I agree with Mystigo.  Indeed, I would label this article as being "problematic" for having used "notoriously problematic" without any explanation whatsoever, merely assuming that we all know as much about the matter than AppleInsider, which is not the case.  Yes, AppleInsider writers, we readers do indeed live under a rock, and that is precisely why we come here, for articles to educate us on matters we don't already know.

Saudi Arabia passes law requiring USB-C charges for smartphones

William G., I don't see anything in your article that suggests Saudi Arabia is passing a law that requires special charges (i.e. taxes, fees, etc.) related to USB-C use on smartphones, as your very confusing headline implies!

Even if you misspelled that word and meant "changes", that would imply USB-C was used before but now there need to be USB-C changes!  What?!

Just delete that silly word outright and your headline will make sense!

My services as acting Editor for AppleInsider are free.  Enjoy! :-)

mayfly said:

jdw said:

carnegie said:

Apple's market cap has already, based on yesterday's closing price of $191.17, fallen below $3 trillion because of the updated outstanding share count that we got. That updated count took about $18 billion off of Apple's market cap.

The fall continues, with it now trading at $181.99 only two days after your post. 

I wanted to see how does that measure up against the stock performance on the 5-7 year timeline financial planners recommend for retail clients when purchasing equities. Quite well, actually. July 29, 2016 Price (split adjusted): $21.60. Friday close: $181.99. That is an 840% increase in seven years (That's 120%/year!) If you followed the advice of a typical financial adviser, you'd have prospered. Selling at this point would be a inadvisable for a long-term investor. The current dividend is 96¢/year. That makes your yield on that $21.60 you paid for it 4.6%.That's on top of the stock's gain. If you had reinvested those dividends in more shares, well do your own math, that's too hard for me, since the dividend changes almost every quarter. You wouldnt have student debt if you bought 100! If you still believe in a stock, why sell it. If you don't, why keep it? I'm a believer.

BTW: Apple's largest shareholder is right now? Hint: Warren Buffett. He knows a thing or two about long term investing.

All excellent points.  But there's no need to convince me.  My first purchase of AAPL was in 1999, and I've purchased more since then, never having sold a since share to date.

Furthermore, I invested a small amount in BRKB almost exactly 1 year ago today.  Despite the current drop in the stock market, my total gain for BRKB stands at 15.12%.  No dividend, but the gain is nothing to sneeze at.  Made no sense I was going around talking positively about what Warren Buffet was saying and doing, and there I was without any of his Berkshire Hathaway stock. My purchase of the stock changed that.  It was a good buy.

With that said, don't overlook the obvious.  I first purchased a small amount of McDonald's stock in 2011.  As of today, it stands at a 232% gain.  The same amount invested in BRKB in 2011 would have yielded a 191% gain.  Both are great gains, but MCD comes out ahead. (Even further when you consider MCD pays a dividend.)  But no wonder...  McDonald's has the Big "Mac"!  

carnegie said:

Apple's market cap has already, based on yesterday's closing price of $191.17, fallen below $3 trillion because of the updated outstanding share count that we got. That updated count took about $18 billion off of Apple's market cap.

The fall continues, with it now trading at $181.99 only two days after your post. 

I disagree with Ming-Chi Kuo and Retrogusto for the specific reason of knowing there are a lot of people out there like myself.

I still use an iPhone 7.  That's why the iPhone 15 is extremely appealing to me, regardless of the price increase.  Price increases hurt, but I am frugal and offset that by NOT upgrading every year, or even every 3 years.  I got my iPhone 7 in 2017, for example.  That was 6 years ago.  

USB-C marks a huge change for the iPhone and will therefore become the new standard for connectivity (despite the ability to charge wirelessly), which is why I never considered the 14, and is why I didn't purchase thermal cameras or other Lightening peripherals because I knew that port change was coming.  

The periscope lens on the top end models appeals to me, because I want the best camera tech Apple has to offer.  And being able to shoot amazing photos in low light is also something I'm looking forward too, as my iPhone 7 is lacking in that area.  Close up photography as well!

Thinner bezels are not a huge reason I am liking the 15, but such improvements are always welcome.  I will miss the home button because I absolutely HATE gestures (I can't remember them), but the other feature improvements over my existing iPhone 7 should make that loss a bit less painful.  I hate notches and dynamic islands, but again, the other feature benefits, like MORE RAM (my God, how important that is!) will be a rich blessing.  I HATE going to Flipboard and opening an article, reading it half through, and then I need to focus on something else for an hour, come back, and stupid Flipboard has reloaded and no longer retains the place where I was reading in the article!!!!  More RAM can solve those horrible app reloads!

Longer battery life, not to mention having a brand new battery, will be great. (I paid Apple to change the battery in my iPhone 7 once.)  And even though I use cases and protective glass, knowing that modern iPhones are built to be even more robust than my iPhone 7 is very reassuring.

Then of course, being able to run the latest iOS (which my iPhone 7 cannot do, due to age), will be nice because it will be more secure (in theory).

I don't really like to be forced to use an eSIM.  I would prefer the option to also use a physical SIM, but the other improvements in the phone take the pain out of that.

So what I think will drive iPhone 15 sales are people like me who don't deliberately drill holes in their wallets by upgrade every year or every other year.  Not having upgraded in 6 years, the changes between iPhones are huge and make the upgrade very much worthwhile.  But of course, that also means people like us will not be upgrading again for at least 5-6 years after the iPhone 15 purchase, and perhaps longer if the price is really high and if the faster processor, great camera and more RAM and still adequate for us in in 2029.