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Phones Are Apple products still as good as theyve always been?
- Thread starter Samtb
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They've always been good but with Android getting better, iOS devices are starting to pale in comparison.
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I never noted the high quality Apple is famous for. Yes they have superior hardware materials, but I've had a fairly high rate of failure of my apple products over the years. Maybe I'm just unlucky, though I'm super careful and always take care of my gear.
I refuse to take the poll because I believe it's basically flawed. Asking if Apple's iThings are just as good as they've always been, but then encompassing that period over 2 years is seriously flawed.
iThings have been around since the first iMac in 1997. The iPod came in November, 2001. The iPhone in 2007. The only one that could be said to have had a 2 year lifespan is the iPad.
And just FYI, we are a mixed ecosystem in our home.
Late 2012 iMac
Asus Laptop
iPad 32GB 4th gen
HTC One
HP iPaq
iPod Touch 4th gen
iPod Touch 3rd gen
2 iPod Nano 5th gen
Kindle
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That question is too complicated to be answered with a simple yes or no. And it depends on the product. So here is my answer.
Phones - Apple is just as good at they have always been...in fact they are mostly the exact same and therein lies the problem. The interface has become stale and outdated and innovation seems to have plateaued. That being said it's nothing that can't be addressed and turned around.
iPad - With the introduction of the dramatically smaller mini, fresh life is still being put into this line. Although it too someday runs the risk of stagnation and a plateau.
Mac - Here is where I think there has been a bit of a decline. The removal of optical media has been premature in my opinion. I still have a bunch of stuff to rip and enjoy the occasional movie. By requiring that people get an external drive, they ruin the "it just works" philosophy as well as the clean aesthetics they worked so hard to achieve. They have changed some ports and things over the years, but by and large there isn't much innovation here either right now. It's tough where Apple sees computing going...they send out mix signals. They talk about a post-PC world, but there are still so many things that are better done on a computer. And they really haven't tried to integrate their mobile and desktop OS's all that much though I think that is coming. But it's really difficult to know where their heads are at. I am not even sure they know themselves.
iPods - A mature product, mostly the same. I don't really like the new nanos though. I liked the old watch faced ones more. Though I can see pluses to the new form too. But mostly it seems a step backwards to me.
Phones - Apple is just as good at they have always been...in fact they are mostly the exact same and therein lies the problem. The interface has become stale and outdated and innovation seems to have plateaued. That being said it's nothing that can't be addressed and turned around.
iPad - With the introduction of the dramatically smaller mini, fresh life is still being put into this line. Although it too someday runs the risk of stagnation and a plateau.
Mac - Here is where I think there has been a bit of a decline. The removal of optical media has been premature in my opinion. I still have a bunch of stuff to rip and enjoy the occasional movie. By requiring that people get an external drive, they ruin the "it just works" philosophy as well as the clean aesthetics they worked so hard to achieve. They have changed some ports and things over the years, but by and large there isn't much innovation here either right now. It's tough where Apple sees computing going...they send out mix signals. They talk about a post-PC world, but there are still so many things that are better done on a computer. And they really haven't tried to integrate their mobile and desktop OS's all that much though I think that is coming. But it's really difficult to know where their heads are at. I am not even sure they know themselves.
iPods - A mature product, mostly the same. I don't really like the new nanos though. I liked the old watch faced ones more. Though I can see pluses to the new form too. But mostly it seems a step backwards to me.
I'm thinking someone posted on his behalf.Oh my, I actually completely agree with you for a change.
Michael
I'm thinking someone posted on his behalf.
Michael
Believe it or not I can freely admit that Android has improved leaps and bounds.
Believe it or not I can freely admit that Android has improved leaps and bounds.
Who are you and what have you done with unobtainium???
Michael
I think that all the computers they make are top notch. Same goes for the iPad. I think the iPhone is the weakest link in terms of QC. But obviously they are making more phones than computers.
The first apple product I ever bought, an iPod, was DOA. I had several problems with various iPhone models. My mac mini, MBP, and iPad were all flawless. Oh yeah and my apple tv never gave me problems.
The first apple product I ever bought, an iPod, was DOA. I had several problems with various iPhone models. My mac mini, MBP, and iPad were all flawless. Oh yeah and my apple tv never gave me problems.
Definitely not. In my experience the quality of their computers has been pretty much up to par even factoring in people's issues with Retina Mac Book Pros and the like, however looking at their iDevices particularly the iPhone we can see there has been a reduction in quality to control as a function of increases in mass production.
That just goes back to the old adage of not buying into to any of Apple's first gen products. The same is true for many companies though.
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Yeah this is the case so many times with Apple however it's unfortunate that many have experienced quality control issues with their new iPhones
Who are you and what have you done with unobtainium???
Michael
Oh I'm still me..I didn't say android was better
I was thinking more about iPhones and iPads than iMacs or ipods. The iphone had its biggest success after the release of iphone 4.
Apple is not doomed! They can however change things up bit to get fresh. The competition is getting better.
I've never been blow away by apple quality. I think they use premium material that feels like premium quality but that's about it.
Their prices are what turn me off. I can understand paying a premium price for a premium product. However that product should have all the capabilities of a product that's half it's price.
