Apple CEO Tim Cook: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus Will Trigger 'Mother of All Upgrades'

[proline]

Your little north american or european markets do not count. Wake up! The biggest (and growing) smartphone market-Asia-sells more Android smartphones than iPhones (AFAIK).

Such markets are irrelevant as phones there are sold at cost. You want to make a profit? You operate in US/Canada/Japan. Pretty simple really. In the rest of the world there will be knockoffs sold at cost and of course iPhones to those who have money.

 

[braddick]

Translation: " I hereby swear to apologise for any feature / aspect of the new iPhone by mocking others as not being financial worthy of the new iPhone .

Tsk tsk.... A little bit elitist there mate.

Good call.
I was letting the moment get the best of me.

I've since settled down.

 

[mloffa]

Please don't give them that much credit. People do not make informed conscious decisions when buying Android. They only buy it because they don't know any better. That is the truth. Its like picking out tires. Some people just have no idea, so whatever they get is what they get. One kind is good, another kind is terrible, but they just don't know any better.

Actually, no I feel it was a smart choice and the exact opposite. It does a better job of illustrating the space, rather than an edge to edge wallpaper.

Wait, there's a good and bad type of tire? Umm.

 

[fortysomegeek]

SD Cards used to be slow, but now you can buy 90 MB/s cards at Best Buy.

An SD card slot makes good functional sense. It enables memory expansion and provides another method for file transfer. There is no good excuse to leave one out. Same with the battery - a swappable battery is more functional, easier to replace, and more environmentally concious.

It's obvious why Apple avoids these two highly functional features.

SD cards are going the way of the Do Do on Android ecosystem. As of Kit Kat 4.4.

Google has essentially neutered the ability for 3rd party to write outside of the sandbox. This means you can use a 3rd party file explorer to move files or delete on the SD card anymore without rooting.
Then again, Google is making moves to even prevent that in root.
It is all about sandboxing. Google it. I discovered that on my current phone when I upgraded to 4.4

So the biggest selling point of Android for me (SD card), is pretty much gone.

 

[Padmini]

I am a huge Apple fan. I own almost every product they make. I will not be purchasing the iPhone 6. They skimped on the storage. In this day and age, 16 gigs of storage on a $750 device is inexcusable. Absolutely ridiculous. Other phone manufacturers are guilty of the same thing, except that unlike Apple, even a company like Samsung is starting to move to a 32GB base model.

16GB wasn't enough for most people on the iPhone 5. But now on the iPhone 6+, with a 1080P display (!) they are still using the same measly 16GB base.

It literally costs them LESS than $3 to add another 16GB of typical smartphone NAND (the same NAND they use). Yet they still keep the base model at 16GB. This is absolute greed. And I will not pay Apple $100 extra just to get 48GB of storage. You can literally get a 64GB USB flash drive for $17 (which uses the same exact NAND flash from the same manufacturers). How on earth does Apple get away with charging $100 for 48GB??? Unbelievable.

I really like this phone. But the absolutely measly storage on a supposedly "premium" device has pissed me off. I guess I will be sticking with my iPhone 5 for another year. It runs the iOS 8 beta perfectly anyways.

Oh well. I'm personally thrilled that they kept 16 GB, as it is far more than most people need and will nicely maintain their margin, while ALSO giving the people who care about storage a huge break over previous iPhones with pricing for 64 & 128.

Then again, I'm not cheap person, nor am I self entitled, to believe Apple should just give away the iPhone.

You either care about storage or you care about price. Let that which matters most govern your purchase. When you go on a forum and lay down a tirade about how you want both and can't have it....don't expect others to care or sympathize.

 

[Solomani]

I am die hard Apple all the way, but eliminating the 32gb slot and keeping 16gb as the low end was low. Period. I was planning on buying 32 gb anyway. 32 is what I need - for 3 phones.
I thought there would be a 16gb, but I was planning on buying the second level. Even though this is working out better for me.. getting 64 for the 32gb price, I just think that keeping 16gb around was a low blow. It makes no sense.

