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That seems like it would be difficult data to gather. Reduced availability certainly can reduce demand by itself, somebody might give up if the thing isn't avai

That seems like it would be difficult data to gather. Reduced availability certainly can reduce demand by itself, somebody might give up if the thing isn't available after a while. I, for instance, would love to upgrade if I could get ahold of one of the things. If I still can't walk into a store and get one two months from now then I'll just wait it out another generation. > FaceID continues not to work with face masks on Well.... it does if you have an apple watch. I would still rather have a touch id option though.

simonh 5y ago
Given the long wait times for these things I think it's pretty clear this is a supply issue, not a demand issue. As for touch authentication, there's still the SE so at least they still have that as an option in the lineup. The thing is they begin the design outline for new iPhones from 24 to 18 months in advance of launch. Even a 2 year pandemic is a temporary issue relative to the iPhone design cycle, and any design response they might make to it would only show up towards the end of the crisis anyway.
simonh 5y ago
Given the long wait times for these things I think it's pretty clear this is a supply issue, not a demand issue. As for touch authentication, there's still the SE so at least they still have that as an option in the lineup. The thing is they begin the design outline for new iPhones from 24 to 18 months in advance of launch. Even a 2 year pandemic is a temporary issue relative to the iPhone design cycle, and any design response they might make to it would only show up towards the end of the crisis anyway. Even if they had brought out a pandemic influenced flagship design now, which is probably the earliest point possible, for how much of that device's lifetime would mask mandates be relevant? Here in the UK mask mandates are already on the way out thanks to high vaccine uptake.

simonh 5y ago

Given the long wait times for these things I think it's pretty clear this is a supply issue, not a demand issue. As for touch authentication, there's still the SE so at least they still have that as an option in the lineup. The thing is they begin the design outline for new iPhones from 24 to 18 months in advance of launch. Even a 2 year pandemic is a temporary issue relative to the iPhone design cycle, and any design response they might make to it would only show up towards the end of the crisis anyway. Even if they had brought out a pandemic influenced flagship design now, which is probably the earliest point possible, for how much of that device's lifetime would mask mandates be relevant? Here in the UK mask mandates are already on the way out thanks to high vaccine uptake.