charlesn

9secondkox2 said:

AppleZulu said:

9secondkox2 said:

Cook can’t help but be happy about that. 

Tariffs could have hit them hard. But they have been treated well. Hopefully it continues.

looking forward to iPhone 17 and am m5 max MacBook Pro 16” if a large iMac doesn’t materialize by end of winter. Been looking forward to apple prices heading toward back to reality in pricing now that the covid uncertainty and shutdowns has been over for a while. Then the tariffs came, but also seems to be done in a way that could enable healthier pricing (for the consumer - it’s already been healthy for apple). Wanted to hold out for m6 in 2nm, but I don’t know if I can wait much longer. 

The on-again-off-again-even-more-on-again tariff regime is already creating economic instability that won’t be stoppable even if a total “off-again” pronouncement comes tomorrow. Businesses that didn’t get an exemption have already cancelled orders. Consumers will soon find that many things they need won’t be available at any price. For Apple, having the exemptions is better than not having the exemptions, but they don’t exist in a vacuum. The chaos created by this administration will harm Apple anyway. Your fantasy world where this is all ok doesn’t actually exist. 

You do the right thing because it’s right. Not because it’s simple or easy to do. 

Oh, PLEASE enlighten us--not to mention the entire business community of America--on what "right thing" you think this utterly incompetent administration is trying to do. Address trade imbalances? By starting a trade war with the entire planet at once using an idiotic and nonsensical "formula" as to how tariffs will be applied? And then trying to disguise the idiocy of it all with an equally idiotic, symbol-filled "equation" that, of course, sentient beings figured out in a second was the same thing as the first formula, now masquerading in a new costume. Trump claims that "everybody's kissing his ass" for a deal. Really? And of the 195 countries on Earth, how many deals have we made so far? Oh, that's right... ZERO. Vietnam offered EXACTLY what Trump says he wants: equal and reciprocal tariffs at 0% for both sides. So did Trump make a deal? Of course not! Because what he says is worthless the second the words leave his mouth. It then became about "other issues that had to be negotiated." Trump will accomplish nothing other to usher in the era of China's leadership of the world. which is really saying something when you can make Xi Jinping look like the more competent, reliable and responsible adult in the room. Trump's only skills are grifter and con man and he's discovering the hard way that the rest of the world and the laws of economics can't be conned. There are certainly trade imbalances to be addressed, especially with China, but Trump's stupidity has traded in what could have been a winning hand in a new deal with China for... how did Scott Bessent put it?... oh yeah, a pair of twos. 

Rogue01 said:

cpsro said:

Lack of a blood oxygen sensor will be a killer for many people.

linkman said:

Is there a way to obtain a reasonably accurate blood pressure measurement without some sort of cuff?

The blood O2 sensor did not have any effect on sales even when it was featured on the watch.  Nor did it affect sales when it was removed.  It has been written up in medical journals confirming how inaccurate the O2 sensor is.  It does not take a constant reading, it only takes a reading once in a while and then gives you an average.  If you had a health condition that caused your blood O2 to drop, a person with that condition won't be using an Apple Watch to check it.  They would be using a real blood O2 sensor to check for sudden drops.

The watch is not a medical device.  To get an accurate blood pressure, you must be seated, feet flat on the floor, resting, and your arm horizontal with the desk and the cuff properly placed on your arm.  The watch would never be able to do this.  It would be practically impossible for Apple to get proper approval to claim the watch is a certified medical device for certain tests.  Even the ECG sensor is not medically approved.

The watch is a fitness device.  Even most developers have abandoned the watch.  So Apple just improves the fitness aspect of the watch because the past 5 updates have been uneventful, and it looks like Watch 11 will be just like Watch 6, 7, 8, and 9, offering very little.  I am not even considering replacing my Watch 5 because every version after offers very little, and I barely wear it now that I mostly work from home.  It is pretty clear that Apple can't come up with anything significant with the watch.  It still has the same design since the Watch 1, but at least the 10 has a decent improvement with screen size.  I don't think I would ever buy another one.  Charging it daily is a pain.

