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1. Why aren’t more people voicing disappointment for Tim Cook blatantly trying to rip off customers by putting the previous year’s iPhone 13 CPU into this year’s flagship iPhone 14?

2. Cook puts older hardware into the latest iPhones in order to save production costs to maximize profits. It would be bad enough if he did that to pass the cost savings on to customers by lowering prices, but he doesn’t even lower prices.

3. Why do so many people support his unprecedented decision to put last year’s CPU (A15) into this year’s flagship iPhone?
  1. People don’t need to voice disappointment online. The loudest countering is by not buying the phone.
  2. They priced the mini with past base price and effectively raised the price of normal 13/14. Then they removed mini from lineup. AOD, ProMotion, A16 - none of eye-catching features get added to the 13/14 so you get the Pro.
  3. Still, A15 is a fantastic chip by today standard. A16 isn’t that much better. It’s better to have A15 14 ready for same day pick-up than no stocks at all. Supply chain is not working properly in the past 2 years.
 
Supply chain is not working properly in the past 2 years.
And it will not work properly for the next 2 years minimum. Enjoy out of stock iPhone 14 Pro Max when Apple releases iPhone 15 Ultra. :p
The loudest countering is by not buying the phone.
And the weakest IMO. Plus, it is near impossible to expect people voting with their wallet can form a strong enough collective force to actually force Apple to change anything. Media attention is still a bit stronger, unless Apple doesn't care about PR anymore.
 
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The only reason the standard 14 exists is to upsell you to the Pro line. If they killed the standard 14 and just sold the 13 Pro alongside the 14 Pro, there wouldn't be much of a difference and lot more people would prefer the lower priced version.

That's why they discontinue previous year's pro line and just release a sub-par, lesser version to upsell you. That's the main innovation Apple has brough over the latest years, how to upsell you to a more expensive - higher margin version
I don’t understand this argument. So, Apple is producing the standard iPhone 14, spending money to manufacture them, so that…..they don’t sell them and instead convince you to buy iPhone 14 Pro line devices?

In your scenario, do they just bury the standard iPhone 14s in a ditch, or do they launch them into space?

I understand upsell, but this way of thinking about upsell seems way too simplified to me.
 
Why aren’t more people voicing disappointment for Tim Cook blatantly trying to rip off customers by putting the previous year’s iPhone 13 CPU into this year’s flagship iPhone 14?

Apple has never done that before. In fact, all three iPhone SE generations received the latest generation CPU that was in the current flagship iPhone.

Cook puts older hardware into the latest iPhones in order to save production costs to maximize profits. It would be bad enough if he did that to pass the cost savings on to customers by lowering prices, but he doesn’t even lower prices.

Cook is a greedy suit with an MBA (a degree that is typically a sign of mediocrity). Why do so many people support his unprecedented decision to put last year’s CPU (A15) into this year’s flagship iPhone?
Did you forget about the iPhone 5c? Released alongside the iPhone 5s and it got an A6 processor from the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 14/Plus at least got the A15 5-GPU from the 13 Pro/Max instead of the A15 4-GPU.
 
The only reason the standard 14 exists is to upsell you to the Pro line.

I don't agree with this. Using cars as an example, isn't that basically like saying the Honda Civic only exists so that people buy the Accord? IMHO, both products exist but cater to different Customers based upon budget, perceptions of pricing, needs and desires.

You could also say that the Pro could downsell someone to a standard model: "well, I could save $200 and just go with the 14". I know people that have done that between the two tiers in the past as well, even here on this forum as well as friends.

I'd imagine the point really is to get people to buy phones and spend as much as possible (which is why upselling is also more important), but at least to buy into something. This year might be a bad example though in particular though if Ming-Chi Kuo is correct: "Apple's iPhone 14 Product segmentation strategy for standard models failed this year".

 
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I don’t understand this argument. So, Apple is producing the standard iPhone 14, spending money to manufacture them, so that…..they don’t sell them and instead convince you to buy iPhone 14 Pro line devices?

In your scenario, do they just bury the standard iPhone 14s in a ditch, or do they launch them into space?

I understand upsell, but this way of thinking about upsell seems way too simplified to me.

I don't agree with this. Using cars as an example, isn't that basically like saying the Honda Civic only exists so that people buy the Accord? IMHO, both products exist but cater to different Customers based upon budget, perceptions of pricing, needs and desires.

You could also say that the Pro could downsell someone to a standard model: "well, I could save $200 and just go with the 14". I know people that have done that between the two tiers in the past as well, even here on this forum as well as friends.

I'd imagine the point really is to get people to buy phones and spend as much as possible (which is why upselling is also more important), but at least to buy into something. This year might be a bad example though in particular though if Ming-Chi Kuo is correct: "Apple's iPhone 14 Product segmentation strategy for standard models failed this year".

Agree, I also see fam/colleagues went with the $650 13 instead. This is the same with iPad 10th - people are smart enough to go with Air 4 or iPad 9th + 3rd party keyboard cover.
 
