Apple not leading anymore?

[Anandc]

To be very honest, my expectations are low. Apple was for professionals in the future and it is about emoji these days see where this is going?
No ports on the new MBP which forces people to carry dongles, but they have added the emoji bar.
With the X, I would get it even with the notch, had they kept the touch id. Screen is great, camera good too. Touch id is a big selling point for me. Convenience, security.

People using dongles shows people using old technology. This is 2017. It's a Wireless World. If you are living in a country where there's 4G network and Fibre internet network, then you are definitely living in a Wireless Country.

In India, we have 4G network throughout the country. I pay only USD 7.80/Monthly for my 4G Network where I get 2GB of 4G Data free everyday and then the speed comes down to 3G. I have 125MBPS connection at home & office which I pay USD 250.00/Annually. Everything is getting wireless.

You don't realise the power of A11 Bionic Chip and all you could see is Emojis?

You say Touch ID is more powerful? These days when applying for Visa or at Abu Dhabi Airport security, there's Eye Scan. That technology is in your phone. It's not some gimmick feature. Also let's say you fear that someone tried to force you to look at your phone to unlock or make a payment via Apple Pay, that same thing can happen with Touch ID. In fact if you are sleeping and someone try to just make a contact of your Touch ID with your finger and you don't even realise your phone is unlocked or they just transferred some amount via Bank application. But Face ID? it requires your attention & control. So I don't see anywhere Touch ID being more secured than Face ID.

We have to move forward. People dissed Apple for removing Headphone jack and now everybody has removed it. But nobody asked why it's being removed? because it's taking lot of space. Companies want to add more sensors and bigger battery and they have to get rid of things which are not very useful. Nobody complaint about missing headphone jack on Pixel 2. It just shows that Apple is bold enough to see the future and also to take steps towards it.

I'm just trying to tell you that there are lot of features that will make you appreciate what Apple is doing if you really look into it. And compare them with the other current electronic companies. I'm not a fan of any company, I just want to buy the best even if it's a Smartphone for USD 999.00 it should be the best smartphone in the world and it must prove it.

 

[Raist3001]

If you don't like it, then don't support it. You have options with various competitors and other iPhone models.

So this means we are not free to voice our displeasure with current apple tech? We should shut up and just purchase inferior product and give up our hope that apple may again wow us?

 

[Kulfon]

My principles are different. Health is more important than convenience, so if I only can, I will use a cable instead of a wireless solution. I am not as obsessed with everything wireless and do not want to give companies a mapping of my fingerprints with my face. I do not want anybody to know anything about me on Facebook or Instagram. Yeah, I am very bizarre in this regard, very "old school". I am not worshipping Apple for all the good things they have done to the world. All it takes it to take notice what people do in cafes these days...very rarely they are talking to each other, most of the time they are glued to their phones. I pay attention to the other side of the coin too. Maybe you will not believe me, but when I go on vacations, I pick a place in the wild with no internet where nobody can find me Reason why I wanted a newer phone is because of photography and video. I am a photographer and I like to have an iPhone as my secondary camera.

People using dongles shows people using old technology. This is 2017. It's a Wireless World. If you are living in a country where there's 4G network and Fibre internet network, then you are definitely living in a Wireless Country.

In India, we have 4G network throughout the country. I pay only USD 7.80/Monthly for my 4G Network where I get 2GB of 4G Data free everyday and then the speed comes down to 3G. I have 125MBPS connection at home & office which I pay USD 250.00/Annually. Everything is getting wireless.

You don't realise the power of A11 Bionic Chip and all you could see is Emojis?

You say Touch ID is more powerful? These days when applying for Visa or at Abu Dhabi Airport security, there's Eye Scan. That technology is in your phone. It's not some gimmick feature. Also let's say you fear that someone tried to force you to look at your phone to unlock or make a payment via Apple Pay, that same thing can happen with Touch ID. In fact if you are sleeping and someone try to just make a contact of your Touch ID with your finger and you don't even realise your phone is unlocked or they just transferred some amount via Bank application. But Face ID? it requires your attention & control. So I don't see anywhere Touch ID being more secured than Face ID.

