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Yes, thank you. I've been an Apple user since the Apple II, and I'm very much aware of their success. That doesn't mean they choose colours based on market research. You're making an assumption. The truth is, none of us really know—unless there's some public statement from Apple or an employee of which I'm unaware.

Steve Jobs once famously said:



In context, he's talking about technology, not fashion here. And he has a point—when you're at the cutting edge of technical innovation, you can't rely on the everyday consumer to visualise what they'll want a year or five from now. Still, Apple (like all many very successful companies) can sometimes be arrogant too, and assume they know what's best for their customers instead of actually listening to them.

For sure regarding Jobs and arrogance... remembering the Apple Lisa, Apple G4 Cube, and Apple Sox.

Apple does do market research. That's OK if you want to assume they don't.
 
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I can't wait to upgrade from my 14PM. Better battery, the new AI features, improved cameras etc. are more than enough justification. Plus I can give my phone to my bro, who is still rocking the iPhone 12.
 
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The truth is, none of us really know
Apple does do market research. That's OK if you want to assume they don't.

Only one of us is making assumptions.

For sure regarding Jobs and arrogance... remembering the Apple Lisa, Apple G4 Cube, and Apple Sox.

Both the Apple Lisa and G4 Cube failed because they were too expensive. I wouldn’t necessarily call that arrogance.

To bring it back to the original topic of aesthetics, I thought the Cube was one of Apple’s most attractive computers ever. It’s so easy to dis it with hindsight, but I reckon if they’d ironed out minor issues and given it a reasonable price tag, we might now be remembering it as one of Apple’s great success stories.

With all this talk of a smaller M4 Mac mini, I kind of wish they’d make it into a little cube. I think that would actually be a lovely way to redeem Steve’s unsatisfied obsession with the cube form factor.
 
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I'm really excited to see all the innovations Apple is bringing to iPhone this year.

I love them taking us for a deep dive into their labs to showcase the advancements they have made in chip design. The camera system upgrades are always incredible.

I'm expecting a ton of refinements to the iPhone Pro line. This should really make the new products genuinely compelling upgrades for everyone.

Let's go!!!
Ok, Tim
 
Only one of us is making assumptions.

Both the Apple Lisa and G4 Cube failed because they were too expensive. I wouldn’t necessarily call that arrogance.

To bring it back to the original topic of aesthetics, I thought the Cube was one of Apple’s most attractive computers ever. It’s so easy to dis it with hindsight, but I reckon if they’d ironed out minor issues and given it a reasonable price tag, we might now be remembering it as one of Apple’s great success stories.

With all this talk of a smaller M4 Mac mini, I kind of wish they’d make it into a little cube. I think that would actually be a lovely way to redeem Steve’s unsatisfied obsession with the cube form factor.

Regarding assumptions… I guess that “one” would be you. I used to work for a Silicon Valley company as an engineer and Apple would ask for our feedback and thoughts about potential future products. Which we used in systems we developed for our customers,
 
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I respectfully disagree about the iPad mini 7. The mini 6 was released alongside the new iPhones last time. The author of this article gives no compelling reason why it wouldn't be released in the same way this year as well.
 
Regarding assumptions… I guess that “one” would be you. I used to work for a Silicon Valley company as an engineer and Apple would ask for our feedback and thoughts about potential future products. Which we used in systems we developed for our customers,

I’d be genuinely interested to hear about that if you want to share.

Did they ask you about colour choices? That was the original topic if you recall.
 
I’d be genuinely interested to hear about that if you want to share.

Did they ask you about colour choices? That was the original topic if you recall.

No. Color choices weren't important as the systems we developed/designed were for aerospace/defense customers.

The point is, like all successful companies, Apple does market research and greatly values customer views and feedback.

Send an email to Craig F and ask if Apple does market research. You will get a response.
 
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The point is, like all successful companies, Apple does market research and greatly values customer views and feedback.

Yes, all big companies say they 'value customer views and feedback', and I don't want to be the one to tell you that Santa isn't real, so I might leave that part of the discussion there.

Now, for the record, I never said Apple doesn't do any market research. What I said was this:

You do have to wonder if Apple does any market research before choosing these colours …

It was a very specific question about the colours they choose for each iPhone release, and I think it's clear that neither of us really know the answer to that question. That's it from me.
 
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Yes, all big companies say they 'value customer views and feedback', and I don't want to be the one to tell you that Santa isn't real, so I might leave that part of discussion there.

Now, for the record, I never said Apple doesn't do any market research. What I said was this:



It was a very specific question about the colours they choose for each iPhone release, and I think it's clear that neither of us really know the answer to that question. That's it from me.

I'd be shocked if Apple did a battery of market research covering many different aspects of a new/updated product release, such as an iPhone... except colors.

That just doesn't make sense as color would be a significant success driver - as evidenced here by all the color comments. OTOH... here I expect a ton of negativity everyday in the comments for every single story/topic relating to Apple.
 
