It's probably about time they start retiring new iOS support for 5S and 6S as well, new iPhone sales have slowed and getting people off those phones will probably be the next step. The iOS 12 performance bump is of course already appreciated.
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Year in Review: Everything Apple Introduced in 2018
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It's probably about time they start retiring new iOS support for 5S and 6S as well, new iPhone sales have slowed and getting people off those phones will probably be the next step. The iOS 12 performance bump is of course already appreciated.
LOL! More the other fanboys realise that Apple prices have gone up (greed) along with their profit margins, the better it is for the community. Dated CPUs/GPUs that can't be upgraded and cost $$$ - geez!!!
Apple had a terrible year which saw Microsoft take back the most valuable company metric. Products like Homepod are out of the Marisa Mayer school of management which says they must play something homespun like a new raunchy, family friendly, space opera.
You are funny ... didnt You have a decent stereo before? You could have got one!
As a watch owner You should have been able to do the same as mentioned above with Your watch, no need to take phone.
So where exactly is the new usecase for the homepod?
The amount of negativity in this thread is astounding.
Anyways, for 2019, I predict version two of the AirPods, iPad Mini resurrection, and maybe a smaller Home Pod Mini to accompany the larger version. Of course the iPhone and maybe a Series 5 Watch.
Anyways, for 2019, I predict version two of the AirPods, iPad Mini resurrection, and maybe a smaller Home Pod Mini to accompany the larger version. Of course the iPhone and maybe a Series 5 Watch.
Easy option for you then and that’s look elsewhere.
Android do some great options after all. Not happy with apple? Move on.
Are you factoring in resale value? I'm sure you could sell that 2013 MacBook Pro for a decent amount of money today.
Apple products are expensive, but they last. My iPhone gets handed down to a family member and is usually still going strong 4 years later. And once it is finally done, it gets sold for a something as well.
Love the “toy” criticism of mobile devices. Because apparently it’s only possible to do “Pro” work if you are sitting on your butt in a cubicle.
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I thought this was one of the best years in years for Apple product releases. Apple Watch reached "untouchable" level where no other tech comes close to matching it in its space. iPhone XR is great since it brought size, speed, battery life, and Face ID to a price point that few companies can match. MacBook Pro and Air seems to have fixed most of the laptop keyboard issues and are very viable machines. Mac Mini brought an affordable workhorse for the home and professional market (obviously not the professional market that needs a GPU for their work (but news flash there are many industries that don't require GPUs for their work but do require use of computers)). iPad Pro looks amazing and pencil is much improved. Apple can now make and release the best tablet and a very good and very affordable tablet. HomePod sounds great at the very least. Air Pods still dominate their space.
Anyway, my family spent more on Apple stuff this year than we have ever done so. Likely we have two computers that will last us five years. A HomePod that will last for a decade. And an iPhone that I expect will get handed down to two other family members.
Anyway, my family spent more on Apple stuff this year than we have ever done so. Likely we have two computers that will last us five years. A HomePod that will last for a decade. And an iPhone that I expect will get handed down to two other family members.
Not true. Apple gpm has decreased over the last nine years. And, currently at 38%, is within industry norms, with Samsung at 46% and Microsoft at 66%. Would those be in the super-greed range?
Whenever I see the word "fanboy" being thrown around, I assume the person using that word might still be in high school. If you happen to be, no worries.
So people’s opinions are negative? Sorry we expect more from a trillion dollar company and prices should be dropping not raise.
I give the year a C+. I give the iPad Pro, new pencil, and Apple Watch all good to great marks. The mini gets passing marks. The laptops, I'll let others give their marks on this as I don't use them. iMac, Pro Macs, innovation in general were disappointing. More money, more people, more talk continue to not push out innovative new products and updates. In fact, they announced a new product and we won't really see it to 2020. Apple engineers, marketing, management, please tell me why it continues to take you years and years to get a truly Pro Mac on the market? Can I say over 5 years. You have known what the pros really want for years. Can it be that tough with all the minds, resources, and marketing skills you have to make this thing happen? Operating systems are better. Maps continues to improve. You did not forget Final Cut, and I say thanks for that. iTunes continues to take more of my money. I had to change WiFi in my home and business because you left the market and have forced me to use products from Google and Amazon that I should never have had to use. Yes it was a C+ year.
I don't think the products released were "junk". I just think that Apple set themselves an extremely high and lofty expectation based on price points.
if you're going to charge 10-30% more than the market is already going for, than you need to offer something to differentiate that justifies that value.
the argument is that while the products are still top end (yes yes, with some known issues), they don't offer that mass product differentiation to justify such a higher price tag. And we all know the best way to get people riled up is to ask (or force) people to part with more of their money.
But if we look accross their product lineup of 2018, none of these products are bad. All have compromises.
HomePod: Fantastic quality audio with a fairly good integration with SIRI / Apple services. But compromises by being the only "Smart" home speaker Apple offers. at $350, it's trying to go head to head with premium sound, but is trying to sell featuresets that are available from the competition now as low as $30. if you're looking for a home automation tool first, the HomePod's price is going to be a massive barrier.
