urashid

ITGUYINSD said:

genovelle said:

So, if Samsung distributes it and Samsung sell more phones than Apple, how can Apple have a monopoly?  Having the more profitable products does not equal a monopoly. The question then are we redefining what a monopoly is because one company goes against the grain in almost everything they do and makes more money because of it. 

It's not a monopoly in that there is only one source for the product.  Read the case.  It's about the fact that Apple only allows one method of payment for in-app purchases, and that is through Apple's own systems and at Apple's own rate (30%).  CC transactions typically cost businesses 2-3%.

NiekSanderman said:

The company name sounded familiar... but so does AliExpress, does it not? Let me explain. 

I once saw this company mentioned on the Macrumors forums, and so I did a little digging. Even though I like the fact you took the time for this review, you reviewed what is most likely cheap garbage in an expensive box. The Milanese, sport and link bands are cheap Chinese knockoffs for European prices (believe me, i spent weeks searching for different link bands that compare to Apple’s band, and came across different iterations. And TheWatchStrap Company sells the not-so-good-edition. 

For further clarification, here I copied my post from the forums over at MacRumors, to shed some more light on what looks like a legit company (due to some positive reviews, not unlike the one here on Ai), but may very well not be! 

———————————
It looks like cheapass watchbands, paired with a good looking website, to give you the idea that you are actually buying quality. I bought all my bands at Aliexpress, and they look better than the ones from WsC. I would NEVER pay 30 pounds (that's 38 dollar people!) for a fake band. The original is only 10 bucks more. I very much doubt if these are even actual Fluorelastomer.

The Milanese Loop:
"This ultra-sleek, intricately woven stainless-steel strap is designed to fit your wrist perfectly". 75 pounds. Damn girl. That's 95 dollars. But of course, it's on sale. For "only" 55 pounds.

The Link bands: was 129, now on sale for 79 pounds. That's over a 100 dollars. Just, nah, don't do it. It hasn't even got the link buttons on the inside.

I would kindly advise: don't buy.

Ps: i visited the site for the second time, and the chatbot said: "welcome back, just to let you know, we've extended our sale".
Note: there is no sale. It's all about convincing you to pay a load of money for very cheap bands.

I have posted (IN THIS THREAD!) the very best ripoffs in all sorts, in my honest opinion. Look them up a few pages back.

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Edit: So i thought, let me look up the company on google maps. The adress stated on their website should do it, right? "17 Ensign House, Admirals Way, Canary Wharf, London E14 9XQ". Apparently on this adress, the following companies are located:
- Flex Office (telephone answering )
- Investor in customers (business development service )
- The Website Group (guess who made the website for the wonderful watch band company  )
- some other small companies.

As we would say in the Netherlands: dat is geen zuivere koffie. (which translates to: that's no clean coffee, which means: there's something fishy about it ).

Ps2: the band you bought is probably just fine, you won't notice anything about it, it's just that the band is worth 2 dollars. That's it. And you paid 70 for two bands....

just a little lesson for you readers at home: always know where you're buying, what you're buying. before you're buying”

(edited for readability purposes) 

ednl said:

You said you tested both the seven- and eight-core gpu models, but there is just one M1 score here and it is unclear to me to which model it refers:

"Looking at graphics, using the Compute benchmark running Metal, the M1 scored a 20284, which is about 350 percent improved over the 2019 model's 5853 score. That 2019 model relied on Intel Iris Plus graphics versus the eight-core M1 GPU. The eight-core GPU on the next-up model is even more capable than the entry seven-core GPU, but both still blow away the old scores."