What would make you leave Apple?

[Hele]

The only reason I would leave Apple would be if Apple caved in to government and weakened security/encryption and/or provided a back door for government or anyone else. I would also leave if Apple started to block apps that are of the utmost importance to me for example Proton VPN.

 

[Mrbiggestman]

The only reason I would leave Apple would be if Apple caved in to government and weakened security/encryption and/or provided a back door for government or anyone else. I would also leave if Apple started to block apps that are of the utmost importance to me for example Proton VPN.

apple has already does this in the past but maybe not in your country though.

i.e: hong kong riots chat groups, ICE tracking app just to name a few.

 

[Und Eser]

Maintaining up-to-date maps worldwide is a costly service to provide

Only if they keep changing the names of lakes and stuff.

Now and then price comparisons are meaningless unless they include net production costs and Apple has found much cheaper ways of doing things in the interim period.

Apple's need to maintain growth to keep share prices going in the same direction is what customers are being cajoled into paying more for.

The rest reminds me of this a bit:

 

[crococarbs]

Do you now that there's an app called blip.That has all the perks of airdrop but you it's multi platform, as long the device you blip has it installed.

I didn't know about that one, I only knew about LocalSend and the one I am using atm, KDE Connect. Will look into it, thnxs.

 

[crococarbs]

Question is - how many people do you think would pay a subscription for ad-free Apple Maps (or see it reflected in the cost of Apple One/iCloud+) if that were an option?

Maintaining up-to-date maps worldwide is a costly service to provide - free, forever with no ads is not sustainable.

Part of the problem behind all this enshirtification is that companies are looking for input streams and growth where previous sources are drying up.

E.g. buy an iMac in 1998 for $1299. Maps didn't exist, video streaming didn't exist, Safari didn't exist (Macs came with IE - which was strategically useful for Microsoft or it wouldn't have happened) and the web was far less commercialised. Software updates came along peridically but were often paid - $130 for Mac OS X upgrades plus - often - $50-$80 extra for iLife/iWork upgrades... but there was no pressure to upgrade. Then, 3 years later the latest iMac was nearly twice as fast, twice the RAM, twice the storage... for the same price, so massive incentive to upgrade every 2-3 years.

Now, FF to 2021. and your new M1 iMac. You get continuous free MacOS updates and major upgrades, including what used to be iWork/iLife - and Apple have to keep the OS up-to-date on a near monthly basis because security. Plus free lifetime upgrades to any Pro apps you purchaed (I got the full package for $200 on educational pricing and I'm still getting free updates 9 years later). Apple are maintaining their own web browser (again, needing continuous free updates for security), developing their own system-on-a-chip and - now - maintaining a huge international mapping service which they give away for free... OK, all of this helps sells Macs but... your iMac still cost $1299 in 2021 dollars, vs. the $1299 in 1998 dollars (about $2200 in 2026) so Apple are getting less revenue in real terms... and, yes, come 2025 the new M4 iMac is better and faster... but... not the night-and-day all-round twice as good as 3 years evolution woud have delivered n the 1990s and, let's face it, your M1 is still fast enough for 90% of what you throw at it. So upgrading is definitely a harder sell.

Now, before we break out the tiny violin for Apple, yes, their costs have gone down, the market has expanded - which is why this crazy negative inflation happened - and they've got an olympic sized Scrooge McDuck gold-filled swimming pool in the basement so they could just light some incense, cross their legs and give back to the world, but, that ain't gonna happen and they're going to want to retain both their profit margins and growth rate - fixed-dollar prices plus free software and services while Moores Law winds down and computers stay useful for 10 years+ isn't going to be sustainable long term.

So while I hate enshirtification - it's also kinda inevitable, and while the immediate cause of the current price hikes is the AI bubble, I think inflation had to catch up with the IT industry as it matured and (with hindsight) it should have been obvious that all of those free/cheap services were just the bait. I think even the AI bubble is partly an effort to create a new growth area that could rival the intitial personal computer boom.

Yeah I see your point, but as you are hinting there, Apple's profit and profit margins are insane, they should absorb the cost as part of their value proposition on privacy etc, instead of trying to become more like the others. It's pure greed, shareholder-driven decisions.

 

[BSDnostalgia]

Question is - how many people do you think would pay a subscription for ad-free Apple Maps (or see it reflected in the cost of Apple One/iCloud+) if that were an option?

From my point of view, I was already paying for ad-free Apple Maps with the Apple Tax.

If Apple Maps looks just like all the other ad-filled services out there, then, this part of the "ecosystem" loses its value.

 

[theluggage]

Only if they keep changing the names of lakes and stuff.

...or building roads, new buildings, changing the names of businesses...

 

[Hele]

apple has already does this in the past but maybe not in your country though.

i.e: hong kong riots chat groups, ICE tracking app just to name a few.

Oh, I definitely mean in my country (USA). And I don’t need an ICE tracking app, but I definitely need my preferred VPN and privacy. I guess another reason to leave Apple would be if it radically changed its business model from hardware and services to one that’s more like google’s. I don’t like Google.

 

[Und Eser]

...or building roads, new buildings, changing the names of businesses...

Indeed, costs of maintaining an app doesn't even come close.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I went to Apple from Android/Windows in 2011 because of locked bootloaders - forced adware - and seeing how absolutely amazing Mac OS is at getting out of the way so I could do my work.

I have been very happy with iOS and Mac OS since then. Please note - I use Windows every day for work (programming/Oracle/management). I am less and less happy with Windows 11. They keep moving / changing stuff and the updates breaking things… The forced AI and popups - what the hell.

Android? I’d go Pixel if I had to but I like the privacy Apple gives me. The ecosystem I get with my Watch, iPad, iPhone, Mac with effortless syncing of my data - I don’t see anything challenging that anytime soon. I can leave my phone at home and drive my car, get calls, access my notes from my watch. I can open my tablet and use it as a personal device during work travel.

So…. What would it take?

Me losing my job so I’d have to consider alternatives because of cost issues. Someone offering even a more connected privacy orientated ecosystem.

 

[jbachandouris]

They already came close to me leaving. They shut down my iCloud account for alleged violation of standards and won't tell me which one. There's no escalation. Can't receive any email from that account.

I had to set up a brand new iCloud and re add my ex and kids back to the family. THEY are the only reason I stay. Been dealing with this for 5 days now. I had gotten hacked and it just snowballed. Many apps foolishly use email address as a user name so I had to contact each company to switch them. Some haven't responded.

 

[BigMcGuire]

They already came close to me leaving. They shut down my iCloud account for alleged violation of standards and won't tell me which one. There's no escalation. Can't receive any email from that account.

I had to set up a brand new iCloud and re add my ex and kids back to the family. THEY are the only reason I stay. Been dealing with this for 5 days now. I had gotten hacked and it just snowballed. Many apps foolishly use email address as a user name so I had to contact each company to switch them. Some haven't responded.

Saw your threads on this… that had to be very frustrating. This is why I will never use Apple Mail for my email. Fastmail all the way with my own domain. They have an error or someone reports you for something and you get your account locked - yep, nope. Not doing that.

Makes me think I should be putting more eggs in other baskets.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yea, but let's keep in mind, if someone is solely blaming the CEO for what they see as a problem then that's a sign of someone not having the full picture.

When the CEO gets compensated at a level that indicates "they are the most valuable" by factors of THOUSANDS above the pay of all the other workers ... the CEO gets the blame.