Decline in iPhone Shipments Could Make Apple Worst-Performing Top Five Smartphone Brand of 2016

[Michael Scrip]

My choice of product is based on my budget versus needs. I bought a Z5 Compact for €429. 32 GB, SD slot, water/dustproof, great camera. In the meantime Apple sails with a 16 GB model without expandable storage (yes, I know iCloud exists) starting at €639 (basic 6s, Apple Store NL). 64 GB is €749 for non-plus model. In my personal opinion what it offers is not worth that sort of money. If I knew that they put lots of money into super-special features that make the iPhone special and a class above the Sony, I'd definitely think about it. But as things are, I don't see why I would spend €639 for a phone that cost $211.50 to manufacture (source). I know when I am being taken advantage of.

Wouldn't a comparable iPhone to the Sony Z5 Compact be the iPhone SE?

It looks like the iPhone SE is available in the NL Apple Store for €489 and €589

Sure... it's still more expensive than the Z5 Compact at €429... but this is Apple we're talking about.

This is the same company whose laptops start at €999... and that's for an 11" Macbook Air!!!!

Apple products have always been priced higher than the "competition" but you're also getting iOS and MacOS... something you can't get from anyone else.

You can get cheaper devices running Android and Windows... but they're not exactly the same thing.

 

[Soi Dog]

The iPhone 6/6S is a very different design to the 5/5S.

And iOS7 was very different to the iOS6 and earlier.

If they were little changes, the I'm not sure what would need to change to be significant, but still actually be a smartphone. At the end of the day, theres only so much you can do with something that size, that is essentially a screen.

What would you suggest?

Open up the IOS system so you Can Connect with everything around you. IOS file User management system is so cripled, it is made so either because Apple believe the World population is populated of low IQ or mostly because they want to control every financial aspects on software and content. The problem is that it is just restrictions for the user and may backslash at some point.
I am in an Apple ecosystem, love how things work together, but the restrictions are just Pain and should not exist in this day and age. Everything about sharing data & files has become more complicated than it was pre smartphone times. Everyone want to control our data, that is something as a user I want hardware corporates to forget about. I am not a fan of Android system, but at least in this respect they are much more right than Apple nanny.

 

[applezulu]

Others have already posted articles about Kuo (e.g. this one) that purport to list his predictions, with most astonishingly correct. And right or wrong, a lot of people here tend to remember his hardware predictions as being so.

Now, sir, what YOU have not done, is present ANY evidence to the contrary. So, while you might be correct that he's actually a PR fantasy or a result of bad mass memory, you have shown nothing to back up such conjectures.

If you do come up with a valid list that shows he's mostly wrong, I'm sure everyone would be interested.

(Related - there was a list compiled by a business magazine a year or two ago of which Apple analysts most often got sales and stock predictions correct. I'll try to find it. I remember Horace Dediu being near the bottom, for example, and he's quoted way too often.)

Yes, yes. Everybody likes to link that cultofmac article. It doesn't prove anything, though. Look at the listing of reviewed predictions at the bottom. There's an average seven Kuo predictions per year in that listing (not including '15 which was just starting). Kuo's output is way more than seven predictions per year. So, you can't prove much about his accuracy by looking at just a smattering of his claims. Second, the article makes no comparisons of Kuo's accuracy to that of others. You can't make a valid claim that someone is better than everyone else (or even better than average) when you have incomplete data about the subject, and no data about everyone else. So the claims that Kuo is 'best' or 'the most accurate' are simply hollow assertions.

As for me presenting "evidence to the contrary," I don't need to do that. I am not asserting that Kuo is 'not the best' or 'not the most accurate.' I'm only saying the claims that he is the best or most accurate are unproven and therefore suspect. Generally speaking, it's on the person making an affirmative claim to prove it when challenged. It's not on the challenger to prove the negative.

The authors of these articles citing Kuo frequently and weirdly hype the guy. You apparently bought the hype and flatly asserted that he has a better track record than others, yet you can't point to any conclusive evidence that he actually does have a better track record than others. Doesn't that feel a little silly?

If you can point to that evidence, I'd be happy to see it. If it's reasonably valid, I'd be the first to acknowledge it. I don't feel the need to somehow prove the negative, however, because that's not really how these things work.

 

[navaira]

Wouldn't a comparable iPhone to the Sony Z5 Compact be the iPhone SE?

Not really. What always surprises me is that Z5 Compact is supposed to be "small" but it actually has the same screen size as iPhone 6S (not Plus).

