6 ms·

This yearly upgrade cycle is terrible. Their phones are fantastic, and now they're stuck in some sort of spiral to push things every year. They could stand to c

by alx__ 4y ago

This yearly upgrade cycle is terrible. Their phones are fantastic, and now they're stuck in some sort of spiral to push things every year. They could stand to chill out I got the new 14 Pro, but only because I wanted the mag charger feature. Before that, the 11 Pro was still a solid phone and did everything I wanted and more. Won't be upgrading at least 3 years

dilap 4y ago
yeah, I went from a 12 to a 14, and honestly you could swap it back and I wouldn't even notice or care. maybe this is what we should expect, though, as the tech matures -- like cars: there's a new model every year, but only significant upgrades every half decade or so.
- pantalaimon 4y ago
  Why did you feel the need to upgrade?
  - dilap 4y ago
    what can i say im a sucker but mostly 'ciz work paid for it & and i could give my old phone to my brother-in-law (who had recently lost his in a hilarious dating mishap -- a hike, a river, old shorts w/ holes in the pockets...). to be fair, the camera is better -- but im such a pitiful photographer it's wasted on me. also, the pill sucks compared to the notch. (notch disappears mentally, pill doesn't.)
grishka 4y ago
Even stupider is their OS yearly release cycle. Apple OSes are feature-complete. They have been for quite some time. They do need iterative updates to add new APIs for new hardware, but that's really it.
- ladberg 4y ago
  I like to stay on older OSes because I agree they're feature complete and I don't want to lose battery life to the newest ML hotness I probably won't use and won't run efficiently on my old phone. I've praised Apple for allowing me to do this by continuing to put out security updates for older phones, but the most recent set of pretty important security updates (15.7.2) have artificially been restricted to only devices that don't support 16. This is incredibly frustrating because all the work has been put into making my older device secure without having to update to the latest OS, Apple won't let me have the update and I have to go to 16 instead.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  Just buy an android. You won’t have to worry about yearly updates because you won’t get any.
  - opan 4y ago
    I get updates every week or two from LineageOS. I'm sure you'll say that doesn't count, but I specifically pick devices with LineageOS support.
  - grishka 4y ago
    My main phone is a Pixel
theshrike79 4y ago
The thing is the "yearly upgrade cycle" isn't something people need to follow. People (usually from the Android camp) complain that Apple never innovates on brings anything new, which is kinda true if you only take the delta between the two latest devices. But they fail to take into account the person going from a phone that gets dropped by the latest iOS release (5+ years old) to the latest and greatest. The leap in features is staggering.
- rcarr 4y ago
  This was me this year. Went from a Late 2013 MacBook Pro that was an OS behind to an M1 Pro Macbook and also went from a 1st Gen iPad Pro to an M2 iPad Air with Magic Keyboard and Pencil 2. Everything about the MacBook is better than its predecessor but I was particularly blown away by the iPad Air and the handwriting recognition. I put my 1st gen Apple Pencil in the drawer not long after buying the original iPad Pro and eventually sold it. Now I use my 2nd gen pencil every day and I’m even thinking of buying an iPad mini as a really portable digital notebook. I get the same pleasure again next year when I finally get to upgrade my iPhone 8 Plus. Battery life on my 8 is terrible now and it will get dropped from OS upgrades next year. I’m probably going to upgrade to a Pro Max because I’ve heard the current generation get 48 hours+ battery. But most exciting of all next year: USB-C!
  - P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
    As a counter-point I went from an original iphone SE to the 3rd gen iphone SE this year because it started having major problems holding a charge for any length of time. I much preferred the old form factor and would readily give up the faster processor, etc, for it.
    - lesserknowndan 4y ago
      Do you still have the old iPhone SE? Apparently, and this explains my experience, after an OS update the phone will use a lot of battery while it does post processing of any photos you have and other random stuff. After a full night’s charge, the next morning my iPhone SE battery plummeted so fast that the numbers were ticking down every few seconds. After some Googling I read about this post-update battery usage issue. I deleted all the photos from my phone and my battery is now fine. I wonder how many people have bought new phones because of thinking their phone battery is on the way out when really it is just post update activity.
endisneigh 4y ago
