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eatrains

macrumors 6502a
Mar 11, 2006
632
4,844
I think the SE's success had less to do with its small size and more to do with other things like low price, home button/Touch ID, LCD screen, and enterprise sales.
But its "small" size hasn't caused it to be rejected.
 

freeagent

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2020
597
400
I think the SE's success had less to do with its small size and more to do with other things like low price, home button/Touch ID, LCD screen, and enterprise sales.
Are you just going by what you read here?

This website literally does nothing for Apple sales, nor does even come close to remotely driving public opinion.

My wife has one, loves it. My mom has one too, her first phone.. she's a boomer.. she likes it.

I would never buy one. But that's how it goes, right?
 

scorpio vega

macrumors 65816
May 3, 2023
1,218
1,508
Raleigh, NC
I feel like apple wouldn’t be as much of a pushover about these regulations because Steve would
Fight and he seemed to take more pride in the uniqueness that is iPhone. So I do miss Jobs.
 
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Tsepz

macrumors 601
Jan 24, 2013
4,826
4,638
Johannesburg, South Africa
But its "small" size hasn't caused it to be rejected.
Given that we didn’t even get a 2023 SE, I get the feeling it’s not won many favourable fans outside of Japan.

Looking at typical iPhone sales stats to in recent times, the SE barely makes it in the top 5:
IMG_4816.png


The current 2023 stats are looking even worse for the SE, Japan seems to be one of the few markets where it has seen decent uptake:

Japan is an interesting market as it seems smaller phones are typically preferred there now, quite the contrast to their Keitai phone trend of the 2000s where they rocked huge flip ups.
 
Last edited:

webkit

macrumors 68030
Jan 14, 2021
2,909
2,523
United States
But its "small" size hasn't caused it to be rejected.

My point was that its success may have had little to do with its small size as people purchased it for other reasons. Some may have simply "tolerated" the small size and bought it because it was cheap (relative to other iPhones), had home button/Touch ID, an LCD screen, etc. Some may have gotten it from their employer and had no say in the matter.
 
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webkit

macrumors 68030
Jan 14, 2021
2,909
2,523
United States
Are you just going by what you read here?

This website literally does nothing for Apple sales, nor does even come close to remotely driving public opinion.

My wife has one, loves it. My mom has one too, her first phone.. she's a boomer.. she likes it.

I would never buy one. But that's how it goes, right?

I am going by reported sales estimates which have shown the mini didn't do well for Apple, and small phones in the overall smartphone market aren't big sellers.
 

aj_niner

Suspended
Dec 24, 2023
360
372
Given that we didn’t even get a 2023 SE, I get the feeling it’s not won many favourable fans outside of Japan.

Looking at typical iPhone sales stats to in recent times, the SE barely makes it in the top 5:
View attachment 2329688

The current 2023 stats are looking even worse for the SE, Japan seems to be one of the few markets where it has seen decent uptake:

Japan is an interesting market as it seems smaller phones are typically preferred there now, quite the contrast to their Keitai phone trend of the 2000s where they rocked huge flip ups.
Thanks for this... This will really annoy a lot of Androids.

BTW is there a graphic for 2023?
 
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klky

macrumors 6502
Oct 30, 2015
400
750
I'm not too bothered by how the lineup or software has changed. I think that's just the nature of a maturing product - one that has arguably become the least dispensable thing we own with the target demographic widening by the day. These devices need to do more for more people.

What I do miss is Steve himself. His candor, showmanship, and genuine joy about what they were doing at Apple, even when they made mistakes. I just don't feel the same from the current leadership. Nowadays, it seems like a lot of scripted PR and pandering.
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,308
24,039
Gotta be in it to win it
The lineup was very compact - two to three storage options and comes in two colours. That’s it. Along with the skeumorphic design of iOS, the entire experience, for me, was enjoyable. iOS was limited but it performs at its best at what it’s designed to do. I’ve never clamoured for a software fix when iOS 6 dropped in 2012.
Here's my take. Apple was forced to expand the lineup because as the world evolved and competition got better with more choices apple had to follow. Skeuomorphism hit it's peak with IOS 6 and adored by apple fans because Jobs told these fans to be enamored, but the world was headed in a different direction. Apple screwed up on maps and that was that for Forstall. And because you didn't clamor for a software fix on ios 6 doesn't mean there weren't bugs.
These days we have an ‘iPhone for everyone’ approach. It made Apple a lot of money and in my opinion, this would be Cook’s legacy - making Apple products mainstream. In contrast to Jobs’ approach of making the best products for those who are loyal to Apple and believe in their process.
As time went on and the competition started catching up with hardware Apple could not sit still. In contrast of Jobs approach for making the best products for a small base, Cook expanded the product line and started making the best products for a wider audience.
However, such mass appeal comes with a price. People are hesitant to upgrade to new OSes,
A generalized blanket statement. Seems many don't have hesitancy to upgrade ios versions. With a billion iphones out there people do what they want. People wanting to upgrade or not is not a metric that can logically be applied to criticize an aspect of Apple.
Apple releases some new features but also introduces tens of bugs which may take days to months to fix,
This has been the case for day one especially Apple not introducing common features or brushing over bad hardware. Missing copy and paste or "you're holding it wrong" comes to mind. Let's not pretend in the Jobs area things were 100%.
a bloated product lineup that lacks focus -
This is an opinion only and the reason Apple is doing so well. It focuses on a wider range of product and capabilities across price points.
the blatant removal of previous Pro iPhones to ensure it doesn’t undercut the latest Pro models but they’re happy to keep last year’s or the year before’s base iPhones.
The strategy does seem to be working.
The product lineup may generate a lot of revenue but from an Apple sheep,
So when a cogent argument is nowhere to be had, throw some ad-homs as reinforcement.
it seems very ‘out of focus’. I’m not saying we should move backwards. But I long for the day where iOS fixes all the bugs for inconsistencies from previous years and perhaps introduce a much condense product lineup that benefits the users such as - not having a 14 Plus and a 15 Plus available side by side in their official stores.
The Apple you want is in the past. Things aren't going back in the direction. You can mourn for it, remember it, but those days are long gone.
 

