5.5in iPhone 6, iWatch hypegasm: What will Apple reveal - BE the rumour Tomorrow, in California, Apple will summon its pet hacks and erect a web video stream to unveil new iPhone- and smartwatch-shaped things. Just what do Cook and Co. have in the pipeline? As usual, the company isn't saying anything ahead of the event. However, by piecing together various rumors, it seems likely Apple will expand …
... I really do. I'm a professional iOS developer. I'm about to change jobs from one that provides a phone to one that doesn't so will have to buy my own for the first time in about half a decade. But I think my problem is this: if I decide to stick with an iOS phone for work then there really aren't any options. So what's there to get excited about? Whatever they release is whatever I'll get so I don't really need to know anything much about it in advance; I'll figure it out when I open the box. Conversely, if I decide iOS isn't essential then I probably won't consider the iPhone at all, as phones are all pretty much the same so why buy one of the more expensive ones? A Motorola or a Nokia will do, no need for an Apple or an HTC.
So, short of announcing either that iOS is going to be available on other phones or is no longer going to be available on the iPhone, there's really nothing they're likely to say that will affect my buying decision.
Less exciting than the next Doctor Who episode.
More ephemeral than the relationships that you cultivate with your co-workers.
Far more expensive than either of the above.
Those who care should in my opinion examine their lives, and ask themselves why something of such little significance is able to distract them from the important things in life.
Speaking as an American who has seen every Dr. Who episode to date (that hasn't been destroyed), this new guy isn't cutting it for me. I really don't follow the writers, directors, producers, etc., but something changed that either doesn't allow this guy to follow through OR he just can't follow through himself.
"What will Apple reveal tomorrow"
Something MS failed at, but Apple will make gobs of money from it.
That's practically everything, by now that could even apply to MS Office. No, wait, Xbox is OK-ish, maybe an ability to use Macs for gaming?
Don't get me wrong, I rather like Macs, but they don't really play well (fnar fnar) in the gaming world.
- Three revamped and slightly remodeled versions of the same iPhone we've seen for the past three years, which should normally sell for USD $150, USD $175 and USD $200 unlocked and without contract subsidies, but will sell instead for USD $850, USD $900 and USD $975 retail. Because they can.
- A $35 Timex watch which will sell for USD $450 retail.
And some people will buy these items without blinking twice, for the same reason some people read Kim Kardashian's press releases.
The 5s bill of materials is $199. The HTC One is $218. The Moto X is $221. The Nexus 5 is $215.
Apple charges $650. HTC charges $650. Motorola charges $620. Google charges $350.
So Google's the anomaly. Apple, HTC and Motorola all charge pretty much the same amount for their high-end phones and make pretty much the same profit margins.
If you want a high end phone for a reasonable price, buy the Google. If you just want a reasonably priced phone, stay away from the high end. The profit margins on things like the Motorola G ($123 bill of materials; $180 retail price) are much saner.
> Apple charges $650. HTC charges $650. Motorola charges $620. Google charges $350.
Got my Xperia Z1 factory unlocked for USD $475. Right in-between Google and Apple/HTC price-wise. Probably because the Xperias weren't that well known in the US - and still aren't (maybe). I absolutely love it, likely the best smartphone I've ever owned. Does everything I need it to do, it's not flashy or tacky-looking and it doesn't scream "Look At Me I Am So Cool I Just Got An Xperia Smartphone!"
Mandatory Disclaimer: I don't work for Sony, and I'm not a Sony fanboi.
Got my Xperia Z1 factory unlocked for USD $475. Right in-between Google and Apple/HTC price-wise. Probably because the Xperias weren't that well known in the US - and still aren't (maybe). I absolutely love it, likely the best smartphone I've ever owned. Does everything I need it to do, it's not flashy or tacky-looking and it doesn't scream "Look At Me I Am So Cool I Just Got An Xperia Smartphone!"
Sony can do rather cool gear, also from a design perspective. The problem is usually not the hardware, it's not strangling the marketing people in time so you end up having to remove crapware from the gear before it becomes useful. I take it from reviews (and your comment) that Sony has finally managed to correct that.
Would you care to visit http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00E92B88I/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1410237094&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40 and tell us: what list price does Amazon give and is the price, even now, as low as $259–$349?
... or maybe visit http://www.engadget.com/products/motorola/moto/x/ and tell us: what did Engadget think the on-a-contract price was at launch, and what was Apple's? Did they describe it as cheap or expensive?