I disagree. A consistent yearly upgrade cycle is actually a good thing. It allows staggered upgrades for people who do not want to upgrade yearly, but still create the necessary incentive for incremental improvement. A new iPhone every 5 years for example, would be dumb. Ignore the hype and marketing and just pick the one you'd like if and when you upgrade. A tangent: Personally, I wish more things had yearly upgrades and the backwards/forward compatibility Apple devices generally have. It's a different model, but it would be nice if game consoles had improved iterations yearly. The once a half decade model creates too much of a boom/bust cycle imho. If the Switch had a new, better version every year that was both forward and backward compatible within a "software generation" a lot of games like Pokemon wouldn't look and perform absolutely terribly.
- Aloha 4y ago
  Perhaps, but a new better one every two years might be pretty compelling. They sorta do a tick-tock cycle now, generally, its form factors on the 'tick', and significant hardware refresh on the 'tock'
- anikom15 4y ago
  A new iPhone every five years means you’ll have a harder time getting one, like whenever a new video game console gets released.
  - rolenthedeep 4y ago
    4 years of development time, 1 year of production to build inventory projected to last 6 months or something. Take pre-orders a few weeks in advance, then everyone can have it day 1. No scalpers reselling them on eBay for 10 times the cost. No stampede at Apple stores because they already have a few weeks of inventory. The accelerated product cycle is why you have awful launches like consoles. The product is barely finished and rushed into production in time for Christmas. There's not time to build the actual units. Slow down a bit and you can solve that problem.
    - adt2bt 4y ago
senderista 4y ago
Welcome to publicly traded companies and stock-based executive compensation.
- marcinzm 4y ago
  This seems more like any company simply trying to maximize revenue and profits rather than something to do with being public.
  - fragmede 4y ago
    but only public companies have to maximize revenue to the Nth degree, publicly. If the company isn't public, you have a far smaller audience to impress, and one that can be made to understand nuance. Eg how is Dell doing? Few really know since they went private.
    - marcinzm 4y ago
      That’s a fine argument if you explain why a yearly release cycle hurts long term total revenue as well. To me it seems to help it.
- com2kid 4y ago
  It is also the consumer news cycle. When a company doesn't have a yearly big flagship product launch, people assume something is very very wrong. Let's pretend Samsung skips releasing a new Galaxy this year. Mums the word, no news at all, they just don't announce anything. Well crap, to the average person who wants a new phone, that is scary, they want a phone that is going to be supported, not a phone from a company that might go out of business tomorrow! Or at least stop making phones. And who wants to buy a 1 year old phone? Heck phones have a huge drop off in purchase within months after release, 6 months on the market and unless you need a phone, mine as well wait another 6 months and either get the model you're looking at on serious discount, or get something that'll last longer. And then the tech press will go crazy with speculation! "OMFG END OF THE WORLD FOR THAT COMPANY!!!" Ok, another fun fact, profitability of consumer electronics, at least in the US, generally relies upon holiday sales. iPhones pop out in September, which is about optimal timing for reviews to hit en-masse, to build mindshare, and have partners do their initial huge full price sales before holiday promos kick in. Start releasing every 18 months instead and you fall off that train, your choices are pretty much 12m or 24m cycles to hit that holiday release.
madrox 4y ago
Ed Catmull calls this "feeding the beast" and it's one of the biggest barriers to innovation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LafDex0L7FM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LafDex0L7FM
Gigachad 4y ago
Nah, they do a slower cycle for some of the iPads and it results in a model that’s 3 years old still selling and everyone advises to wait a year for the new one because it will be way better. While the iPhone is always a good time to buy because next years one won’t obsolete this years.
vineyardmike 4y ago
They’ve basically killed the cycle, in all but name. Now it’s just steady progress but it’s not too differentiated. I too upgraded to the 14P from 11P, mostly for the MagSafe. MagSafe has been out since the 12 but I couldn’t be bothered until 3 years on. Now I won’t upgrade until USBC or it breaks. The iPhone 14 (non pro) uses much of the iPhone 13’s internals, while the Pro gets upgraded. I think this is basically how the watch already is. I expect this is the future, the upgraded won’t really matter and won’t really exist beyond slight aesthetic tweaks. It’s like cars, no matter which year you get, they all drive just fine and are mostly the same internally. I’ve long said that cars are the natural comparison to these sort of electronics. Cars and phones are probably the two most expensive and utilitarian things people regularly buy. They come out with new ones every year, but don’t do major refreshes every year so you don’t really have a reason to tine when to buy one. I think it also indicates that we’ll see a price stagnating base-model phone and an ever increasing top-tier model as the companies explore how much people are willing to spend (a Corolla vs a Mercedes). The nice thing about the steady new versions is that you can always go to the store and buy the biggest-number iPhone version and not worry about lifespan or if it’s good (contrast with a game console: if you buy the PS4 6mo before the PS5 comes out, you made a mistake).
