Wait, surely you're not suggesting that an organization that exists to make money is looking to make money?
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Other Tim Cook’s latest iPhone scam explained
- Thread starter ThomasJL
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Wait, surely you're not suggesting that an organization that exists to make money is looking to make money?
You don't HAVE to buy anything from Apple. You really don't.
I think lots of their problems are software limitations and bloat
Why can my watch connect to earbuds for hands free calls, but not my car?
Because they want me to also have a iPhone
Make a option to not have their software scan my personal photos and send the data off my device of what it scans, that’s just creepy and not safe
Device wise, maybe bring back the curved edges, take out the stupid camera bump and do a fingerprint reader
Bring back the SIM card, lots of people travel and would rather buy a prepaid vs pay a arm and leg for “roaming”
Maybe a better LiDAR sensor, maybe a small thermal camera, sapphire lens, etc
Lots Apple COULD do, but they just re churn the same phones for a few models
It feels like apple peaked and is now just resting on people not wanting to deal with the pain in the butt of having some devices outside of their proprietary “eco system”
I disagree
They make it difficult to go with a different phone by design
they work very hard to make users unable to repair their own devices, they were like the first one to have the gall to not allow the user to change the friggin battery even
They by design make their devices not play well with other brands, which isn’t the end of the world IF it wasn’t for all the other issues I mentioned
Then they just take the older hardware, re brand it as the next model and sell it for way more than the old phone would have been
It’s not a crime, but it’s a greasy way to make a buck IMO
Silly. No one’s saying it’s “good” to give customers less and less over time.
What people are acknowledging is the reality of the world, especially the US-based business world…where publicly-traded companies are legally obligated to maximize shareholder revenue.
You want to change that legal obligation by changing the law? Great! I’m no fan of that law, so I support that!
Until then, however, we have to accept that reality, that all company decisions are made with that lens in mind.
Where you lose people is in the histrionic characterization of any of this as a “scam”. You don’t like the product strategy, and that’s fair—you can vote with your wallet, as everyone can. If enough people don’t like it, less will buy, and shareholder value will drop, and Apple will have to come out with something more appealing to consumers so more will buy, raising the value again.
Until then, however, you’re just complaining that Apple isn’t making products according to particular preferences. Which, again, fine…but whether *enough* people share your preferences will ultimately be determined by the resultant sales numbers.
Apple isn’t being dishonest in the slightest. Saying they are is akin to how some people say “I don’t understand” an answer, when what they really mean is they don’t like the answer.
No. You consistently misstate. Suggesting that a CEO is scamming customers because of how a corp publicly and visibly makes product componentry decisions is just wrong. Your verbiage force-fits (untrue) arguments like "Tim Cook's prioritizing shareholders over customers" into the discussion as if choosing optimal component choices means "Tim Cook's prioritizing shareholders over customers," which it most definitely does not.
I have been buying Apple devices since the beginning and across product lines, including iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro. I have never experienced "gives customers less and less over time." And I do pay attention to the tech in the products.
Very little is hidden, so simply do not buy what you do not like. Making up absurd CEO conspiracies is silly.
P.S. I do not own AAPL so you can forget attacking from that silly direction.
P.P.S. FYI good product development to serve shareholders best necessitates giving customers what they want. There is not some either-or relationship shareholders versus customers except in the minds of some unaware individuals.
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What a non-issue this is, you got to look at the whole package and not just "everything should be one number higher or it's a scam".
If you buy every new model, I’d wager you probably are biased and ether in chasing the Jones or fan boi territory
I do agree it’s not a “scam” it’s just a company that’s not as innovative as it used to be and is resting on its brand
Should correct that, they are innovative in how they don’t allow users to repair/source parts their own devices, that technology they do appear to work on
Exactly.
An iPhone scam would be (for example) if you ordered a 256 GB iPhone 14, paid for it and Apple sends you a 128 GB iPhone 14 on purpose.
I love how easily people throw this around with no substantiation whatsoever. Of course Apple (like any other company) can make different product choices, and I often wish they would myself! Still, what makes me laugh about this frequently-seen assertion is that it minimizes all the other thousands of multivariate reasons and associated tradeoffs why product choices are what they are, and seemingly pins those decisions *only* on greed and other machveiallian motivations. Makes for an entertaining story and certainly provides an easy target to direct some righteous anger toward…but I don’t think it reflects reality.
Before someone replies with some appeal-to-extremes, “oh, so Apple can do no wrong in your eyes then, huh?” and peg me as some Apple “defender”: I like Apple stuff because of the value it provides me at a price I can accept. Other than that, I don’t “root” for soulless (which is all of them) corporations like they’re my sports team or something.
The moment Apple doesn’t provide a balance of price and value—both for consumer and shareholder—that I deem acceptable…I’ll look for another product/ecosystem/whatever. Until then, I’m not going to blindly assume Apple is knee-capping their own products and project some sort of morality onto a legal entity.
