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I've been waiting to replace my iPhone 4S. I presume Apple at some point will create an iPhone that will seem like a finished product, but so far not so much. Honestly, I'd consider switching away from Apple products, but both MS and Google impress me even less than Apple ATM.
 
Milking it is about all Apple is doing.
Sadly that's been Cook's legacy up to now.

I will say some of the updates to the MBP seem decent, not quite innovative but decent, but even then they dropped the ball. Shorter battery life, slower CPU, ram limited to 16GB, less ports. People complain about the new keyboard failing, or being too loud, etc etc.
 
As the financial analyst would say, past performance is no guarantee of future success. Markets are always forward looking.

Milking it is about all Apple is doing.
It appears you have vested interest in AAPL stock performance and will talk up anything despite blaring evidence to the contrary.

I can assure you that I don't own any stock (much less Apple stock), and have nothing to gain from how well or how poorly Apple does.

I just call it as I see it. And my opinion is that Apple is doing very well, and will continue to do well, missteps and all.
 
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my opinion is that Apple is doing very well, and will continue to do well, missteps and all.
At a high level, financially speaking they are doing well, but if you delve into a little deeper you see cracks in the foundation:
iPhone sales shrinking
iPad sales have and continue to crater
laptop sales these past few quarters have dropped off precipitously (though this may change with the new MBP)
Apple watch sales are decent, not great

The issue is Cook coasted on Jobs' coattails in enjoying phenomenal sales. It wasn't because of Cooks great leadership, but rather because of Jobs' innovation. Since then we've only see copies of the original ideas, i.e., same product just thinner.
 
I can assure you that I don't own any stock (much less Apple stock), and have nothing to gain from how well or how poorly Apple does.

I just call it as I see it. And my opinion is that Apple is doing very well, and will continue to do well, missteps and all.
Same here. Sold stocks years ago.

Fine, let's agree to disagree. IMHO Apple was doing well on the coattails of Steve's vision. Now we've reached the end of that tail and the big questions are being asked of Apple's leadership. "Missteps" is when you launch a product with a flawed maps app or signal attenuation on the iPhone 4 when "holding it wrong". This sequence of failures of the last 2 years and lack of direction is a business-model changing event.

Smartphone saturation is a thing and Apple bet the house on just that one thing. 70% revenue dependance on 1 thing and falling numbers across the board:
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/appl...-results-iphone-mac-sales-down-again-3581769/

but Tim says, things are "incredible" and products are magical.
Wow.
 
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Okay, I'll bite... Bluetooth 5 has been officially launched. I am guessing that BT 5 devices are going to be coming in way less than a year. So your analogy doesn't seem to work. I think most people hold off buying $1,000 phones when there has been a press release saying that the next best thing has been announced. I know I generally don't buy an iPhone 6 the day the 7 is announced if I can avoid it.

That used to be the general modus operandi. I went the opposite way this year. When I heard the rumours of what the iP7 was going to be I waited for deals on the 6s Plus and got one of those instead. Ditto on the MacBooks. When the new ones went on the online store and the increase on the prices (UK) for the remaining 2015 stock still sold by Apple was confirmed I quickly snapped up the best deal I could find for a 2015 model from a third party seller that still had not factored in the price rises or discontinued the previous range. I paid less for new than people will now pay on the refurb store.

Prices for NAND are rising now due to higher demand than supply so prices for MacBooks/Phones aren't going to come down any time soon. Now when I hear of new models coming, I am just as inclined to look for the best deals on current range before the new (often crippled) stock plus price hikes go on sale.

I wish it were otherwise, but as far as Apple is concerned, we are living in interesting times.
 
If they can't get headphones right, can we really expect to get a bezel free, home button free, all glass, edged display, iPhone 8 next year with wireless charging??

If the Samsung S8 fulfils what you just listed, then i will be getting my first samsung phone and selling my iPhone 7. I was sold on the wireless dream they showed me cause I'm sick and tired of being tethered to my phone. And the AirPods look amazing to me but these delays are really grinding my gears. And i've been wanting the home button to be removed for more screen space since the iphone 4.

If Samsung can do it, and make the screen fingerprint reader, its an instant buy for me.
 
...
The issue is Cook coasted on Jobs' coattails in enjoying phenomenal sales. It wasn't because of Cooks great leadership, but rather because of Jobs' innovation. Since then we've only see copies of the original ideas, i.e., same product just thinner.

I swear I didn't plagiarize you :)
I was writing the same thoughts in parallel with yours.
 
At a high level, financially speaking they are doing well, but if you delve into a little deeper you see cracks in the foundation:
iPhone sales shrinking
iPad sales have and continue to crater
laptop sales these past few quarters have dropped off precipitously (though this may change with the new MBP)
Apple watch sales are decent, not great

The issue is Cook road on Jobs coattails in enjoying phenomenal sales. It wasn't because of Cooks great leadership, but rather because of Jobs' innovation. Since then we've only see copies of the original ideas, i.e., same product just thinner.
The best products are useless if the company can't market them for nuts. Steve Jobs was an excellent innovator and has contributed much to Apple. That much cannot be understated. But I feel Tim Cook also deserves credit for being able to take Apple as far as it has come today.

