aapl
fire starter
Posts: 179
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Post by aapl on Dec 12, 2023 3:25:55 GMT -8
AAPL's showing red this morning: 192.73 -$0.45 (-0.23%)
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Post by CdnPhoto on Dec 12, 2023 5:54:16 GMT -8
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Dec 12, 2023 8:15:14 GMT -8
Each place and each group of people is different, but I've heard a few people talking about how restaurants are slow right now (still in shoulder season...even the big resorts only have very limited terrain where they made snow). But then bigger items like houses and cars seem to have slowed some too. I bet we're there, but it takes a while to equalize and for people to realize things have slowed so they stop raising prices or raising rates. At the same time, it's xmas season and there are still some splurges where people don't care as much that it is up a little more (like a coffee or treat that is up 50 cents instead of just 20 cents). Offhand I would expect things to calm more in Jan/Feb, but then it takes some time to get into the numbers. But for the Fed this isn't a finish line where as soon as it is touched the rate changes. Instead it will sit there a bit, and maybe dip below 2%, as long as it doesn't look like other important things are crashing (unemployment changing quickly instead of slowly). They're still going for that soft landing, and doing a decent job of it even if things take a while and many people complain about it.
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JDSoCal
Member
Aspiring oligarch
Posts: 4,183
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Post by JDSoCal on Dec 12, 2023 8:27:30 GMT -8
Google loses antitrust trial brought by Epic GamesThat's what Google gets for letting something so complex go to a jury. Especially a San Francisco jury! (Apple's Epic case was decided by a judge). I would say that Google was also killed by its Android business model, which by design is supposedly "open" and encourages other companies to download the binaries and to code for it, i.e., a market. Apple made no such representations about iOS. More Karma than legal analysis, but still. I still maintain that iOS is analogous to Walmart, with no obligation to be "open" to other people selling things in it without paying rent for the privilege.
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Ted
fire starter
Posts: 882
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Post by Ted on Dec 12, 2023 9:08:16 GMT -8
Like this is newsworthy. Apple is stingy with RAM and overcharges for more than 8 GB. Yes, true, they've done that for years. It's called the Apple tax. You don't like it, buy a different computer... www.macworld.com/article/2130071/entry-level-m3-macbook-pro-8gb-memory-ram-performance.html"Apple has a long history of providing less RAM than it should for the price of its laptops and overcharging to get more, but it’s reached ridiculous proportions. The cheapest standard configuration with more than 8GB of RAM is 2 grand! The cheapest MacBook Pro you can configure with more than 8GB is $1,800!"Lenovo Fastest Gaming Laptop Legion Pro 7i........ $2399 Fastest Thin Gaming Laptop, Razer Blade 14.........$2550 Apple 2023 MacBook Pro Laptop M3 Pro chip, 18GB Unified Memory, 512GB SSD Storage..........$2433
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Post by CdnPhoto on Dec 12, 2023 10:11:41 GMT -8
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JDSoCal
Member
Aspiring oligarch
Posts: 4,183
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Post by JDSoCal on Dec 12, 2023 10:32:16 GMT -8
The first highlighted portion explains more articulately the point I was trying to make earlier. Ironically, by allowing sideloading, Google established a "market." And a key issue in monopoly cases in defining the relevant market.
BUT the idea that Apple can monopolize its own store, as suggested in the second highlight, is what comes out of the back of a bull. That's just reinventing the definition of a monopoly.