- P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
  > I think it also indicates that we’ll see a price stagnating base-model phone and an ever increasing top-tier model as the companies explore how much people are willing to spend (a Corolla vs a Mercedes). I don't think so. A Mercedes will get you laid, the latest iphone won't and likely never will. cell phones stopped being status symbols long before smart phones were created by apple and I don't see them going back to that.
  - saagarjha 4y ago
    > A Mercedes will get you laid, the latest iphone won't and likely never will. Not having one might harm your chances, though.
  - vineyardmike 4y ago
    > A Mercedes will get you laid Only because it’s a sign you have money, not because cars are cool. > the latest iphone won't and likely never will. When apple has a $5k iPhone it may once again become a status symbol. Almost 50% of Americans have an iPhone of some version. It’s obviously not a status symbol of everyone has one. iPhones, like cars, are mostly undifferentiated. Apple has a lot of room to build a status symbol, but admittedly they haven’t been too successful when trying with the Apple Watch, so I will admit the odds are low they’ll succeed, but I believe the market exists in the long run.
megablast 4y ago
What a silly statement. Most people aren’t updating every year. Imagine if they only updated every second year. You would pay full price for a phone that came out 23 months ago?? Don’t be daft.
exabrial 4y ago
Completely agree. 2-4 years would be wonderful if they actually worked out all of the bugs. Instead we get mostly half baked ideas and products instead of stuff that actually works solid.
wilg 4y ago
I really don't get this implication that it's bad to do minor updates to products every year. They're not expecting you to buy one every year (but they hope you do!). It's like I don't complain if they come out with a 2023 Corolla with refined cupholders.
AdrianB1 4y ago
I just changed my phone after 6 years, but I did not expect the industry to suspend for all that time just because I don't need a new phone every year. Having new products every years does not suggest you should upgrade.
teruakohatu 4y ago
> I got the new 14 Pro, but only because I wanted the mag charger feature As long as people are willing to upgrade for minor features, why wouldn't they release a new phone each year? I say this as a person who would (will) absolutely upgrade just for USB-C hopefully next year.
- AlexThrowAway 4y ago
  I have an iphone XS. I'll be upgrading for USB-C, Globalstar messaging, and 8GB of ram. All three are required. I will not play the nickel and diming game on DRAM, 6GB on a flagship phone ain't enough for a five year phone.
katbyte 4y ago
personally i was pretty stoked about the satellite SOS feature and dual band GPS. The huge jump in camera megapixels and car crash detection is also nice. but if none of that interests you then yes, i guess it could be considered a terrible cycle.
bpye 4y ago
I'm still holding onto my 11 Pro for now, but if the 15 Pro has USB-C I'll happily upgrade. There's nothing on my 11 Pro I'm unhappy with still, though the battery life is noticeably worse than when new by now.
dwaite 4y ago
> This yearly upgrade cycle is terrible. Their phones are fantastic, and now they're stuck in some sort of spiral to push things every year. They could stand to chill out They don't have planning meetings once iOS 16 or iPhone 14 ships to decide what to work on next year - like most companies, the products are divided into components, for is divided into features, where those features have multi-year pipelines and land when they are ready (although they often land incrementally). Slower releases likely mean that there'd be more motivation to aggressively push changes out, e.g. your team's changes either ships in 3 months or have to wait two extra years. That means that a slower release cycle can actually decrease quality, and is IMHO one of the reasons that many longtime MacOS users have decided they'll never install an OS until the dot-two release. Even if that isn't the case, slower release cycles mean that developers are less nimble in correcting the problems that inevitably exist. A non-Apple example - Java before 1.9 is a great case study of how a poor release process cost insane amounts of efficiency, and cause a language to be too slow to take advantage of market opportunities. Their new process is faster and more predictable, and has resulted in significant gains for the language and VM. > I got the new 14 Pro, but only because I wanted the mag charger feature. Before that, the 11 Pro was still a solid phone and did everything I wanted and more. Won't be upgrading at least 3 years Sure, most people don't upgrade their hardware every year. That doesn't mean creating and selling new hardware is a bad idea.

