Not really, a company named can be pluralized as Apple is not just one person.
And you think their hardware is mediocre?
Yeah, it was my mistake. I jumped in the thread late and attempted to piggyback off another poster. It can be said either way and still be grammatically correct. Personal opinion I guess.
And yeah, I think it is mediocre. When I use the word mediocre, I mean relative to what they could offer at price points of 650$-950$. A better word might be "mid-range". I think that Apple has done a beautiful job with their custom fab mobile chips, and the design quality is top notch, don't get me wrong. Within the constraints of iOS, iPhones would be unlikely to benefit from anything more than a dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. What they use is high quality, mid-range components. That makes them the best profit margins, so Apple isn't likely to include really power-intensive features on iOS.
If Apple ever plans to expand the capabilities of iOS to include multitasking, they may very well need to include a quad-core processor (or enable some form of hyper threading on a dual-core) and put in 2GB of RAM, and so multitasking would eat into Apple's profits like crazy. Unless Apple sees an economic benefit to add multitasking, they won't do it. If they can create a marketing campaign convincing people that multi-tasking is a bad idea, then they will do that instead. Once people start jumping ship to Android devices, then they will make changes. It hurts Apple's margins to make a 4.7" phone instead of a 4" phone, but enough people were willing to go to android for one that they made it.
Apple does this exponentially better than other companies, and that is why they are the highest valued public company out there. They have the best profit margins. Apple can create an environment that people want so much that they are willing to buy a phone for 850$. If I could pick up a Nexus 6, and it seamlessly paired with my MBA, my iPad, and my iMac, I would buy it in an instant. I'm not saying I will go out and buy a Nexus 6, because I would hate it. Apple has created a beautiful environment that enables them to sell medium tier hardware at a premium, and I am 100% ok with that.
I made that post in the wake of a useless iPad Mini update, a crippled Mac Mini, and iPhones with 1GB of RAM, which again, can absolutely handle iOS, but it is still representative of bleeding edge profit margins. The devices will work great, and will be a joy to use, but they could absolutely be better. We sacrifice the cutting edge of hardware and we get a reliable, enjoyable experience. Again, I am ok with that. However, when that starts to fall to the side, Safari starts crashing on my iPad Air, iOS 8 gets countless bugs, and Apple Maps routes me to the wrong places, then the soldered RAM and mobile components in desktops start making me cringe. If those products all worked without a hitch for years to come, I would buy all of them in a heartbeat, and I often do.
Apple makes products with mid-tier components, and as long as they maintain a tight ship, I won't complain. However, if Apple put 30-50$ better hardware into their devices, it would require less stringent OS requirements, and more bugs could slip through. As of right now, my iPad Air with 1GB of RAM still has issues on Safari, and so I am holding onto my iPhone 5 instead of getting an iPhone 6+. The 6+ will probably work fine, but I have had such an awful experience with Safari on the iPad that I am hesitant to spend so much money on a device that might not work perfectly.
So back to the original question: Do I think that Apple uses mediocre hardware? Absolutely. I couldn't care less though, just as long as it works perfectly, and that is what Apple is betting on. If they can make a device for 100$ less than competitors, and sell it at the same price, then they will do that until the end of time, and I think that is what they should do. Once the experience is less than perfect, Apple had better start reevaluating, but they have almost always managed to run on the profitable side of that line.
Matt