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Dec 12, 2023 10:45:04 GMT -8
Like this is newsworthy. Apple is stingy with RAM and overcharges for more than 8 GB. Yes, true, they've done that for years. It's called the Apple tax. You don't like it, buy a different computer... www.macworld.com/article/2130071/entry-level-m3-macbook-pro-8gb-memory-ram-performance.html"Apple has a long history of providing less RAM than it should for the price of its laptops and overcharging to get more, but it’s reached ridiculous proportions. The cheapest standard configuration with more than 8GB of RAM is 2 grand! The cheapest MacBook Pro you can configure with more than 8GB is $1,800!"Lenovo Fastest Gaming Laptop Legion Pro 7i........ $2399 Fastest Thin Gaming Laptop, Razer Blade 14.........$2550 Apple 2023 MacBook Pro Laptop M3 Pro chip, 18GB Unified Memory, 512GB SSD Storage..........$2433 I am bugged by this. It's one thing on the consumer level one, especially if they were paying more to third party vendors for sticks of memory. In the past maybe there was a $50 higher cost that they were charging $200 for. But now it's already on the die that Apple is having manufactured. I thought the die size for the same chip but with different memory is the same (not 100% certain, but I think this is right, and even if it isn't they are pretty close in overall size). And it would be run on the same lines, with the same number of steps. At first I think it took advantage of manufacturing errors, at least on the processor or GPU side, where they shipped some with 8 and some with 7, and part of the ones with 7 would be ones were 1 of the units failed QA and so they shut it off but could still use the overall device. Maybe they do this with the memory too, having enough units that don't have all 18 memory units (if they were a gig a piece...not going to check) that they could then turn off additional memory sections to give "lower quality" chips a marketable use at the 8 gig memory level. OTOH, this isn't a new production level, they shouldn't have a huge failure rate, and even if this was what they were doing there should be a level for pros that is less than 18 gigs but still a good bump up. It's a pro product. And sure, people can upgrade to a higher level, but then that means there is a lot of stock that just isn't a good fit for the pro user. Personally I'd rather Apple bumped prices up by $50 across the board and upped the minimum memory level to 12 or 16 gigs. Apple is the premium product here, with prices that are normally a little higher, but also a longer expected lifespan. An increase in memory, while also costing Apple very little and still having enough headroom for people who want even more, seems like the thing to do. And Apple has done that with the iPhone, quadrupling the low end on-board memory. While that is different (storage vs ram), and has more direct benefits to Apple (more space, for more apps, from the app store), it's the same idea of a small cost for an increase in an area that still has upsell potential.
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Post by CdnPhoto on Dec 12, 2023 10:45:27 GMT -8
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Ted
fire starter
Posts: 882
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Post by Ted on Dec 12, 2023 12:52:21 GMT -8
Like this is newsworthy. Apple is stingy with RAM and overcharges for more than 8 GB. Yes, true, they've done that for years. It's called the Apple tax. You don't like it, buy a different computer... www.macworld.com/article/2130071/entry-level-m3-macbook-pro-8gb-memory-ram-performance.html"Apple has a long history of providing less RAM than it should for the price of its laptops and overcharging to get more, but it’s reached ridiculous proportions. The cheapest standard configuration with more than 8GB of RAM is 2 grand! The cheapest MacBook Pro you can configure with more than 8GB is $1,800!"Lenovo Fastest Gaming Laptop Legion Pro 7i........ $2399 Fastest Thin Gaming Laptop, Razer Blade 14.........$2550 Apple 2023 MacBook Pro Laptop M3 Pro chip, 18GB Unified Memory, 512GB SSD Storage..........$2433 I am bugged by this. It's one thing on the consumer level one, especially if they were paying more to third party vendors for sticks of memory. In the past maybe there was a $50 higher cost that they were charging $200 for. But now it's already on the die that Apple is having manufactured. I thought the die size for the same chip but with different memory is the same (not 100% certain, but I think this is right, and even if it isn't they are pretty close in overall size). And it would be run on the same lines, with the same number of steps. At first I think it took advantage of manufacturing errors, at least on the processor or GPU side, where they shipped some with 8 and some with 7, and part of the ones with 7 would be ones were 1 of the units failed QA and so they shut it off but could still use the overall device. Maybe they do this with the memory too, having enough units that don't have all 18 memory units (if they were a gig a piece...not going to check) that they could then turn off additional memory sections to give "lower quality" chips a marketable use at the 8 gig memory level. OTOH, this isn't a new production level, they shouldn't have a huge failure rate, and even if this was what they were doing there should be a level for pros that is less than 18 gigs but still a good bump up. It's a pro product. And sure, people can upgrade to a higher level, but then that means there is a lot of stock that just isn't a good fit for the pro user. Personally I'd rather Apple bumped prices up by $50 across the board and upped the minimum memory level to 12 or 16 gigs. Apple is the premium product here, with prices that are normally a little higher, but also a longer expected lifespan. An increase in memory, while also costing Apple very little and still having enough headroom for people who want even more, seems like the thing to do. And Apple has done that with the iPhone, quadrupling the low end on-board memory. While that is different (storage vs ram), and has more direct benefits to Apple (more space, for more apps, from the app store), it's the same idea of a small cost for an increase in an area that still has upsell potential. I'm less bugged by this, but it still gives a trowel (a shovel?) to pundits who wanna fling mud at Apple, so, yeh, they should probably make the profit gouging a bit less overt.
