retrogusto

In the conference call, Maestri did say, “It is important to remember, that we achieved double-digit constant currency growth in Services on top of growing 26% during the September quarter a year ago.”

In other words, if you average out the growth percentage in each region, it’s still in the double digits, it just looks worse when you convert the non-dollar amounts to USD. It still impacts the dollar-denominated bottom line, of course, but if you’re gauging customer interest, these numbers understate a pretty impressive result.

The point for those who object to this decision is that Apple is intentionally removing a feature that is meaningful for a minority of users, presumably to force them to do things in a way that is beneficial to Apple, but it only really benefits Apple if it succeeds in inconveniencing some customers. The removal of the jack may save a few pennies on each $449+ device, but we all know that’s not why Apple is doing this. Courage? Haha. It’s to encourage the purchase of AirPods, which probably have excellent margins and have to be replaced every few years because they contain batteries that don’t last forever. Some of us would rather spend the money on something that probably sounds better and will be enjoyable for many years to come. Even wired earbuds that cost more than AirPods probably end up being less expensive over the life of the product.

Of course, there will always be some people who won’t understand why other people like to do things their own way. Apple used to even market itself as the brand for people who like to do things their own way.

The only differences I see as meaningful for a “non-pro” user are the landscape speaker and camera orientation, which are a big plus in my book, and the flat sides, which to me would be a minor drawback. Funny that they didn’t move the Pro front camera to the landscape orientation too, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the Face ID in the Pro models. I hope they will sort that out in the next iteration, and maybe go back to rounded or tapered edges on the Pro models now that flat has been around (no pun intended) for a while. 

mike1 said:

CheeseFreeze said:

With games not being popular on AppleTV, the Apple TV app and sharing of your device being available on many Smart TV’s, what is the appeal of this product today? 

Is it for people with old televisions?

Easy-to-use interface that is consistent throughout multiple TVs in the house.

Best-in-class picture quality - Noticeably better 4K performance and scale-up from HD than any built-in apps and cheap streaming devices.

Hub capability for a HomeKit - focused smart home. Cameras on the TV, control etc.

Also, most other streaming devices and smart TVs track your watching activity and sell the data, which some people don’t like. And it can be a pretty good lossless music streaming device that can be easily turned on and controlled from your iPhone, as long as you have an acceptable way to extract the audio from the HDMI output. But I do wish they’d incorporated a toslink output in the new models, as they did in some previous models. 

hmlongco said:

So I've always wondered... if you buy such a thing.... how do you know that you've bought such a thing?

I mean, the second you unwrap it to make sure there's actually a phone in there you've killed off half the value.

Maybe take it to an office building with x-ray machines at the entrance and ask security to confirm it for you?