It blows my mind that Apple produces a $1,200 phone and they give you an incredibly slow charger.
Think about the money buddy (it's always about the money)... and then chime in when we post stuff like "...but who makes the most profitable _______" in countless threads. One way to become "the first trillion dollar company" is to increase average revenue per customer. Apple has learned that there is great profit in accessories and proprietary (port) licensing deals.
While some of us will grumble about stuff like this... maybe even feel aggravated enough to write such a grumble down in an online forum- does it make us actually take a meaningful action that presses Apple to change this kind of decision-making? No. We buy anyway. Apple dropped a very useful and thoroughly ubiquitous headphone jack and we griped and wrote our gripes down, etc. But when it came time to speak loudly (with our wallets), we bought anyway. Apple was rewarded for the decision, "we" gushed about the overall greatness of that iPhone, etc. Then, we lined up to compete to pay up for Apple's bluetooth buds, further rewarding Apple for that decision. And "we" gushed about the overall greatness of the buds.
Apple is able to gamble a little goodwill away in these kinds of decisions because "we" will buy anyway. They are rewarded in "record revenues & profits." "We" just accept such decisions and throw the money at them. This week there was Mac mini thread that showed a picture of the back of a Mini and all its ports. Someone posted almost incredulously "look at all those ports." Yes everyone, we used to be able to buy Apple stuff that had useful ports now available in accessory dongles (sold separately) baked right into the product itself. BUT, like the headphone jack, innovation by subtraction of consumer utility "baked in" WORKS for Apple now. "We" may grumble. "We" may write down some of those grumbles. But then we pay up anyway. Apple is rewarded by our acceptance- reluctant or not.
So why not put in an inferior charger? "We'll" wake up at 3AM to try to buy as soon as we possibly can, pumping up demand well beyond supply, then grumble (but wait) the 3, then 4, then 5 weeks for the product to come. Then, we'll accessorize it with additional items that are generally very profitable. Between a proprietary port (licensing) and a line of supporting accessories (sold separately), Apple can make a nice amount of extra profit on many iPhones sold.
At some point, a decision will be the straw and the base will rebel (with their wallets)... but while Apple can get away with it, they'll keep doing it. Shareholders are happy with maximum profits. Management is happy with more bonus money. Customers "buy them as fast as we can make them" in spite of such decisions, so they appear to be happy too. Some of those customers will hang in forums and shout down others who dare to speak negatively about such decisions... even if such opinions don't affect them at all. Given all of this: if you are Apple, don't you opt to put in the less-than-your-best charger too?