by alx__ 4y ago

dilap 4y ago

yeah, I went from a 12 to a 14, and honestly you could swap it back and I wouldn't even notice or care. maybe this is what we should expect, though, as the tech matures -- like cars: there's a new model every year, but only significant upgrades every half decade or so.

pantalaimon 4y ago
Why did you feel the need to upgrade?
- dilap 4y ago
  what can i say im a sucker but mostly 'ciz work paid for it & and i could give my old phone to my brother-in-law (who had recently lost his in a hilarious dating mishap -- a hike, a river, old shorts w/ holes in the pockets...). to be fair, the camera is better -- but im such a pitiful photographer it's wasted on me. also, the pill sucks compared to the notch. (notch disappears mentally, pill doesn't.)

grishka 4y ago

Even stupider is their OS yearly release cycle. Apple OSes are feature-complete. They have been for quite some time. They do need iterative updates to add new APIs for new hardware, but that's really it.

ladberg 4y ago
I like to stay on older OSes because I agree they're feature complete and I don't want to lose battery life to the newest ML hotness I probably won't use and won't run efficiently on my old phone. I've praised Apple for allowing me to do this by continuing to put out security updates for older phones, but the most recent set of pretty important security updates (15.7.2) have artificially been restricted to only devices that don't support 16. This is incredibly frustrating because all the work has been put into making my older device secure without having to update to the latest OS, Apple won't let me have the update and I have to go to 16 instead.
Gigachad 4y ago
Just buy an android. You won’t have to worry about yearly updates because you won’t get any.
- opan 4y ago
  I get updates every week or two from LineageOS. I'm sure you'll say that doesn't count, but I specifically pick devices with LineageOS support.
- grishka 4y ago
  My main phone is a Pixel

theshrike79 4y ago

The thing is the "yearly upgrade cycle" isn't something people need to follow. People (usually from the Android camp) complain that Apple never innovates on brings anything new, which is kinda true if you only take the delta between the two latest devices. But they fail to take into account the person going from a phone that gets dropped by the latest iOS release (5+ years old) to the latest and greatest. The leap in features is staggering.

rcarr 4y ago
This was me this year. Went from a Late 2013 MacBook Pro that was an OS behind to an M1 Pro Macbook and also went from a 1st Gen iPad Pro to an M2 iPad Air with Magic Keyboard and Pencil 2. Everything about the MacBook is better than its predecessor but I was particularly blown away by the iPad Air and the handwriting recognition. I put my 1st gen Apple Pencil in the drawer not long after buying the original iPad Pro and eventually sold it. Now I use my 2nd gen pencil every day and I’m even thinking of buying an iPad mini as a really portable digital notebook. I get the same pleasure again next year when I finally get to upgrade my iPhone 8 Plus. Battery life on my 8 is terrible now and it will get dropped from OS upgrades next year. I’m probably going to upgrade to a Pro Max because I’ve heard the current generation get 48 hours+ battery. But most exciting of all next year: USB-C!
- P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
  As a counter-point I went from an original iphone SE to the 3rd gen iphone SE this year because it started having major problems holding a charge for any length of time. I much preferred the old form factor and would readily give up the faster processor, etc, for it.
  - lesserknowndan 4y ago
    Do you still have the old iPhone SE? Apparently, and this explains my experience, after an OS update the phone will use a lot of battery while it does post processing of any photos you have and other random stuff. After a full night’s charge, the next morning my iPhone SE battery plummeted so fast that the numbers were ticking down every few seconds. After some Googling I read about this post-update battery usage issue. I deleted all the photos from my phone and my battery is now fine. I wonder how many people have bought new phones because of thinking their phone battery is on the way out when really it is just post update activity.

endisneigh 4y ago

I disagree. A consistent yearly upgrade cycle is actually a good thing. It allows staggered upgrades for people who do not want to upgrade yearly, but still create the necessary incentive for incremental improvement. A new iPhone every 5 years for example, would be dumb. Ignore the hype and marketing and just pick the one you'd like if and when you upgrade. A tangent: Personally, I wish more things had yearly upgrades and the backwards/forward compatibility Apple devices generally have. It's a different model, but it would be nice if game consoles had improved iterations yearly. The once a half decade model creates too much of a boom/bust cycle imho. If the Switch had a new, better version every year that was both forward and backward compatible within a "software generation" a lot of games like Pokemon wouldn't look and perform absolutely terribly.