No assumption made; just responding to a comment that accused Apple of egregious pricing and margins with the actual numbers, to evidence that Apple's pricing and margins are the same as almost everybody else's (with some obiter praise for the real outlier: Google).
Also you might need to redress your assumptions about resale value. Too many people don't seem to know how to sever their iPhone from their iCloud account, with the effect that secondhand ones are now routinely, ummm, un-activatable. Just as if they were stolen. That's going to hit prices.
I hope OS X Yosemite isn't out of beta since that means even more completely functional Macs are now relegated to the "your browser / flash is no longer supported" because idiot coders can't figure out how to build a fat binary using two different versions of Xcode. Seeing that OS X 10.10 has nearly no new features used by 99% of the coders out there, I wonder why the otherwise leading edge machines from just a few years ago are all of a sudden more crippled than an XP box. The obsolete 10.5 and 10.7 machines are happy doing the same work they have been doing for more than 7 years without the upgrade tax. Work has already decided that they won't be replacing them with Apple products with comments about once bitten, twice shy.
Seeing that OS X 10.10 has nearly no new features used by 99% of the coders out there, I wonder why the otherwise leading edge machines from just a few years ago are all of a sudden more crippled than an XP box. The obsolete 10.5 and 10.7 machines are happy doing the same work they have been doing for more than 7 years without the upgrade tax. Work has already decided that they won't be replacing them with Apple products with comments about once bitten, twice shy.
OK, let's assume this is not an MS troll.
First of all, features are usually not written for coders, but for users and some of the new features make sense to a degree that I'm looking forward to experiment with them (I was invited to the betas, but didn't have the time so I'll wait for the final release instead). Secondly, "upgrade tax"? That's a Microsoft game, and it appears your employer is walking right back into it.
I wish you luck :)
The upgrade tax on a 5 year old machine is that I can FrankenMac most of the hardware to 10.9 but since it didn't ship with a 64 bit bios, Apple has declared the machines land fill. Obsolete power macs are faster than many of the machines we bought in the last month but it is landfill. I would take the $100 Microsoft upgrade tax over the Apple "buy a while new machine" tax anyday.
The imacs are worse. We have very good monitors that will go to the tip because Apple can't do what the hacker community can?
I would take the $100 Microsoft upgrade tax over the Apple "buy a while new machine" tax anyday.
After which you'll discover that, by an amazing and totally random coincidence, you'd have to upgrade all your Microsoft software too. Oops. And you really thought that $100 would cover you? Silly boy. You also should set up an internal mirror for MS patches to retain your Internet bandwidth for business instead of patch traffic. And don't forget to update your anti-virus daily - plenty of drive-by exposures out there.
Oh well, at least you confirmed a saying, thanks.
lol… tell your bosses they are idiots.
"10.5 and 10.7 machines are happy doing the same work they have been doing for more than 7 years"
and they think there were "bitten" buy having kit that was bought 7 years ago , that still does its function!!! hahahahaha thats ROI to dream of.
yep, go buy a win-pc and when it barely does its function in 7 months, you'll see where the "tax" is.
It doesn't really matter what they reveal does it? Even if other phones have had the features or specifications for months, even years, it'll be hailed as popular because Apple are now doing it. The same frenzy that always happens will happen again and the renewed bitching between various camps will continue anew.
What do I expect? A new iPhone, new iPad and some form of wearable tech. I say new but they're essentially just updates of last years models with the phone possibly having a larger screen now that Jobs is gone.
Nothing too newsworthy
It doesn't really matter what they reveal does it?
Well, it may be interesting, but all the endless speculation for people addicted to instant gratification is tedious. I've seen the announcements about Yosemite and iOS8 (in condensed form, I have a massive aversion to watching a hour's worth of video for something I can read in text in under a minute), and I expect Apple will have cooked up something interesting (unintentional pun there) but I may not even look at the detail until this weekend - I'm sure I'll get the headlines from the press anyway.
Que sera, sera. Easy. Have a cup of tea.
I recon there will be a mini curve ball:
wait for it.....
its gonna be called iTime or something just as dumb, not iWatch.
just like the iTab and it being the iPad. wow, no one saw that coming and the world was on fire talking about it.
iClock?
iTime?
iWork?
Anagram of above? any other thoughts?
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