Metriacanthosaurus

Apple is looking at actual sales data and making decisions.
Signs point to the 7 Plus as having been the most popular 5.5" iPhone yet...far more than 6 Plus and 6s Plus. This tells Apple that its possible to sell an iPhone with premium features at a premium price...not just as an option, but as the flagship.

Next year we could very well see the lineup look like:

iPhone 7 (reduced)
iPhone 7 Plus (reduced)
---
iPhone 7s
iPhone 8

The iPhone 7s may be a typical "s" improvement over the iPhone 7, remaining with current body style and 4.7" screen.
The iPhone 8 would a new unique model...large screen in 5-6" screen, with all of the other major design changes and hardware features that have been suggested.

cali said:

Kinda want Apple to buy this company.

Apple could pump money into original content and integrate the service into the OS.

Yes I know it's expensive. I feel like it'll pay off dearly in the long run. 

No. Apple is already doing it right. Have you seen the TV App? This is the right direction. It's still in the infant stage, but the TV is App is going to mature into the central content discovery and playback location. Users can add and subtract whatever services they want, and it all comes together in one central Apple-controlled UI under the TV App. 

The solution isn't to just buy up everything thats halfway decent. The solution is to be the best platform and portal to the things out there...and stir up the innovation all over the wide developer world.

Why is this news? Isn't this how all products are manufactured? More during launch, less after launch?

"News" has become the new way to shape narratives. Traditionally news is what people need or want to know. But modern news has taken on a new form. Articles/headlines are published stating a talking point, and then repeated and repeated and repeated, in an effort to create a certain collective perspective amongst its readership. And it works quite well, on massive scales. Not against all people though. I like to believe that the guys at AI don't do maliciously, they've just learned to do it from the larger pubs.

mj web said:

LOL! Month's overdue and 3x more expensive than BT earbuds that blow them away.

Sound quality amongst earbuds does not vary dramatically.

LOL@anyone who buys BT earbuds that don't have the W1 chip in them, as that alone renders any other BT earbuds as inferior.

Article doesn't mention BeatsX which will also use the W1 chip and which are probably as hotly anticipated right now as AirPods themselves. I know I'm going for the BeatsX.