Doesn't it make sense that product sales can't be rising forever? The iPad is a fairly new product, and within the first few years, the people who want one will have gotten one (meaning an explosive growth in sales). Now, sales are slowing because people aren't replacing them as often as smartphones.

I agree there are cracks. But what if these cracks are there by design? What if Apple is cognizant of the fact that if it wants to take the path it is currently on, certain sacrifices need to be made in the short run, and Apple management is fine with say, longer Mac update cycles because they think it makes sense in today's business environment?
 
Prepare for people who refused to buy the iPhone 7 because of the lack of headphone jack to complain about the delay in this product because they need it with the lack of a headphone jack.

edit: I couldn't prepare you fast enough, it's already happened. Stay classy MacRumors.

Your lame attempt at blind, idiotic, Apple can't do no wrong fanboyism aside, it's not unreasonable for people to expect Apple to have it's act together and actually have several wireless headphone options available when their stupid Phone is released. Considering it was half the keynote and their W1 Processor a major part of it. Yeah it takes courage to trust a company that hasn't been able to do much right in the last few years. This is just another example of really poor planning. I no longer care that they removed the headphone jack, but if they are going to do it AND promote their new "amazing" bluetooth chip, it should be timed with the phone. That's BASIC business.
 
Doesn't it make sense that product sales can't be rising forever?
Agreed, and I think that's why many investors are asking more and more, what is apple's strategy, but all they hear is that the pipeline is full of great innovative products. We've heard that for the past 4 years, so that's largely falling on deaf ears.

Investors, want to know what apple will do to keep the profits rolling in, as the iPhone sales continue to slide, they don't like companies being a single product entity and Apple is relying so much on the iPhone.

The iPad is a fairly new product, and within the first few years, the people who want one will have gotten one (meaning an explosive growth in sales). Now, sales are slowing because people aren't replacing them as often as smartphones.
The problem was that it wasn't really explosive sales and its not slowing, but cratering. The tablet market is just not a growth market and iPad sales are degrading quickly.
 
I'm one of those people who HATES bluetooth headphones because they are unreliable, usually have poor speaker/microphone quality, disconnect when I put my phone in my purse or bag, and if you have multiple Apple devices have issues recogning which one when they are in the same room, it just sucks. So I was excited that Apple attempted to address these issue with the W1 chip. They completely botched it and ruined what little goodwill I had left for the company after they failed to release the headphones with the phone. Having Beats Solo 3s the only heaphones with the new chipset as the only W1 Headphone for 3 months is ridiculously poor planning.
 
Same here. Sold stocks years ago.

Fine, let's agree to disagree. IMHO Apple was doing well on the coattails of Steve's vision. Now we've reached the end of that tail and the big questions are being asked of Apple's leadership. "Missteps" is when you launch a product with a flawed maps app or signal attenuation on the iPhone 4 when "holding it wrong". This sequence of failures of the last 2 years and lack of direction is a business-model changing event.

Smartphone saturation is a thing and Apple bet the house on just that one thing. 70% revenue dependance on 1 thing and falling numbers across the board:
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/appl...-results-iphone-mac-sales-down-again-3581769/

but Tim says, things are "incredible" and products are magical.
Wow.
It's like saying that the Green Lantern relies too much on his ring for his powers, and that he is nothing without it. No matter how much he trains, he will never be as good a fighter without his ring as he is with it. That's the whole point. Most of the time, he will have his ring, and most of the time, he will be a formidable opponent because of it, so spam that ring for all it's worth.

With regards to Apple's reliance on the iPhone for its revenue, I am not sure if that's so bad a thing. If anything, that's just because the iPhone is an outlier in terms of its success, not so much because Apple's other product lines aren't as successful as they could be. I don't think Apple will be able to create another product which will be as successful as the iPhone in terms of revenue, and that's perfectly okay. Is the iPad a failed product just because it's nowhere near the iPhone in terms of sales and profits?

I guess I am just not seeing the reasoning behind the criticism. I suppose that if the iPhone had been less successful and made up a smaller proportion of Apple's profits overall (say just 20-30%?) and was roughly in line with profits from the iPad and the Mac, then we wouldn't be having this conversation here, but that would also mean that Apple is earning less than what it otherwise could.

If the iPhone is that successful, don't shy away from milking it for all it is worth, but at the same time, also be on the lookout for the next big thing and be prepared to cannibalise your own product if and when the time comes. And if Apple thinks the iPhone has at least another 5-6 years ahead of it, then by all means can milk it for every last cent they can.

Why turn down free money?
 
I think people need to have patience, would you rather Apple shipped a product that had issues? it's disappointing yes, i'm waiting on the AirPods, when they release i will order a pair, but comments like "Apple is doomed" or "Apple isn't the same" are really getting tiresome, at least in my opinion.
 