 

[stevemiller]

Value is individual, that my family, friends and extended family have for the majority iPhones, means there is a big value for me in continuing to use iPhones. I don't buy items based on the proverbial definition of "value", I buy what works for me best.

Same for me. Mostly Apple stuff still meets that for me, but I don't want to take it for granted.

 

[Schwyz]

3 different iPhone & iPad models being produced, and the MacBook Pro & Air showcase an ancient 4 year old design. You know Cupertino's innovation pond is drying up.

 

[AxoNeuron]

Ah, the outrage of the spec whore.

Um....being angry with Apple's idiotic decision to try and sell a 16GB smartphone for $650 in the year 2016 (!) isn't being a "spec whore" as you put it. When a phone has a 4K camera and you can fill up the phone with a few minutes of video, it's just plain stupidity on Apple's part. Especially since other similarly priced devices come with nearly universally better tech. You might like the phone cause it has a nice pretty fruit logo on it, I personally am enjoying my new Nexus far more.

 

[Soi Dog]

Skeptical about the article. Apple will likely decline over time, so will Amazon, Google, Facebook and all the major market leaders today. It's the nature of business and innovation. Some will evolve and transform, while others will decline and fade into obscurity. But I don't think any of those companies, including Apple, have hit the high mark yet.

I think they hit the high mark, and might see it as a problem for them now to be so big and want to sustain that.
I won't mind to se Apple becoming a small company again that focuses again on their core original products and listen again to the creative scare instead of the selfie ones. But it might be difficult to save face. I really hope that they lose much in the smartphone business and begin to think again more on OS and computers. Or rethink there IOS to become truly as good as OSX.
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It certainly is weird that their phones have the computing power of macbook and yet the OS still is just so barebones. They really don't need to make the CPUs faster if the operating system isn't going to become more advanced

+1 You nailed it!, the problem is iOS crippling.

 

[Soi Dog]

I'm not surprized at all.
with an ugly,boring and tired design like that..
just look how much Samsung improved its designs with S7 and S7 Edge..they look absolutely gorgeous..honestly iPhone 6s and 6s Plus and now this mockup of iPhone 7 look absolutely UGLY.

who cares if it's marginally thinner when it looks like a flat piece of soap?

the iPhone 6 and 6s sold alot not because of their design but because they were what people wanted : larger screen iPhones.Apple does not seem to understand that.

the design needs a lot more attention.it simply looks bad.and people don't like ugly products.

Absolutely right, iPhone 4 & 5 had a great design, the 6 is a disappointment in design and was only successfully because of its new form factor. If the 7 still look like a piece of soap...

 

[Souponastick270]

While the SE's A9 processor might be "out of date" in September... the A7 processor in your 5S won't be getting any newer either

Yeah but I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking "hmm upgrade my 5S to a tarted up 5S which will be out of date 6 months after buying it ? Or wait and see what happens in September rather than jump into a 2 year contract on a 6S - which again out of date in six months" Thus meaning there are potential lost sales.

 

[8281]

The design of Apple products IS art - not art you look at in a gallery, but it's no less art. You think it's trivial to design these products and MASS produce them to this incredibly high standard of precision fit and finish? You clearly don't know much about engineering or design if that's what you think.

Have you ever taken an iPhone 4 apart with an engineering appreciation for how it is created in a logical, modular fashion, with the logic board solder mask and ribbon cables all colour matched matte black, laid out in a neat, uniform and logical manner, how the band around the side is THICK, SOLID stainless steel, how the corners and sides of the display are anchored to the inside of the band with precision screws and washers, how the insulation material in the antenna band gaps is precision made so that running a finger over it reveals NO misalignment between the insulator and the steel, such that it is a continuous, smooth and uniform surface, how ALL of the screws are still machine screws that lock into machined threads in the steel chassis, and not self-tapping screws that rely on being screwed into soft, weak plastic. Notice how ALL the ribbon cable connectors are held down with precision made stainless steel clamps, held captive with securely located screws, again, mounted into the steel.

Show me one single example of another brand's phone that is designed SO well inside AND out looks, feels & behaves exactly like an iPhone then... Samsung can only churn out chrome plated plastic that looks (at a cursory glance ONLY, and to the untrained eye) like metal, but clearly isn't as they have no wish for the longevity of their phone to extend past 1-2 years - they simply do not care about quality, same applies to the others too, who do a poor attempt at mimicking the external of iOS devices, mimicking the aluminium and steel parts, but if you looked inside you would see a MESS made of plastic.

