robbyx

sflocal said:

I'd rather have 50% of something than 100% of nothing.

Except that’s not what they’re getting. Stop spreading FUD. The revenue is split between all publications. So each publication gets a fraction of that 50%. For every subscriber the NYT lost to Apple News+, Apple would literally have to sign up a hundred or more new users to make up the lost revenue for each direct subscription. And the newspaper loses its relationship with the subscriber. Only desperate publications are going to sign up for News+. The NYT and Washington Post are both profitable, highly respected, and frankly don’t need Apple’s buffet line approach to news to be successful. 

slurpy said:

AutigerMark said:

It is still a stupid credit card, with 15%+ interest rates!  For god’s sake don’t carry a balance.

I love Apple products, but this is just another way to make it even easier to give them your money ߘ顠 Don’t get let them reel you in.

https://youtu.be/e874AUNCJo0

Oh, and will patiently wait for your elaboration on how Apple makes money with this credit card. 

Does that mean you think Apple is getting into the credit card business to NOT make money?  I mean, come on, of course they’re making money on this card.  None of us knows how. They make money on every Apple Pay transaction, so it stands to reason they’re getting a chunk of each card transaction’s swipe fee, or something like that.

Between getting into the credit card business, that awful “if you subscribed to each of these separately, you’d pay over $8000, but with Apple News+, you get it all for $9.99” infomercial sales pitch, and a confusing product line, things are starting to look more and more like 1995 again. 

GeorgeBMac said:

macgui said:

You'll need a 780 FICO score to get the Apple Card. There is a $200 cap regarding Daily Cash Back. I don't know if that applies to the size of the purchase or the amount of cash returned daily. No late fees, no more missed payment penalty fees, but if either occurs your interest rate is increased. Maybe it drops if you behave long enough. Don't know.

There are no doubt other revelations in the fine print, so scrutinizing the TOS is as always the smart thing to do.

Obviously, the Apple Card is not the one card to rule them all; are any? You can have 10 cards to play as circumstances dictate, to maximize your points, miles, cash back, or however you choose to manage your finances.

Something that strikes me as odd is the number of posters who claim higher benefits for their card, and don't, as some posters do, name that card and/or bank. It leaves their claims unverifiable. Why would they do that.

I only have one credit card, USAA, that seldom gets used and it's app is tedious. I'll get the Apple card just to play with the app. That card may get more use, or I'll just go back to my debit card as my daily driver, which is afforded the same fraud protection as a credit card.

It's generally best to avoid using debit cards as, if they get hacked and false charges racked up, your money is locked up until they determine that it was fraud and refund it.  

At one point I thought one credit card was sufficient.  That changed when Target got hacked and my credit company locked my card and then took their sweet time sending a new one.   After that I have always had at least 2 cards -- one I save for repetitive charges (like my phone bill) and the other for shopping.

This is good advice.  I never use a debit card for the reason you noted.  My primary credit card gets compromised at least once a year.  I only carry this one card with me (along with my debit, in case of emergency).  My other cards never leave the house and are strictly used for autopay to keep the accounts active and in good standing.  The biggest PITA about having a credit card number compromised is having to change autopay settings.

canukstorm said:

@robbyx ;

"They're not worried."

And you know this because they told you this directly over coffee?

Maybe they did?  It's not like any of us have any idea who's on the other side of the screen here.

But seriously, that Apple TV+ presentation was just downright awful.  So egotistical.  So narcissistic.  So awkward.  I've been an Apple customer for over 35 years and I've never been more turned off by an Apple presentation than by that one.  The endless prattling on about creativity and storytelling was just gross.  It's so nice that after 100 years, Hollywood finally has Apple to show them how to tell good stories and create a positive environment for creatives.  How narcissistic.  It was just gross.

And then the actors didn't seem remotely happy to be there.  There was no genuine enthusiasm during their awkward pitches.  The only halfway decent presentation was the Sesame Street characters.  They at least didn't flub their lines and pause at all the wrong times.  Actors pitching their upcoming shows just felt weird.  It didn't land well.  And the over the top Oprah reveal was just too much.

Nothing about that presentation felt exciting or compelling.  It felt old and dated, safe, middle of the road, dull.  So yeah, I don't think the execs at Netflix, or HBO or Amazon, are particularly worried.  But, like I said, we still don't know what the Apple TV+ service includes.  We just got a tease of the original content offerings.  Maybe that's the extent of it.  I suspect there's more to it and that the original content component is one part of a much bigger vision.

Metriacanthosaurus said:

robbyx said:

Of all the announcements today, this is perhaps the most interesting.  At first I rolled my eyes but, as the presentation continued, it became clear that Apple has genuinely added value to the credit card experience.  That said, I get 3.6% back on every purchase with no limits or category restrictions, so Apple's rewards aren't as good as what I already have.  I love the simplified statement and clear merchant identification, though.  I wonder how long it will be until we see a full-blown financial management app baked into iOS and macOS.

I highly doubt your rewards are as good as you claim they are.

You're right.  I stand corrected.  3.4%.

All of my accounts are with Bank of America.  I have my investment accounts with Merrill Lynch, so my combined relationship value puts me into their highest rewards tier.  I have unlimited ATM fee reimbursements.  I never pay an ATM fee.  I have no account fees.  And they boost my credit card rewards by 70%.  My card earns 2% back on everything, no categories, no reward limits.  That works out to 3.4%, so yeah, sorry, I guess I was off by .2%.