macplusplus

cropr said:

frantisek said:

I think App Store is about security. You could have number of stores but iOS security will not allow to install App that was not examined. It is one of core features of platform why people buy iPhones. .

That Apple is approving/checking apps before they are allowed to put on the App Store is a great thing, but it is not necessarily related to the distribution model which is the core question here.   With digital signatures it is technically very easy to set up a system where Apple approves apps before the apps are distributed/hosted via a non Apple app store. 

Digital signatures are compromised already. This is why Apple added "Allow apps downloaded from AppStore" option to macOS. The other macOS option is "AppStore and identified developers" but that "identified developer" you gladly trust may be fake, thus you use this option at your own risk. On a limited OS like iOS that would be catastrophic.

On the other hand, considering that security and commercial distribution are different things, many distribution models might be possible once Apple's authority in security is recognized by developers (developer or app certification by Apple, purchase from developer's site but download from Apple's safe lockers etc.. comes to mind) but unfortunately those who oppose to the current distribution model would oppose to any model Apple is involved with and we would be back at square one... Anarchy always creates its opposite, that's it...

entropys said:

Your kidding right? For the last six or seven years the MBA has been the most common student laptop. I think I’ve seen one kid with an rMB. In our schools it’s all BYOD.  It’s MBA and then daylight to old Dell pavilions, HPG2 (there was a huge discount a year ago), XPS, Spectres, the occasional MBP, and then a bunch of also rans. Heck Heavy gaming laptops in the school bag are more common than an rMB.
But at these prices and restricted choice in ports MBA leadership in schools may not, it won’t, stay that way.

Students will love the new MBA even more, because it is their familiar companion now in a smaller footprint and with a better display. Some of those MBAs you mention were 11” ones and the 12” Macbook now perfectly replaces them. Also MBA was common because it was the only model at that range until the release of 12” Macbook in 2015. Integration is the way Apple goes regarding ports, there is no restriction of port choices. Thunderbolt 3 means PCIe, USB, Ethernet, DisplayPort on a single port. I understand the dongle issue but I believe an integrated port may appeal more to students than a multitude of ports of seldom use. There is nothing in the new MBA that will alienate students, but there are enhancements that will appeal to them. With a PS4 or Xbox at home, with even some desktop PC, an iPhone in their pocket and MBA in their backpack, students are not newcomers to technology.

sirozha said:

StrangeDays said:

entropys said:

It certainly is a dilemma. My daughters’ MBAs are getting on, and maybe new machines would make good Christmas presents. If the MBP had a third gen keyboard (thus theoretically more reliable for life in a school bag) and a current gen processor it would not be a debate. 

They would miss the light up logo regardless.

Heavens.

I am also sorely tempted to make the leap to windows for a spectre. Built like a Mac even though it is win10 and has a crappy trackpad in comparison to a Mac.  But it’s selling points are it isn’t compromised when it comes to price, ports and CPU power.

Yeah instead it just runs a crappy OS and has crappier features. Just as good as a Mac... 

How does using standard, non-proprietary USB-C ports now make the MBP “compromised?” It used to be the case that haters and pundits criticized Macs for using proprietary ports, how times have changed. 

The price isnt compromised, either. As a working professional I pay for premium tools. The TCO is lower as numerous corporate white papers and my own experience has shown. Crappy commodity PCs give what you pay for...

Except for the MacBook Ait is not a professional laptop, and students are not working professionals. MacBook Air needs to start at $999 and the hugest-end model with a 512 GB drive and 16 GB SSD should be $1399. That would make it appealing to non-professionals. Otherwise, it’s an overpriced low-end laptop. 

It is not for students, it is for corporations, to be sold by lots of ten thousands. What low-end is that with a custom CPU for security and Thunderbolt 3 ???!!

There is 12” Macbook for students. They can do well with USB-C and can store whatever they like on its 256 Gb SSD, with a USB-C drive in their back pocket.

What about disk speed? Since the SSD controller is the T2 chip in MBA, I want to know if that makes a difference in non-encrypted regular use. May you run please a Blackmagic test ?

