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It probably doesn't help that the subsidy model has completely changed. But personally, I think iPhone performance has hit a point where one doesn't really feel
by skywhopper 11y ago
It probably doesn't help that the subsidy model has completely changed. But personally, I think iPhone performance has hit a point where one doesn't really feel the need to upgrade right away. I was so ready to upgrade when the contract on my 4 expired. It was really a pain to use after a couple of years. But my 5S has now lasted me two and a half years and other than wishing I had more storage capacity, there's really nothing compelling in the new models for me to want to upgrade. The build quality and battery are so good that I don't feel like it's even getting worn out. The better cameras would be nice, but otherwise? I just can't justify the cost, much as I'd like to, so long as my 5S keeps performing.
I do think Apple needs to focus their money and efforts on improving their services and software integration. There's a lot to like in Apple services, but there's a lot of rough edges and weird gaps, and too often I feel like apps get written and then abandoned. If you bundle an app, it should have a dedicated team that keeps making it better, faster, easier to use all the time.
I also feel like Apple has a real chance to make a mark on the home automation market if they chose to do so. The best stuff out there is still pretty bad, and pretty much all of it spies on you. Based on how they've been adding context-aware features to iPhone in a very privacy-conscious way, Apple is the one company I would still trust to actually try to do home automation in a way that respects my privacy. And they have the money to invest in making it happen. But while I'm sure their hardware would be well-made, can they raise their software polish to the same level?
- balls187 11y agoThe quality of the camera keeps me upgrading every chance I can. Also the touch-id capabilities are significantly improved.
- simonh 11y agoThe only iDevice that's not still in use in my family is my first, an iPhone 3G. My youngest has my 3GS. The 4 is with my father in law, etc. My first iPad, a v2, is with my sister in law in China, she uses it to Skype to us. These things just keep on going.
- wvenable 11y agoI have an iPhone 5 (not S) and the performance is starting to get on the frustrating side. But it's only now getting to the point where that is an issue.
- JoBrad 11y agoMaybe you should wipe it? I have a 5 that I bought the year the 5s came out, and it works great, still
- wvenable 11y agoI always do the OS installs through iTunes so it pretty much gets wiped every time.
- lgieron 11y agoMaybe that's the issue - I don't do OS updates on iOS devices, so my 5s is still on iOS 7.1 - and it's still blazing fast after 18 months of use. My suspicion is that the iOSes getting slower with every release is a planned obsolescence strategy.
- simonh 11y agoI don't buy it. Each revision of the OS adds functionality and expands the code base, that's plenty enough to explain the issue. Long term, progressively bogging down the OS deliberately will just make it look unnecessarily slower compared to Android. That's a much bigger risk than any possible effect getting people to upgrade. Also there are ways to disable some of the newer features and reclaim some responsiveness, such as General->Accessibility->Reduce Motion.
- lgieron 11y agoI was thinking it may not be an official agenda ("plans for Q4: let's make iOS 10% slower"), but instead, the higher ups don't actively fight the general performance athrophy.
- yoodenvranx 11y ago> I think iPhone performance has hit a point where one doesn't really feel the need to upgrade right away I have a cheap 2014 Motorola Moto G and I have the same "problem". Yes, there are hundreds of modern phones out there which are several times faster and have way better hardware but the Moto G is fast enough for me. I usually just browse the web, type a few messages in Whatsapp, take a few pictures, ... and the phone does all of this well enough so that I just don't have any reason to invest 500+ Euro in a new phone. Another bonus is that if I accidentally drop my phone I can just buy a new one (or two) and it will still be cheaper than an iPhone or other similar phones.
- nightski 11y agoAgreed, this is the exact reason I went with a Moto G. It was under $200 and I tend to be very clumsy. It runs the latest nearly stock Andriod and is a very smooth experience. The only fault I can find is it's camera. So for someone who finds that very important this may not be an option.
- erics32 11y agoI'm in the same boat and bought a Moto G, but one major issue is the lack of gyroscope for google cardboard/vr use.
- kuschku 11y agoBuy the Moto G 2014 – that has a gyroscope, and can be used with Google Cardboard. The 2015 and 2013 version don’t, though.
- kibwen 11y agoFellow Moto G user, and I completely agree with this sentiment (along with the camera being meh). Remarkably the battery has held up very well with two years of use, part of me wonders if that's due to performance improvements in Android offsetting the natural wear (though every update seems to make the stock apps slower, with Maps being a particularly noticeable example).
- 11y ago
- abhi3 11y agoApples service revenues are still growing 20% YoY. Apple can and does generate a steady stream of revenue from existing devices. App Store revenue increased 35 percent year-over-year, and iCloud is also continuing to grow. Apple pay is adding 1 million new users per week. and they just announced the Apple Music has 13 million subscribers. Apple's services unit is now the company's second largest category during the recent quarter, ahead of Mac and iPad sales
- shawkinaw 11y agoCan anyone shed some light on why the subsidy model is going/has gone away? It seems to me cell providers would not want to stop essentially requiring 2-year contracts, so why have they? Fear of government action, or market competition? Or was the subsidy model actually bad for the networks somehow?
- brianwawok 11y agoT-Mobile changed so others had to to keep up. Basically most cell phone contract innovation in the last 5 years has been through T-Mobile.
- s3bast0m 11y agoYou do realize that US and T-Mobile was one of the last holdouts with this "bundled"system and in Europe we had this "new" system in place for at least 5 years.
- brianwawok 11y agoI don't think it matters to a US consumer what Europe did first. US had a crappy system. TMobile innovated. Even if that innovation was to copy a system from another country, to our market it was an innovation.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- Drakim 11y ago"Innovation" isn't the word I would use here, it was simply that the US caught up to the rest of the western world.
- brianwawok 11y agoWhy not? Before T-Mobile did this, could an American sign up for say a French phone plan and use it from their house in Flordia? I could update my statement to say "Most innovation in the AMERICAN cell phone market has been through T-Mobile"
- Illniyar 11y agoThats easy to fix - next iOS release your phone is gonna get slower and slower. :)