We have to move forward. People dissed Apple for removing Headphone jack and now everybody has removed it. But nobody asked why it's being removed? because it's taking lot of space. Companies want to add more sensors and bigger battery and they have to get rid of things which are not very useful. Nobody complaint about missing headphone jack on Pixel 2. It just shows that Apple is bold enough to see the future and also to take steps towards it.

I'm just trying to tell you that there are lot of features that will make you appreciate what Apple is doing if you really look into it. And compare them with the other current electronic companies. I'm not a fan of any company, I just want to buy the best even if it's a Smartphone for USD 999.00 it should be the best smartphone in the world and it must prove it.

 

[Raist3001]

How can you be so sure Touch ID is superior without even trying Face ID? Seems very shortsighted.

Possibly, or not. With touchID, my phone is unlocked before I even remove it from my pocket. With faceID, I will need to physically remove it and look at it before I can unlock it. With touchID and applepay, I just have to touch and pay. With FaceID I need to look at my phone first then place near reader (as far as I have read).

FaceID may be the next greatest thing. Then again, maybe not.

 

[ah1488]

IPad is still the best outthere. IPhone lost it.

i can agree with that statement. my wife got an s8 earlier this year and is happy and i am still rocking my 6s plus waiting for the x. concerning the ipad it is really the only tablet that is out there. i have an ipad from my airline and just purchased my own last month.

 

[44267547]

So this means we are not free to voice our displeasure with current apple tech? We should shut up and just purchase inferior product and give up our hope that apple may again wow us?

That's not at all what I stated and your misconstruing my post. Anyone can post their thoughts on what they like/dislike. But if you don't like the Notch, I simply stated someone has the option of another iPhone in Apples expansive lineup or a competitor product. The Consumer has the right to choose how they spend their funds and what they want, not based on what Apple releases for a product. Furthermore, the iPhone X is not intended for everybody and I don't believe Apple manufactured this phone for the sake of every iPhone user.

Also, your definition inferior may not be shared by others. But one thing is for certain, the Notch is here to stay for the time being and all the displeasure on this forum expressed is not going to change it, but discussion is evident there are two sides to it.

 

[Raist3001]

That's not at all what I stated and your misconstruing my post.

Well then I apologize. I've seen to many posts from members trying to shut folks up who dare voice displeasure with apple.

The Consumer has the right to choose how they spend their funds and what they want, not based on what Apple releases for a product.

Agreed. Me personally I trust apple. I may not like some of their decisions, but barring some major derailing, I will always purchase apple products. I also reserve the right to voice my displeasure.

Furthermore, the iPhone X is not intended for everybody and I don't believe Apple manufactured this phone for the sake of every iPhone user.

Well, kinda feel trolled by apple. They release the 7s and 7s+, call it the 8, and release the real deal iPhone X which most folks would want. I have chosen to keep my 7+ and wait for the 2018 offerings.

Also, your definition inferior may not be shared by others.

It is not, nor do I actually believe that. I was trying to hammer my point and chose my words unwisely.

 

[cyclingplatypus]

Real simple fix as everyone has said before, you don't like it then don't buy it. Nobody is forcing you. I carry one dongle and I don't mind at all...then again I am not as worried about aesthetics as you are. You know what I do care about? That this MBP I bought last year does the same thing my last MBP did, last me and works when I open the lid. My last MBP is still chugging along and it is five years old - the new one is considerably lighter and if removing ports was what they needed to do to accomplish that I'm ok with it.

 

[ah1488]

Real simple fix as everyone has said before, you don't like it then don't buy it. Nobody is forcing you. I carry one dongle and I don't mind at all...then again I am not as worried about aesthetics as you are. You know what I do care about? That this MBP I bought last year does the same thing my last MBP did, last me and works when I open the lid. My last MBP is still chugging along and it is five years old - the new one is considerably lighter and if removing ports was what they needed to do to accomplish that I'm ok with it.

first world problems

 

[powerslave65]

The most interesting subtext of this discussion is how consumers have gained so much influence on the marketplace, that they have become absolutely consumed with choice and personalization. I am for consumer’s rights so to me it’s mostly a good thing. I am sure it won’t be long before you will be designing and customizing your own device with whatever specs, size and features you desire. I wonder what the complaints will be then?