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Mark my words - the Beats X are FINISHED. They are fine, many two-bit celebrities have them already and they were gifted in full retail packaging. Even Andi Peters has some BeatsX! They are not prototype versions. The reason Apple are delaying them is because the price point is too close to airpods, and they do not want the embarrassment of these cannibalising airpod sales - especially after all that courage nonsense.
The airpods are slowing down the release of BeatsX - nothing more.
 
You've got to be kidding. Apple's not a pump & dump shop or a Ponzi scheme. How did those "designed" cracks work out for Blackberry, Nokia, SonyEricsson et al.
Well, Apple still seems dedicated to the Mac. However, they are also keenly aware that there is a limit to how well Mac sales can go, and likely decided that it simply wasn't worth the resources to update it so frequently. Most people are also not replacing their Mac computers every 2 years, and Apple's update cycle will probably reflect that as well.

When you look at the new MacBook Pro, there's a lot that has changed. Apple could have simply given it an updated processor and called it a day. Instead, we got a larger trackpad, touch-ID, touchbar, better speakers, better screen, thinner and lighter redesign and thunderbolt 3, plus they bothered to partner with LG for new USB monitors. That's a fairly significant redesign, and it's clear a lot of time and resource went into updating the MacBook pro for it to just be causally dismissed as "Apple doesn't care and is just humouring us." Next year, we will hopefully get a price drop, the kaby lake processors, 32gb ram option (for the people who want them), more widespread adoption of USB-C peripherals and better support for the touchbar. And everything will be right as rain.

Mark my words - the Beats X are FINISHED. They are fine, many two-bit celebrities have them already and they were gifted in full retail packaging. Even Andi Peters has some BeatsX! They are not prototype versions. The reason Apple are delaying them is because the price point is too close to airpods, and they do not want the embarrassment of these cannibalising airpod sales - especially after all that courage nonsense.
The airpods are slowing down the release of BeatsX - nothing more.
Why would Apple care about sales of BeatsX cannibalising the AirPods or vice versa? The money still goes into Apple's coffers at the end of the day regardless of which model you buy.
 
That used to be the general modus operandi. I went the opposite way this year. When I heard the rumours of what the iP7 was going to be I waited for deals on the 6s Plus and got one of those instead. Ditto on the MacBooks. When the new ones went on the online store and the increase on the prices (UK) for the remaining 2015 stock still sold by Apple was confirmed I quickly snapped up the best deal I could find for a 2015 model from a third party seller that still had not factored in the price rises or discontinued the previous range. I paid less for new than people will now pay on the refurb store.

Prices for NAND are rising now due to higher demand than supply so prices for MacBooks/Phones aren't going to come down any time soon. Now when I hear of new models coming, I am just as inclined to look for the best deals on current range before the new (often crippled) stock plus price hikes go on sale.

I wish it were otherwise, but as far as Apple is concerned, we are living in interesting times.

Okay I see this side of it too. However I think most people are still not as jaded, at least not yet. I can appreciate where you are coming from though. I have certainly adapted my buying strategies lately myself.

Back to the headphones.... The problem with the latest debacle is that there is huge potential for sales. Not sure what it costs to make these things but going to guess if Apple designed the chip in house after R&D they cost next to nothing.

The point is at price points of $129 and $159 or whatever they will sell for could be huge. Going forward almost every single customer on the planet is going to become more interested in pods. So potentially Apple can increase their iPhone revenue by a significant percentage with every sale. There could reach a point where they sale over a billion over the next 10 years. That is probably optimistic but say several hundred million. I am not a forecast analyst so just guessing.

In order to sell this many they need to keep brand loyalty the W1 chip is what is doing this for me at the moment. Tick tock the clock is running and links to other products begin to sprout up even on a Mac-centric forum.

It is laughable when people say why should anybody care about measly headphones? The answer is money. They paid $3 billion or whatever for beats, add on the price of the engineers and manufacturing and the profits could be astounding. Just some simple math I have done suggests if they sell 30 million a year of these they would be looking at something like $5 billion a year of revenue or $50 billion over the next 10 years. The potential to increase iPhone revenue by 15% on every device isn't insignificant.


If they could get their act together buying beats was a huge bargain. They missed being able to ship a limited quantity of Airpods and the number being thrown around were 10 million. That is $1.5 billion dollars in revenue they could have secured. Stellar indeed. I have mixed up Airpods and Beats but hopefully my point still comes across.
 
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It's official, Bluetooth 5 is what they are prepping for... silently. So the competitors aren't aware but the public is surprised with the performance.

Yeah.. the company that couldn't even put current gen CPUs in their flagship Pro laptop and couldn't put an updated CPU in their Pro desktop is somehow, magically, so far ahead of the game in Bluetooth? Nope. No way.
 
Wel
Yeah.. the company that couldn't even put current gen CPUs in their flagship Pro laptop and couldn't put an updated CPU in their Pro desktop is somehow, magically, so far ahead of the game in Bluetooth? Nope. No way.
Well, because it's not a Mac but accessories. Tim Cook's central focus.
 
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