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A pretty good rule of thumb on stocks is to buy low and sell high. As of today the 52 week range is 89.47 - 132.97. Last price is somewhere close to $90.30 or near the bottom of the range. I bought considerable AAPL at 89.99 so I am walking my talk. I also see no reason why you shouldn't put in a sell order at $132 so you can build in a fixed 46% profit. Hopefully long enough from now a republican will lower the long term cap gains tax rate.

that is my vision too for sure, but some are calling low 80s and even high 70s before any rebound. there are also worries if any rebound above 100s will happen before 2017 iPhone given the weak 2016 update rumors.

got in last week at 90.
 
that is my vision too for sure, but some are calling low 80s and even high 70s before any rebound. there are also worries if any rebound above 100s will happen before 2017 iPhone given the weak 2016 update rumors.

got in last week at 90.


Unless shares hit $75 by end of Summer. Then Selling would be your only option. Sold my stock last year and offloaded a quarter of my shares. Turbulent times, but there CAN be a silver lining for Apple.
 
I still don't understand how Tim Cook can decide to fit 5400 rpm physically spinning hard drives in $1000+ computers, and then turn around and say "We at Apple are committed to making THE BEST computers that we physically can"
This! Delusional bean counter talking techie and clearing storage shelves of hard-drive manufacturers. Managers at WD/HGST/Seagate are laughing their butts off every time apple orders batches of obsolete mechanical drives to clear their excess inventory.

Same goes for suppliers of 16GB NAND-chips.

Apple used to stand for top-of-the-line hardware in a beautiful box.

Tim Cook on the other hand thinks "innovating" means omitting standardized accessory ports and making things thinner.

actually love Apple to collapse in some ways so they got rid of these marketing idiots and got back to the core of their company and dumped all the old junk and REALLY made things the best that can like they pretend to now
Apple will be back on track. eventually. I sincerely HOPE! But not under Tim Cook. Never ever.
 
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Agreed, yes and no. Actually I am in the glad position to not argue about price for quality. You want 5 grand for a 27" all in-one top-notch PC? Got it. But, hey! This has to work with my software. The software manufacturer claims to be industry compatible. And it works (outside the Apple Uni-Universe). But this doesn't prove to be true in everyday's reality. Apple CalDAV, or CardDav (calendar, addressbook, this is?): not compatible with their own stuff (rejecting sync between versions, refusing manual sync, etc.); and other aspects, of course.

I (nearly) don't care about the price, but the higher the price differs from "average" price/value, the higher my expectation is set which is about:

reliabilty
compatabilty
being future-proof (at least 3 years from date of purchase)
stability
predictability

etc.

And this is something that my expectations are not met in the same (or at least an acceptable) way today, as they were before the "Cook-Aera".
I agree, or feel the same way. Apple leaves a lot to be desired with services.

I think the context that I try to remind people of is that

  • Competitors are caught up. Apple was never perfect but comparatively they were magical-like 10+ years ago (iMac introduction era, iPod era, early iPhone era). It's a perception issue (like hey, your wife is just as beautiful but there's a new generation of beautiful girls becoming women. Your wife is still awesome, there are just more attractive people in the dating market now.)
  • Apple is becoming a services company, and don't have the benefit of showing warts and growing pains in a small market.
But I agree 100%. Apple has a perception and expectations problem. Perhaps they should lower prices and make less (as is not 40%) profit margins to introduce more good will while we the customer experience Apple's growing pains.