Also a 4K export test is needed. The T2 chip in the Mac Mini includes the 30x faster HEVC encoder but it is not clear from Apple's press releases whether it is included in the T2 of MBA or not.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/10/all-new-macbook-air-takes-flight/
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/10/new-mac-mini-packs-huge-punch/

elijahg said:

macplusplus said:

sebastian37 said:

radarthekat said:

avon b7 said:

macplusplus said:

avon b7 said:

macplusplus said:

avon b7 said:

I can only speak about pricing from my own perspective and state that I backed off from a new XR purely on that point.

If it had topped out at 749€ I would have got one. The problem is that tha final retail price is touching 900€ after sales tax here.

It wouldn't surprise me if Europeans have reacted in the same way as me.

In terms of value I feel the XR is lacking but 749€ would have got the sale nevertheless for other reasons. At current end-pricing it is a no go.

€859 incl. €151 tax. 859 - 151 = €708. 708 EUR in USD = 807.67. The difference from the US store is only $50. Now take this $50 and please shut up.

We are speculating on the possible reasons for a possible slackening of XR sales. I gave one. Now, please tell me - and everyone in Europe - how to avoid that tax because if you you can do that it might be a solution to that possible issue. 

People in Europe look at pricing based on product price plus sales tax. Regular consumers never ever, let me bold that, never ever view pricing without including the sales tax. 

There is no point claiming that the base price is less (after currency considerations) if the final retail price for the consumer is still high enough to dissuade a purchase, which is exactly my case and which I made very clear.

Is there any life without tax? Tax is everywhere, only the modality to display it differs. In Europe the VAT is included in the price, which is what I experience in my every shopping, but I don't complain because it is not Apple's duty to pay my tax. If the customer is dissuaded because of the tax included in the price then let him go, what can Apple or any other company do about that? Yet Apple displays the tax separately, if the customer is still dissuaded then there is nothing to do.

If the point is to speculate on the possible reasons for a possible slackening of XR sales in Europe, that may be just because of longer refresh cycles and the aged population of Europe. Yet the XR is just released and we are not at the peak of the shopping season, it is too early to come to such conclusions or to jump on rumors as if it is the end of the world.

Let me point out two things from my first post:

1. I can only speak about pricing from my own perspective.

2. It wouldn't surprise me if Europeans have reacted in the same way as me.

No one is asking Apple to pay the tax.

Incredible.  Your point #1 argues you’re speaking only from your own perspective, yet you than say “No one is asking Apple to pay the tax.”   That sounds like you’re speaking for everyone.  

Way to make fun of someone for whom English clearly is a second language. He meant “I did not ask for Apple to pay the tax” and with a little bit of good faith you could have accepted that instead of going for the cheap shot here. 

And what he means is that higher sales tax will amplify differences in pricing. A 50$ difference becomes a 60$ difference to the consumer when the tax is added. Some other products of Apple have even bigger differences in price. Now Apple can price their products however the company likes, but it should not expect sales to be unaffected. Samsung and other smartphone sellers manage to offer prices in Europe that equal US prices including VAT. Apple is not even close to that. 

Submit links, please...

£479 or $613 USD in the UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy-Sim-Free-Smartphone-Unlocked/dp/B07BBSGP1D/ref=sr_1_5?s=telephone&ie=UTF8&qid=1542938867&sr=1-5&keywords=samsung+s9 ;

$619 USD or £483 for the same phone in the US
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SM-G9600-Unlocked-Smartphone-International/dp/B079X7DQ4Q/ref=sr_1_5?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1542938856&sr=1-5&keywords=samsung+s9

Now with Apple: 
iPhone Xs - £999 or $1280 USD
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-xs

iPhone Xs - $999 USD or £779
https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-xs

The iPhone is £220 or $280 more expensive in the UK. What's your excuse for that when Samesung can sell the same phone for the same price in each country? Silence, no doubt as usual for you when someone gives you facts that're not pro-Apple, and you can't come up with another implausable excuse.

So you compare Apple to individual / 3d party Amazon sellers who can go into every kind of bargain in order to collect feedback? Submit a Samsung link if you submit Apple's. Never mind, here they are:

https://www.samsung.com/uk/smartphones/galaxy-s9/shop/

https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-s9/buy/s/Device/

£739 vs $519.99 (US).
With Black Friday discount £599 vs. 519.99 (US).