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There are couple of rumored reasons to upgrade.
Improved camera that is in the 15 pro already. This is useful, for people taking photos and videos.
A18 chip the iPhones too. Finally perhaps in whole lineup. Finally end of this A16 A15 mess, that might just become the biggest drop in support even bigger than last years iOS 17 drop. But thats just minor, Apple cares about support for older devices. Thumbs up here.
Base 256GB storage, well I am fine with 64GB and I am fan of larger storage options. For those doing lidar scans, in the Pros, I wonder how usable that lidar scan is with 200+GB storage available. How big and detailed can your scans be.
RAM, if rumors are correct, if you like the way Apple is going to implement AI (on device, using your SSD, your battery) perhaps hold on, there is open window for great dissapointment in just a year ahead with iPhone18. Which brings me to more important thought, how long it takes develop GPT+1 in comparison with GPT+0.1. The AI improvement on yearly basis have potential to be generation +0.1, just wrapped in nice paper made of marketing slogans.
I would appreciate magnetic cable attachment, just like in the notebooks. Magsafe & Qi create tol much heat imho. Not a fan of fast charging either. More solid state buttons. Any dust resistance added is a plus for me.
IOS18 ? Fix the vpn, fix the usage of Apple subnet by Apple apps like mail. Stylus support, format ssd, screen mirror crop. There is lot of work but not sure all are priority.
 
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You do have to wonder if Apple does any market research before choosing these colours (aside from monitoring their own sales), or are they in the somewhat arrogant mindset of thinking they are the trendsetters?
I don't have to wonder - I have virtually no doubt that they do.

Fire up the search engine of your choice and do a search for "color theory in marketing". It's a huge, deep discipline used in almost every aspect of product marketing. Apple is a profit-driven company and they want to sell the most iPhones they possibly can, so it would be hard for me to believe that they just blindly threw colors out there without doing the research to determine what will maximize their sales figures.

There are different color choices for the iPhone and iPhone Pro lines. Obviously there's a reason for that - presumably that Apple has a good idea of the target demographics for each of those product lines, and the colors are intended for maximal appeal to the prevalent/most likely demographics for each line.

So while I don't have "insider" information directly from anybody at Apple where I can conclusively say that they do, in fact, engage in marketing research, there are plenty of indicators that they most certainly do, and always have.
 
I remember spending some 200+ dollars on the Iphone 4. Forgot what I spent on the Iphone 5c but wasn't that much higher. Do remember spending some 600 dollars for the 6s. And recently dropping 1K+ on a 14pro. Prices are reaching laptop prices. Hopefully my 14pro last for a few more generations.
 
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While, I know that there are a lot of leaks and speculation and some of that information comes from reputable and knowledgable sources. But it still blows my mind, they way these people, who don't work for the company, don't speak to anyone at the company, don't do any of the background journalism work and just read second-hand information on the internet—based on the work others do—sit in their office with a camera pointed at them, and tell you with such extreme confidence and matter of factness, what will occur without the slightest bit of thought or consideration to the above.
 
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Nothing of interest for me here. I’m happy with my iPhone 14 and have zero interest whatsoever to upgrade yet. And besides the AI features there won’t be much difference in performance or design with the 16–like usual the changes will be incremental.

I don’t care, have never cared, about the Apple Watch. I know it’s popular, but I have always seen it as an expensive toy and status symbol to fiddle with. I have a phone and a conventional analog watch on my wrist—so what the hell would I need an Apple Watch for?

I have never had much use for headphones so new Airpods mean squat to me. I have old Apple earpods I never use. I do pay some attention to these events for these products because the information is handy when I’m explaining the difference of these new models to interested customers.

New software replete with features I will likely never use or even notice when updating my devices. It’s rare they come up with something I find notable. Wireless setup and data transfer from one device to another is possibly the last thing I recall finding useful, and it’s been years since that came out.

I try to keep aware of what Apple is doing to stay informed primarily as it relates to my work. I am more interested in what is being done with iPad, Macbook, Mac Studio, Mac Mini and iMac.
 
You know what I expect? That MacRumors will spam low effort articles for weeks to come like they have this week with pure speculation and rumors. I think I'll just have to remove MacRumors from my feeds for a few weeks.
 
It’s kind of sad that there’s not one person that actually expects anything innovative or interesting on Monday. Just the same old stuff, barely changed in the last 5 years.

Not saying I’m not one of them, I expect nothing but disappointment, barely even an “S” year.

Just imagine how cool it would be if Tim came out on stage, and pulled a 16 pro max out of his pocket and showed us some actual groundbreaking fun new tech. Something that blows all our undies off, and has us all camping out at the local Apple stores with thousands of other nerds in a couple weeks like we used to do. I miss those days, I spent 17 hours in line for the iPhone 4, I want Tim to release something that makes me want to camp out for 27 hours, hell I’d camp out for a week for a holo-phone.
 
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