timmillea

Perhaps recognition, at last, that recent Apple product design has been, at best, mediocre? 

"Size is everything". If you have ever visited a Japanese department store you would know this to be true. The smaller, the more expensive. 

I know Americans have a reputation of being fat and wanting absolutely everything to be bigger but Apple is a global enterprise and should be more balanced. The iPhone Mini was already too big and heavy for everyday comfort. To ditch it in favour of even larger models betrays the American culture behind Apple (as does its car aspirations). 

I feel that we have passed 'Peak Apple Design', sadly. The MBA M2 was a serious design downgrade from the MBA M1, the Apple Studio an embarrassing monstrosity and the abandonment of what was called the 'Mini' of the iPhones simply a terrible mistake. Calling it the Mini in the first place was a mistake. 

We had a golden era of Apple design which appears to have now passed. Products from a year or so ago will be the collectables of the future. Buy them while you still can and keep them unopened to maximise future value. 

As to the future, Apple have signalled that design is dead and only specs count. Apple almost died like that before. Now there is no Steve Jobs figure to revive it.

"The European Union is, in theory, a force for good across Europe — just ask anyone in Britain now they've found out how much the EU used to do for that country"

I had to laugh at that! The EU member countries comprise of two distinct types: a) the majority poorer ones that want EU subsidies and investment and b) the minority richer ones that want to control the others. The UK originally joined an "economic community", i.e. free-trade association, but the European project quickly transformed into a central bureaucracy that wanted to control every aspect of daily life of over half a billion citizens. Compulsory USB-C is a drop in the ocean compared to the tens of thousands of rules and regulations. The EU is fundamentally undemocratic. The EU 'parliament' is purely a talking shop. The power rests with national governments and none of those wants the EU to be democratic as a democratic EU would take precedence. Taxation without representation. Power without accountability. The EU needs drastic reform to serve its citizens. These are some of the reasons the UK (narrowly) voted to leave the EU. 

The USB-C debacle is wonderfully illustrative. The principle is noble - that there should be an open, common standard for device chargers in order to promote interoperability and save the annual disposal of millions of chargers. However, it is not for unelected bureaucrats with no technical knowledge, however well-advised, to be favouring one technical standard over another. It is for a global body such as the International Standards Organisation (ISO) to make suggestions in consultation with all the stakeholders. No, unelected EU bureaucrats will decide and for the EU only. It is not their competence, in every possible sense of the word.

Such it is for the size of bananas, which unit of weight they can be sold in, what you can call your pies, your electrical voltage, the height of your seat, the type of light bulb you allowed to buy, how many hours you can work, etc. tens of thousands of times over. That is what the EU did for us! Reform it drastically and the UK may rejoin. For now, the UK is starting to explore its new freedoms and remake old alliances. 

abujazar said:

They're way too big.  Even my 12 mini is way bigger than I need. I don't need a laptop in my pocket. The iPhone 4 size was perfect.

Agreed. I moved from 1st gen SE to the 12 Mini and found the latter shockingly large. It is too large always to take with me so it often gets left on its charging stand. 

Perhaps Apple is trying to drive us to wearable phones? I won't be interested in the Watch until its battery life is measured in years, not hours, ideally entirely solar-powered.

If I wanted a huge phone, I would just buy an iPad and have the benefit of not being interrupted by calls.

The total separation of physical connector from its purpose must have been a fantasy of the various USB committees. 'One connector - a thousand standards'.

This absolute mess needs rationalising into levels where each level guarantees a minimum set of service standards in terms of data rate, charging power, Thunderbolt standard, video capabilities AND these must be indicated on both sides of both connectors of all USB-C cables. It won't stop the fakes but if you buy from a reputable manufacturer from an authorised seller you at least know what your are getting.