charlesn

Whim of the moment economic "policy" continues unabated. The world is not MAGA and doesn't believe Trump's con man threats, and the world has learned that Trump caves as soon as there's pushback. Late today, Trump began his inevitable fold to China, suggesting that China tariffs would be cut by 50%. It's a reward, I guess, for China offering... absolutely nothing. Art of the deal! Of course, halved China tariffs would still be an unprecedented 75%, so it's not like they're celebrating in Cupertino. Xi continues to have way more cards to play than Trump in this dumbest of all trade wars that Trump started--I can only hope Xi utterly humiliates Trump before making a deal. 

"51% of current users intend to upgrade in the next year." 

Oh, yeah, very typical iPhone upgrade cycle, half of all current iPhone users get a new one annually.

"40% are strongly interested in foldable or thin iPhones."

Definitely. And we know this because about 40% of Samsung and Google buyers are choosing their folding phones. We also know about the desire for thinner phones as proven by Apple canceling its thinnest iPhone, the SE 3, and replacing it with the thicker 16e. 

This, cough, "data" is about as laughable as it gets. You might even get the impression that Morgan Stanley had its finger--no, make that its hand--on the scale here, but I'm sure that couldn't possibly be the case! 

I would expect Apple to keep its late February/early March launch for the e phones. Coming at the midpoint of the cycle for the regular and Pro models, it brings renewed press and marketing attention to the whole iPhone line-up at a time when, up until now, the only iPhone chatter has been about what's coming in September. And with the 16e being an all-new model, you can bet right now that the 17e will be the same phone with a chip upgrade. 

My wife was just issued a 16e by her company as her work phone, and I have to think this phone has been a huge hit for enterprise. The phone is unexpectedly gorgeous in person--I think the best looking iPhone, hands down, and really premium feeling in-hand. The black model is stunning, the Darth Vader of phones, with a true black back (finally!) and sides to match the black screen when inactive. Honestly, if I didn't love the camera system in my Pro, this would be the iPhone I'd buy--slim, light, minimal camera bump. 

Not sure when this started, but I recently noticed that AI has come to Siri in CarPlay and so far, I have to say that I've been impressed! In the past, Siri in CarPlay couldn't answer most questions I asked beyond typical data like "What's the weather?" and similar. For other types of questions, the answer was always, "Sorry, I can't answer that while you're driving" which is an especially annoying reply in CarPlay! Now the answer to questions Siri doesn't know is, "Would you like me to check ChatGPT?" "Yes" brings a reasonably quick, detailed and accurate answer PLUS it's an answer to the question I asked! (Never a sure thing with Siri in the past.) Funny thing is, now that I know this is there as a resource, I use it more and more when on the road. 

tipoo said:

Unfortunately no Smartube app outweighs any other nicety of it for me. Otherwise I'm all in the Apple ecosystem, but for a Google TV streaming box. Youtube is utterly insufferable without it. 

How is YouTube "insufferable" on Apple TV stb? I watch a ton of YouTube content through the official app for Apple TV and have zero complaints.