OK, yes keeping around a 16GB model is seen as insulting, I suppose but…. Apple balanced that out with the fact that iPhone 6 is now offering the 64GB model for the same price as last year's 32GB model. You don't think that's a notable improvement for the "middle-tier" model?!

I'm happy and looking forward to that middle-tier model. And I will quickly forget the "insult" of the stingy entry-level model. Because…. I'm not the typical entry-level customer anyways. When I buy things (like Macs, cars, a nice DSLR camera, etc) I always avoid the entry-level model. It's best to save my money to buy the middle-tier or the high-end, depending on which one gives me the best bang for the buck.

Staying "insulted" and offended when the insult is just perceived (since you probably would not have bought the entry-level anyways) is silly. Life is too short to feel defensive at these little things.

 

[Enabledobject]

Is there a way to trade in an old iphone while pre ordering?

 

[rGiskard]

Please don't give them that much credit. People do not make informed conscious decisions when buying Android. They only buy it because they don't know any better. That is the truth. Its like picking out tires. Some people just have no idea, so whatever they get is what they get. One kind is good, another kind is terrible, but they just don't know any better.

Total bull. Android does many things iOS cannot and never will do. There are some former Mac GUI design experts at work on Android, and it shows.

Try sharing your Calibre library on an iPad. Nope, can't do it. It's easy on Android, you can share over your WLAN, no need to burn up bandwidth through a "cloud". I can even connect over Wi-Fi to my Nexus 7 file system from OS X to manage files.

Speaking of Calibre, WTF is up with iBooks? It's worthless junk compared to iTunes. If Apple had designed iBooks to work like iTunes and maintained user access to the epubs, then I wouldn't have had to buy an Android tablet to use with my book collection. I had the cash in hand, ready to buy an iPad, when I discovered it's worthless for large ebook libraries.

 

[JSchlik]

I just sold my 2+ year old iphone 5 64gb on ebay for $350 in just under 2 hrs. Just try and do that with ANY android phone. And yes I'm getting an iphone 6

 

[rGiskard]

SD cards are going the way of the Do Do on Android ecosystem. As of Kit Kat 4.4.

Google has essentially neutered the ability for 3rd party to write outside of the sandbox. This means you can use a 3rd party file explorer to move files or delete on the SD card anymore without rooting.
Then again, Google is making moves to even prevent that in root.
It is all about sandboxing. Google it. I discovered that on my current phone when I upgraded to 4.4

So the biggest selling point of Android for me (SD card), is pretty much gone.

No, profits are the motivation to remove SD card capability.

 

[AxoNeuron]

Oh well. I'm personally thrilled that they kept 16 GB, as it is far more than most people need and will nicely maintain their margin, while ALSO giving the people who care about storage a huge break over previous iPhones with pricing for 64 & 128.

Then again, I'm not cheap person, nor am I self entitled, to believe Apple should just give away the iPhone.

You either care about storage or you care about price. Let that which matters most govern your purchase. When you go on a forum and lay down a tirade about how you want both and can't have it....don't expect others to care or sympathize.

Edit: Redacted. Please delete my posts in this thread, if possible. Thank you.

 

[LordQ]

Yes, Mr. Cook. Apple Watch is day-one purchase from me, as for iPhone 6, I'll upgrade to the 4.7" later this year. Take my money, take it and tell Craig Federighi I love him.

 

[Sonmi451]

Wait, there's a good and bad type of tire? Umm.

Yes with tires, you get what you pay for a lot of times. It's one of the things you don't really want to go cheap on. A nice mid-range tire will outlast and outperform a cheaper inferior tire.

 

[Poisonivy326]

Oh well. I'm personally thrilled that they kept 16 GB, as it is far more than most people need and will nicely maintain their margin, while ALSO giving the people who care about storage a huge break over previous iPhones with pricing for 64 & 128.

Then again, I'm not cheap person, nor am I self entitled, to believe Apple should just give away the iPhone.

You either care about storage or you care about price. Let that which matters most govern your purchase. When you go on a forum and lay down a tirade about how you want both and can't have it....don't expect others to care or sympathize.

