Jony Ive Says Holding Onto Features When There's a 'Better Way' is 'Path That Leads to Failure'

[I7guy]

Let's see. Hypothetically, let's iPhone sales went to 0. What's Apple's fall back?

So let’s see. Hypothetically companies stopped buying Samsung appliances and found other fabricators for their chips and displays. What would Samsung do.

Apple has a nice services business; itunes; air pods; Mac; Apple Watch; iCloud; App Store; new tvs content etc, plus billions in the bank. Sure there would be a 40% levy but in an emergency anything goes.

 

[Abazigal]

Let's see. Hypothetically, let's iPhone sales went to 0. What's Apple's fall back?

Hypothetically speaking? Everything else.

https://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2017/8/15/apple-has-the-best-business-model-for-generating-cash

Apple current sells the following:

The most profitable smartphone
The most profitable tablet
The most profitable laptop
The most profitable desktop
The most profitable smartwatch
The most profitable pair of wireless headphones
The most profitable streaming TV box

Apple has plenty of other revenue sources apart from the iPhone. Sure, the iPhone still accounts for the bulk of Apple’s revenue, but Apple is not going to collapse overnight over a poor quarter of iPhone sales.

 

[ventricle]

given its radical redesign with a nearly edge to edge display

How nearly is that, Yuugely, Biggly, or Littlie?

 

[dk001]

So let’s see. Hypothetically companies stopped buying Samsung appliances and found other fabricators for their chips and displays. What would Samsung do.

Apple has a nice services business; itunes; air pods; Mac; Apple Watch; iCloud; App Store; new tvs content etc, plus billions in the bank. Sure there would be a 40% levy but in an emergency anything goes.

Samsung has the other 90% of its global business. If you are going to also include Samsung appliances you must also include Apple peripherals.

 

[wozmatic]

I feel that for many of us, what we have with the iPhone 7 or 8 is all we want from a device.
There are features in the iPhone X that I will never use. My fear is that list will grow ever longer and that alone will make people like me think longer and harder about parting with money for a device that we may well only use a small part of.

Exactly.

I haven't met a single person who is remotely interested in the iPhone X

and realistically the only thing the iPhone X provides is face ID and the removal of touch ID.

BOTH things I don't want. Get a grip Apple... You're slippin'

Relevant:

 

[SurferPup]

Removing the earphone port from my iPhone 7 and creating the AirPods was some imaginative and creative thinking. The AirPods are more practical and love how I can control the volume from my Apple Watch. I use them much more than my iPhone 6 and iPad Pro wired EarPods and being Bluetooth I only need to carry around one set. Interesting to note the competition criticised Apple's change in hardware direction and now are copying them.

 

[Bacillus]

Nice talk Joni. Now apply it to Mac Mini, Mac Pro and other antiquities - starting Monday morning

 

[dilbert99]

HDD's for reduced costs, if they're Fusion drives it doesn't matter. I don't pay attention to iMacs but you can't possibly believe these are all mistakes or money grabs.

Why so long for wireless charging? Because Apple had other plans, most likely. Why can't you understand that the complexity of these things is huge? Waterproofing because Apple doesn't claim something is waterproof until it damn well is. Take a look at Sony's Xperia mistake - they're being sued over it. Imagine if Apple made an iPhone and called it waterproof but it wasn't? Can you imagine the uproar? I want USB C on the phone, but that's an obvious hurdle - customers will be PISSED. Yes, the list goes on but the answer isn't that Apple is incapable of doing any of these things.

I guess I was being a bit rhetorical. I don't believe they are mistakes but they are money grabs.
Like you say, HDDs for reduced cost - money grab.
The complexity is not huge, but yes Apple has its priorities, money is one of the top along with making great devices.

Apple doesn't make a guaranteed water resistant phone. They are not willing to bear the cost, again a money grab

Remind me how much money Apple has in the bank, made off its customers.

 

[I7guy]

Samsung has the other 90% of its global business. If you are going to also include Samsung appliances you must also include Apple peripherals.

A more “profitable “ discussion might be had when either of these companies start going down the tubes.
[doublepost=1511013154][/doublepost]

Exactly.