I feel like the iPhone SE (with 6S innards) starting at $400 was a nice surprise; and the kind of Apple I want to see more of.
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Okay, but that assumes that thier executives are smart enough and insightful enough pick up on and understand that message. They could just as easily think, "...well gosh, no one is buying Macs anymore lets discontinue them..."
Apple Marketing Dept knows trends and data. If people jump from Macs to PCs, Apple will know. If people jump from iPhone 6S to Samsung S8 next year, Apple will know. We must vote with dollars. If Press says "people are annoyed with Apple's quality" of course Apple will respond, as they are, but that's not the same as voting with $$$ because competitors offer better products.
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The base 4K iMac does not include a fusion drive. It is just a hard drive, no SSD. The fusion drive is a $100 USD upgrade. People complain on here about that because common users who don't know what a fusion dive is, and that they can order one might easily make the mistake of getting a poor configuration. That's why people complain about it. The default configuration is not a good configuration.
That's true, thanks for the reminder, and you're right! It feels like such a weak link in an otherwise strong chain. That and the 16GB iPhone. If Apple doesn't discontinue 16GB this September I'm going to cry.

Regarding 5400HD, I'm told those speeds aren't as slow as a 5400HD ten years ago, that HD tech and the density of the disk make them fairly fast. But who cares, because it's still molasses compared to SSD.

Plus customer perception is king. If we start seeing Apple as taking advantage of older customers or less savvy customers that affects our perception of the brand.

It is a weak link. Fortunately it's only a small kink to a much larger product chain. Apple laptops, by default, come with excellent specs and materials for experience.
 
The banksters, spook agencies, and media are all different tentacles serving the same octopus. Since the FBI didn't get what they wanted this is punishment...execution via media.
 
That's a real broad and dickish thing to say.
I wasn't aiming that at anyone in this thread. I'm simply commenting at our culture that measures social signaling by how expensive our watches are, and how luxurious our transportation is. It's cultural commantary, a culture I'm a part of, that I wasn't aiming at anyone in particular. We are bad with finances. Look at our credit card debt, school loans, and so on. That's proof.

I wasn't being a dick to anyone, I think you were just looking to see it that way. Advertising, financing culture, it's all systematically designed to encourage we bite off we can chew. And those that do tend to complain much more about Apple's profit margin because they (we) are price sensitive.
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Agreed, not rational. No one really wants Apple to go under. But didn't you just say above that we should change our demand/purchasing habits to send company executives a message? That's what's being suggested by the members on here who are hoping that Apple gets knocked down a notch. They don't want death, they want change.
I must have misunderstood the OP. Sorry.
 
People working again. People are needing housing. The glut of housing from the last boom is gone. We Americans are not as dependent on China as are companies like Apple are. There is a difference. And on the contrary, China needs us more that we need them. I see foreign investors coming back to the US real-estate market to take advantage of it. Of course everyone is far more cautious today. The caution will remain until the sting is forgotten and the fomo greed wakes up again.

Foreign investors have already been heavily involved in the real estate market.. Honestly, it sounds like you might not be fully informed. Either way, you haven't provided much substance and I have no idea why you got the impression that I thought the United States was more dependent on China than vice versa.
 
Nah, Apple has always been about opinionated computing/products. We've always bought into thier opinions. They've only lately changed into luxury computing/product
A lot companies put "Design" and "Quality" and "Experience" in their vision/mission statement, but what they don't understand is a value is something you make a priority and are willing to pay the cost for, both financially and in prioritized effort. Most companies ignore their own value system, or fail to figure out how to make it make them money.

Apple was one of the few that really designed their computers with those values, and invested their operations and human resources (and mastered supply chain) to achieve it. Like I've said, no other companies have had a Jony Ive. Usually product design department take orders from marketing and management. Usually they just do what they can, vs Apple's focused design culture.

So I didn't mean luxury like expensive jewelry. But it always was a "premium product" that you bought because you trusted the brand, you aligned with their value system.

And we aligned with Apple's value system.

Right now, They may be going through a thought time given that Sillicon Valley culture, and world markets, has produced innovation at such rapid rates. So if Apple isn't as amazing and magical as they once were, then I think we know why: competition.

But I would argue that Apple hasn't abandoned the values. They still put design, material, user experience ahead of everything else—just not profits; and they never have. They are a public corporation.

So what's changed that our trust is broken? They still make premium products. El Capitan and iOS is pretty great. What gives?
 