Aloha 4y ago
Perhaps, but a new better one every two years might be pretty compelling. They sorta do a tick-tock cycle now, generally, its form factors on the 'tick', and significant hardware refresh on the 'tock'
anikom15 4y ago
A new iPhone every five years means you’ll have a harder time getting one, like whenever a new video game console gets released.
- rolenthedeep 4y ago
  4 years of development time, 1 year of production to build inventory projected to last 6 months or something. Take pre-orders a few weeks in advance, then everyone can have it day 1. No scalpers reselling them on eBay for 10 times the cost. No stampede at Apple stores because they already have a few weeks of inventory. The accelerated product cycle is why you have awful launches like consoles. The product is barely finished and rushed into production in time for Christmas. There's not time to build the actual units. Slow down a bit and you can solve that problem.
  - adt2bt 4y ago

senderista 4y ago

Welcome to publicly traded companies and stock-based executive compensation.

marcinzm 4y ago
This seems more like any company simply trying to maximize revenue and profits rather than something to do with being public.
- fragmede 4y ago
  but only public companies have to maximize revenue to the Nth degree, publicly. If the company isn't public, you have a far smaller audience to impress, and one that can be made to understand nuance. Eg how is Dell doing? Few really know since they went private.
  - marcinzm 4y ago
    That’s a fine argument if you explain why a yearly release cycle hurts long term total revenue as well. To me it seems to help it.
com2kid 4y ago
It is also the consumer news cycle. When a company doesn't have a yearly big flagship product launch, people assume something is very very wrong. Let's pretend Samsung skips releasing a new Galaxy this year. Mums the word, no news at all, they just don't announce anything. Well crap, to the average person who wants a new phone, that is scary, they want a phone that is going to be supported, not a phone from a company that might go out of business tomorrow! Or at least stop making phones. And who wants to buy a 1 year old phone? Heck phones have a huge drop off in purchase within months after release, 6 months on the market and unless you need a phone, mine as well wait another 6 months and either get the model you're looking at on serious discount, or get something that'll last longer. And then the tech press will go crazy with speculation! "OMFG END OF THE WORLD FOR THAT COMPANY!!!" Ok, another fun fact, profitability of consumer electronics, at least in the US, generally relies upon holiday sales. iPhones pop out in September, which is about optimal timing for reviews to hit en-masse, to build mindshare, and have partners do their initial huge full price sales before holiday promos kick in. Start releasing every 18 months instead and you fall off that train, your choices are pretty much 12m or 24m cycles to hit that holiday release.

madrox 4y ago

Ed Catmull calls this "feeding the beast" and it's one of the biggest barriers to innovation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LafDex0L7FM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LafDex0L7FM

Gigachad 4y ago

Nah, they do a slower cycle for some of the iPads and it results in a model that’s 3 years old still selling and everyone advises to wait a year for the new one because it will be way better. While the iPhone is always a good time to buy because next years one won’t obsolete this years.

vineyardmike 4y ago

They’ve basically killed the cycle, in all but name. Now it’s just steady progress but it’s not too differentiated. I too upgraded to the 14P from 11P, mostly for the MagSafe. MagSafe has been out since the 12 but I couldn’t be bothered until 3 years on. Now I won’t upgrade until USBC or it breaks. The iPhone 14 (non pro) uses much of the iPhone 13’s internals, while the Pro gets upgraded. I think this is basically how the watch already is. I expect this is the future, the upgraded won’t really matter and won’t really exist beyond slight aesthetic tweaks. It’s like cars, no matter which year you get, they all drive just fine and are mostly the same internally. I’ve long said that cars are the natural comparison to these sort of electronics. Cars and phones are probably the two most expensive and utilitarian things people regularly buy. They come out with new ones every year, but don’t do major refreshes every year so you don’t really have a reason to tine when to buy one. I think it also indicates that we’ll see a price stagnating base-model phone and an ever increasing top-tier model as the companies explore how much people are willing to spend (a Corolla vs a Mercedes). The nice thing about the steady new versions is that you can always go to the store and buy the biggest-number iPhone version and not worry about lifespan or if it’s good (contrast with a game console: if you buy the PS4 6mo before the PS5 comes out, you made a mistake).