 

[The Game 161]

As long as they keep destroying the comp in individual sales then no they are still leading

 

[Raist3001]

As long as they keep destroying the comp in individual sales then no they are still leading

Currently Samsung is the global smartphone leader. So by your logic Samsung is leading. I do not believe that you can judge a true leader today by their sales figures.

 

[The Game 161]

Currently Samsung is the global smartphone leader. So by your logic Samsung is leading. I do not believe that you can judge a true leader today by their sales figures.

As I said individual sales

You judge it on what the customers want and people talk with their wallets

 

[ApfelKuchen]

My principles are different. Health is more important than convenience, so if I only can, I will use a cable instead of a wireless solution. I am not as obsessed with everything wireless and do not want to give companies a mapping of my fingerprints with my face. I do not want anybody to know anything about me on Facebook or Instagram. Yeah, I am very bizarre in this regard, very "old school". I am not worshipping Apple for all the good things they have done to the world. All it takes it to take notice what people do in cafes these days...very rarely they are talking to each other, most of the time they are glued to their phones. I pay attention to the other side of the coin too. Maybe you will not believe me, but when I go on vacations, I pick a place in the wild with no internet where nobody can find me Reason why I wanted a newer phone is because of photography and video. I am a photographer and I like to have an iPhone as my secondary camera.

This and your other comments don't prove that Apple is no longer leading. Rather, you prefer to not follow their current direction. That's your prerogative. It's just more accurate to say, "I don't like where Apple is going" than to claim Apple is not leading.

I think the combination of AR support and FaceID is a prime example of Apple leadership. The two, both separately and in combination, have the potential to make fundamental changes in the way we use our devices, far more than any evolutionary change in I/O ports possibly can.

(I'm not talking about a fundamental change in how we unlock our phones - that would be little different than a change in I/O ports. I'm looking at the other purposes to which the TrueDepth system can be used.)

 

[Raist3001]

As I said individual sales

You judge it on what the customers want and people talk with their wallets

And as I have said, high sales does not mean apple is leading in hardware and design.

 

[The Game 161]

And as I have said, high sales does not mean apple is leading in hardware and design.

Well it's clearly enough for the millions and millions who are still buying iphones's. With the projection of maybe 50 million iphone x's sales it's clear the people like the new design that apple are releasing.

reliability, updates is what apple have always been good at and now the design is coming with a smaller form factor. Hardware wise they have made good jumps this year.

 

[AidenShaw]

People using dongles shows people using old technology.

Can you be any more elitist?

Just because Apple decided to drop mDP for USB-C in order to trim another mm of thickness - doesn't mean that hundreds of thousands of conference rooms across the world trashed their VGA/HDMI/DVI/DP/mDP projectors and rewired for USB-C.

Apple knows this, and dongle sales are a vital part of their revenue stream. The more often that Apple drops standards, the more profit.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Can you be any more elitist?

Just because Apple decided to drop mDP for USB-C in order to trim another mm of thickness - doesn't mean that hundreds of thousands of conference rooms across the world trashed their VGA/HDMI/DVI/DP/mDP projectors and rewired for USB-C.

Apple knows this, and dongle sales are a vital part of their revenue stream. The more often that Apple drops standards, the more profit.

I have to take issue with "vital." I won't disagree that dongle sales are a revenue stream, but how many dongles have to be sold to equal the revenue from just one unit that uses that particular dongle? You think they sell tens of billions of dollars worth of dongles? That would have to be the scale of the business, to be a "vital" revenue stream for Apple. Of Apple's fiscal 2016 net sales of $215.639 billion, the entire "Other Products" category on the financial statement was $11.132 billion, roughly 5% of the total. What are Other Products?

(emphasis added)

1. Includes sales of Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats® products, iPod and Apple-branded and third-party accessories

Even if dongles were half of the entire Other Products category, we're talking about 2-3%, and there's no way on Earth that dongles come close to 50% of that category. Vital?? We're talking about a little bit of excess gravy.

Sure, every bit counts, and any one of us would be thrilled to have all that dongle money fall into our personal bank accounts, but if you think that dongle sales are a vital force driving Apple's design decisions... :::sigh:::

 

[Msivyparrot]

I agree that Apple has somewhat lost the plot...The mac hardware is trash basically, and to highlight this they created the trashcan mac pro..What should have been a great idea, tanked, Apple used to be an industry leader in what is called industrial design, products designed to be hardworking, reliable, where you could service without replacing, think of industrial drills on a construction site, way overbuilt compared to grammies drill in the workshop...That she bought for $15 from wallymart on special...