As someone who has owned the 5, 7 and Ultra 1 (which I'm still wearing), I would tell you that improvements in speed and the larger screen size were game changers for me in how I felt about the watch, plus the 1.5-2 day battery life of the Ultra. Two other must-have features for me, now that I've had them: first, Ultra night mode is fantastic in theaters or any darkened environment for when you need to check your watch and don't want to disturb others. I don't know why Apple keeps this an Ultra exclusive. And second, the Ultra Modular watch face, a grid of icons for the 8 functions I use constantly on the watch, with a touch on an icon bringing me right into the app. That is my daily driver. Not a huge surprise that developers have abandoned the watch because, while it's great for the display of data of any type, there's not a lot you want to "do" on such a small screen. What I mostly see now are iOS apps that will port over some very basic functionality to a Watch app. I would also say that the speed and accuracy of voice recognition on the watch has improved a lot, so that responding to a text via mic input works great. All in all, I really have all of the most needed functionality of my iPhone in the watch, although I don't think I'll ever get used to talking to my wrist when answering a call. 

You are correct that the watch is not an approved medical device for any of its functionality, but the stories keep piling up about people who were "saved" by their Apple Watch because it alerted them to heart issues of which they were unaware and caused them to get it checked by a doctor. Better to find out that the alert was incorrect than to not know about a potentially fatal condition. I think the value in background blood pressure monitoring over time could be similar to background heart monitoring, even if the watch can't do on-demand BP tests. As far as the watch "never being able to do this," there is too much happening in the world of AI and electronic miniaturization to assume this will "always" be true. 

cpsro said:

Lack of a blood oxygen sensor will be a killer for many people.

It has been this way since January 2024 with no indication that it's killing Apple Watch sales. The simple fact is that if you want a Watch that will integrate seamlessly with your primary Apple apps--iMessage, email, calendar, Apple Music, etc--it's your one and only choice.

 linkman said:

Is there a way to obtain a reasonably accurate blood pressure measurement without some sort of cuff?

No. In fact, to be honest, even cuff measurements with a high-quality device can be tricky as far as getting consistent, accurate measurements. Position of your arm, placement of the cuff, time of day and current emotional state when tested can all skew your reading from "accurate." I've had back-to-back readings in a hospital vary by 20 points when I asked for a re-test because I knew the initial very high reading had to wrong since I regularly monitor my own BP. 

AS USUAL, we can never expect significant changes, if any, in the next revision after Apple has refreshed a product. The Watch 10 got a refreshed design with a new chip and a new-ish display, so this year's "new" hardware will likely be identical. Any changes will come via the OS. The mystery card is the Ultra, now essentially unchanged for 3 years. Heck, Apple didn't even bother with an Ultra 3 last year, it just repeated the 2 with the added black colorway. From what I've read, even the "new" Apple Watch chips each year haven't really varied a whole lot since the series 6 or 7. Nor do I see a reason for a new, truly faster chip unless there's some new functionality that would require the added processing power. But with current functionality, the Watch is as snappy and fast as it needs to be. 

The superb and consistent video and audio quality from the Apple TV box has always been my primary reason for using it. I can't say that I've tried a lot of other options, but Apple TV was clearly superior to either Amazon's box (and I've tried a few of these) or playing streaming apps directly through my LG OLED's interface. The Apple TV stb also has the best user interface in the business. It's one weakness, at least for me, remains the still-not-completely-intuitive Siri remote control. Granted, the design has progressed from atrocious to merely annoying over the years, but scrolling, FF and REV remain way more hit or miss than they should be. 

Apple's one big and self-inflicted mistake in television was in naming. When you say "Apple TV," you could be talking about the Apple TV set-top box OR the Apple TV app that's part of the interface and serves as a central location for what you're watching across many other (but not all) streaming platforms OR you could mean the Apple TV+ tab that lives within the Apple TV app, which is Apple's original programming streaming service. Ugh. 