Below are some photos I took on Saturday, whilst replacing someone's iPhone 4 display. The quality of materials used is astoundingly good, and is why huge amounts of people still desire 5 year old Apple products over brand new Android devices.

I appreciate it as art, I appreciate certain cars as art, but the market considers these phones consumer electronics. That's my point. You aren't buying a phone as art even if you appreciate the engineering and creativity that went into producing the device. The same with cars, until that car reaches a certain age or level of exclusivity. Spew all the Ive-esque rhetoric you'd like, it doesn't change the fact that a smart phone is something most people replace every two years.

 

[stevemiller]

Gneeal

Sorry if it seemed condescending. (And I guess it was a bit; so fair to call me out on it.)

Hey, the 6 is a great phone. And your call if keeping extra cash in your pocket or perhaps spending it on something else is more worthwhile. I was more saying that even if the 6 works fine, just a spec upgrade from the 6 to what will be available on the 7 is going to be a very nice thing. But heck, I've been using my 2011 iMac every day for five years now. Maybe I should take my own advice and let a few more dollars out of the bank account. I'm more suggesting that we all enjoy the best of the tech that we can, especially on the stuff that we use dozens of times per day. And yet I can't get myself to pull the trigger on $2.5k iMac upgrade. So I guess I'm not following my own advice.

Oh and definitely consider the competition. The latest flagship Androids seem very nice.

Generally my gut tells me if it's the right moment to update, such as with the iPad 9.7 with pencil support, after going 4 years with be iPad 3rd gen. Air 2 would also have been a big upgrade, but waiting for the ability to draw made all the difference in the world in terms of he ultimate value of the iPad for me.

With the provision that everything is speculation and circumstances may change, I feel like the right time for me with a phone will be if OLED screen rumours come to fruition in 2017.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Yeah but I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking "hmm upgrade my 5S to a tarted up 5S which will be out of date 6 months after buying it ? Or wait and see what happens in September rather than jump into a 2 year contract on a 6S - which again out of date in six months" Thus meaning there are potential lost sales.

I don't think Apple will refresh the iPhone SE anytime soon... definitely not this September.

If you like the 4" iPhone... it's gonna have the A9 processor for the foreseeable future.

For all your worries about being "six months out of date" you obviously aren't bothered by continuing to use an iPhone 5S that is now 29 months out of date

But if you've waited this long... you might as well wait longer.

Sidenote: yearly release cycles are great... but it depends on which month you buy an iPhone. I buy flagship iPhones within the first month of release... so I get about 11 months out of the current model.

But if you're considering a new flagship iPhone anytime after April... why not just wait a little bit longer until the next one? You'll either get the faster flagship... or save $100 on the then price-reduced model.

I guess that's why iPhone sales are the strongest in the first quarter of release... then they taper off the rest of the year. I can't imagine why anyone would buy an iPhone in August, for example. But people do!

I'm curious to see the release schedule for the iPhone SE. Some people say it will be on a two-year cycle. If so... it wont be updated until March 2018.

But the other iPhones will be on a yearly schedule in September.

 

[Naaaaak]

You will see the benefit of a curved screen when Apple starts using it, otherwise it's just a gimmick. Only Apple can innovate.

You mistake me for a fanboi. I simply asked what the benefits were.

 

[AxoNeuron]

I'm sure companies other than Apple don't do any R&D.

Samsung does more R&D in a single year than Apple does in a decade. Seriously, they're pioneers in pretty much every technical industry such as semiconductor fabrication, NAND storage technology, displays, CPU design, etc.

Meanwhile, Apple hasn't found a way to move beyond the 16GB base model since 2011, while the rest of the industry did this a while ago for flagship phones. Apple's solution? Make a pretty rose gold version!

 

[I7guy]

Samsung does more R&D in a single year than Apple does in a decade. Seriously, they're pioneers in pretty much every technical industry such as semiconductor fabrication, NAND storage technology, displays, CPU design, etc.

Meanwhile, Apple hasn't found a way to move beyond the 16GB base model since 2011, while the rest of the industry did this a while ago for flagship phones. Apple's solution? Make a pretty rose gold version!

This is a mobile phone discussion. We're talking about mobile phone development, not the other industries that samsung is in. Similarly when comparing revenue and profits, the mobile phone divisions, at least as close as possible are compared, not samsung worldwide profits vs apple profits.

 

[EightyTwenty]

That is not what I said as you paraphrased me. Also you might want to write the Apple board and tell them: "there is absolutely no reason for thAt stupid watch to exist".