P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
> I think it also indicates that we’ll see a price stagnating base-model phone and an ever increasing top-tier model as the companies explore how much people are willing to spend (a Corolla vs a Mercedes). I don't think so. A Mercedes will get you laid, the latest iphone won't and likely never will. cell phones stopped being status symbols long before smart phones were created by apple and I don't see them going back to that.
- saagarjha 4y ago
  > A Mercedes will get you laid, the latest iphone won't and likely never will. Not having one might harm your chances, though.
- vineyardmike 4y ago
  > A Mercedes will get you laid Only because it’s a sign you have money, not because cars are cool. > the latest iphone won't and likely never will. When apple has a $5k iPhone it may once again become a status symbol. Almost 50% of Americans have an iPhone of some version. It’s obviously not a status symbol of everyone has one. iPhones, like cars, are mostly undifferentiated. Apple has a lot of room to build a status symbol, but admittedly they haven’t been too successful when trying with the Apple Watch, so I will admit the odds are low they’ll succeed, but I believe the market exists in the long run.

megablast 4y ago

What a silly statement. Most people aren’t updating every year. Imagine if they only updated every second year. You would pay full price for a phone that came out 23 months ago?? Don’t be daft.

exabrial 4y ago

Completely agree. 2-4 years would be wonderful if they actually worked out all of the bugs. Instead we get mostly half baked ideas and products instead of stuff that actually works solid.

wilg 4y ago

I really don't get this implication that it's bad to do minor updates to products every year. They're not expecting you to buy one every year (but they hope you do!). It's like I don't complain if they come out with a 2023 Corolla with refined cupholders.

AdrianB1 4y ago

I just changed my phone after 6 years, but I did not expect the industry to suspend for all that time just because I don't need a new phone every year. Having new products every years does not suggest you should upgrade.

teruakohatu 4y ago

> I got the new 14 Pro, but only because I wanted the mag charger feature As long as people are willing to upgrade for minor features, why wouldn't they release a new phone each year? I say this as a person who would (will) absolutely upgrade just for USB-C hopefully next year.

AlexThrowAway 4y ago
I have an iphone XS. I'll be upgrading for USB-C, Globalstar messaging, and 8GB of ram. All three are required. I will not play the nickel and diming game on DRAM, 6GB on a flagship phone ain't enough for a five year phone.

katbyte 4y ago

personally i was pretty stoked about the satellite SOS feature and dual band GPS. The huge jump in camera megapixels and car crash detection is also nice. but if none of that interests you then yes, i guess it could be considered a terrible cycle.

bpye 4y ago

I'm still holding onto my 11 Pro for now, but if the 15 Pro has USB-C I'll happily upgrade. There's nothing on my 11 Pro I'm unhappy with still, though the battery life is noticeably worse than when new by now.

dwaite 4y ago

> This yearly upgrade cycle is terrible. Their phones are fantastic, and now they're stuck in some sort of spiral to push things every year. They could stand to chill out They don't have planning meetings once iOS 16 or iPhone 14 ships to decide what to work on next year - like most companies, the products are divided into components, for is divided into features, where those features have multi-year pipelines and land when they are ready (although they often land incrementally). Slower releases likely mean that there'd be more motivation to aggressively push changes out, e.g. your team's changes either ships in 3 months or have to wait two extra years. That means that a slower release cycle can actually decrease quality, and is IMHO one of the reasons that many longtime MacOS users have decided they'll never install an OS until the dot-two release. Even if that isn't the case, slower release cycles mean that developers are less nimble in correcting the problems that inevitably exist. A non-Apple example - Java before 1.9 is a great case study of how a poor release process cost insane amounts of efficiency, and cause a language to be too slow to take advantage of market opportunities. Their new process is faster and more predictable, and has resulted in significant gains for the language and VM. > I got the new 14 Pro, but only because I wanted the mag charger feature. Before that, the 11 Pro was still a solid phone and did everything I wanted and more. Won't be upgrading at least 3 years Sure, most people don't upgrade their hardware every year. That doesn't mean creating and selling new hardware is a bad idea.