Tim Cook suggests users should get yearly iPhone upgrades

[pastrychef]

Have to agree with a lot of the comments - some very good points made, especially @trs96's about Apple Visions replacing iPhones in the near future! I know we're not quite there yet with Visions replacing the iPHone, but when we do you will know - because when we walk down the street, the Vision Avatar is all you'll see when we meet face to face.

TBH I think the iPhone 15 launch has been a total disaster for Apple. Aside from the problems of fit & finish on the new 'green-friendly' woven cases they've also had issues with the CPU heating-up. And new problems have just surfaced recently with the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max, in that users are now experiencing screen burn-in on their phones. To pay nearly $1,200 for a device whose quality has gotten worse than the last generation, that is disappointing to say the least regardless of whether you are an iPhone user or not. You would have expected Apple to do better than that. Who knows, maybe product quality criterias have dropped at Apple? Maybe they're more interested in the volume of product they are shipping out than the product end quality?

Yes I heard about the story of the iPhone being banned in China. The issue with Apple moving production away from China is that it isn't that simple to do so. Phone manufacture demands a broad range of skills, not just assembly and production but also design, logistics, electrical/materials and technical engineering skills. Apple (via Foxconn) may have opened a factory in India, but the majority of their components are still made either in China or Taiwan. Added to the fact that such components are miniscule and have to be highly reliable (in large quantities), it represents a huge challenge to Apple's plans to manufacture in India. That probably explains why TC is back in China for more talks.

But the recent updates to the US chip sanctions doesn't look good for China nor for the likes of Nvidia, AMD or Intel (who still gets a chunk of their business from China). I would think PC makers like Minisforum (which makes the AMD mini PCs) would likely be affected by this move, as would MSI and Razer.

I upgraded from iPhone 12 Pro to 15 Pro. It has been the best iPhone I've ever had. Never came close to overheating (disclosure: I have not played any games on it yet), nor do I have any screen burn in (disclosure: I disabled "Always On Display" and "Standby"). None of my friends who have upgraded have had anything but praise for the 15 Pro.

Every year, some tabloid or news outlet will look for some kind of new "-gate" issue regarding new iPhones. The biggest iPhone "-gate" was the iPhone 4 Antennagate. I had one of those too and not once did I experience reception issues because I held the phone wrong. I have not read another article on Consumer Reports since that clickbait article.

Nowadays, I read all "news" articles with a bit of skepticism. There's sensationalism, exaggeration, and flat out lies all over the place to get clicks.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

I upgraded from iPhone 12 Pro to 15 Pro. It has been the best iPhone I've ever had. Never came close to overheating (disclosure: I have not played any games on it yet), nor do I have any screen burn in (disclosure: I disabled "Always On Display" and "Standby"). None of my friends who have upgraded have had anything but praise for the 15 Pro.

Every year, some tabloid or news outlet will look for some kind of new "-gate" issue regarding new iPhones. The biggest iPhone "-gate" was the iPhone 4 Antennagate. I had one of those too and not once did I experience reception issues because I held the phone wrong. I have not read another article on Consumer Reports since that clickbait article.

Nowadays, I read all "news" articles with a bit of skepticism. There's sensationalism, exaggeration, and flat out lies all over the place to get clicks.

I agree, there is now an undercurrent of click-bait about every Internet article. It has genuinely ruined so much trust in the whole platform (years ago here I shared an AOL screengrab I made in 1997 and there was not an advert in sight - despite my ISP).

As for your iPhone 15 Pro, I say "Yay!!" Excellent choice. Maybe I would only need the "Plus" model. Like the new softer edges and overall subtlety of the new style.

Agreed too about the "-gate" syndrome. My iPhones have never had any issues, even official refurbs. As for "Bendygate" I never thought sitting on my devices a good idea at any time, no matter how loose my trousers!

 

[c-o-pr]

The point about sensationalism is most telling to me: I see the same effects: there's no neutral news. Outrage is the currency of the realm and it's routinely manufactured. Bogosity abounds.

As to the 15s being problematic, this forum is the first I've heard on the topic. I figure the chance that the 15 has generally gone backwards is low.

But it's well known that mature products eventually suffer from profit-taking as costs are driven too far out of the design. Could the iPhone 15 be at the precipice?

All the iPhones I've had since the orig iphone (long ago given away) say 1/3 of models ever offered, have all been excellent material devices that didn't wear out, but became obsolescent. The 6s was so good and lasted so well I didn't get replace it until the 12, After 3 years I got the battery replaced for 30$, but it wasn't really needed. It's still is perfectly clean and functional, but it finally got left behind in SW. Models 7 through X not much seemed to change except the notch and I didn't find any of these compelling. 11 was beginning of next gen but 6s kept on giving. With 12 I started a hand-me-down program to my kids and I currently use the 14.

My kids had used XRs which became problematic because they ran out of storage space. But the problems got cured with a cleanup and the trade-in value even for used-used led to significant upgrade discounts so that the XRs more than paid for themselves.

Overall feeling of quality with 12 was superb, smoothly responsive and reliable, very good camera, and it kept getting better.