Threads like this bring out the arm-chair ceo in all of us.

I'm only speaking as a consumer.

Tim Cook has every reason in the world to release a useless product if he believes enough people can be fleeced of their money. The guy is still releasing 5400 spinners in $2500 computers in 2016.

This watch really is no different than the Apple Toothbrush that tells you how many times each tooth has been brushed and lets you check the weather while you brush your teeth (as long as you have your $800 iPhone on you at the time).

And that is not even an exaggeration. The Apple watch really is that stupid and useless. "Hey look! I can check my email on my watch... as long as my $800 iPhone is in my pocket. Sure, I could actually check my iPhone to read the email but... I CAN NOW CHECK IT ON MY WRIST!!!!! OMG!!!" Oh... and by "check my email", I really mean "look at the subject only" and then pull out my phone anyway.

I really hope they release the Apple Ankle Bracelet for those times that both hands are occupied making a sandwich and you just NEEEEEED to check your email. Or maybe we can get an Apple Headband so total strangers can check your email for you when your arms and legs are all occupied.

The idiocy and total uselessness of this product actually infuriates me.

 

[iMi]

I'm only speaking as a consumer.

Tim Cook has every reason in the world to release a useless product if he believes enough people can be fleeced of their money. The guy is still releasing 5400 spinners in $2500 computers in 2016.

This watch really is no different than the Apple Toothbrush that tells you how many times each tooth has been brushed and lets you check the weather while you brush your teeth (as long as you have your $800 iPhone on you at the time).

And that is not even an exaggeration. The Apple watch really is that stupid and useless. "Hey look! I can check my email on my watch... as long as my $800 iPhone is in my pocket. Sure, I could actually check my iPhone to read the email but... I CAN NOW CHECK IT ON MY WRIST!!!!! OMG!!!" Oh... and by "check my email", I really mean "look at the subject only" and then pull out my phone anyway.

I really hope they release the Apple Ankle Bracelet for those times that both hands are occupied making a sandwich and you just NEEEEEED to check your email. Or maybe we can get an Apple Headband so total strangers can check your email for you when your arms and legs are all occupied.

The idiocy and total uselessness of this product actually infuriates me.

It's useless to you. To be honest, I felt the same way at first. Then I decided to try it and see how I like it. There are a lot of useful things about the Watch. Yes, reading email isn't exactly possible yet. Future updates may improve it. Notifications on the other hand are great and I really like having Apple Pay easily accessible. Airline apps are useful, especially when you're pulling a carryon and holding a computer bag. It's nice to know a gate change, etc. Plus, it's a watch. You seem to forget that simple fact. I like having a watch and have, in the past, spend more money on analog watches. Getting a call notification when your phone is on silent and you're stuck in a meeting is also useful. That feature has actually saved me from missing important calls.

Everyone has different needs and tastes. Some people will like the watch, others won't. Nothing to argue about.

 

[maxsix]

On the investment side, it is all about how much of the company each individual stock gets you. Apple's stock is a great investment if Apple keeps making about the same profits it is making now. But justifying a 600 billion market cap is very hard and Apple needs huge profits to stay at this price level. Or they need to show significant growth. Other tech hardware companies have ALL eventually succumbed to commodification of their hardware or disruption from other technologies. Apple won't be immune to the challenges that companies like IBM faced in the past. Nobody really knows where market saturation is for smartphones. Personally I don't think we are there yet. But you would be hard pressed to find many folks with a "middle class" income who do not have a smartphone. But that isn't the saturation point for me because you can find folks with hand down phones that are quite old. Saturation will be the point where middle class and up folks are buying new phones.

As for "real" phone or not, yes it is all just terminology. I assume Apple has about three years planned out at any time. There are forks though in that plan if certain technologies don't progress to the point where 200 million of the part can be made in one year. I think it is assume that Apple has off ramps and fall back positions as they get closer to finalizing the next product. It is just conjecture but if they don't do a serious case redesign I'm going to guess that their next case redesign is dependent on some piece of tech that isn't going to be ready for September 2016. If that is the case, then I think Apple has to compete on price this Fall. Folks need visual clues that the phone is new and better. You can say that they shouldn't, but that would just be ignoring reality. Until the phone looks different, it is just going to be the "same". See how the SE is responded to? It is described as "basically an iPhone 5s" when of course it is not. Just like a 2013 iMac is not the same as a 2016 iMac.
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The A10 processor, the improved battery life, the extra RAM, and the improved camera should be very compelling to go from a 6 to a 7. Why would you not upgrade what is probably one of your top five most used possessions at that point? I just don't get it. Like the Boar's Head Ham commercials say, "Compromise elsewhere." Note, I can see skipping a cycle. But skipping two cycles and stretching for a third year just doesn't make sense.