I haven't met a single person who is remotely interested in the iPhone X

and realistically the only thing the iPhone X provides is face ID and the removal of touch ID.

BOTH things I don't want. Get a grip Apple... You're slippin'

Relevant:

I want Face ID, but don’t care about no headphone jack or loss of Touch ID. Hence considering 6s to iPhone X. But it seems Apple is doing just fine and is relevant by every measure.

 

[H818H]

If you're already carrying headphones w/ a cord, why can't you just connect the dongle/adapter and leave it connected as part of the headphone's existing cord? Is the extra 3" and 1 gram such an added burden that keeping the headphone jack is the only solution?

Because I switch between the 3.5mm jack in my phone, laptop and desktop all day long - all I have to do is unplug from one, and I'm straight into the other. I leave the headphones in my ears.

With a headphone jack, that switching is quicker and easier than any software-based interface. I can literally do it with my eyes closed.

With AirPods/bluetooth headphones, it's a f*cking pain.

 

[justint1989]

Exactly.

I haven't met a single person who is remotely interested in the iPhone X

and realistically the only thing the iPhone X provides is face ID and the removal of touch ID.

BOTH things I don't want. Get a grip Apple... You're slippin'

Relevant:

You gain a lot more than just that. You get the new A11 which is truly multi core. Remember the A10 can only use two cores at a time, marginally beating out the 6S A9. When developers start coding for use of all the cores we will see apps start flying! You get the new screen real estate that is essentially in the same footprint as the standard 4.7 inch iPhone. The camera on the back of the X now has OIS on both cameras.
The list goes on and on.

 

[neutralguy]

Hypothetically speaking? Everything else.

https://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2017/8/15/apple-has-the-best-business-model-for-generating-cash

Apple current sells the following:

The most profitable smartphone
The most profitable tablet
The most profitable laptop
The most profitable desktop
The most profitable smartwatch
The most profitable pair of wireless headphones
The most profitable streaming TV box

Apple has plenty of other revenue sources apart from the iPhone. Sure, the iPhone still accounts for the bulk of Apple’s revenue, but Apple is not going to collapse overnight over a poor quarter of iPhone sales.

Either you are not realizing the influence of iPhone on Apple's business or you are willfully choosing to ignore it. I never said for one qaurter. I just said let's assume the iPhone sales went to 0 which means it will happen over many quarters. Most profitable model for rest of the items don't bring that much revenue compared to iPhone. And iPhone sales decline will affect Apple watch, iCloud, Apple music, wireless headphone etc. May be the iPads and MacBook lines will not be affected. Being in the same line of technology is not actually diversification. True diversification is what Samsung has, not apple.

 

[Abazigal]

Either you are not realizing the influence of iPhone on Apple's business or you are willfully choosing to ignore it. I never said for one qaurter. I just said let's assume the iPhone sales went to 0 which means it will happen over many quarters. Most profitable model for rest of the items don't bring that much revenue compared to iPhone. And iPhone sales decline will affect Apple watch, iCloud, Apple music, wireless headphone etc. May be the iPads and MacBook lines will not be affected. Being in the same line of technology is not actually diversification. True diversification is what Samsung has, not apple.

The downside of that diversification is that Samsung’s many different segments don’t seem to have much synergy with one another. They may as well be separate companies each doing their own stuff, for the matter.

The advantage is that the failure of any one side isn’t debilitating in itself, but the drawback is that you don’t reap the synergistic benefits when times are good either.

I am ignoring nothing. It’s people who are wilfully choosing to bury their head in the sand with respect to what Apple is doing (and what they will do).

I am of the opinion that the Apple Watch will eventually gain independence from the iPhone and go on to form its own platform of health tracking wearables, essentially following the iPod playbook.

This means that the Apple Watch will also be available to people in the android ecosystem, and become Apple’s next big platform (maybe even key revenue generator, dwarfing that of the iPhone).

And this will happen sooner than later. Apple is no fool. They know even they cannot afford to milk the iPhone forever, and so Apple is already moving to wean itself off the iPhone.

It’s easy to dream up hypothetical doomsday scenarios. It’s even harder to predict if they will actually happen. Why do people think they consumers will suddenly wake up one day and decide they will just stop buying the iPhone at a whim?