The older generation of laptops, and the cheese grater, you could mix and match, upgrade, replace as and when parts went soft, or when better became available, you bought at base and loaded up during the lifespan of that device, and this was brilliant, you could service parts if you knew how, or where desperate.

I was caught more than once having to replace parts in the field, just go to any PC store, buy RAM, a hard drive, and with a simple set of 50c screwdrivers, take the laptop apart and replace..and get editing again..Now if you so much as sneeze 20 miles from your laptop it is a $2500 replace.. And the landfill is gifted a perfectly fine laptop..

My hunk of junk late 2013 retina is basically trash, never been used for the purpose of editing, as it simply is incapable of this, but the apple store [not real apple store, a fake news reseller] told me 8GB is more than enough..actually back then 4GB was enough, Apple changed the specs, I got an upgrade from 4 to 8GB, but even 16GB would choke the system...

The ifone is not all that special even in gen 10, it is still lacking the same features my $20 android made in north korea with dodgy software has..my android running a 6 year old OS, has an SD card slot..yay, and for what will be at least 12 months rent for an ifone 10...no sd card and 1 GB RAM..maybe 2 if you are so fortunate!!!

Apple introduced the firewire, that was brilliant, but even this was never fully implemented, now what..Lightining/Thunderbolt/USB..what is what, and which is for what???

Apple is confused..it has lost the plot on what it wants to be, all things to all...If so, why not buy everything, become all things to all, settle the argument, kill off redmond washington, that evil OS loss10...And buy Adobe/Avid, settle the professional debate, maybe buy Blackmagic, after all resolve is feature for feature as good as, if not better than Final Cut..

Apple has not invested in that what made it what it was before the demise of Jobs, it was the best in the creative world, if you had a mac, you had status, the big boys played with Mac's and the wannabes played with pc's using stolen adobe premiere 5.0...

Apple banning the post purchase upgrade path, was and is a terrible mistake, it prevents RAM designers from innovation, they have no market to sell to..only those doing hackintoshing..

But why hackintosh? You hackintosh as Apple cannot see that people need to upgrade post purchase, they could not at the time afford better hardware, now you are forced to throw hardware in the landfill...

Taking away ports, and then explaining the reason, not technical, maybe couched in a faux technical reason, makes no sense, the use of dongles, was a pure financial for profit motive...I was forced to buy firewire dongles for 400 and 800, and they were not cheap..At least I have options...

Bigger 17 inch laptops, makes sense for creatives, a bridge between the mac pro and iMac..it makes every sense from a user point of view, and yes it would sell, maybe very well, instead you have to use iPads as 2nd and 3 screens, when a 17inch mac laptop would do the job...

Tim Cook is killing the brand, he is not making wise decisions, sure for his bosses he is, after all Tim Cook is only employed to do 1 thing, keep his bosses happy...Who are his bosses? The shareholders of Apple Inc.. Tim is not there for the betterment of the consumer, he is there to ensure profit for the shareholders..

Do the shareholders care about laptops, trash cans and cheese graters? No..they could care less...If Apple started selling loo rolls and toothpaste and they made more than they did making laptops, Apple would stop making laptops sooner than you can say boo to a goose!!!

Apple is not in the business of pleasing the consumer...Pure profit no matter the product..It seems that predictions might be true, the iPhone X might tank..After all it is not a huge upgrade on the ifone 1...it does the same things in the same way, marginally better/worse, has the same design flaws, no headphone jack..And no that was not a smart move..

Apple has no interest in being a leader other than in the profit stakes...Which is surprising that there is no $50 ifone...Why not have a ifone from $50 to $2000..Laptops from 11inch to 21inch? Mac pro from $200 to $10 000???

ndNothing stopping Apple from doing exactly that....No I will not buy or use a gifted iPhone!!

 

[Raist3001]

Apple has no interest in being a leader other than in the profit stakes...

I so agree with this. To me apple has lost the drive to lead. Instead they are giving us not so new tech repackaged with the apple spin and of course the apple price. I miss the days where attention was spent on the littlest detail.