Actually _not upgrading_ makes exceptionally good sense.

Your position also has plenty of merit, I'm not denying you.

But when we look at the big picture, mainstream iPhone buyers simply don't have a need to spend the time and money to buy and setup a brand new iPhone. A vast number of current users are already experiencing trouble free three year ownership cycles with their present iPhones. It's no secret that the iPhone easily lasts for three years. So the smart money says enjoy three years and get the best return from your investment.

Besides the average buyer doesn't have the deep emotional attachment to Apple that devotees steadfastly cling to. Nor do they rely on being seen with an iPhone to validate their ego. Vanity driven purchases are the province of the Gold iPhone buying crowd, often largely comprised of raving Apple Fans. That's a good thing too, they pump lots of cash into the Cupertino Co coffers.

 

[iMi]

Samsung does more R&D in a single year than Apple does in a decade. Seriously, they're pioneers in pretty much every technical industry such as semiconductor fabrication, NAND storage technology, displays, CPU design, etc.

Meanwhile, Apple hasn't found a way to move beyond the 16GB base model since 2011, while the rest of the industry did this a while ago for flagship phones. Apple's solution? Make a pretty rose gold version!

Sorry, but that's just ridiculous. Samsung has been poaching Apple's design and ideas for years. Everyone has seen the "Samsung before iPhone and after" photos. They are shameless about it, too. Apple has it's flaws, obviously. But to say Samsung is the more innovative company is a joke.
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Actually _not upgrading_ makes exceptionally good sense.

Your position also has plenty of merit, I'm not denying you.

But when we look at the big picture, mainstream iPhone buyers simply don't have a need to spend the time and money to buy and setup a brand new iPhone. A vast number of current users are already experiencing trouble free three year ownership cycles with their present iPhones. It's no secret that the iPhone easily lasts for three years. So the smart money says enjoy three years and get the best return from your investment.

Besides the average buyer doesn't have the deep emotional attachment to Apple that devotees steadfastly cling to. Nor do they rely on being seen with an iPhone to validate their ego. Vanity driven purchases are the province of the Gold iPhone buying crowd, often largely comprised of raving Apple Fans. That's a good thing too, they pump lots of cash into the Cupertino Co coffers.

Good point, plus competition has certainly caught up and technology improvements are also more incremental and less of a leap. iPads are arguably too future proof at this point because the tasks they are designed to handle have pretty much met all the processing power they will require. Even the nice-to-haves are topped out. Retina display is, well, already "retina" so higher resolution would arguably not be perceivable by human eye. Battery technology is good for thousands of cycles, etc. That will slow growth as fewer people will upgrade on regular basis, expect die hard fans like you said.

 

[Zaqfalcon]

"Worst-Performing Top Five Smartphone Brand of 2016"

So fifth then?

 

[TallManNY]

Gneeal


Generally my gut tells me if it's the right moment to update, such as with the iPad 9.7 with pencil support, after going 4 years with be iPad 3rd gen. Air 2 would also have been a big upgrade, but waiting for the ability to draw made all the difference in the world in terms of he ultimate value of the iPad for me.

With the provision that everything is speculation and circumstances may change, I feel like the right time for me with a phone will be if OLED screen rumours come to fruition in 2017.

Good call. That is a great upgrade. I went from 3rd Gen to Air 2 because the GF could use the 3rd Gen. But I agree the current iPad Pro would have been the right upgrade. And since the GF has dropped and broken part of the screen on the 3rd Gen iPad I might end up upgrading again.

I don't disagree with you that OLED screen might be the big change. But the smartphone has just become such a big part of my day to day life that I can't see skimping on it. Basically the only thing that will keep me from buying the 7 might be lack of headphone jack. Lack of headphone jack could be a problem with my daily podcasts. But I have more disposable cash than the average US citizens. And I have vastly more headphones due to my lack of being able to keep track of a headphone to put in my pocket before I go to work. So buying a new iPhone is not a big deal. But buying four new headphones with a lightning connector is going to be So to each their own.
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Actually _not upgrading_ makes exceptionally good sense.

Your position also has plenty of merit, I'm not denying you.