It's not a scam..
But I agree. When I heard they were going to use last year's chip in the newer 'base' iPhones I hated the idea. While it's true most people won't care, it still dilutes the brand a bit.
However, I'm sure Apple has data that we don't have access to where they can see the peak of what chipsets can do without going quantum in terms of raw power. If they see this, that means they have to pump the brakes a bit.
In a way, it'll be a trap for the competition because they will continue to put their flagship chipset in all their flagships and they will hit that 'plateau' wall much much sooner and they will have to abruptly split their flagships into tiers.
But I agree. When I heard they were going to use last year's chip in the newer 'base' iPhones I hated the idea. While it's true most people won't care, it still dilutes the brand a bit.
However, I'm sure Apple has data that we don't have access to where they can see the peak of what chipsets can do without going quantum in terms of raw power. If they see this, that means they have to pump the brakes a bit.
In a way, it'll be a trap for the competition because they will continue to put their flagship chipset in all their flagships and they will hit that 'plateau' wall much much sooner and they will have to abruptly split their flagships into tiers.
Now is a good time for you to learn that price of a product is not determined by how much it costs to make, but by how much people are willing to pay for it.
And “scam”? What scam? There is nothing hidden here. Everything is out in the open. There is no “scam”. If you feel that some model of iPhone is not worth the price, then don’t buy it.
You do know that many (most?) folks ignore or outright block folks who shout, right?
Your battery example is exemplary of the short-sightedness throughout the comment. Y'all need to do some engineering homework before assuming.
User-removable batteries are flat stupid from a cell phone design engineering standpoint. There are reasons that iPhones dumped that idea long ago:
-dirt, water entry;
-tolerances to suit the inevitable 3rd-party battery suppliers;
-repairs needed thanks to the inevitable crap 3rd-party battery suppliers;
-safety issues thanks to the inevitable crap 3rd-party battery suppliers;
-extra volume and weight needed for modular battery access; and needed in a single large rectangular spot;
-added volume/expense/weight building a module to accept removable batteries and the necessary complex electrical connection;
-existence of readily available third-party add-ons for those customers who need additional battery without forcing all customers to accpet the downsides of removable batteries.
Bottom line is that user-removable batteries are simply less-good design.
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If they weren't telling customers they were doing this, then it would be a scam. However, they are quite open with what goes into their devices every year.
My problem with all this is that while many iPhone owners understand exactly what they are buying and the differences when picking a new phone, many iPhone owners don’t. Many don’t even realize they are getting a one year old SoC in their brand new non pro iphone.
To me it seems like taking advantage of people who aren’t tech savy and that’s a lot of people, especially since the non pro iPhones are still really expensive. I could understand it in a $500 SE but not in an $800-$900 iPhone.
To me it seems like taking advantage of people who aren’t tech savy and that’s a lot of people, especially since the non pro iPhones are still really expensive. I could understand it in a $500 SE but not in an $800-$900 iPhone.
Most people also don't care. This doesn't affect 90% of the iPhone buying population. The MacRumors community doesn't represent most people. Most people just want a reliable and fast phone that takes good pics and video.
Semantics. IMO what the poster meant by liking what they do was liking what products they offer. Vendors do not make money long term unless they give consumers what they want.
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Except the fact is that getting a one year old SoC in their brand new non pro iphone is not per se some kind of a bad thing. All kinds of chips get used all kinds of ways, year after year. Your perception that year-old is by definition some kind of cheat is just ignorance around the tech involved.
Nobody cares. Smartphones have become so good it doesn’t really matter for the average customer.
It also becomes increasingly harder to distinguish between pro and non-pro models.
Want the best one? Buy the latest pro. It’s that simple.
Stop complaining. This is not a scam.
It also becomes increasingly harder to distinguish between pro and non-pro models.
Want the best one? Buy the latest pro. It’s that simple.
Stop complaining. This is not a scam.
Those customers move on to other products very easily, Apple has good customer retention, and satisfaction.
Not that it is any of your business, but FYI prior to the iPhone 11 Pro and starting with the first iPhone after other brands before that, including briefcase-sized ones, I upgraded every 2-3 years. I use cameras and mobile comms constantly in my work, and as iPhone Pro cameras and comms got better and better I found that each annual upgrade was unequivocally worth the ~$2/day it costs to stay with the best iPhones. YMMV, but do not diss my ~$2/day expenditure that far more than pays for itself.
You are correct that I have evolved into the Apple (and Nikon) ecosystems. However I would evolve out if some other entities did a far superior job.
You of course can think that Apple is just a company that’s not as innovative as it used to be and is resting on its brand. But I stroingly disagree.
Whining about cell phones (or flat screen TVs for that matter) not being generally user-repairable is just silly IMO. But again, you are welcome to your opinion that I disagree with.
A lot of those people who buy the non pro don’t realize it means their phone will slow down sooner than the Pro model and might be supported for a year less.