Foreign investors have already been heavily involved in the real estate market.. Honestly, it sounds like you might not be fully informed. Either way, you haven't provided much substance and I have no idea why you got the impression that I thought the United States was more dependent on China than vice versa.

Yeah maybe. It's not like any of this is science or that any professional investor does better than a monkey on. But I trust myself and my instincts. My thoughts on Apple over the years have always been far far better than any of the so called professionals that do it for a living.

As to foreign real estate investors, many are kicking themselves for not investing sooner as the dollar has gotten stronger. Canadians for example. Those that invested 5 years ago are sitting pretty. But while the US economy is doing better and better, and the rest of the world is still stinging, it's still the best place to invest as property values continue to get back to pre recession values and demand continues to grow. Or rather demand has outstripped supply.
As to US and China, as much as China is situated as a great place for American companies to see high growth, both countries are playing with the idea of protectionism (Trump and labor unions on the US side) that we will just have to live with. Politics always make that a touchy and sore subject that we will always have to walk on eggshells over.
 
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Anyway - just as I was trying to click the 'post' button, the screen on my iphone 6 plus, on safari, went haywire, divided itself in 4, and I was unable to post my long thought out thesis on the state of Apple:) Kind of says it all.
Is that the JavaScript (or whatever) that Macrumors is running? Because I'm having all kinds of problems posting here that I've never had elsewhere. And I exclusively use Safari on iOS on a 4 year old iPhone 5.
 
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Apple shares were beautifully, unapologetically cheap. We thought how we could improve the experience? How we can make it better? And we found the intuitive and revolutionary solution: dumping it. Dumping shares is like magic. All of a sudden it makes your wallet so beautifully thick and round. Just look at it. There's nothing more beatiful in the world than that. It's our best product yet. Revolutionary. Magical.
Shouldn't be thinner and in rose gold?
 
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A lot companies put "Design" and "Quality" and "Experience" in their vision/mission statement, but what they don't understand is a value is something you make a priority and are willing to pay the cost for, both financially and in prioritized effort. Most companies ignore their own value system, or fail to figure out how to make it make them money.

Apple was one of the few that really designed their computers with those values, and invested their operations and human resources (and mastered supply chain) to achieve it. Like I've said, no other companies have had a Jony Ive. Usually product design department take orders from marketing and management. Usually they just do what they can, vs Apple's focused design culture.

So I didn't mean luxury like expensive jewelry. But it always was a "premium product" that you bought because you trusted the brand, you aligned with their value system.

And we aligned with Apple's value system.

Right now, They may be going through a thought time given that Sillicon Valley culture, and world markets, has produced innovation at such rapid rates. So if Apple isn't as amazing and magical as they once were, then I think we know why: competition.

But I would argue that Apple hasn't abandoned the values. They still put design, material, user experience ahead of everything else—just not profits; and they never have. They are a public corporation.

So what's changed that our trust is broken? They still make premium products. El Capitan and iOS is pretty great. What gives?

I can't speak to the matter of innovation as that is ruled by the scientific and technical side. I'm sure they have more than their share of geniuses inside Apple that are giving it their best and surpass everyone on that end. My only concern is about the attention to detail that Apple is/was famously know for. No one can say that the meniacal attention to detail enployed by SJ on behalf of its customers is there with the iPhone 6 series. Or that it inspires awe like all the previous ones before it on a purely aesthetic level. Or when ios7 was released. When a Samsung product is better on that end than an iPhone, that's when you know there is trouble.
 
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that is my vision too for sure, but some are calling low 80s and even high 70s before any rebound. there are also worries if any rebound above 100s will happen before 2017 iPhone given the weak 2016 update rumors.

got in last week at 90.

Apple gets down to $65 share in November. Tim Cook gets fired--next day-- Apple rebounds to $140 a share. :D
 
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133 million dollars of shares from a company worth 500 Billion. Who cares! At least this guy wasn't a backseat-driver investor like Icahn. His hedge fund, if it's publicly traded, should disclose their holdings. That's protocol. But yeah, it could be so low now he wants to get back in, and if he made a big stink about it, that would be a way to lower the price.
 