Ok this is the part I don't get. As a consumer why are you happy that a company "maintains their margin"? "Maintaining their margin" is a euphemism for "ripping off the consumer." It's deliberately selling a low-value product at a higher price and then artificially jacking up a higher-value product (the 64 GB iphone) because they know that option is more attractive. There's nothing remotely consumer friendly about this, and it's amazing that you're happy about it. Unless you work for Apple and have stock options, you're losing.

A real "shut up and take my money" attitude.

 

[Bigsargewaymo7]

Camera

Is anyone besides me pissed about the 8MP camera? I know it's a lot better, better sensor blah blah blah i am sure it will be good and i know that it's not all about the Mega Pixels.... But.... Mega Pixels are still important and I think they should've gone to at least 13. Sony Xperia is supposed to be coming out with a b ad ass 20.7 MP in the Z3 just wish iPhone would've thrown that in there and it would've been perfect.

 

[Trek2100]

You are aware you have to confirm it before it will download right? If you did it by your own actions, well thats not Apple fault. They aren't forcing you anything.

+1 AND, you can always delete it. I don't know what the big deal is. At least it was free. I've deleted albums that I purchased after I realized I didn't like it. Now that hurts

 

[Sonmi451]

I have owned iPhones since literally the very first one in 2007. I was using it before there was an App Store, before you could copy & paste, before they had an iTunes Store app. I have been a loyal customer for all of these years.

Here's the thing. 16GB is most assuredly NOT enough storage for the vast majority of users today. Even my grandpa has huge issues with 16GB of storage on his phone, and literally the only thing he uses it for asides from phone calls is taking pictures. When you look at the average person's apps, numbers of high-quality photos, and music, 16GB is not enough even for most of the basic users.

I am finished with the iPhone. I love everything about the iPhone 6+ except for this one detail, and it's enough to potentially make me switch platforms entirely, to a manufacturer that DOES have 32GB as the base model.

I agree with you that it's stupid they kept 16GB as the minimum, but at the same time, you don't know what their margins are and how much was spent on production r&d etc. It's possible they are not making money on the 16GB version, but wanted to keep an entry level model.
I don't know what your financial situation is, but I also think it's a little silly to write off Apple over $100. I have a 16GB iPhone 5S, and I'm usually an advocate of smaller storage on phones since I don't think you need your whole iTunes library on there, but I have filled this one up pretty fast, so I've changed my opinion. 32GB would have been perfect for me. 64GB a little overkill, but that's probably what I'm going to get.

 

[wL0316]

I actually went the other way. I've been an iPhone user for years but this IP6 announcement has me looking at Android.

Thanks! Please go and never come back.
The whiners should just jump ship.

 

[AxoNeuron]

Total bull. Android does many things iOS cannot and never will do. There are some former Mac GUI design experts at work on Android, and it shows.

Try sharing your Calibre library on an iPad. Nope, can't do it. It's easy on Android, you can share over your WLAN, no need to burn up bandwidth through a "cloud". I can even connect over Wi-Fi to my Nexus 7 file system from OS X to manage files.

Speaking of Calibre, WTF is up with iBooks? It's worthless junk compared to iTunes. If Apple had designed iBooks to work like iTunes and maintained user access to the epubs, then I wouldn't have had to buy an Android tablet to use with my book collection. I had the cash in hand, ready to buy an iPad, when I discovered it's worthless for large ebook libraries.

I can manage my huge ePub book collection on my ipad without any issues. What exactly are you talking about? Perhaps I am misunderstanding you.

 

[Padmini]

OK, yes keeping around a 16GB model is seen as insulting, I suppose but…. Apple balanced that out with the fact that iPhone 6 is now offering the 64GB model for the same price as last year's 32GB model. You don't think that's a notable improvement for the "middle-tier" model?!