 

[neutralguy]

The downside of that diversification is that Samsung’s many different segments don’t seem to have much synergy with one another. They may as well be separate companies each doing their own stuff, for the matter.

The advantage is that the failure of any one side isn’t debilitating in itself, but the drawback is that you don’t reap the synergistic benefits when times are good either.

I am ignoring nothing. It’s people who are wilfully choosing to bury their head in the sand with respect to what Apple is doing (and what they will do).

I am of the opinion that the Apple Watch will eventually gain independence from the iPhone and go on to form its own platform of health tracking wearables, essentially following the iPod playbook.

This means that the Apple Watch will also be available to people in the android ecosystem, and become Apple’s next big platform (maybe even key revenue generator, dwarfing that of the iPhone).

And this will happen sooner than later. Apple is no fool. They know even they cannot afford to milk the iPhone forever, and so Apple is already moving to wean itself off the iPhone.

It’s easy to dream up hypothetical doomsday scenarios. It’s even harder to predict if they will actually happen. Why do people think they consumers will suddenly wake up one day and decide they will just stop buying the iPhone at a whim?

Diversification doesn't need synegry. In fact in needs the opposite so that everything doesn't go down the drain at once. But we will see, how much of your vision matches with Apple's. One thing I can say right now Apple has no vision. What you are thinking as Apple's diversity is actually Apple's lack of fcous. They have become a copycat.

 

[justint1989]

The downside of that diversification is that Samsung’s many different segments don’t seem to have much synergy with one another. They may as well be separate companies each doing their own stuff, for the matter.

The advantage is that the failure of any one side isn’t debilitating in itself, but the drawback is that you don’t reap the synergistic benefits when times are good either.

I am ignoring nothing. It’s people who are wilfully choosing to bury their head in the sand with respect to what Apple is doing (and what they will do).

I am of the opinion that the Apple Watch will eventually gain independence from the iPhone and go on to form its own platform of health tracking wearables, essentially following the iPod playbook.

This means that the Apple Watch will also be available to people in the android ecosystem, and become Apple’s next big platform (maybe even key revenue generator, dwarfing that of the iPhone).

And this will happen sooner than later. Apple is no fool. They know even they cannot afford to milk the iPhone forever, and so Apple is already moving to wean itself off the iPhone.

It’s easy to dream up hypothetical doomsday scenarios. It’s even harder to predict if they will actually happen. Why do people think they consumers will suddenly wake up one day and decide they will just stop buying the iPhone at a whim?

I am a huge Apple advocate here but let’s not pretend Apple is weaning itself from the iPhone. Just because the watch gained LTE means nothing. iPads have had LTE for ages, still need to be connected to an iPhone to make cellular calls and SMS.

 

[Abazigal]

I am a huge Apple advocate here but let’s not pretend Apple is weaning itself from the iPhone. Just because the watch gained LTE means nothing. iPads have had LTE for ages, still need to be connected to an iPhone to make cellular calls and SMS.

Eventually, I believe Apple will. Right now, Apple is probably content to milk the iPhone for cash (and use accessories like the Airpods and Apple Watch to keep users locked in the Apple ecosystem), but I believe Apple eventually will (free up the Apple Watch ecosystem).

 

[DeepIn2U]

...Like turning something OFF but it's not really off but on?

now THAT is making the dynamite go BOOM.

Drops the mic, smashes the guitar!
[doublepost=1511072048][/doublepost]

Otherwise we’d still be watching black and white tube television and using floppy drives

I wouldn't mind ... at least we'd have a LOT better actors today across the board. Writing and character creation and development should and always has out-bested even the greatest cinematographic colour, sounds, and explosions in movies.

 

[koruki]

Came here to read stories of heart break and pain. Was not disappointed.

 

[Macintoshrumors]

Apple removes nearly all ubiquitous ports from a $2K+ MacBook Pro, replaces them with a new standard available only on a tiny percentage of peripherals, and doesn't even bother to put an $8 adapter in the box.

Yes, out with the old and in with the new, but that's taking it way too far.

I mean if they didn’t do that the industry will still be stagnant. You will thank them in a few years.

 

[kingalexthe1st]

""Our goal is always to provide what we think is the best product possible, not always the lowest cost," added Riccio."

