My impression is that Samsung and Apple are involved with a bizarre sort of race in which each one tries to offer the smallest possible improvement in their offering, for the next model, that can still be considered to be some sort of upgrade. As little as possible.
Apple users are holding onto their devices for increasingly long periods of time as upgrade cycles slow, data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) suggests. [...]
In recent years, a shift has occurred in the behavior of Apple customers, who are increasingly opting to retain their iPhones, iPads, and Macs for extended periods before upgrading. [...]
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Apple Users Are Keeping Their Devices for Longer as Upgrades Slow
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Or maybe the smartphone is a maturing platform, and any large change is just adding gimmickry for the sake of being different.
This is why apple needs to move onto foldables.
Current devices are lasting too long. Foldables are lasting maybe 2 years, 3 tops before they physically start dying necessitating some upgrades.
Current devices are lasting too long. Foldables are lasting maybe 2 years, 3 tops before they physically start dying necessitating some upgrades.
You’re completely wrong. Those numbers come from apple’s quarterly earnings statements/calls. Why would Tim lie to the shareholders and the rest of the executive board?
The last thing we consumers need are devices that last even less. It’s already bad as it is.
Baloney. The only users affected by this are those unwilling to the leave the Safari/icloud/itunes/etc app ecosystem that many of us saw as useless bloat in the first place. Mac users who can't help themselves in that regard are analogous to Windows users who stubbornly remained on Internet Explorer.
No, they upgrade after an Apple forum or tech straight-up lies to them and tells them to upgrade the OS to a POS engineered to run like garbage on their model and which kills off all their beloved classic software.
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Bad for the consumer, maybe.
Bad for the environment, definitely.
But shareholders demand perpetual growth, quarter on quarter.
I was.
But i have no doubt that management at apple have considered it exactly because of the shorter lifespan. Ontop of that; the price per unit of a foldable is higher than than a regular non-folding phone; so it's a double win.
A $2000 product that needs to be replaced every 2-3 years is way better for apple than a $800 product that lasts 5 years.
If Apple ever figures out how to create a usable foldable, unlike the junk on the market today, you can be sure they will be precision engineered to last a lot longer than 2-3 years. Longevity is a point of pride with Apple. Apple loves customers handing down devices to other friends and family members so they can begin immersion within this incredible ecosystem of products and services.
Did you step out of a time-machine from 1984? Apple now deliberately engineers its products to be as fragile as they dare get away with, because they expect a certain percentage to acquire cracked screens, which are now impossible to repair cost-effectively. (This is the only reason that the expansion-limited Minis have a market, as they're the sole remaining indestructible metal-box that the company makes.) Apple is a viscerally staunch opponent of "Right to Repair". Never, ever buy a T2 or silicon machine with a soldered-in drive; they are literally designed to brick upon drive-failure.
Louis Rossmann would like a word.
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It's OK. They're going to be carbon neutral™ and made with 50% recycled materials™
What I said explains the result of the survey because if you look at the chart they published, it compares 2020 sales to 2024 sales.
Just look at the devices. They cost $800+ and the screens crack too damn easily, not to mention that they are sealed with glue and all internal components are either glued or soldered. Obviously that reduces their lifetime substantially, not to mention that it heavily increases the cost of repairing, if it doesn’t make it impossible. There can be no doubt that Apple is opposed to the right to repair (and all other manufacturers have followed their abusive lead). As the proverb says: there is no worse blind than the one who doesn’t want to see.
This is the first time I’ve heard anyone saying devices over a certain price should have unbreakable screens.
Not unbreakable, that would be unrealistic, but certainly harder to break. These phones cost a fortune.
And they certainly are not particularly prone to screen cracking. It's been years since I broke a screen and then it was when it fell face down on concrete. Current iPhones are pretty sturdy, in part, because they are built to not come apart.
The power of narrative is so strong. Once one is established, no amount of evidence can shift opinion. Once Apple makes a few moves someone doesn't like, then Apple = bad, and nothing can change that, no matter what they do. Some people attach to a narrative of Apple being unequivocally best, and nothing will shift that outside a sustained period of mediocrity.
I'm not a fan of the lack of upgradability in modern MacBooks, but the performance and build quality is fantastic. The soldered SSDs mean I take out AppleCare+ because I've spent so much money on this machine, I need the insurance. I can't replace it at will.
Thanks to my narrative, I expect my new MacBook to last me a decade, like my last MacBook Air did, and the Mac minis I have had that have been relegated to print servers and whatnot, still soldiering on long after their useful lives as main machines.
My old 2012 MacBook Air isn't done yet. I just reformatted it, reinstalled Catalina, and am giving it to my brother who needs a device to study on without distraction. It'll do him well.