Note to AppleInsider: I realize I've only been here for 12 years, but I keep running into screen blocks for articles like this one that request an email address and signup for the AI newsletter in order to continue reading... and that's fine with me! Happy to get your newsletter! But it has now happened about a half dozen times, I keep giving you the same email address (which you've long had!) and I never receive a newsletter! I'd really appreciate it if you could sort this out. Thanks! 

AppleInsider said:

CEO Tim Cook's working relationship with President Donald Trump has once again helped Apple escape issues in the U.S.-China tariff battle. Here's how.

Tim Cook [left], President Donald Trump [right]

On April 11, following after a week of increases to the import tariff for Chinese goods entering the United States, President Trump made an announcement. While many products would be affected by a high import tariff of 145% at the time, Trump decided he was giving a reprieve on a variety of tech products and components.

While the reprieve itself is not permanent, with a semiconductor tariff expected to arrive in the future, the exemptions were immediately helpful to Apple. Indeed, a few days later, Trump confirmed that he was in talks with Tim Cook, and that he "helped" him with the tariff exemption.

In a report from the Washington Post, it appears that Cook did play a part in the tariff changes becoming a reality.

Warnings and silence

Cook talked to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier in April, two people familiar with the phone call told the report. The call was about the potential impact of tariffs on iPhone prices, and also involved other senior White House officials.

There was also a decision by Cook to avoid publicly discussing or criticizing Trump and his policies. This was despite other executives taking to television to denounce the tariffs.

At the end of the week, the Trump Administration decided to implement the exemption on products Apple manufactures in China and ships to the United States. The decision had a byproduct of helping other major U.S. tech firms who made similar products.

There apparently wasn't a complete agreement on the issue within the White House. Aide Peter Navarro allegedly wanted the tariffs to stay as they were without any electronics carveout.

The ol' Cook razzle-dazzle

The chief reason for Trump listening to Cook is because of his established relationship that has continued into the second term. Wilbur Ross, commerce secretary during Trump's first term in office, referred to Cook as "playing a very careful role" while being both very dependent on China and very important to U.S. interests.

Ross continued that Cook got respect from the White House because "he's not a public whiner, he's not a crybaby." As he had a voice of reality, Ross believed that it was unsurprising that Cook would be heard and his comments well received by the administration.

The repeated conversations and meetings with Trump, which have spilled over into the new term, as well as initiatives such as a personal donation to Trump's inaugural fund, have helped Cook stay an important person in Trump's eyes.

The Cook playbook has also been one that executives of other companies have also copied following that first term. This has included attempts by CEOs such as Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Google's Sundar Pichai meeting with Trump over the last few weeks, schmoozing to try and minimize the damage from Trump's policies.

Other major tech names have also attempted to make themselves more well known to Trump, all with the same motive to get into Trump's good books.

Not Apple-specific, but it is

Outside of comments from Trump himself that he was helping Cook and Apple, the White House has still worked to try and make it seem like it wasn't an Apple-specific exemption.

Lori Wallach, executive director of Rethink Trade at the American Economic Liberties Project, highlights how Apple has been the biggest beneficiary of the exemptions. Of seven tariff lines added after the April 2 exception list, Wallach points out that they all consist of products that Apple makes, but few others do.

For its part, the White House is running an investigation into semiconductors, as a means to appear above-board and not playing favorites.

White House spokesman Kush Desai insisted that there were no exemptions granted to benefit Apple or any other company specifically. The Administration is "taking a nuanced, strategic approach" on China, Desai continued.

Despite the pretense that everything is equal to all in the market when it comes to exemptions, the affair does demonstrate that Cook has led the way among other CEOs by cultivating a very beneficial relationship with the country's chief.



Read on AppleInsider

Well, considering that Apple is the 800 pound gorilla in the consumer electronics space, it will obviously benefit most from any tariff relief by virtue of its huge sales. As far as tariff exemption lines added that "consist of products that Apple makes, but few others do" that's not as favorable to Apple as it sounds. Look at smartphones: there's Apple, Samsung, Google and nobody else that matters. Similarly, with computers, you have a small handful of companies that matter and that's it. So I would imagine that Apple's primary competitors in every line are benefitting from the exemptions, too.