I don't believe that for a second. Apple kept the price of the iPhone constant over a number of years, to their credit. They didn't have to, and inflation would have eaten in to that. And I firmly believe Apple needed a way to charge more and justify it. So they started releasing iPad Pro models (which aren't THAT much more of an iterative bump from each successive iPad) and then the iMac Pro - all at a hefty premium. Now the iPhone X is here, and it's the equivalent of their iPhone 'Pro'. They've already introduced the psychology of Pro models, and charging extra for them, so that we're not entirely flabbergasted when the new iPhone costs a human organ. And they reap the profits all the way to the bank (in Ireland).

 

[Rob_2811]

iPhone X is the most expensive iPhone ever, with a starting price of $999 in the United States, which Ive said is the "financial consequence" of "integrating the sheer amount of processing power into such a small device."

Its a financial consequence of Apples staunch insistence on a 30% + margin on everything they sell, but I'm sure he knows that
[doublepost=1511210024][/doublepost]

""Our goal is always to provide what we think is the best product possible, not always the lowest cost," added Riccio."

I don't believe that for a second. Apple kept the price of the iPhone constant over a number of years, to their credit. They didn't have to, and inflation would have eaten in to that. And I firmly believe Apple needed a way to charge more and justify it. So they started releasing iPad Pro models (which aren't THAT much more of an iterative bump from each successive iPad) and then the iMac Pro - all at a hefty premium. Now the iPhone X is here, and it's the equivalent of their iPhone 'Pro'. They've already introduced the psychology of Pro models, and charging extra for them, so that we're not entirely flabbergasted when the new iPhone costs a human organ. And they reap the profits all the way to the bank (in Ireland).

Apple use Jersey as a means to dodge tax now after getting their fingers burned in Ireland. Rest of your post is spot on though.
[doublepost=1511210587][/doublepost]

I mean if they didn’t do that the industry will still be stagnant. You will thank them in a few years.

What? How exactly would the industry stagnate if Apple didn't indiscriminately remove ports from it's devices?

USB Type C had been included on numerous Windows notebooks and pretty much every flagship Android phone released in the last eighteen months well before Apple removed all the ports from the MacBook Pro and replaced them with it.

 

[Rob_2811]

Jony hasn't been the same without Steve Jobs reining him in. Jony is focused on pure design that he sometimes forgets about usability. That's where Steve always came in and made the product better. You think Jony is going to listen to Tim Cook for advice?

With Jobs gone there is nobody there to say no. I love this quote from SJ..

People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.

 

[Bacillus]

With Jobs gone there is nobody there to say no. I love this quote from SJ..

Things got awry since Joni started whispering with ApplePark trees.
The company could build an excellent hybrid device, but completely denies the need for it.

 

[wozmatic]

You gain a lot more than just that. You get the new A11 which is truly multi core. Remember the A10 can only use two cores at a time, marginally beating out the 6S A9. When developers start coding for use of all the cores we will see apps start flying! You get the new screen real estate that is essentially in the same footprint as the standard 4.7 inch iPhone. The camera on the back of the X now has OIS on both cameras.
The list goes on and on.

Ok cool, but the screen real estate is 1cm more, it's laughable. They tried to be revolutionary, but that notch tho...

The guts can be put in any phone body.

I bet if they put those specs into an "iPhone 9" with touch ID, that phone would sell more than the X
[doublepost=1511253348][/doublepost]

A more “profitable “ discussion might be had when either of these companies start going down the tubes.
[doublepost=1511013154][/doublepost]
I want Face ID, but don’t care about no headphone jack or loss of Touch ID. Hence considering 6s to iPhone X. But it seems Apple is doing just fine and is relevant by every measure.

They are for now

 

[I7guy]

Ok cool, but the screen real estate is 1cm more, it's laughable. They tried to be revolutionary, but that notch tho...

The guts can be put in any phone body.

I bet if they put those specs into an "iPhone 9" with touch ID, that phone would sell more than the X
[doublepost=1511253348][/doublepost]

They are for now

Sure and the earth is a thriving, living place for now. Tomorrow a huge meteor could blow the earth up. Or Samsung could go down the tubes. Dealing in the realm anything could happen ; any opinion could be proffered.