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Ted
fire starter
Posts: 882
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Post by Ted on Dec 12, 2023 14:02:33 GMT -8
GM making shit up to justify dropping CarPlay. 😑 www.macrumors.com/2023/12/12/gm-carplay-removal-safer-drivers/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon "According to Tim Babbitt, GM's head of product for infotainment, GM has driver safety in mind. CarPlay and Android Auto can have issues like bad connections, slow response times, compatibility issues, and connectivity problems, leading drivers to be distracted from the road with smartphone troubleshooting.
Babbitt claims that drivers will be less likely to pick up their phones with a built-in system that does not rely on a service like CarPlay, leading to improved safety on the road. GM does not have any data to prove that an infotainment system is less distracting than CarPlay, nor has it done any testing."
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mark
fire starter
Posts: 1,552
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Post by mark on Dec 13, 2023 10:36:28 GMT -8
Like this is newsworthy. Apple is stingy with RAM and overcharges for more than 8 GB. Yes, true, they've done that for years. It's called the Apple tax. You don't like it, buy a different computer. Two comments about this: 1. While Apple does provide less RAM in their products (especially the "base model" of their products) than other manufacturers, Apple uses their RAM more efficiently, sometimes far more efficiently, than the others do. And in the end, it's overall performance that matters to the user, not some "spec" number that can be touted. This applies to desktops, laptops, tablets, and to smartphones. 2. I suspect that Apple does this for both a general dislike of waste, and for improved profitability. First off, why put 16GB into a base laptop that will be used 99.9% of the time to scroll through websites for social media and online shopping where 8GB is more than sufficient? Second, by putting minimal RAM in the base models, when discounting takes place, the pricing of that base model with discount will look spectacularly good compared to the higher level models. That drives sales without too much of a margin hit.
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4aapl
Moderator
Posts: 3,634
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Post by 4aapl on Dec 13, 2023 11:19:15 GMT -8
Like this is newsworthy. Apple is stingy with RAM and overcharges for more than 8 GB. Yes, true, they've done that for years. It's called the Apple tax. You don't like it, buy a different computer. Two comments about this: 1. While Apple does provide less RAM in their products (especially the "base model" of their products) than other manufacturers, Apple uses their RAM more efficiently, sometimes far more efficiently, than the others do. And in the end, it's overall performance that matters to the user, not some "spec" number that can be touted. This applies to desktops, laptops, tablets, and to smartphones. 2. I suspect that Apple does this for both a general dislike of waste, and for improved profitability. First off, why put 16GB into a base laptop that will be used 99.9% of the time to scroll through websites for social media and online shopping where 8GB is more than sufficient? Second, by putting minimal RAM in the base models, when discounting takes place, the pricing of that base model with discount will look spectacularly good compared to the higher level models. That drives sales without too much of a margin hit. And that's true, that the Mac seems to do fairly well with "only" 8 gigs of ram. In my 27" iMac, part of the reason I bought it and recommended one to my parents was because the memory was upgradable. I went the first year or two with the base 8 gigs, and really didn't have any problems. My "pushing it" is having up to 120 tabs open, and not restarting for a few months, plus mail and a couple other simple things. And in that case, as long as nothing goes out of control and you don't use up all your HD/SSD to virtual memory, things are fine. A year or two ago I added 2 16 gig sticks, bringing it to 40 gigs. But really there hasn't been much of a difference, because I'm not using big graphics or video files that need a lot of working space. It's nice to have, but the OS just seems to like to cache a bunch of stuff into the extra room. It's still some rouge ad on some small site that tends to make the system sluggish. It just takes longer to make it sluggish. OTOH, my parents just had issues with their iMac, and Apple said it was a bad OEM stick of memory. For some reason it still took days for them to fix it. I don't know what the final bill was, but I'm sure it was better than replacing a motherboard with built in memory. OTOH, I could have done it or they could have gone over to Best Buy, after diagnosis, and had it fixed within an hour. Ah well. I just don't want someone buying a cheap HP laptop because not only is it cheaper, but it also comes with 12 gigs of memory unlike the MBA with "only" 8 gigs.
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