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usagora

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2017
4,869
4,454
Around for another year. My thinking is they know they'd have to reduce the SE to the S3 price and they're not willing to do that yet. The S3 is a joke at this stage, can't even update without a reset

Yes, it's very odd how they're continuing to sell a device that can't be updated properly.
 

sunapple

macrumors 68030
Jul 16, 2013
2,818
5,370
The Netherlands
It looks so bad compared to the new, same story with the classic iPad (with off-center home button!). But there’re still selling well at that price, it’s not really hurting anyone.
 

Mistborn15

macrumors regular
Feb 5, 2021
216
257
Yes. People will get it as their first smart watch and then never get another due to the bad experience.

BUT.. they did something with the S3. For the last update, I didn't have to reset it
 
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perezr10

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2014
2,005
1,482
Monroe, Louisiana
I’m shocked it wasn’t dropped. This can only mean one thing, it is selling in such large numbers that they couldn’t justify killing it.

To be fair, if you just want to see the time and read your iMessages on your wrist, it’s not that bad. Plus, it has better battery life than any other Apple Watch.
 

the future

macrumors 68040
Jul 17, 2002
3,621
5,901
I think it‘s absolutely hilarious that the S3 is still around. I literally LOLed when that slide with the new S3-SE-S7 lineup was shown. ?
 

Jamesk811

macrumors 6502
Mar 23, 2015
341
72
It’s actually great because my S4 Will now be worth more :) when I go to sell it to upgrade to next years S8. No point getting the S7 in my eyes, nothing between S4 and S7 makes it worth it for me.
 
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kevinh456

macrumors newbie
Sep 19, 2007
18
11
It looks so bad compared to the new, same story with the classic iPad (with off-center home button!). But there’re still selling well at that price, it’s not really hurting anyone.
It’s not completely harmless. For an app I work on, we have a lot of issues that are only on the series 3. Our company requires us to support it since it’s a product Apple is still selling. We are held back in adding some features and functionality to the app because of it. It’s holding back the software.
 
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rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,843
13,117
It looks so bad compared to the new, same story with the classic iPad (with off-center home button!). But there’re still selling well at that price, it’s not really hurting anyone.

The basic iPad is pretty great value though. Even the previous 8th gen with A12 processor was very, very capable. Now we get A13, better front camera and more storage at the same price.

Aesthetics is really the only issue with the basic iPad and even that's subjective.

Meanwhile, apart from older aesthetics, the S3 also has much slower performance and usability issues due to the very low storage. It'd be like if Apple were still selling 16GB iPads and iPhones.
 

robotica

macrumors 65816
Jul 10, 2007
1,256
1,412
Edinburgh
I think its only in the line up so people can see what a little more gets you. Something a lot more modern and functional. Of course some people will still buy it as it suits their needs. But honestly they really shouldn't.
 
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jz0309

Contributor
Sep 25, 2018
11,166
29,450
SoCal
it'll see heavy discounts for all the sales coming up, hence attracting new buyers, who will stick to AW and then upgrade ... brilliant marketing
 

TheSkywalker77

macrumors 68030
Sep 9, 2017
2,890
2,760
I currently have a Series 3 and have grown frustrated with it, and how Apple has been treating it. I’m likely going to upgrade to an SE soon, and I can’t wait for an enjoyable experience with an Apple Watch.
 

AJ44

macrumors regular
Aug 12, 2019
230
318
Apple must have a lot of S1-S3 era components still to burn through and don’t want to take the discard hit. At the end of this model year the S3 will almost be 5 years old.
 
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This is hands down the worst thing that happened yesterday. Ridiculously embarrassing at this point. I'm still holding out hope they are simply delaying their plans to eliminate S3 and decrease SE price becasue the S7 is delayed. Apple might not want to stimulate SE sales when 1) S7 is pretty minimal and 2) S7 won't be coming until "later"

Maybe after the S7 is selling they will finally drop the S3 and price the SE at $199. It would be nice for this to happen before the christmas season, but knowing apple they will wait until Feb/Mar to get a mid-cycle boost (after holiday returns).
 

parseckadet

macrumors 65816
Dec 13, 2010
1,493
1,273
Denver, CO
I once saw an interview with some Apple exec, I forget who, where he was waxing on about how at Apple they take pride in only creating and selling devices that they would actually recommend to their family members. That some products from other companies were so bad that they wouldn't be able to look themselves in the mirror if they recommended it to their siblings or parents. I would love to see that same executive today explain exactly who in their life they would recommend the series 3 to. And how they would feel taking $200 from that family member for a product that's now 4 years old. The series 3 was great for its time, but it needs to die now. It would be better if they just had nothing at the $200 price point.
 

weezin

macrumors 6502
Jul 20, 2012
405
351
I'm surprised its still around as well. I use an S3 as my everyday watch and it's totally fine. The only real problem is when you go to update it, you can't without resetting it. I end up just putting off those updates because I don't want to go through the hassle.

If the update thing wasn't a thing, then I think it's fine to keep selling it, but it would make a ton more sense at $149. That would get a lot of people to buy an apple watch that otherwise might not, and be the gateway to other products.
 

kiranmk2

macrumors 68000
Oct 4, 2008
1,629
2,221
I believe the problem with the S3 and updates were that it ran out of space to uncompress the update files. I wonder if Apple have quietly bumped with the S3 storage to 16 GB which should solve that issue for new buyers.
 

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,390
51,868
In the middle of several books.
Around for another year. My thinking is they know they'd have to reduce the SE to the S3 price and they're not willing to do that yet. The S3 is a joke at this stage, can't even update without a reset
If you aren’t interested in buying the S3 or already have one, it doesn’t matter if Apple keeps selling the S3 as far as you are concerned.
 

JennyG1000

macrumors member
Nov 16, 2016
48
37
My older son is using my old cellular version of S3 (more memory), and it works just fine. I have S6 and really the only thing that I see the difference in every day use is bigger screen at smaller size. Pretty disappointed in Blood Oxygen measurement, when I feel short of breath and would like to see my levels it never works. AOD, could get away w/o. All the new extra faces, getting too old to play with them. So I think S3 is not all that bad, but 8GB for what they are selling them with now is ridiculous.
 
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