Watch4: This was as you said probably the best off the offerings as it actually HAS something that sets it above and beyond what anyone else is doing right now. EKG support. You can sort of justify the price point as if you want a watch that can do EKG, this is your only current option.
Mac Mini: The new Mini refresh was well needed and the current parts that are available are all top notch. they're great quality. the compromise however is thermals aren't great (and should be better). Again, there's nothing grossly wrong with the Mini and it makes a great headless Mac Computer... except that the price again gets in the way. You can get smaller, more powerful computers now for $400-$500, several hundred less than the Mac Mini. So this is again where pricing gets in the way of a great product.
iPad Pro: The new iPad pro is probably the nicest looking iPad they've made (IMHO). i love the straight edges of it. And again, it's one of the most powerful tablets available. it should be a run-away tablet success, if it weren't again, for the price. it's priced like similar 2-in-1's and priced near laptop (if not more) price points. Yet, due to software limitations isn't really a full fledged computerexperience. So again, the pricing gets in the way.
iPhone X(s)(+): Stellar phones. lets be honest there's little to complain about it. whether you like the notch or not is personal. the headphone jack argument is long over, we lost, so moving on i wont even ding the device for it. However, again, 999 price point. the iPhone might be quality wise one of the best built phones out there, But it comes with slightly smaller feature sets than most of it's competition. There's no massive product differentiation that justifies a $999 price tag. Especially considering that the competition are all coming in at a starting price far lower. Heck, the only device that starts at $999 is the Note 8 which is a hyper Niche product that is arguably the BEST overall phone (and has won numerous awards).
iPhone Xr: this one is the hot button topic. is it a "cheap" iPhone or is it a premium iPhone with some compromises to keep its price down? is the pricing at the old flagship price (pre X) justifiable in 2018 or is it reaching too far for something that's still using an old LCD? again, if this phone was 599 I don't think there'd be a debate. it would fly off shelves. but at $749? it's facing stiff competition against the likes of devices like the S9, P20, and other android flagships that are offering far higher overall "specs".
MacBook Air: Similar to the Mini. long awaited refresh to bring it up to current modern parts... yet also gets a price hike despite competition offering similar, if not stronger components for less. It's going up against the likes of device (such as the Razerblade stealth as an example) that are offering similar form factors, but already with high res displays, and 4-6 core U series CPU's instead of Apple's lower end Y series.
TLDR: Apple's 2018 products in a vacume are not bad products, minus a few technical issues that they must answer to. It's the pricing that has made the value proposition start to wear thin for many users. Those prices set extremely high expectations, which Apple isn't fully capable of delivering on. This is why we're startin to see a lot more "haters" who once were fanboys no longer able to justify what Apple is selling.
Exactly. People love to complain about the prices but then continue to purchase products that they really don't need. If you absolutely need it for work, buy it. If you don't, vote with your damn wallet. What's the point bitching about absurd pricing if you're going to buy it all anyway? Apple doesn't base their prices on forum complaints: they base it on sales. I can't believe I need to actually say that.
Despite all the bitching here in the comments, I actually found this to be one of Apple’s best years in the Cook era with much more focus than the past years.
- I was in the market for a new speaker (note, not smart speaker) that supports AirPlay so HomePod was the right choice for me. For the price, sound quality is the best I can get. I couldn’t care less about the Siri capabilities. Will buy a second one next year for stereo.
- The cheap iPad was a great upgrade for my grandparents. They ditched their 10 year old iMac and can do everything better on an iPad. They love it!
- Despite very pricey, MacBook Pro is still in my opinion the best laptop on the market, at least in build quality (I mean just try the trackpads on any other manufacturer’s laptop).
- iOS 12 was the best iOS release since iOS 7 in my opinion. Everything just works so smooth now with almost zero bugs.
- I already have the X so no need to upgrade to XS. Solid S phone though. I think XR is also much better than people give it credit for, and although I admit Apple’s pricing is getting ridiculous nowadays, this is actually one of their more reasonably priced products along with the 5k iMac.
- Upgraded my Series 2 to Series 4. Love it. Not much else I can say, there’s no competition. Also got the stainless steel version for my wife.
- New iPads look amazing, I’m really seriously thinking about replacing my laptop with it next year (don’t have one yet). I will still need an iMac for 4K video editing.
That's right and I wish people would understand more, that for a company like Apple, where the #1 motivator seems to be profit and revenues. The only way for them to be told they're prices are too high is to not buy their products.
if Apple starts losing revenues, that's when they'll start really looking at making changes, but as long as enough people are buying at their inflated prices, they'll continue to keep the prices high.
Corporations only generally listen when their bottom line is impacted. until then, we're all just noise.
Imagine the industry shake-up if MS started a 10 year transition to a Linux-based version of Windows. If they took inspiration from Apple's product integration features but rebuilt all the current Windows APIs for their Linux OS, it would have the potential to blow Apple out the water.
Ahhh, one can dream.