Advantage is faster Category 18 LTE which won’t matter unless your ever in
rural areas.
This is why I have a Google Pixel 3 coming. I also picked the 3 because while I
do not need a home button I find stand alone finger print readers easier (yes I
have tried 5 androids so far.)
Also the cheaper iPhone SE uses EMMC rather than UFS storage.
Strange how you notice this with a lower6 series processor on an android phone
but don’t notice on an Apple phone.
I think it’ll be great once Apple puts in display finger print readers on
their phones. Especially if they do it like Samsung does, right under where
the virtual home button will be.
I have found that Samsun’s’ in-display finger print reader is slower than an
actual mounted sensor but it does work.
I have found that in android there is no home button and honestly its no big
deal. This is because the Butten is virtual, is always present, and is
announced by Talkback or Samsung’s Voice Assistant when your finger lands on it.
From: blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of David Goldfield
Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2019 10:04 AM
To: blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-philly-comp] Re: Comment: Apple is gradually selling more and
more of us an iPhone subscription
I apologize as I know this is a slightly older thread but I realized I hadn't
gotten as caught up with email from this list as I thought I had.
While I was tempted to upgrade to an iPhone 11 I realized that I'd be losing
the home button, along with Touch ID, and gaining fewer benefits which would
actually have a positive impact on me. The two things which tempted me were
Apple's promises of richer sound as well as an extremely generous amount of
battery usage. I've pretty much solved the battery usage problem with the Apple
Smart Case for my iPhone 8 which is incredible and usually can keep my battery
at 100% for an entire day. I very briefly heard the sound on an iPhone 11 and,
while it was noticeably better than my iPhone 8, it didn't blow me away. Sound
is a big deal to me as I watch a lot of TV on my phone, although my wife and I
watch a lot of content together on our TV. I wouldn't mind giving up a home
button but I'd need more incentive to do so. Giving up touch ID is something
that I may have to do at some point but I don't want to unless I have to. There
are rumors that there may be a new iPhone SE coming out next year with the
iPhone 11's processor along with the return of touch ID. If this is true it
could tempt me to give up my 8 but I'd have to hear it first as sound is very
important to me. Until then I'm quite content with my current phone. It is
still extremely fast, sounds very good and its camera is more than adequate for
the apps I use it for, such as Envision AI, Seeing AI and AIRA. In fact, AIRA
just released an update yesterday which claims to offer improved support for
the newer dual and tripple lens cameras. In theory, this could mean that AIRA
agents may get an even better view of your environment when you call them.
David Goldfield,
Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist
WWW.DavidGoldfield.org <http://WWW.DavidGoldfield.org>
On 10/31/2019 4:11 PM, kstarrett5@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:kstarrett5@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hmm, the apple card deal of two years interest free sounds interesting. Though
I am one of those iPhone owners who found nothing exciting in the last round of
upgrades, I might consider a deal like two years interest free. On the other
hand, my husband and I buy our phones outright from apple so I will have to
give these new options some serious thought.
From: blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<mailto:blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of David Goldfield
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2019 3:42 PM
To: blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-philly-comp] Comment: Apple is gradually selling more and more
of us an iPhone subscription
9to5Mac - Thursday, October 31, 2019 at 8:23 AM
Comment: Apple is gradually selling more and more of us an iPhone subscription
An iPhone <https://9to5mac.com/guides/iphone/> subscription would once have
sounded like a bad joke. But these days it’s a growing reality.
Apple has long faced a problem. Its biggest cash cow is the iPhone,
historically generating the majority of the company’s revenues. But where
people once bought a new iPhone every couple of years on average, that upgrade
cycle has been gradually lengthening. It’s now in the 3-4 year range for the
average buyer…
NordVPN
That’s not an Apple-specific thing. The smartphone market as a whole has been
either flat or in decline for some time because the technology is pretty
mature. Consumers are looking at incremental changes from year to year, and
many are not seeing a compelling reason to upgrade from their existing model.
If we look at iPhones specifically, the iPhone 6
<https://9to5mac.com/guides/iphone-6/> provided a big boost to sales. There
had been a lot of pent-up demand for larger iPhones, and the iPhone 6 unleashed
it.
The iPhone X <https://9to5mac.com/guides/iphone-x/> could have had a similar
impact, offering a whole new design language, but consumers were deterred by
the high price, so all that did was keep sales on an even keel. Keeping Apple’s
iPhone revenue flat at a time when the market as a whole was declining.
The iPhone 11 <https://9to5mac.com/guides/iphone-11/> has clearly sold well.