But when we look at the big picture, mainstream iPhone buyers simply don't have a need to spend the time and money to buy and setup a brand new iPhone. A vast number of current users are already experiencing trouble free three year ownership cycles with their present iPhones. It's no secret that the iPhone easily lasts for three years. So the smart money says enjoy three years and get the best return from your investment.

Besides the average buyer doesn't have the deep emotional attachment to Apple that devotees steadfastly cling to. Nor do they rely on being seen with an iPhone to validate their ego. Vanity driven purchases are the province of the Gold iPhone buying crowd, often largely comprised of raving Apple Fans. That's a good thing too, they pump lots of cash into the Cupertino Co coffers.

Good point. There is real cost for the non-techy to setting up a new iPhone. It isn't worth it to them. I get very little value to being seen with a new iPhone. But my friends and co-workers know me as an Apple and tech guy. So they kind of expect me to have the latest Apple product. So while I do not expect anyone to be impressed that I have the latest iPhone, I do comment on others usage when I see them struggling in a way that I feel is needless. For example, I've had tow conversations with friends who are making more than $300k a year and who were using outdated tech. It seemed illogical to me that they hadn't gotten the tech that they need to do their job or to live their life (in one case running with a 4s and the other not carrying an iPad despite having a job that was very mobile). Those guys, in my opinion, would have made their lives better and been more effective if they had just bought good and available tech. And the tech would have been less than one day's pay.

 

[AxoNeuron]

Sorry, but that's just ridiculous. Samsung has been poaching Apple's design and ideas for years. Everyone has seen the "Samsung before iPhone and after" photos. They are shameless about it, too. Apple has it's flaws, obviously. But to say Samsung is the more innovative company is a joke.
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Apple relies on Samsung way more than the reverse. You do realize, a lot of the chips in an iPhone are from Samsung right? I don't see anything from Apple in the S7.

The flagship Galaxy phones have come with 32GB base model for a while now, Apple is still stuck in 2011. The iPhone 6 Plus I bought last year (with a paltry 1GB of RAM) is now uselessly slow. Seriously, trying to use Safari on it is a nightmare, it's an awful phone. But my Galaxy S6 is still wicked fast. More RAM, more storage, WAYYYYYY better display, the list goes on and on...

Specs matter. And most of the Apple fanboy criticisms of Android really don't work anymore. Android 6.0 is amazing, it's buttery smooth, fast, and has way more features than ios.

I've owned iphones since 2007, and if Apple hadn't screwed up with such awful disgusting specs these past few years I would still be buying them. But seriously, the iPhone these days is a truly awful device.

 

[btrach144]

Never seen the point of wireless charging. It's not actually wireless because there's still a cable attached to the large mat/disc/custom made table you need to put your device on. And this mat/disc/custom made table is a lot bigger than the tiny plug on the end of a regular charging table. Then there's the amount of energy these wireless charging devices waste…

USB-C? Not sure we're going to see a USB-C plug on anything smaller than a laptop. Apple seems to expanding their use of lightning on smaller devices.

Waterproof? Again, I'm not sure that anything over heavy rain protection is really needed. I suspect that Apple has done some research and discovered that its customers (its real customers – not people who live on forums) don't make calls while submerged under water and don't use their phones while they're on the toilet (though it sounds like a lot of people round here do).

Camera? Well, who doesn't want a better camera?
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Ah, the outrage of the spec whore.

Tim Cook, is that you making up all the excuses as to why the iPhone is still in the last decade?

 

[I7guy]

Apple relies on Samsung way more than the reverse. You do realize, a lot of the chips in an iPhone are from Samsung right? I don't see anything from Apple in the S7.

The flagship Galaxy phones have come with 32GB base model for a while now, Apple is still stuck in 2011. The iPhone 6 Plus I bought last year (with a paltry 1GB of RAM) is now uselessly slow. Seriously, trying to use Safari on it is a nightmare, it's an awful phone. But my Galaxy S6 is still wicked fast. More RAM, more storage, WAYYYYYY better display, the list goes on and on...

Specs matter. And most of the Apple fanboy criticisms of Android really don't work anymore. Android 6.0 is amazing, it's buttery smooth, fast, and has way more features than ios.

I've owned iphones since 2007, and if Apple hadn't screwed up with such awful disgusting specs these past few years I would still be buying them. But seriously, the iPhone these days is a truly awful device.

Apple could dump Samsung and they would hurt way more than Apple. Apple does not put its eggs in one basket.

The last iPhone is a fantastic device btw.