zroger73

I used to upgrade phones every two years. My three year-old 6S Plus seems to have saturated my needs and wants. I've passed on the 7 and 8 and have no desire to purchase an X. It's not about affordability - its about sensibility.

I recently realized my iMac and MacBook Pro are over three years old now. I can't even fabricate an excuse to upgrade either one.

None of these devices are likely to fail anytime soon, so I'm not sure what it will take for Apple to entice me to give them some more money at this time.

I did order a HomePod, but mostly out of curiosity since I already have several Echos and a plethora of convenient ways to enjoy high-quality audio.

Scot1 said:

What bothers me is that Apple is using an “A8” chip that’s two generations old. I hate paying premium prices for “old” technologies. 

The TI-84 Plus graphing calculator (which is still sold) uses a Zilog Z80 microprocessor that was introduced in 1976.

Some of today's most expensive automobiles in the six and seven-digit price range use powertrain control modules containing microprocessors that date back almost a decade or more, such as the ARM Cortex M4.

I'm confident that the A8 processor chosen by Apple for this application is more than adequate for a "smart speaker".

Apple's design inspiration for the HomePod...

It appears you can purchase new batteries for as little as $6 online, so they obviously cost less than that to manufacture. I'm sure genuine Apple OE batteries are built using better materials and have higher quality standards, so lets be extremely liberal and assume that Apple pays less than $12 for each battery. How long does it take someone to replace a battery who does this multiples times per day - 30 minutes tops including smoke/bathroom/coffee breaks? How much does this person make - $15 per hour tops? I'd guess the real cost for battery replacement is somewhere around $15-20 dollars.

Now, how many people are going to walk into an Apple store or Office Depot or OfficeMax and buy ONLY a replacement battery? Most, probably, But, there will be a few here and there that are either sold on or impulsively pick up a high-profit accessory or maybe even a new phone or computer or other big-ticket item. Humans tend to wander around the store while dropping off their phones, picking them up, or waiting for their batteries to be replaced. When they wander, they tend to make additional purchases.

AppleInsider said:

Online advertising businesses are reportedly losing out on "hundreds of millions of dollars" because of Apple's Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP), introduced to Safari last year.

"Aw." - Sissy from Sordid Lives