity to say that the new curve banana iPad is fine

bugs every where and security flaws just because he doesn't know how to get best out of his employees

if you consider my comment nonsense then you have no common sense

Sir

next time be a more respectful and use words like I respectfully disagree

I'm very sensitive and I don't like when people say thing like that

for me Tim is no good

where is the Mac Pro ????? abandoned ware, oh yes sorry is all iPhones now
just stick where the money is, awesome CEO that's why he had that huge decline in china

can't wait for Tim to go away
bye bye

 

[robertpetry]

@Gogeta-Blue, your response....lol. Ok.

Sorry you feel disrespected by the facts I posted. I respectfully disagree with pretty much everything you typed in the 14 rambling paragraph response above. I think it speaks for itself.

 

[ksec]

I have many friends who are still on their 6 and 6s, that is 3.5 - 4.5 years of usage and no plan to upgrade to Xs. And depending on 2019 iPhone, they may wait another year as well.

I think we need two major changes. Apple Subscription ( iPhone upgrade programme ) From 2 - 4 Years, allowing customer to upgrade their Phone one year before their subscription ends. So Apple has an endless cycle of upgrading to their 900M iPhone customers.

The other is working out next major innovation in battery. Or Solid Battery. Apple needs to have its Battery that last up to 1000 cycle without losing 20% capacity.

Again, I wouldn't mind paying $100 more for a Solid Battery iPhone.

 

[forbegos34]

Yes Tim, that is what happens when you start selling cameras with phones and upgrade the camera every year. Its as smartphone, not a camera. People don't buy smartphones because it can take pictures. At least smart people don't.
[doublepost=1548917198][/doublepost]

They forgot price, storage upgrades being designed to rip you off, and no small iPhone.

But it takes better pictures!

 

[dumastudetto]

iOS 13 should incentivise a lot of people to upgrade to new iPhones with some radical changes planned including the redesigned home screen. These updates coming later this year will undoubtedly require the latest hardware to run smoothly (or, in some cases run at all).

I'm very bullish on the prospects for AAPL later this year.

 

[Piplodocus]

So, this is the Italian Apple Store today. You can easily understand the pricing even if it's in Italian. Now, if someone could kindly explain to me what the logic here is compared to the US prices in the opening post... as an example take the Xr for 6s plus exchange case: $499 against €719. it's insulting, basically.View attachment 818982

Traditionally in Europe we say what the price to pay is. In the US they generally state without tax, so it's not the real price. Dunno what that difference works out to then, but it's probably closer than you assume like for like...