The A15 is already faster than I need in a phone. I have no concerns about buying a phone with an A15 in it.
When the iPhone 6S with the A9 was released in 2015, 2014's iPhone 6 with the A8 was already faster than most people needed in a phone. But most people don't use their iPhones for only one or two years. The A8 iPhone 6 can only be updated to iOS 12 whereas the A9 iPhone 6S can run iOS 15. So just because last year's A15 is still faster than most people need, it may likely go obsolete a couple of years prior to the A16. That is Tim Crook ripping people off in two ways:
1. He is charging a lot more for a "midrange" iPhone (i.e., the iPhone 14) than flagship iPhones of the past (i.e., the iPhone 6S), and that price increase is much higher than the rate of inflation.
2. In a couple of years if the A15 won't run the latest iOS release while the A16 can run newer iOS releases for a few more years, it will pressure people to prematurely buy new iPhones.
 
What about this is mediocre?
Thank you for proving my point.

As that link you posted shows, Tim Cook cares about shareholders more than users. That's precisely what makes him mediocre for users. For shareholders, however, he is, by far, the best CEO Apple ever had. Unlike Steve Jobs who cared about users more than shareholders and thus wanted to include the latest hardware for the benefit of customers even if it cost Apple more to do so, Cook is willing to cut costs by shamelessly including older hardware in the latest devices. I don't want to go off topic on this thread, so if you want, you can click the link below to read what I wrote about Cook including the same USB 2.0 transfer speeds on this year's most expensive iPhone 14 Pro as was included in the very first iPhone released in 2007:
 
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1. He is charging a lot more for a "midrange" iPhone (i.e., the iPhone 14) than flagship iPhones of the past (i.e., the iPhone 6S), and that price increase is much higher than the rate of inflation.
2. In a couple of years if the A15 won't run the latest iOS release while the A16 can run newer iOS releases for a few more years, it will pressure people to prematurely buy new iPhones.

Your stretching the truth. The A16 will probably only get one more year of extra support over the A15. It is possible it will get 2 more years of support, but it is also possible it will stop receiving support at the same time as the A15.

Apple provides shockingly long software support for their phones. I bet the iPhone 14 and the A15 chip gets at least 5 more years of support, if not more. I am betting on more.


If the iPhone 14 doesn’t seem like good value to you, just get the iPhone SE3. It is half the price and will get the same number of years of software support as the iPhone 14. That is what I plan to get when my iPhone 8 gives out….although honestly my iPhone 8 and its 5 year old A11 still gets software updates and is plenty fast for what most people need from a phone.
 
If, as you say, “The iPhone 14 isn't the flagship. It's the midrange phone”, then it intentionally has a deceptive name. A more honest name would’ve been iPhone 13C. (2013’s iPhone 5C had a different design to 2012’s iPhone 5, but had the same A6 CPU. So the name iPhone 5C was not deceptive.)

They can’t possible call it the iPhone 14 Minus, can’t they?

This is the first year they’re segregating the processors, letting the Pro models be one generation ahead. Come back and complain if the base iPhone 15 continues to use the A15. You’d make a better case then.
 
I don’t understand this argument. So, Apple is producing the standard iPhone 14, spending money to manufacture them, so that…..they don’t sell them and instead convince you to buy iPhone 14 Pro line devices?

In your scenario, do they just bury the standard iPhone 14s in a ditch, or do they launch them into space?

I understand upsell, but this way of thinking about upsell seems way too simplified to me.
There's a reason Apple is halting production of the 14. That's to keep the inventory level sufficient, but not overstuffing the channels.

The market speaks for itself. Apple cannot make enough of the 14 Pros. 14 Pro models give Apple more margins, so yeah, Apple would prefer most people buy the 14 Pros/Pro Maxes. But most people wouldn't just spend $1000+ on a phone willingly right out off the gate. They need some persuasion. That's the technique of upselling.

Apple is basically doing the same thing as McDonalds, albeit a more advance version. Upsize your happy meal.
 
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OP, what real world performance issue is it that
you have with the iPhone 14 w/A15? They are just numbers, and not all A15 chips are even
the same thing. Any future proofing argument really one way or the other is speculation at best.
I just don't see any valid argument to be made there.

"What Apple did here – bringing the enhanced A15 chip from the iPhone 13 Pro to the iPhone 14 – was kind of smart. It’s a good cost-saving move that will leave nobody wanting."