I'm happy and looking forward to that middle-tier model. And I will quickly forget the "insult" of the stingy entry-level model. Because…. I'm not the typical entry-level customer anyways. When I buy things (like Macs, cars, a nice DSLR camera, etc) I always avoid the entry-level model. It's best to save my money to buy the middle-tier or the high-end, depending on which one gives me the best bang for the buck.

Staying "insulted" and offended when the insult is just perceived (since you probably would not have bought the entry-level anyways) is silly. Life is too short to feel defensive at these little things.

Apple would have been incredibly stupid to increase the base model to 32 GB. The people that buy the base model do so because of price. It could have 4 GB (if the OS would still fit) and the same people would still buy it. Giving away even $1 of margin per iPhone would have been stupid. But Apple is of course and obviously not stupid, and thus didn't need me to tell them this.

 

[iolinux333]

App situation on Andrpid isn't as bad as you guys thought... I'd say almost all popular apps are available on Android.. You cannot really bash Android for app.

Only thing Android is lacking is that lack of tablet optimized apps. That is why I am not going back to iPhone at all but keep upgrading iPad.

I have Android and iOS devices, pretty much running identical apps. The Apps are equivalent. Two years ago this wasn't the case, but it is now.

 

[Blake10]

apple watch

Do we know what cut they are going to take from each Apple Pay transaction?

"30 basis points" ... 0.3% ?

 

[Keirasplace]

I never load apps on SD cards. I only place documents, movies and music on the card. You don't need fast and expensive storage for that purpose and it works no different then primary storage in terms of speed. And I wasn't telling iUsers to ditch their phones so if you're happy with iOS and the apps so be; Android is not for you and I wasn't trying to convince you. But for me it's a downgrade from a Note 3.
But if I was a dedicated iUser I would go with the iPhone 6 plus because it's the better of the two. I would be more upset that Apple is basically forcing heavy users to get the 64GB option. As a Android user I would not pay that. As a iPhone user I would have a tough time paying it. See the difference?

I stream just about all my video and songs and podcasts off my own DLNA servers (serves also to distribute media all over the house). Don't need much storage if I do that. That may I don't have to hunt media all over, all devices can have the massive selection and I also can back them up easily.

If I want a movie to go, I select within the 3000+ I have on my server, and hundreds of TV series (mostly completE), and transfer it in 1-2 minute to my phone and I'm gone. No SD card can provide such flexibility and breadth of media.

Only keep a core rotation of favorite 100 or so songs (always changing) on my own phone, stream off the net if I want a more radio like experience.

 

[Padmini]

Ok this is the part I don't get. As a consumer why are you happy that a company "maintains their margin"? "Maintaining their margin" is a euphemism for "ripping off the consumer." It's deliberately selling a low-value product at a higher price and then artificially jacking up a higher-value product (the 64 GB iphone) because they know that option is more attractive. There's nothing remotely consumer friendly about this, and it's amazing that you're happy about it. Unless you work for Apple and have stock options, you're losing.

A real "shut up and take my money" attitude.

I like my way of thinking (as an investor, but more, a cheerleader for Apple's continued success) a lot more than that of a pedantic consumer who wants everything for nothing. Go shop at Walmart, where they teach you all about "value".

 

[rGiskard]

It's one of the things that couldn't possibly matter less to me.

You'd think that people with even a shred of Apple savvy know they wouldn't let it protrude if it had not tested beyond reasonable capacity to NOT break under any sort of normal use, including modest drops and repeatedly being set on table or thrown in a bag.

It's really weird, isn't it? I mean, how immature would one have to be to simply assume it to be a problem, instead of completely insignificant?

I don't know what to make of it to be honest. Same with the antenna bands. IMO, Jobs would have demanded a solution with more aesthetic appeal, but it's still a beautiful phone, and it still has the iconic minimalist design so associated with Apple.

Ultimately we spend our time using these phones, not gazing at them. We interact with them, so what matters is the display, the touch sensor/button, and the indescribable feel of the phone in the hand. A photo does not capture any of these attributes so vital to our impression of an iPhone. Thus I do find it a bit odd that people would decide some design detail is a dealbreaker before handling the iPhone. Ahh well, to each their own...