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I can't speak to the matter of innovation as that is ruled by the scientific and technical side. I'm sure they have more than their share of geniuses inside Apple that are giving it their best and surpass everyone on that end. My only concern is about the attention to detail that Apple is/was famously know for. No one can say that the meniacal attention to detail enployed by SJ on behalf of its customers is there with the iPhone 6 series. Or that it inspires awe like all the previous ones before it on a purely aesthetic level. Or when ios7 was released. When a Samsung product is better on that end than an iPhone, that's when you know there is trouble.
I thought the same thing. I looked at the Samsung S7 and S7 Edge advertising, and the YouTube reviews, for days and days. And I thought that Samsung had bested Apple. And I even complained to friends that Apple is losing.

But then I went to Target. And at target you can actually see and play with the Samsung S7 and Edge (both). You can hold it in your hands. And it is gaudy. And loud. And shiny. Like a fake gold plastic kings cup. Like an all gold BMW with 3rd party rims. It's this:

Gold-BMW-M3-Coupe-E92-From-China-Exterior.jpg


I don't want to drive that. That's not perfection. That's not "attention to detail." That's "detail for attention."

After testing Samsung S7 I walked over to the iPhone 6S and iPhone SE and held both in my hand. And I got it. On paper, Samsung is winning. And to be fair, they are 6m ahead on Apple. But when you compare the two next to each other, you can't fault Apple. It's just fresh air compared to competition. There's a peace and balance, like holding a smooth, perfectly sculpted black rock that's been sanded by the sea. It isn't trying to look like anything. It just is. You don't have to like it. But you can't accuse it of trying to make you like it. It's comfortable.

Where as Samsung S7 (and the company) is the loud jock with the loud bright car that yells, "Woo Hoo, Looser!" as his engine roars past the crowded school parking lot.

Everybody pays attention to the jock now. But everyone is too young to know about psychology; and that the jock is compensating for insecurity, for attention, for positive judgement.

Fine, the jock is taller, bigger, and drives a muscle car. I wouldn't call the other guy a loser just because the jock is flashier. That's not what innovation is about. Innovation is the increase of utility in incremental steps. And if Apple isn't providing that, then I don't know what world I live in.

Today I FaceTime'd with family, spoke to people on this forum, ordered my drink at Starbucks, named a song playing from the speaker, added it to my music collection, and played it in my car. Then later messaging people seemlessy between iPhone and Mac, browsing my notes on Mac, scribbling diagrams on the same note on my iPhone with my finger, and cause I refresh/restored a new OS on this phone today, when I logged my iCloud account and hit the Photos app, my entire family photo collection was right there on the phone. And when I'm messaged a photo of my kids, I just add it to my photo collection without leaving iMessage. It's amazing! The attention to detail pays off and my experience is great!

I could do all those things piece meal on Android or Samsung. I could use push bullet to connect android to PC. I could use Google Photos. I could just use regular SMS. I could flash my phone rom and tinker with settings and so on. There's a lot if like to borrow from Android. But life is just too short if any of that doesn't bring you joy. What brings me joy is that me and my family are all on the same platform and get to share our photos, media, and communication without having to take our focus away for one second just to fix or customize or problem solve something. If I don't have to do any of that, if I have a great experience enriched by a great lifestyle, what do I have to complain about?

Why would Samsungs S7 make me unhappy? If someone buys a new car, should I instantly become unhappy with mine? Even if mine is amazing and more perfect than cars made 5+ years prior?