I previous iPhone, an 8 Plus, is now used by my wife as her backup phone so we can use Find My... when we need it (she uses a Pixel 4a or something). It needs a new battery, but it's fine for how she uses it.
I was using my PREVIOUS iPhone 5s, mounted to my motorbike as a speedo with better visibility, until I stopped riding. The screen is discolouring around the edges, but it still works fine. I want to find another use for it now, because it just doesn't want to stop!
So, yeah, I'm contributing to Apple's devices being used longer between upgrades...
I'm not a fan of the lack of upgradability in modern MacBooks, but the performance and build quality is fantastic. The soldered SSDs mean I take out AppleCare+ because I've spent so much money on this machine, I need the insurance. I can't replace it at will.
Thanks to my narrative, I expect my new MacBook to last me a decade, like my last MacBook Air did, and the Mac minis I have had that have been relegated to print servers and whatnot, still soldiering on long after their useful lives as main machines.
My old 2012 MacBook Air isn't done yet. I just reformatted it, reinstalled Catalina, and am giving it to my brother who needs a device to study on without distraction. It'll do him well.
I previous iPhone, an 8 Plus, is now used by my wife as her backup phone so we can use Find My... when we need it (she uses a Pixel 4a or something). It needs a new battery, but it's fine for how she uses it.
I was using my PREVIOUS iPhone 5s, mounted to my motorbike as a speedo with better visibility, until I stopped riding. The screen is discolouring around the edges, but it still works fine. I want to find another use for it now, because it just doesn't want to stop!
So, yeah, I'm contributing to Apple's devices being used longer between upgrades...
I absolutely love "New!", and it has been a real stretch, what with all the upgraded tech.
Last year I upgraded to a '23 Studio Mac for Desktop service (supersedes my 2012 Mac Pro), and an iPhone 13-mini for Mobile (supersedes my 12-mini (which superseded my iP8 (obviously!))).
Each are Active Duty for the foreseeable futrue.
iPad's are hand-me-downs; aWatch has been an interesting cul-de-sac.
There is nothing additional that I absolutely/actively need.
urhm, is the AW2 truly undead?!?
Apple users are holding onto their devices for increasingly long periods of time as upgrade cycles slow, data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) suggests.
In recent years, a shift has occurred in the behavior of Apple customers, who are increasingly opting to retain their iPhones, iPads, and Macs for extended periods before upgrading. In the most recent 12-month period, 71% of iPhone owners and 68% of Mac owners reported that their previous device was over two years old, up from 63% and 59%, respectively, in 2020.
In the specific case of the Mac, CIRP indicates a substantial increase in the length of time users keep their devices. Currently, 56% of Mac customers hold onto their laptops or desktops for three years or more, a significant rise from 40% in 2020. This trend has led to a decline in shorter lifecycle lengths, with fewer users keeping their Macs for less than three years. CIRP's research suggests that the transition to Apple Silicon, which began in 2020 with the introduction of the M1 chip, has played a crucial role in this shift. Apple Silicon has delivered significant performance and energy efficiency improvements, making Macs more capable of handling demanding tasks for several years.
Age of previous Mac for Apple customers buying a new Mac (12 months ending March of each year)
The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic also likely influenced consumer behavior. During the early stages of the pandemic, there was a surge in demand for technology to support remote work and online education, but economic uncertainy followed and many consumers became more cautious with their spending, opting to maximize the lifespan of their existing devices rather than investing in new ones. Battery life improvements in MacBooks have also reached a satisfactory threshold for many users, further reducing the incentive to upgrade frequently.
This phenomenon has similarly been noted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who recently said that the percentage of iPhone and Mac users whose previous device was older than two years has risen sharply. He attributed the shift to several factors, including fewer significant features in new models, improved durability and reliability of devices, and changing user needs. The increased reliance on streaming services and web-based applications means that for many users, their current devices remain sufficiently powerful and capable for everyday tasks. As a result, the traditional motivations for frequent upgrades, such as the need for better cameras, more storage, or faster processing speeds, have diminished.
Article Link: Apple Users Are Keeping Their Devices for Longer as Upgrades Slow
Cars, phones and computers.
As long as my phone and computers are all one the same page as far as features and can operate together more or less seamlessly, then I see little reason to upgrade on either front unless one happens to go belly up.
And you still haven't heard it, because no one said it. --It's a straw-man phantom concocted by your hind-brain.
No one anywhere has demanded unbreakable screens on models of any price. (And certainly not iPhone 1st-ed owners who were proud of their cracks.)
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Harder to break screens are softer which means they scratch more easily.