Apple hit the top end of its guidance
<https://9to5mac.com/2019/10/30/aapl-earnings-q4-2019/> for the July-September
quarter, and iPhone income climbed back up above 50% again after falling to 48%
in July <https://9to5mac.com/2019/07/31/iphone-revenue-falling/> for the first
time since 2012. But the company
<https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/10/apple-reports-fourth-quarter-results/>
doesn’t want to rely on these occasional blips – models which persuade a
certain proportion of customers to upgrade after three years rather than four.
What it wants is reliable, recurring income from iPhone sales. And it really
wants customers to return to upgrading every couple of years.
The iPhone Upgrade Program
The company made a major play for this when it launched the iPhone Upgrade
Program
<https://9to5mac.com/2015/09/09/apple-announces-new-iphone-upgrade-program-new-iphone-every-year-for-32-month/>
back in 2015. This allows customers to buy a new iPhone and pay for it,
interest-free, over two years. To further sweeten the pot, it also offers the
option of handing back the phone after one year and getting a shiny new one in
return.
To get the new phone every year, you have to renew the deal every year and hand
back your existing phone each time. You are effectively buying an iPhone
subscription.
That may or may not be a better deal than just paying cash and selling the old
one each year, but what the iPhone Upgrade Program does is make it a really
simple, risk-free experience.
As a member of the iPhone Upgrade Program, you can get a new iPhone once you’ve
made the equivalent of at least 12 payments.
When you join the iPhone Upgrade Program, AppleCare+ is included in your
monthly payments.
You’re buying directly from Apple. Which means no more financing your iPhone
through your carrier or committing to a multiyear service contract. We connect
your new iPhone to your carrier for you. So you won’t have to make any changes
to your rate plan. And if you ever decide to switch carriers after you activate
your iPhone with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon, you can easily do that,
too.
The Apple Card provided a further incentive to upgrade more often, offering 3%
cashback on all purchases from Apple. And it tweaked things so that the iPhone
Upgrade Program qualified for that 3% payback
<https://9to5mac.com/2019/08/11/apple-card-iphone-upgrade-program/> even
though the purchase was technically funded by a loan from a third-party bank.
Apple’s latest take on an iPhone subscription
Yesterday, Apple made its latest move
<https://9to5mac.com/2019/10/30/apple-card-adding-0-financing-for-iphone-purchases-later-this-year/>
: buy an iPhone with your Apple Card, and you pay no interest on the sum for
two years.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced today that Apple Card will soon be adding a new
feature for iPhone financing. Starting later this year, Apple Card users will
be able to finance iPhone purchases with 0% interest.
“I am very pleased to announce today that later this year, we are adding
another great feature to Apple Card. Customers will be able to purchase their
new iPhone and pay for it over it over 24 months with zero interest. And they
will continue to enjoy all the benefits of Apple Card, including 3% cash back
on the total cost of their iPhone with absolutely no fees and the ability to
simply manage their payments right in the Apple Wallet app on iPhone.”
Effectively this is an alternative to the iPhone Upgrade Program, offering the
same benefit but with greater flexibility: you can choose to make payments on
your own schedule.
For example, if you don’t want an extra monthly expense, but you have a bonus
due at the end of the year that will cover the purchase, you can pay it all off
in one go then. So long as the full cost of the phone is paid off within two
years, you pay no interest. Plus you get an effective 3% discount into the
bargain.
Best Buy and other retail chains have long known the influence
<https://9to5mac.com/2019/03/10/apple-store-credit-card/> of these types of
free financing deals as a way of driving purchases. Apple may not call either
of them an iPhone subscription, but that’s effectively what they are.
The iPhone Upgrade Program is an iPhone subscription in all but name. The Apple
Card deal is non-recurring, but it’s no coincidence that the period is two
years. So long as Apple maintains the offer, many people will immediately use
the same deal to buy their next iPhone two years down the line. The only real
difference is they have to actively choose to renew their subscription every
two years.
Apple has gone a long way toward solving the lengthening upgrade cycle problem,
and it has found a second way to turn an irregular purchase into a recurring
monthly income stream. (We don’t know what the arrangements are with Goldman
Sachs, but as they get no interest payment, I imagine Apple gets drip-fed the
income as consumers make the payments.)
Have any of these deals appealed to you? Are you on the iPhone Upgrade Program?
Have you taken advantage of the 3% Apple Card cash-back to buy an iPhone? And
will two years’ interest-free credit on Apple Card encourage you to upgrade
your phone more often? Let us know in the comments.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
<https://9to5mac.com/about/#affiliate>
Photo: Shutterstock <https://www.shutterstock.com/photos>
_____
https://9to5mac.com/2019/10/31/iphone-subscription/
David Goldfield
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.info <http://WWW.DavidGoldfield.info>