dumastudetto

macrumors 603
Aug 28, 2013
5,081
7,292
Los Angeles, USA
Best in what? Topping out the price range? Best colours? These statements tend to fall flat shortly after they are released to the wild.

  • The most complete range of iPhones covering all price points - from insanely affordable, to insanely great.
  • The most pro iPhone Pro ever with A15 Pro introducing technologies seen in next-gen consoles and high-end graphics cards from Nvidia and Intel.
  • The most powerful camera system ever in any smartphone with iPhone 15 Pro Max.
  • The most advanced mobile operating system running exclusively on the most advanced SoC.
  • The most iPhone ever.
 

kevink2

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2008
1,842
294
Sure, I agree what the roles of the 13 and 14 are but say Apple doesn’t sell these two products, would these group of people turn away from Apple altogether or they’ll just buy the 15 instead? I think the choice to have the 13 and 14; actually just the 14, is heavily motivated by profit through capturing as much people as they can in those pricing groups.
Or more people would buy used.
 

kevink2

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2008
1,842
294
I believe one of the reasons for the smaller options in the early years of the iPhone was Apple reducing risk. They didn't want to build too large of an inventory of unsold models since it costs money to take unsold inventory back, or risk getting into cutting prices too much. At some point, they became better able to manage inventory.

Technology improved, and they were able to at least reduce the number of model necessary to cover the world. No longer a need for a Verizon/Sprint model, a T-Mobile model, and an ATT model. They modems could handle more bands.

But still not perfect. The Mini models didn't sell as well as expected. For me, it was the camera.
 

ericwn

macrumors G4
Apr 24, 2016
11,844
10,440
  • The most complete range of iPhones covering all price points - from insanely affordable, to insanely great.
  • The most pro iPhone Pro ever with A15 Pro introducing technologies seen in next-gen consoles and high-end graphics cards from Nvidia and Intel.
  • The most powerful camera system ever in any smartphone with iPhone 15 Pro Max.
  • The most advanced mobile operating system running exclusively on the most advanced SoC.
  • The most iPhone ever.

All hollow marketing phrases. Evolutionary products tend to be better than their previous generations.

Plus of course an entire paragraph of downsides that you chose to ignore that the op laid out and would be a direct counter point to “best”.
 

Hot Apple Cider

macrumors newbie
Jan 18, 2018
24
49
No, not really.

Steve was a visionary for sure and his iPhone captured the moment of years of technology evolutions coming to fruitation. It took years and years of development and incremental improvement to reach that revolutionary moment. And I don't see the next one happening anytime soon. AI, quantum computing and 5/6/7G are all years away from the next super nova moment.

So I have no romanticized notion that only if Steve Jobs were alive there would be endless innovations.
 
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Adelphos33

macrumors 68000
Mar 13, 2012
1,578
1,851
One thing I am not sure I understand, is the desire of many of Apple's fans for "tight" and "focused" product lines. This seems to happen across all of Apple's products, not just phones. As long as you have a product you like, I am not sure I understand why a diverse product offering is a negative. I guess fewer options makes purchasing decisions easier, but it doesn't do much to improve the user experience of the product you do buy
 

dumastudetto

macrumors 603
Aug 28, 2013
5,081
7,292
Los Angeles, USA
All hollow marketing phrases. Evolutionary products tend to be better than their previous generations.

Plus of course an entire paragraph of downsides that you chose to ignore that the op laid out and would be a direct counter point to “best”.

There's no sense arguing directly who writes paragraph(s) that are completely opposed to my perspective. I'm not going to persuade them they are wrong, and likewise I will never agree with them.
 

ericwn

macrumors G4
Apr 24, 2016
11,844
10,440
There's no sense arguing directly who writes paragraph(s) that are completely opposed to my perspective. I'm not going to persuade them they are wrong, and likewise I will never agree with them.
If you come prepared with a mindset that your opinion can never be changed, why come here, to throw absolutist statements around? The entire point of a forum is for the community to interact. At least that’s why most of the users come here for.
 

dumastudetto

macrumors 603
Aug 28, 2013
5,081
7,292
Los Angeles, USA
If you come prepared with a mindset that your opinion can never be changed, why come here, to throw absolutist statements around? The entire point of a forum is for the community to interact. At least that’s why most of the users come here for.

My opinion can be changed by facts. Happens all the time. However, the mods on this forum generally take a dim view of arguing for the sake of arguing.

So I gave my opinion on the subject without replying to the first post. And I respond to the replies like yours if I feel a reply is worthwhile.
 
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