Tim Cook to Investors: People Bought Fewer New iPhones Because They Repaired Their Old Ones

[Darunion]

I have an iPhone 7+ and can afford to upgrade, but haven’t. My phone does everything I need it to do. I am thinking that after the 4 year mark, I might consider an upgrade but if it’s still running fine, I’ll probably put it off.

I went from galaxy s7 to iphone x last upgrade cycle, didnt feel much different, at best the camera was slightly better in my s7. Still with the X and see no reason to upgrade while it works.

 

[DejaWiz]

The cheapest iPhone 11 is $700, outright. There's your problem, Apple.

 

[TordanGow]

I have an iPhone 7+ and can afford to upgrade, but haven’t. My phone does everything I need it to do. I am thinking that after the 4 year mark, I might consider an upgrade but if it’s still running fine, I’ll probably put it off.

This is the best approach. A phone is a tool to accomplish tasks. As long as it's effectively meeting that goal there is no need to replace it. I replaced my last phone at 2.5 years but only because there was something wrong with the hardware... The charging port would intermittently work and the finger sensor went bad. Could have lived without the finger sensor but the charging issue was no bueno.

 

[THRESHIN]

I've always been big into repairing my stuff. That's why I've never bought an apple product. When I make purchases, I always take repairability into account as much as possible. Doesn't matter if they did or didn't lose sales to people repairing their stuff. Fact is the people want this so it isn't going to go away.

We will buy that shiny new device when there's a good reason to. Slightly better camera and slightly bigger batter isn't going to cut it anymore.

I think right to repair should have been law years ago. Most of the time when I can't fix something it's because I can't get parts or the parts are so expensive it isn't worth it. Regardless, make your product easier to repair and you'll have my money every time. When I bought a new car nearly 5 years ago, I read all the warranty documents of the ones I was choosing between. I ended up getting a Mazda because their warranty clearly states in plain english that you can do your own maintenance and still retain warranty and then it goes on to tell you how they want it documented. That was a huge factor in my decision.

 

[pillagenburn]

You start forcing obsolescence you’ll lose me as a customer quick.

The tech isn’t improving fast enough to warrant a upgrade every cycle.

And $1k pricepoints... hello?!?!?

Apple should rerelease their new phone with a headphone jack option, and cheaper cameras at the $500 pricepoint, and watch sales take off again. How many megapixels do we really need? I’d like to pay less for my phone with a ‘good camera’ for pictures and an OK camera for facetime, and not two bleeding edge great/expensive cameras.

Don’t force obsolescence.

but then how do we artificially inflate Apple's stock price and keep giving more money to people that already have too much money???

 

[sfsuphysics]

I have an iPhone 7+ and can afford to upgrade, but haven’t. My phone does everything I need it to do. I am thinking that after the 4 year mark, I might consider an upgrade but if it’s still running fine, I’ll probably put it off.

Ever since Apple got caught purposefully slowing phones down, seems like a great time as any to keep what you have if it works. I mean I don't need to game on my phone, I don't need the latest hardware, as long as it doesn't look like ass (busted ass screen, etc) I'm riding my S8+ until it stops recharging... and then I might even see how easy/hard it is to replace the battery. As it stands the USB port on the phone doesn't work at all, but I can still wirelessly charge so I'm good.

 

[nilepez]

That may be part of it, but the reality is that phone innovation has slowed, which means the need to regularly upgrade has greatly diminished. If you have the X or Xs, the 11 offers a better camera and faster CPU, but odds are your current CPU is plenty fast and upgrading after 2 or 3 years for a camera is a stretch, though I'm sure some do it. Money isn't the issue for me, but I can't imagine it's not an issue for many (and truth be told, with the exception of the XS Max I bought, all my iphones were bought through alternative channels at a deep discount. Regardless, Apple ain't hurting and the market doesn't seem to care...hell it's doubled in a year and tripled in the last 4 years (though it's roughly 50% over fair value, so maybe nows a good time to take some profits).