entropys

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entropys
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  • Apple doesn't appear to have plans to revive the iPhone mini

    opinion said:
    Well, the iPhone 13 mini was introduced almost four years ago, maybe the user base has changed and more are hoping for a mini version now? I just don't get this big monsters of phones, ok for those who want it but not everyone does. Why not add phone support to the biggest iPad and let the big phone lovers use those!
    Yes, my 13 mini battery has just dropped below 80%. I will have to ge the battery   replaced as I have no plans for a larger phone. 

    charlesn said:
    prof said:
    hmlongco said:
    People say they want one. Apple makes one. People don't buy one. Apple stops making one.

    Rinse. Repeat.

    People did buy it, one dealer I know told me that they sold more iPhone Minis months for months than any other non-Apple or Samsung brand model. Sometimes it's not entirely clear why Apple ditches a product; all bad sales rumours are only unconfirmed speculation. 
    Please. Stop your descent into the conspiracy theory rabbit hole. It's really pretty simple: Apple is a publicly owned, for profit company that is in the business of making products that sell well enough to generate sufficient profit to justify keeping them in the product lineup. It keeps making the products that earn their keep and stops making the ones that don't. End of story, The Mini would still be in the lineup if it sold in sufficient numbers, and the story of what one dealer told you for a product that sells globally is absolutely meaningless. Do you think Apple is happy about EOL'ing a new product after just two cycles? Absolutely not. It's questionable if they even made back their costs for research and development of the Mini, costs for tooling and production, design, marketing, etc. after just two years. This isn't to say that the Mini didn't have its fans, and a lot of them, just not enough to make it worthwhile to keep around. Notice also that no major Android manufacturer, even though they seem to run with every new gimmick feature they can dream up, has stepped in to produce a truly premium mini phone--there's no high end Galaxy or Pixel Mini. That's further confirmation that a sufficiently big market for a premium mini phone is simply not there. It's also worth noting that Apple's low-priced and smaller iPhone SE was always the worst selling model in the whole iPhone lineup. 

    It isn’t really a conspiracy. The mini did sell in large enough numbers that many android manufacturers would dream of for their phones.  But for Apple it had small sales compared with their other phones. So in the scheme of things it just wasn’t worth it for Apple to have yet another product line.
    davwilliamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Apple confirms that Apple Intelligence Siri features are taking longer than expected

    entropys said:
    This is what happens when you have a supply chain expert in charge of an innovative company. 
    • Want to  make good computers so make some profit to do that; vs
    • Want to make a profit so make some good computers to do that . 
    A subtle difference, but turns out it is everything. It takes time to be revealed, and then it is clear to see and difficult to fix.
    Tim Apple is exposed as in the second category.  

    This Siri debacle is a clear example of it.  It has been poor for years, and nothing was done about it because software isn’t in the supply chain for hardware (thus low priority), and here we are.

    and now Apple is so far behind it is becoming uncool. But hey, let’s get that geriatric pompous git King Charles (or more likely, an underling of his media manager) to do a playlist.  
    Yeah..... I totally get the impression that Craig Federighi is timid and would be incapable of advocating for himself 

    Do you actually think this nonuse through when you type it?
    The trouble is definitely not Federighi,  it’s that he doesn’t win in the C-suites.
    tiredskillsdewmeSmittyW
  • Apple hardware lost to LA fires needs to be replaced by homeowner's insurance, not AppleCa...

    I would never think to use AppleCare for replacing destroyed goods due to a fire.
    that is what insurance is for. 
    And as to the difficulty to get insurance in California, most of that is actually regulatory.  
    (Disclosure, work in a national disaster department, not USA but same sort of issues).
    muthuk_vanalingamdanoxwatto_cobra
  • Apple's updated M4 MacBook Air could arrive sooner than expected

    MBA no later than March 2025? When has that not been the expectation? Non story.
    nubuswilliamlondonAlex1N
  • Apple's ongoing modem push rumored to result in cellular MacBooks

    danvm said:
    MplsP said:
    Alex_V said:
    But why tho? Do that many people want to pay for an entirely different line of service, when we can just hotspot on our existing paid line? What am I missing 
    Conditions in the market change. Remember when, back in the 1990s, Americans were lagging behind in cell phone use because of exorbitant charges? Providers can offer discounted pure data plans for devices like laptops, for example. 
    There is likely a small subset of users who want cellular connectivity on their laptop but the overwhelming majority of users are not willing to pay for an extra cellular line just to avoid tethering to their phone. There are a signifiant number of cellular iPad users out there. Some of them may prefer to use a MacBook over an iPad but again, I suspect it's not a huge number. I'm with @StrangeDays, @yyzguy & @M68000  - until the carriers allow bundling I have no interest in paying an extra $30 per month just to avoid tethering.

    Out of curiosity, do any PC laptop makers have a built in cellular modem? Assuming there are no royalties involved this may be a case where the incremental cost for Apple to add their own modem to every device is trivial, essentially the production cost of the chips. 
    Some Lenovo ThinkPads and HP Elitebooks have 5G connectivity. But, at least in my customers, they don't ask for that option.
    My old work HP dragonfly and my current Dell latitude (don’t get me started) both had an external sim slot and work pay for the cellular service. For when I travel as it is more secure than random wifi. The dragonfly wasn’t too bad for travel except for woeful battery life, but the latitude is heavy crap.  If only I could use a MacBook.

    The use case for cellular in a MacBook would be very low as IT at most workplaces won’t have them (if it ain’t MS ain’t interested).  Private users would just hotspot.  
    MplsPdewmewatto_cobra