Without having to make counter arguments to what you stated point by point, I as a user and consumer of apple products expect more. They really are the most valuable company for a reason and that is because I feel they profit margin you to death with their product instead of giving their customers more value in hardware. There is SO MUCH i could go on about in this topic alone.
Think if iPhones ran android, would anyone buy an iPhone, most likely not. Hardware wise they have been 3 years behind Samsung. So, with that in mind lets just say IOS is the safer easier, although less feature ridden OS. I don't think thats debatable. So essentially my problem is apple has been riding the wave of prosperity put in place a long time ago. I, as a consumer expect more cutting edge devices from the worlds largest tech company. Especially because Apple themselves espouse the idea they are tech leaders of the industry. (They are not). Since Jobs' death they have stopped being the technology mavericks and been more the company that waits 3 years for components to get cheap enough, then put it in their device so they can garner max profit. From a business prospect this is understandable. From a consumer standpoint this is disgusting and it IS WHY APPLE IS THE MOST VALUABLE COMPANY. Don't ever think for a second the customer comes first in many of their decisions. It's why you are still using old hardware from a company that charges top dollar.
Year after year they have nothing but disappointed most people. (I'm actually glad the sentiment has been growing to the point where Apple has become aware of it.) We as consumers want to see cutting edge stuff in a phone, instead they make a phone slightly thinner, same boring design and don't use better and modern standards that other people put in their phones. As an apple user, its like you have to wait at least 3 years for something you want in your phone to show up if you are lucky. Because apple is not about giving their fan base the best. They give you the same old crap and feed you the kool-aid to make the mindless lemmings think they are getting something great.
The iPhone X is nothing special. I just do not understand anyone who doesn't grasp this. Guess what, your XBOX ONE had face ID 3-4 years ago, although a simpler form. Oh, no physical home button, yep other phones have done that too.
Until people force Apples hand to actually innovate and be the first to the party with something, only the lemmings will follow and people who expect more will continue to be disappointed. So many things they release are products their competitors have been doing for a while. They also have a bad tendency to ignore things for a longtime and let many things sit in limbo for too long in a world where it's all to easy to fall behind in the technology race. I always see the iphone as a stable non-cutting edge device that is adequate and reliable.
Once again they weren't interested in putting a Gigabit modem, USB-C, fast charger, better waterproofing, more ram, or even bigger power brick in the box, or faster wireless charging capability. They still put a 5w charger and crummy headphones in their $1000+ FLAGSHIP device, and tons of people slobber all over it, and THATS WHY THEY ARE THE MOST VALUABLE COMPANY.
So they are the best when it comes to giving you as little as they could get away with when charging more money than anyone in a major smartphone manufacturer. I think they are so rich they have become complacent and no longer have the hunger they once did for things, and definitely don't have the leadership they used to, who always demanded the most from it's people for the sake of the consumer and having a passion and much pride in delivering.
I just may be of a different philosophy of trying to deliver the best and the profits will follow. Yes margins may be slimmer, but Apple is so rich they could afford to give a little back and take some more chances of raking in a bit less margin.
So what do I expect for the homepod? I expect for $350 for it to sound better than any other $350 speaker out there because Apple has the money and should have the know how to do it. They also have the corporate might to get better components for less money. If there is a cheaper speaker that sounds, better people should not buy it. It shouldn't be THAT hard as the bluetooth speaker market is HORRIBLY over priced.