 
When the iPhone 6S with the A9 was released in 2015, 2014's iPhone 6 with the A8 was already faster than most people needed in a phone. But most people don't use their iPhones for only one or two years. The A8 iPhone 6 can only be updated to iOS 12 whereas the A9 iPhone 6S can run iOS 15. So just because last year's A15 is still faster than most people need, it may likely go obsolete a couple of years prior to the A16. That is Tim Crook ripping people off in two ways:
1. He is charging a lot more for a "midrange" iPhone (i.e., the iPhone 14) than flagship iPhones of the past (i.e., the iPhone 6S), and that price increase is much higher than the rate of inflation.
2. In a couple of years if the A15 won't run the latest iOS release while the A16 can run newer iOS releases for a few more years, it will pressure people to prematurely buy new iPhones.
Just to be clear, the A9 in the 6s absolutely obliterated the A8 in terms of performance. It was a huge upgrade in terms of cpu & gpu performance and also shipped with double the ram and thus there was a very good reason that the 6s continued to receive software iOS updates for 3 years after the 6 was cut-off. The A8 in the 6 on the other hand was a very modest update to the A7 - it was basically a die shrink of the A7 and was a bit more efficient with a modest performance bump. The 5s with the A7 and the 6 with with the A8 were both cutoff when iOS 13 came out. The difference between the A15 and A16 is pretty akin to the A7 to A8 situation, so it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if the A15 and A16 are dropped at the same time (and it definitely won’t be in a couple years, more like 5-6 years from now).
 
Why aren’t more people voicing disappointment for Tim Cook blatantly trying to rip off customers by putting the previous year’s iPhone 13 CPU into this year’s flagship iPhone 14?

Apple has never done that before. In fact, all three iPhone SE generations received the latest generation CPU that was in the current flagship iPhone.

Cook puts older hardware into the latest iPhones in order to save production costs to maximize profits. It would be bad enough if he did that to pass the cost savings on to customers by lowering prices, but he doesn’t even lower prices.

Cook is a greedy suit with an MBA (a degree that is typically a sign of mediocrity). Why do so many people support his unprecedented decision to put last year’s CPU (A15) into this year’s flagship iPhone?

Let's listen to someone who thinks certain degrees are a sign of someone's intelligence, competence or ability to make decisions. Steve Jobs was a college drop out kid.

Find a new hobby and stop spending so much time focusing on Tim Cook.
 
I’d imagine people aren’t complaining about it because it’s not widely known about among consumers. Combine that with the A15 being a very fast and capable chip where the differences to the A16 are unnoticeable to most people and you’ve got something that doesn’t really get highlighted at all.

Last years iPhones remain popular this year and I doubt non-enthusiasts really care about the product number on the chip on their phone. It’s the sort of thing we discuss here but this is a select community.
 
Let's listen to someone who thinks certain degrees are a sign of someone's intelligence, competence or ability to make decisions. Steve Jobs was a college drop out kid.

Find a new hobby and stop spending so much time focusing on Tim Cook.
I don’t think degrees are a sign of someone’s intelligence. (I’m not an elitist.) I think the MBA degree teaches in-the-box conventional thinking. That is often not good for innovation.
 
The only reason the standard 14 exists is to upsell you to the Pro line. If they killed the standard 14 and just sold the 13 Pro alongside the 14 Pro, there wouldn't be much of a difference and lot more people would prefer the lower priced version.

That's why they discontinue previous year's pro line and just release a sub-par, lesser version to upsell you. That's the main innovation Apple has brough over the latest years, how to upsell you to a more expensive - higher margin version

I don’t think that is quite true to be honest. I’m sure Apple would like everyone to buy their latest Pro iPhones but the reality is they sell tens of millions of their standard iPhones each year too. They don’t invest that much in a device not to sell it. The iPhone 13/14 is aimed at the mainstream consumer who just needs a capable smartphone and likes Apples way of doing things. I know far more people with the standard iPhones than the Pro’s and I’d imagine a lot of people can say that. Different people have different cost thresholds for what they are willing to pay for a device and right now, cost is key and it’s a buyers market.
 
Standard iPhone isn’t the flagship anymore. Look at what happened to standard iPad: It became the budget one.
 
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I do not get this thread at all. Folks buy what they want. Simple as that. When I replaced my iPhone 11 Pro I went with the iPhone 14 Pro but with more storage then my 11 Pro. I felt that was the best phone for me and I can afford it. My wife needed to replace her iPhone SE and she looked at all of them and decided she wanted the iPhone 13 mini which is still on sell and will be until the introduction of the iPhone 15. I always wonder how a phone is discontinued when it is still sold and my wife bought one.

The biggest thing is the internals of the iPhone 14 standard models was completely redesigned so you can access the battery from the back of the phone. I think with issues getting a good enough supply of chips forced Apple to use last year A15 chip out the Pro series of last year. You get a modest bump in performance and completely redesigned internal design that in the long run will save time and money IF the phone ever needs repaired. We are entering an uncertain economic conditions and the folks are seeing this and just waiting to see what happens. Eventually the market will be stabilized and folks will start going back and buying again.
 
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Do you not think maybe the reason people aren't complaining as much as you like is because they don't agree with your opinion?

The iPhone 14 is an incredible device for many people, has great performance, and will be a stellar upgrade for people coming from older devices. They can't throw every top of the line feature at every model. They need to have models in various price ranges.

Calm down.
 
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