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It's because Apple does sell so many phones and has such an overwhelming number of consumers requiring service, whether under warranty or not, that they should be more cooperative in supporting third-party repair services with parts and repair guides. Ideally, Apple would certify third party repair shops for which they can charge a fee for the training and work involved. IMO, they should get rid of the Support Forums because they're about 90% useless - lots of redundant posts and frequently incorrect information and IMO, they hurt more than they help. Or, they should evaluate those who answer questions and certify them if they know what they're doing and not let anyone else respond. In the same thread, you can usually find completely contradictory responses. Apple could also be clearer and more helpful in their responses, with something like: "Apple cannot recover data from a phone that has been severely damaged whether in- or out-of warranty due to the low change of actually recovering such data and the high cost involved. Apple strongly recommends that data be regularly backed up to a computer and/or to iCloud. There are some third party organizations who claim that they can sometimes recover some data in a damaged phone for a fee. Consumers can use these services at their own risk and cost. These organizations are completely independent of Apple and Apple cannot in any way recommend or certify their services." As for the upset consumers, that's like complaining that the car dealer won't repair your engine after you ran it for 1000 miles with no oil in it and they've told you that while they can't fix it, you'd be welcome to take it to a third party repair shop. When are people going to take some personal responsibility for their own stupid actions? The photos I take on my phone are rarely important, but if they were, I'd probably use one of those backup devices they sell now that plug into the port.

wood1208 said:

jbdragon said:

I have to say, this is just more of Apple looking greedy. Apple is making a ton of money and doing that at the expense of everyone else. If Apple wanted to rent or build someplace, I'd do a 50% markup Apple Tax to Apple.

Not sure why people blame Apple. It is a simple business decision. If Mall owner wants to be greedy,unfriendly, non cooperative than Apple has no choice. Apple has withdrawn opening site in places where locals are non-cooperative,hostile.

Who is being greedy here?   I remember when Steve Jobs was meeting with the powers in Cupertino about the new building and he was asked if he'd give free WiFi or other benefits to the local community, he said something to the effect of, "I'm a pretty simple guy.   We pay taxes to the community."   The same should be true for renting space.  You lease commercial space at a price that makes sense for your business.  No landlord gives you back marketing money or funds for inventory.    Maybe they give you a month or three of free rent before the store opens.    Why should a landlord pay for Apple's marketing or inventory?   If any landlord in the U.S. is doing that, they're out of their minds.  

Cesar Battistini Maziero said:

When the service becomes huge, as it will, I would keep them out until they are desperate. 

They got the opportunity of s life time, and turned it down.

No, it's not the opportunity of a lifetime to share royalties with hundreds of other publications (even aside from the issue of Apple supposedly taking 50% off the top) when you already have a very healthy subscription model, which both the Times and the Post do.   It could have worked if Apple wasn't insisting on needing every article.   The problem with Apple is that they "negotiate" with incredible arrogance.  

Let's say that there's just 60 publications and everyone gets an equal share and Apple is going to charge $10 a month.   That's $120 a year.  Apple takes $60.   The other $60 gets split among the 60 publications.  So the Times and the Post would each get $1 per year per subscriber.   They currently get a few hundred $ per year.   Even if it were $20 a month, that would be only $2 per year per subscriber.   Why would they do the deal?  It would make absolutely no sense.   

anome said:

One thing I haven't been able to determine, and this probably reflects my poor understanding of how credit cards work in the US, but when does interest kick in on the card?

Most cards here have an interest free period, which is just the time between the start of the billing month and the due date for the payment, so that if you pay your balance before the due date, you never pay interest. This is usually advertised as "55 days interest free", for example where the due date is 25 days after the statement date.

So with the Apple Card, where the due date is the last day of the month, is that also the statement date? Do charges only accrue interest if you carry a balance forward past the end of the month? Do they accrue interest from the date of the charge? These are things that would normally be spelled out in the Terms and Conditions for a credit card, but I haven't seen for Apple Card yet.

We don't know the specifics for the Apple Card, but with other U.S. credit cards, if you pay the charges in full by the due date, there is no interest.   However, many U.S. credit cards send you the statement fairly late, so you might have as little as two weeks from the time it's received to the due date.   As I mentioned in another post, I haven't paid any interest in years.   But let's say you didn't pay last month's bill in full.   You're paying interest on that, but you'll also be paying interest on the current charges even if you paid the equivalent of those in full by the end of the month.   So anytime you don't have a zero balance, you're paying interest on the entire month, even on new charges. 

The way the interest is calculated is by taking the annual interest rate, say 18% and dividing it by 365 days and then applying that rate (.04935%) to the balance you have each day.  So if the billing period is March 1 to March 31 and you have a balance of $1000 from March 1-9 and $1200 from March 10-15 and $1800 from March 16-31, you'd owe $22.19 in interest at the end of the month.

Edit: I got that wrong.  I forgot that the daily interest gets added to each day.  So it would be $22.23 in interest.  At 24% it would be $29.84 in interest. 

davgreg said:

Apple Card has a range of 13.24 percent to 24.24 percent

should read:

Apple Card has a rate range of usury to loan sharking.

Not if you pay your bill in full at the end of every month.  I haven't paid a penny in interest in many years.   And Apple's rates are no higher than any other card that I'm aware of.   I do agree that one is nuts to pay that interest.