AppleInsider podcast talks iPad upgrade cycle, watchOS 3 simplicity, 'iPhone 7' rumors

AppleInsider

This week on the AppleInsider podcast, Neil and Victor talk iPad upgrade cycles, compare simplicity of iPods and Apple Watch, and catch you up on all the latest 'iPhone 7' news.

AppleInsider editors Neil Hughes and Victor Marks wrap up the latest in betas and rumors:

• The iPad upgrade cycle
  
• The simplicity of the iPod and iPhone compared to the Apple Watch
  
• 'iPhone 7' cameras and launch date
  
• Target misses forecast, blames it on weak Apple sales
  
• USB-C replacing the headphone jack

The show is available on iTunes and your favorite podcast apps by searching for "AppleInsider." Click here to listen, subscribe, and don't forget to rate our show.

Listen to the embedded SoundCloud feed below:

The show is also available on Stitcher Radio.

Show note links:

• Deals: 13" MacBook Air (1.6GHz, 4GB, 256GB) for $849; $750 off 27" iMac 5K; $150 off 128GB iPhone 6s Plus
  
  
• Street date for Apple's 'iPhone 7' could be Sept. 23, AT&T document hints
  
  
• Alleged camera module for Apple's 'iPhone 7' may hint at optical image stabilization
  
  
• Inside Apple's 2016 MacBook Pro: USB-C and Thunderbolt 3
  
  
• Intel pushes USB-C as 3.5mm jack replacement, touts better sound, thinness & power management
  
  
• Retailer Target pins missed financial goals on lackluster Apple device sales
  
  
• Apple Watch with built-in cellular data unlikely to arrive this year - report

Follow our hosts on Twitter: @thisisneil and @vmarks.

Feedback and comments are always appreciated. Please contact the AppleInsider podcast at [email protected] and follow us on Twitter @appleinsider, plus Facebook and Instagram.

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Habi_tweet

But will the iphone 7 have usb2? Pretty please, I'll be disappointed again if they don't do anything about this...

Mike Wuerthele

No good way to tell right now.

neutrino23

I suspect there are at least two kinds of iPad users; professional or enterprise users and home users. Corporate users like most of us here probably will upgrade every couple or four years as new features give us enough incentive to upgrade. However, for home users like my mom, my wife and her friends the upgrade cycle may be more like that of televisions which is about 8 years. They use iPads to watch streaming video, chat, email and browse the web. Some things may be a little slow but that is OK for them. They will use the iPad till it breaks and it looks like the iPad is very sturdy and lasts a long time.

Thinking about PC upgrades it seems to me that many upgrades occurred because they needed a software update or the computer simply started running slowly. They could have simply fixed the software but that was not cheap. Many people were not Windows experts so they needed to pay someone to install software or to clean out the viruses and malware. For many people it made sense to simply buy a newer machine as a way to upgrade the software.

A problem for Apple is that the iPad is so good it doesn't get gummed up with malware and upgrading the OS is easy. My 88 year old mom just recently upgraded the OS. For many customers they will continue to use the iPad till it stops working.

This is good in that it helps to drive down PC sales and these people will eventually upgrade their iPads, but the downside is that iPad sales will fall till they find their natural replacement level. I suspect Apple has a very good handle on how many people are still using older iPads and what the actual replacement cycle is.