CarmB

As the regular iPhone gets upgraded annually, at some point it achieves a level of performance that makes opting for one of the pro variants hard for many to justify. As to the impact on sales, Apple always plays a long game. The rollout of AI-like features is going to happen over several months and isn't going to start for more than a month. Expecting a frenzy right now to acquire a model able to do AI is not logical. Once the new features are up and running, then it would be reasonable to see a boost in iPhone sales but that boost is not certain to impact the pro models. The regular iPhone can also handle AI and they're decent enough products able to meet the needs of many. 

Besides, regardless if AI capability will boost sales, there are so many older iPhones in use that consumers are sure to be looking to replace them at some point soon, I would guess. For instance, there are millions of iPhone 11s in use and in the next year or two their owners are likely to explore getting a new phone. That they have enjoyed five-plus years of use out of their iPhones makes it probable that those customers will buy another one. The notion of iPhones as a product you replace annually may well be a thing of the past but Apple still has a robust business model. Even if there is a shift towards plain old iPhones, they are not cheap products and Apple still enjoys a healthy profit margin selling them in the millions. Combine that with expanding revenue from services and rumours of Apple losing ground are greatly exaggerated. Having a pleased massive installed base is never a bad thing. 

In today's environment, if you can get years of service out of an expensive device, of course you would. I'm still using  an iPhone 11 Pro Max that I bought new in October of 2019. The original battery still has more than 80 per cent of its original capacity. It's quite capable. It still qualifies for the latest software. Great investment, really, which is not such a bad thing for Apple because I'm thrilled with my purchase. I'll gladly buy another iPhone probably next year. If I had instead spent more than $1,000 on the iPhone 11 and needed to replace sooner, I would have thought twice about sticking with Apple. Apparently there are many iPhone 11 owners out there and I'm betting many of them, like me, are going to be eying a new phone in the next year or two. A good thing for Apple and a good thing for Apple customers all around, from my perspective. 

apple4thewin said:

8k can wait unless they make an Apple tv 8k

Unless you have an 8K TV to attach the Apple TV to, what difference does it make?

nubus said:

CODA did 1/1000 of the film that was best performing at the box office - Spider-Man, No way home. CODA is the Mac Pro of movies and audiences don't care about either.

Why is Apple trying to be a media company?

Apple is trying to branch out in the long run in order to not be so tied to iPhone sales. The idea of trading in a very expensive smart phone annually is one that no longer makes sense for the majority of smart phone purchasers. Improvements are basically incremental year to year and Apple's products tend to last a long time. I'm currently using an iPhone 11 Pro and it's still got more than 80 per cent of its battery functionality. iPhone sales might get a bump from the AI rollout but after that, there isn't likely to be anything so dramatic in the pipeline. So if Apple can't generate revenue in other ways, that's going to be a long-term issue. Let's not forget that potentially Apple TV+ offering an ad-supported tier has the potential to generate a significant amount of revenue. Apple has millions of consumers using their products and if they can offer Apple-exclusive content it's a massive revenue source.  Look at it this way, had Apple not tried to be a media company, the outlook for Apple as an investment would be quite bleak. Its foray into media production has allowed the overall numbers to be much better and that means Apple stock remains in demand. 

nmemac said:

I realise I am probably an outlier on this, but I stopped watching much broadcast TV over a decade ago because I got tired of series being cancelled with no conclusion to a story at the end of a season, often ending with a cliffhanger for the next series that never came. I often waited for the end of a series to buy dvd complete series boxsets if they reached a satisfying conclusion.

Streaming has possibly made this even worse, with many shows cancelled across different platforms before they reached a natural ending in the storytelling. Streaming services are under pressure to see a return, but I think some patience is required and viewing figures cannot be judged on a single season - the advantage of streaming that should not be thrown away is that people can come to watch a series in its entirety years after it first started, with many people binge-watching an entire series from start to finish in one go. Evan now I rarely watch an Apple show unless it gets go ahead for at least a second series, or more... i'm not going to waste hours of my life each year on shows that get cancelled with no conclusion. Whilst growing rapidly, Apple's offering is still too thin to be judged properly, and with uncertainty still surrounding shows like Foundation.

Maybe try to address why they're not successfully reaching a wider audience before cutting their legs off below the knee...

At the least, if you end a season with a cliffhanger, put out one or two more episode to allow for the story to be completed properly. By not completing the story arc, it's as if Apple is comfortable with releasing an incomplete product. Very amateurish and lacking regard for the consumers. Even if the numbers are not what is desired, there are still thousands of consumers who choose to check out a show. Others might check in long after a show was first presented. They deserve better. It would be another matter if shows were more episodic along the lines of how shows were structured decades ago but if you have an ongoing story and you tease something more to come, it's unprofessional to simply not follow through.