I pretty much think technology is so great right now,'I find it hard to believe we have so much to complain about. Sure Samsung and company can throw in everything including the kitchen sink, but what many seem to forget is that a great kitchen has just enough plates and space and tools and stove, but no more. Too much is the enemy of balance.
 
the price isn't rising, this is just the beginning. iPhone saturation is a real thing. China and India are their only possible saviours (for the stock price that is) and they are failing hard in India. I think they will do fine in China if the economy turns around there soon

The problem with that is they are falling hard in china. I think a 26% drop is hard anyway.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/26/apples-china-softness-comes-to-light-sales-decline-26-percent.html

Apple iPhone, Once a Status Symbol in China, Loses Its Luster

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/technology/apple-china-iphone-earnings.html?_r=0

 
I thought the same thing. I looked at the Samsung S7 and S7 Edge advertising, and the YouTube reviews, for days and days. And I thought that Samsung had bested Apple. And I even complained to friends that Apple is losing.

But then I went to Target. And at target you can actually see and play with the Samsung S7 and Edge (both). You can hold it in your hands. And it is gaudy. And loud. And shiny. Like a fake gold plastic kings cup. Like an all gold BMW with 3rd party rims. It's this:

Gold-BMW-M3-Coupe-E92-From-China-Exterior.jpg


I don't want to drive that. That's not perfection. That's not "attention to detail." That's "detail for attention."

After testing Samsung S7 I walked over to the iPhone 6S and iPhone SE and held both in my hand. And I got it. On paper, Samsung is winning. And to be fair, they are 6m ahead on Apple. But when you compare the two next to each other, you can't fault Apple. It's just fresh air compared to competition. There's a peace and balance, like holding a smooth, perfectly sculpted black rock that's been sanded by the sea. It isn't trying to look like anything. It just is. You don't have to like it. But you can't accuse it of trying to make you like it. It's comfortable.

Where as Samsung S7 (and the company) is the loud jock with the loud bright car that yells, "Woo Hoo, Looser!" as his engine roars past the crowded school parking lot.

Everybody pays attention to the jock now. But everyone is too young to know about psychology; and that the jock is compensating for insecurity, for attention, for positive judgement.

Fine, the jock is taller, bigger, and drives a muscle car. I wouldn't call the other guy a loser just because the jock is flashier. That's not what innovation is about. Innovation is the increase of utility in incremental steps. And if Apple isn't providing that, then I don't know what world I live in.

Today I FaceTime'd with family, spoke to people on this forum, ordered my drink at Starbucks, named a song playing from the speaker, added it to my music collection, and played it in my car. Then later messaging people seemlessy between iPhone and Mac, browsing my notes on Mac, scribbling diagrams on the same note on my iPhone with my finger, and cause I refresh/restored a new OS on this phone today, when I logged my iCloud account and hit the Photos app, my entire family photo collection was right there on the phone. And when I'm messaged a photo of my kids, I just add it to my photo collection without leaving iMessage. It's amazing! The attention to detail pays off and my experience is great!

I could do all those things piece meal on Android or Samsung. I could use push bullet to connect android to PC. I could use Google Photos. I could just use regular SMS. I could flash my phone rom and tinker with settings and so on. There's a lot if like to borrow from Android. But life is just too short if any of that doesn't bring you joy. What brings me joy is that me and my family are all on the same platform and get to share our photos, media, and communication without having to take our focus away for one second just to fix or customize or problem solve something. If I don't have to do any of that, if I have a great experience enriched by a great lifestyle, what do I have to complain about?

Why would Samsungs S7 make me unhappy? If someone buys a new car, should I instantly become unhappy with mine? Even if mine is amazing and more perfect than cars made 5+ years prior?

I pretty much think technology is so great right now,'I find it hard to believe we have so much to complain about. Sure Samsung and company can throw in everything including the kitchen sink, but what many seem to forget is that a great kitchen has just enough plates and space and tools and stove, but no more. Too much is the enemy of balance.
Persnally I don't like the S7, but I do love the Note 5. It's an elegant device that has a bigger screen than the 6 plus but still manages to have a smaller footprint.
The screen on the Note 5 is absolutely gorgeous and the type and images are so sharp and so close to the screen that it looks like you are looking at print images.