 

[Tozovac]

People using dongles shows people using old technology. This is 2017. It's a Wireless World. If you are living in a country where there's 4G network and Fibre internet network, then you are definitely living in a Wireless Country.

In India, we have 4G network throughout the country. I pay only USD 7.80/Monthly for my 4G Network where I get 2GB of 4G Data free everyday and then the speed comes down to 3G. I have 125MBPS connection at home & office which I pay USD 250.00/Annually. Everything is getting wireless.


We have to move forward. People dissed Apple for removing Headphone jack and now everybody has removed it. But nobody asked why it's being removed? because it's taking lot of space. Companies want to add more sensors and bigger battery and they have to get rid of things which are not very useful. Nobody complaint about missing headphone jack on Pixel 2. It just shows that Apple is bold enough to see the future and also to take steps towards it.

You overlook that dongles aren't just about wireless mice and wireless networking. Many, many of us need to often connect HD's, music I/O devices, video I/O devices, external monitors, and headphones, sometimes fewer of those sometimes more, sometimes at home sometimes away. A simple quickly accessed headphone jack is still a blessing. A good self-check exercise for design activities is often to ask yourself what if you keep going? I.e.: What if we have no I/O ports? There really can be too much of a good/bad thing. I truly believe it's a valid critique by many of us that perhaps Apple has pushed the limits beyond things that were easy to remove or stretch years ago (low hanging fruit) but are now veering to dangerously close to pruning things away just because they can (and because that's worked so well in the past), perhaps not recognizing that "just one more" can be "way too much."

 

[Msivyparrot]

The problem with trimming low hanging fruit is you will soon need long ladders...

 

[nnoble]

I take your post in the spirit intended. I don't necessarily want Apple to lead, while it provides reliable products built on advances made by others then I will buy, if and when I have the money. I see no clear advantage in becoming a technology beta tester.

 

[Msivyparrot]

Hi Nnoble...

The reality is we are life long beta testing, if we did not, we would be naked and without fire/tools and dodging dinosaurs...Life is all about testing and discarding what is no longer effective in the job that tool was designed for...

Apple, that company based in Redmond, and many others are using the sale of product to improve the "breed" so to speak, this applies to hardware/software both in the personal computer market as well as say the automotive...

For example, Ford thought the pedal layout in the Model T was great, a tiny company across the pond thought different and this company, Austin, from the UK, popularised the layout of the clutch/brake/accelerator we use today..

Even though Henry Ford was a innovator, his concept of the pedal layout was abandoned in favour of the standard layout we use today, it was beta tested and abandoned, as has almost everything we use today.

The things we buy/don't buy determines the progress we make, sometimes companies make decisions with what they think works, and does not work, based on volumes of product sold/shipped..

The fact is, in my line of work, video editing, it is always beta testing, in some form, the product is never complete, EVER..it adapts, changes, evolves based on feedback, what we can never know is how that feedback is done...

Would I love a solid reliable feedback loop, I send a complaint to X and X responds, for example FCPX has a flaw..Proxy Prores..I would love a degree of compression instead of the fixed compression Apple predetermined..I have posted a feedback page, I would love a response.."What are your thoughts on..." or better still get to beta test FCPX, like we do with the OS of MAC/iOS/TV/Watch..

The same with the hardware.."Why do you think 17inch would be a good idea" I respond with..."Why not revert back to a system that allows post purchase upgrading/updating..Why not ask the market/users of x app what they would like.."

The point is we are never satisfied with what he have, we want better..Look at WesternDigital, a new format hard drive 40TB hard drives in a year or 5 might be something common..Maybe 128GB RAM on laptops...1TB RAM on a iMac...

Apple beta tested the trashcan, thought it was a winner, it was dog turd...And they binned the idea..Apple thought generation 1 of FCPX was a winner..it was so not that...I bought it, hated it, then now love it...The point is we need to test and test and test again, such is life...Or you could buy a plot of land with a cave and live the caveman way...

 

[DNichter]

Possibly, or not. With touchID, my phone is unlocked before I even remove it from my pocket. With faceID, I will need to physically remove it and look at it before I can unlock it. With touchID and applepay, I just have to touch and pay. With FaceID I need to look at my phone first then place near reader (as far as I have read).

FaceID may be the next greatest thing. Then again, maybe not.

People said the same thing about a passcode.