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> Apple has offered products with little value over competitors I'm genuinely surprised by this comment. For example, I thought there was universal sentiment

> Apple has offered products with little value over competitors I'm genuinely surprised by this comment. For example, I thought there was universal sentiment that apple silicon / M-series computers are pretty unmatched.

WarmWash 8mo ago
The overwhelming volume of Apples sales comes from people who wouldn't notice if their device was running 2016 level hardware.
- jasonjmcghee 8mo ago
  If software didn't keep getting worse this might be true but the average consumer notices if their computer is slow or dies too quickly.
  - adithyassekhar 8mo ago
    It's sad how hardware improves leaps every year but software still does the same things but slower.
  - kelvinjps10 8mo ago
    But competitors do the same
- nozzlegear 8mo ago
  > The overwhelming volume of Apples sales comes from people who wouldn't notice if their device was running 2016 level hardware. How could we possibly know this? This is just an argument from elitism, as though the plebes should be happy playing Farmville on their gateway computers, while us haughty developers sit in our ivory towers and herald in the end of the anthropocene using machines we can actually appreciate.
  - bigyabai 8mo ago
    > How could we possibly know this? They make a good point. Apple's most-popular device is a smartphone that doesn't handle workloads any heavier than Snapchat or Instagram. The value prop of the iPhone is not rooted in the performance or battery life (as Liquid Glass showed us) but just the branding. Apple makes more money selling iPhone accessories than they make selling Macs. The desktop market share isn't going up, the Mac's lifeline is depreciation of old hardware to force Mac owners into the upgrade cycle: https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide/ https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide...
    - jasonjmcghee 8mo ago
      iPhones are some sci-fi magic computers. It's incredible how powerful they are. Most smartphones are.
      - bigyabai 8mo ago
        Be that as it may, I can guarantee you with complete confidence that 90% of iPhone owners are not engaged in heavy workloads. The overwhelming majority of people just don't notice.
    - nozzlegear 8mo ago
      > They make a good point. Apple's most-popular device is a smartphone that doesn't handle workloads any heavier than Snapchat or Instagram. The value prop of the iPhone is not rooted in the performance or battery life (as Liquid Glass showed us) but just the branding. It's not a good point, it's an assumption based on elitism, just like your assumption that nobody is doing anything other than Snapchat or Instagram on their phones, or that they're only buying an iPhone because of the branding and not also the performance and battery life. In your head, what do you think the average iPhone user looks like? Are they drooling simpletons? > Apple makes more money selling iPhone accessories than they make selling Macs. You look at the desktop market share in 2026 and it's very apparent that the Mac's regular upgrade cycle is driving Apple's sales, not direct competition: https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide/ https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide... What point are you trying to make here? People like the iPhone, the iPhone makes a shitload of money, so therefore people who have Macs don't appreciate the hardware? Or what? Also, StatCounter is not an accurate website: https://daringfireball.net/2026/01/ios_26_adoption_rate_is_not_bizarrely_low https://daringfireball.net/2026/01/ios_26_adoption_rate_is_n... https://daringfireball.net/2026/02/apple_releases_ios_26_adoption_rates https://daringfireball.net/2026/02/apple_releases_ios_26_ado...
hojiyaka 8mo ago
I think the point was supposed to be default apps in an OS, similar to default search engine.. What I am missing is that OpenAI is in no way that default. Every OS, browser, etc should be able to find a more profitable default than sending someone to OpenAI.
ac29 8mo ago
> For example, I thought there was universal sentiment that apple silicon / M-series computers are pretty unmatched. 5 years ago, sure, but the x86 world has come a long way since Apple dumped Intel. I'd certainly take a 2026 Intel machine over something with an M1-M3.

WarmWash 8mo ago

The overwhelming volume of Apples sales comes from people who wouldn't notice if their device was running 2016 level hardware.

jasonjmcghee 8mo ago
If software didn't keep getting worse this might be true but the average consumer notices if their computer is slow or dies too quickly.
- adithyassekhar 8mo ago
  It's sad how hardware improves leaps every year but software still does the same things but slower.
- kelvinjps10 8mo ago
  But competitors do the same
nozzlegear 8mo ago
> The overwhelming volume of Apples sales comes from people who wouldn't notice if their device was running 2016 level hardware. How could we possibly know this? This is just an argument from elitism, as though the plebes should be happy playing Farmville on their gateway computers, while us haughty developers sit in our ivory towers and herald in the end of the anthropocene using machines we can actually appreciate.
- bigyabai 8mo ago
  > How could we possibly know this? They make a good point. Apple's most-popular device is a smartphone that doesn't handle workloads any heavier than Snapchat or Instagram. The value prop of the iPhone is not rooted in the performance or battery life (as Liquid Glass showed us) but just the branding. Apple makes more money selling iPhone accessories than they make selling Macs. The desktop market share isn't going up, the Mac's lifeline is depreciation of old hardware to force Mac owners into the upgrade cycle: https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide/ https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide...
  - jasonjmcghee 8mo ago
    iPhones are some sci-fi magic computers. It's incredible how powerful they are. Most smartphones are.
    - bigyabai 8mo ago
      Be that as it may, I can guarantee you with complete confidence that 90% of iPhone owners are not engaged in heavy workloads. The overwhelming majority of people just don't notice.
  - nozzlegear 8mo ago
    > They make a good point. Apple's most-popular device is a smartphone that doesn't handle workloads any heavier than Snapchat or Instagram. The value prop of the iPhone is not rooted in the performance or battery life (as Liquid Glass showed us) but just the branding. It's not a good point, it's an assumption based on elitism, just like your assumption that nobody is doing anything other than Snapchat or Instagram on their phones, or that they're only buying an iPhone because of the branding and not also the performance and battery life. In your head, what do you think the average iPhone user looks like? Are they drooling simpletons? > Apple makes more money selling iPhone accessories than they make selling Macs. You look at the desktop market share in 2026 and it's very apparent that the Mac's regular upgrade cycle is driving Apple's sales, not direct competition: https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide/ https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/desktop/worldwide... What point are you trying to make here? People like the iPhone, the iPhone makes a shitload of money, so therefore people who have Macs don't appreciate the hardware? Or what? Also, StatCounter is not an accurate website: https://daringfireball.net/2026/01/ios_26_adoption_rate_is_not_bizarrely_low https://daringfireball.net/2026/01/ios_26_adoption_rate_is_n... https://daringfireball.net/2026/02/apple_releases_ios_26_adoption_rates https://daringfireball.net/2026/02/apple_releases_ios_26_ado...

hojiyaka 8mo ago

I think the point was supposed to be default apps in an OS, similar to default search engine.. What I am missing is that OpenAI is in no way that default. Every OS, browser, etc should be able to find a more profitable default than sending someone to OpenAI.

ac29 8mo ago

> For example, I thought there was universal sentiment that apple silicon / M-series computers are pretty unmatched. 5 years ago, sure, but the x86 world has come a long way since Apple dumped Intel. I'd certainly take a 2026 Intel machine over something with an M1-M3.