My only problem with the Note 5 is I cannot go back to Android after iOS.
Apple still has in iOS the best mobile operating system by far. It's the one thing Apple has not dropped the ball on, and the one thing that is vastly superior to Android. Other than the minor fumbling with the appearance of iOS 7 with ios7 looking like a little girl trying on moms make-up, it's still what makes iPhone the best mobile device overall by far.
The security and piece of mind that iOS offers the consumer is invaluable. Add to it the truly sad and dangerous fact that Android device manufacturers do not care about you as a consumer after you walk out of the store with it and basically abandon you on the software side. That's the worst part of owning an Android device, being abandoned as soon as you buy it.
Owning an iOS device, no matter how bad they failed on the hardware side with the iPhone 6, is still far better than even the nicest Samsung phone. iOS, that's the one thing Apple better never drop the ball on.
 
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But as many others users have pointed out, they were already light years ahead because of the user experience and stability of OS X.

You mean Snow Leopard, the last version of OS X before all the mobility and iCloud hooks slowed everyone's system to a fricking crawl. What any pro user wouldn't give to be able to have that email and browser speed and app opening times back and all that crap gone.

:apple:
 
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Yep and for a vast majority of consumers an iPad is all they need. Work offers the software and machine for most workers if they need a rig.
And, for those who can get by with an iPad, upgrading often, is not necessary. THAT is the only reason for the iPad plateau.

I'm waiting the wings for a iPad Pro and then a new macbook pro. My purchasing is 5+ year gaps. Apple still have me as a buyer. Speed is irrelevant now that everything is rather fast and connectivity is part of the equaiton, as it's all very fast but if the EX and UI is a dog makes no difference because tech has to interface and support the human word not dictate. To this day people still do not understand this as a whole. So much money gets wasted due to this gaping awareness of

What is truly behind is the material word on many other platforms. So n
The problem with that is they are falling hard in china. I think a 26% drop is hard anyway.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/26/apples-china-softness-comes-to-light-sales-decline-26-percent.html

Apple iPhone, Once a Status Symbol in China, Loses Its Luster

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/technology/apple-china-iphone-earnings.html?_r=0

All on message don't ya think?

It's like taking a few forum comments and elevating it to some kind of insider status.

Having had a Samsung SII (which I liked), Samsung S5 mini and also a S5 (which got lost/stolen so had to be replace) we switched to two Apple 6s. Best decision ever. Security suddenly became a huge issue.

In one way I regret not getting an iPhone years ago. Especially while having only macs.

I had a quick look at the 5SE recently and I have to say it's a perfect small phone, it's lighter than you think it will be. Many people do not have large hands. The build quality is also astounding for such a phone. My S5 mini was nearly €500 and I never was entirely happy with it, and was in the end a waste of money and the S5 was if I remember a few hundred euros more again. Nice screen, a little to big for my liking but it too and connectivity issues but it was not my phone though I never heard the end of complaints about connectivity. Since I replaced with with the 6s I hear very little complaints to the point now it's got to be the network coverage black spots.

Constantly having to reset the S5 mini was a joke. Hard resetting, pulling the battery out. Yep that use to happen on the SII if it became unresponsive. Never getting the update from Samsung. Poor LTE/4G connectivity. Missing calls due to drop out of coverage. Total waste of time and energy. I'm glad I bit the bullet like I did in 2008. The 6s is a great device. Android is at times a hot mess. I see other family members with their phones customised with so many insecure apps the things struggle and do not operate correctly. I try to explain to them the security risk they are takin but they don't seem to care too much. This is why I'd prefer they had a iDevice, there lack of care is catered for better. I've also seen a lot of commentary on the battery life in reviews from users of samsung not being as good as advertised. So from experience I write not specs on paper.

The only time I've had to reset the iPhone is sometimes to force the network to see it, which happens in areas of bad connectivity. It's rare. Maybe three times since I got it. I was doing this every few days sometimes every day with the other phones.

These articles really smack of an intentional and concerted effort to talk down Apple. Be weary of the MSM, people are set to make money of bad news for Apple.

Remind me again, Apple are still the only one making money out of phones right?
 
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