But while reports of not having problems are always heartening, it's not news, and if it were, all resources in the universe would end consumed for reports of "Everything's still going fine."

Correspondingly, there's always some kind of trouble for some consumers, no matter how well done a product is. Life is hell. Moving of manufacturing to a new country is never good for quality during the transition, for obvious reasons.

My complaint with latest phone is not HW or even SW, but the UI. The human factors of this UI are godawful. So much power and complexity with so little artfulness. It's an insanely confusing weird and hambone user experience.

Text entry with iOS 16 is horrific. But I could write several pages of comments on dumbfounding behavior, bugs and regressive patterns. I long ago learned I have to adapt to the device. The first iPhone showed incredible promise but they couldn't stop improving it and without Jobs, no one is looking after the total experience so it's going to hell.

Re long-term progress it may not matter: I think we're close to a point where most people won't have a separate desktop computer, we'll dock the phone—which is powerful enough to replace desktop—with goggles and keep everything with us.

---

The following article explains why the 15 is important and a likely a true success...

Log is the “Pro” in iPhone 15 Pro

Log is the “Pro” in iPhone 15 Pro — Prolost

Free LUTs for iPhone 15 Pro Log Video

prolost.com

 

[pastrychef]

I agree, there is now an undercurrent of click-bait about every Internet article. It has genuinely ruined so much trust in the whole platform (years ago here I shared an AOL screengrab I made in 1997 and there was not an advert in sight - despite my ISP).

This morning on CNBC, they reported that availability of iPhones at Apple Stores have improved markedly since launch. They were implying that sales have slowed. How do they know that it's not due to increased manufacturing volume???

As for your iPhone 15 Pro, I say "Yay!!" Excellent choice. Maybe I would only need the "Plus" model. Like the new softer edges and overall subtlety of the new style.

After three years of heavy usage, the battery on my iPhone 12 Pro had degraded significantly and I felt it was time to upgrade. USB-C on the 15 Pro is a game changer. I also think that the new iOS feature to allow charging up to only 80% will really help preserve the battery.

Going from 12 Pro to 15 Pro, there's a noticeable improvement in snappiness and responsiveness. I can also tell an improvement in the photo quality and the speed at which photos are "processed".

I also got a 15 Pro for my GF. We activated and migrated everything from her old iPhone over brunch (I had a grilled cheese with tomatoes and bacon and she had a lobster roll) on a Sunday morning. The "Apple Experience" is really impressive.

 

[pastrychef]

But it's well known that mature products eventually suffer from profit-taking as costs are driven too far out of the design. Could the iPhone 15 be at the precipice?

I don't think Apple suffers from this. They have no fear of passing on costs to the customers and their customers seem very willing to pay for it. They sell premium products at premium prices. To cut corners would do more harm than good.

 

[craighazan]

I still have my SE2, which I’ve owned since release and it still rocks. Alright the front screen is smashed, has cracks across the screen, pieces missing and held together on the back with gaffer tape!. But it still retains 99% functionality, they might be expensive but they’re definitely built to last!.

 

[c-o-pr]

I don't think Apple suffers from this. They have no fear of passing on costs to the customers and their customers seem very willing to pay for it. They sell premium products at premium prices. To cut corners would do more harm than good.

USB-C head-to-head comparison (Apple TB Cable v. the rest)

USB-C head-to-head comparison

The reign of the Lightning cable is over, and the USB-C era has begun — leaving us wondering what sets one charger apart from another. We do a teardown of Apple's Thunderbolt 4 and its competitors.

www.lumafield.com

 

[remington]

Correspondingly, there's always some kind of trouble for some consumers, no matter how well done a product is. Life is hell. Moving of manufacturing to a new country is never good for quality during the transition, for obvious reasons.

Steve or Tim should had a backup location to make iPhone or macs long time ago. Putting everything in China is really really bad idea to start with. Sure it's cheap labor there but politics are another thing with Xi becoming more authoritarian or dictator. I just don't understand why American companies produce high tech stuff there while intellectual property thief is rampant in China.

 

[pastrychef]

Steve or Tim should had a backup location to make iPhone or macs long time ago. Putting everything in China is really really bad idea to start with. Sure it's cheap labor there but politics are another thing with Xi becoming more authoritarian or dictator. I just don't understand why American companies produce high tech stuff there while intellectual property thief is rampant in China.

Politics wasn't a problem until the last few years. At the first sign of problems, Apple started looking for alternate locations for factories.

Apple is far from the only one who had all or the majority of their manufacturing based out of China. Look around at home. I'm sure the vast majority of the stuff is manufactured in China too.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Experience" is really impressive.

Politics wasn't a problem until the last few years. At the first sign of problems, Apple started looking for alternate locations for factories.

Apple is far from the only one who had all or the majority of their manufacturing based out of China. Look around at home. I'm sure the vast majority of the stuff is manufactured in China too.

I remember, many years ago when I worked in engineering, my boss ordered a crate of brass-bodied padlocks from China. Heavy items half way around the world...

He discovered, at that time, he could sell the brass locally by weight for scrap and get more back than he paid.

This has underlined the great temptation for all manufacturers to out-source manufacturing that far away. It's really crazy but this is how our world works today.