I've been tossing around the idea of getting an iMac for months now but the price is deterring me. It's not that I can't afford it, it's just...well I feel like I'd be letting myself get ripped off. For half the price you can get more. Plus reading all the horror story's of them failing on this forum is a turn off, seems AppleCare is a must.
Their prices are what turn me off. I can understand paying a premium price for a premium product. However that product should have all the capabilities of a product that's half it's price.
I've been tossing around the idea of getting an iMac for months now but the price is deterring me. It's not that I can't afford it, it's just...well I feel like I'd be letting myself get ripped off. For half the price you can get more. Plus reading all the horror story's of them failing on this forum is a turn off, seems AppleCare is a must.
I'm not sure if quality control has gone down, but quality is sure poor. They've been doing mobile phone and tablet development for over a decade and still can't get the home button to work well. I bought a brand new ipad 4 and home button doesn't work half the time. How is it they can't figure out how to fix the only button on the device?
Quality Control: D
Quality Materials: B
Design: A
iOS: C
OSX: B
____________________
Quality Control:
I would say 75% of the Apple products I've purchased have arrived with something wrong. Be it dead/ stuck pixels, scratches, misaligned screens, backlight bleed, gaps in assembly, loose buttons, squeaky hinges, etc.
I have taken to buying 2 of every item (and returning one) to better my luck, and usually that has helped, but quality assembly is lacking and at times severely disappointing depending on the issue. I have been buying refurbished items from Apple rather than new, and they are just as good, and many times better than, the quality of new products.
Quality Materials:
Overall, I am satisfied with the materials used as compared to other products. However, they are not always the most practical. I've had the cracking white plastic MacBooks (which is a shame because I enjoyed those the most, aesthetically), iPad glass that has scratched out of the blue...
The aluminum, while beautiful and with a wonderful feel, is prone to denting to the point where a bump could make a product unusable. I was unlucky enough once to be carrying my iPad in the hallway and someone opened a door, denting the aluminum right between the volume and mute buttons rendering both unusable.
Also, lighter is not always better. I am more partial to enjoying a product that is compact and dense rather than thin and light. I prefer the iPhone 4 to an iPod Touch, for example.
Design:
I'm a fan of drastic design changes as often as possible. I love seeing what they come up with next. It keeps things fresh and keeps me desiring the next product. I'm big on design, and aesthetics is probably a good 40% of the appeal of Apple products to me.
That said, there's only so much that can be done with products as simple as an iPad. There's not much there to be tweaked. I've been pretty satisfied with their design direction overall, even though most of their drastic changes have been saved for peripheral products like the iPod nano. I think iPhone 5 was a weak design change from the 4/S, whereas the iPod Touch's new design would have been more of the direction I think it should have went.
iOS is stale to me. There is so much potential for the iPad in particular that is short changed by iOS. Not sure what should be done, but that's for Johnny to figure out and for us to enjoy. They better get cracking on that soon.
I could see where some could think OSX is stale, but I'm not sure a desktop OS is something to be tweaked too drastically.
It might be nice to see more crossover between iOS and OSX.
Quality Materials: B
Design: A
iOS: C
OSX: B
____________________
Quality Control:
I would say 75% of the Apple products I've purchased have arrived with something wrong. Be it dead/ stuck pixels, scratches, misaligned screens, backlight bleed, gaps in assembly, loose buttons, squeaky hinges, etc.
I have taken to buying 2 of every item (and returning one) to better my luck, and usually that has helped, but quality assembly is lacking and at times severely disappointing depending on the issue. I have been buying refurbished items from Apple rather than new, and they are just as good, and many times better than, the quality of new products.
Quality Materials:
Overall, I am satisfied with the materials used as compared to other products. However, they are not always the most practical. I've had the cracking white plastic MacBooks (which is a shame because I enjoyed those the most, aesthetically), iPad glass that has scratched out of the blue...
The aluminum, while beautiful and with a wonderful feel, is prone to denting to the point where a bump could make a product unusable. I was unlucky enough once to be carrying my iPad in the hallway and someone opened a door, denting the aluminum right between the volume and mute buttons rendering both unusable.
Also, lighter is not always better. I am more partial to enjoying a product that is compact and dense rather than thin and light. I prefer the iPhone 4 to an iPod Touch, for example.
Design:
I'm a fan of drastic design changes as often as possible. I love seeing what they come up with next. It keeps things fresh and keeps me desiring the next product. I'm big on design, and aesthetics is probably a good 40% of the appeal of Apple products to me.
That said, there's only so much that can be done with products as simple as an iPad. There's not much there to be tweaked. I've been pretty satisfied with their design direction overall, even though most of their drastic changes have been saved for peripheral products like the iPod nano. I think iPhone 5 was a weak design change from the 4/S, whereas the iPod Touch's new design would have been more of the direction I think it should have went.
iOS is stale to me. There is so much potential for the iPad in particular that is short changed by iOS. Not sure what should be done, but that's for Johnny to figure out and for us to enjoy. They better get cracking on that soon.
I could see where some could think OSX is stale, but I'm not sure a desktop OS is something to be tweaked too drastically.
It might be nice to see more crossover between iOS and OSX.