IIRC Apple halted disclosing units of devices sold a long time ago.
Another thing going for it was that the iPhone product mix was less diverse 2007-2015.
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Other Is plastic more durable than aluminium/titanium/glass?
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Another thing going for it was that the iPhone product mix was less diverse 2007-2015.
Right, back then it would have been, what, iPhone 5c as the low end model, iPhone 5s as the midrange model, and iPhone 6 and 6+ as the flagship model, right? Maybe iPhone 4s retained as the super low cost model for developing markets?
Today, it’s iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15+, iPhone 15, iPhone 14 (midrange), iPhone 13 (entry range), iPhone SE (entry range modern), right?
Hence Apple not disclosing numbers.
Instead, they share revenue per business unit as it helps the competition to plan out production of their SKUs.
Correct. Still quite a diverse lineup back in 2014 actually, considering 2 models of 6, 5C and 5S, and 4S in developing markets.
iPhone 6 and plus definitely sold the most of all time. The numbers dropped after that, before Apple hid the numbers. No way they have climbed back to those levels. The market was much more open though, since people were still upgrading from dumb phones, early Android and the iPhone 3G, all of which were clearly inferior.
Yeah, after Apple started selling the 3G, they completely dropped the OG iPhone. And it wasn’t until the iPhone 4s that they started selling three models, IIRC. And the iPhone 4 was the first model they retained for developing markets. The iPhone 4 even got iOS 7.
Ah man, I remember those early iPhone days, when the popular rumors were about an iPhone mini or iPhone nano! How those predictions missed the mark!
Old school Nokia plastic case is stronger than any iPhone ever
They could've diversified the market. Early Android was trying a lot of smaller phones, 2.5 inch displays etc. But Apple wanted iOS to be flawless, so different sizes would've messed that up immensely.
Apple waited to see if smaller or bigger would be more popular, saw that bigger was taking off in the 2010s, and went that way. They were smart to keep the same display size from 2007-2011.
Of course, the reason why the mini or nano was such a popular rumor was that smaller was the direction MP3 players had gone. It makes sense in retrospect, though, that bigger was the way smartphones went, since that means more screen space for social media content, as well as larger displays for video.
As for durability, it also has to do with construction. I have a plastic internet radio, and the weight balance isn’t great, so I tend to knock it over more often than I’d like. When that happens, the top of the unit pops out of the clips. The last time that happened, the molex style connector for the volume controller popped loose, and I didn’t realize it. I knocked it down again tonight on accident and saw it. So plastic is really what you do with it.
Also, we likely didn’t pay as much notice to cell phone aesthetics back then. I know I baby my smartphones far more than I did my first cell phone. (’Course, it was also a $20 or $30 Tracfone piece of junk.) Back then, a phone that today we’d consider broken or unusable would probably still be considered pretty usable.
Also, we likely didn’t pay as much notice to cell phone aesthetics back then. I know I baby my smartphones far more than I did my first cell phone. (’Course, it was also a $20 or $30 Tracfone piece of junk.) Back then, a phone that today we’d consider broken or unusable would probably still be considered pretty usable.
There are more pressing questions than durability.... plastic is basically a non-recyclable material that ends up in our oceans and literally poisons us all. I do applaud Apple for at least making an effort to recycle their eWaste.
The AirBus A350 is over 50% composite structure
The AirBus A330 is 10% composite
The AirBus A380 is 22% composite
The Boeing 787 is also over 50% composite structure
The Current Boeing 777 is 12% and over 50% aluminum.
The new Boeing 777-9 will have composite wings and the fuselage is aluminum
The only aircraft with over 92+ titanium was the SR71 which was a spy plane, you can not get a ride on this aircraft in real life as it was retired 24 years ago
I spent over 35 years working on aircraft for the Air Force and Boeing composite structures are much more common and I don't have any problem walking on an aircraft and traveling all over the world. Most recent trip was overseas on a 787-9 to Asia in Febraury and in January 2019 just before covid I was in Asia and took that trip on board an Airbus A350.
Exactly. I had the A350 and 787 in mind when I wrote that, but as you point out, composites have been used to a lesser degree for a long time now. The original A330 and 777 designs are more than 30 years old.
High end bikes, cars, boats, etc. are mostly carbon fiber reinforced composite materials nowadays. And prior to that we also had fiberglass reinforced plastics that were common in things like boats and race cars. Every Chevrolet Corvette ever made since 1953 has a fiberglass body.
Plastics used to also be seen as a premium, space-age material. I have a Bulova Accutron Astronaut watch from the 1960s. A beautiful watch with one of the first electromechanical mechanisms (using 360 Hz tuning forks to keep time). It has a 18K gold boet, but the crystal is made of acrylic plastic. It'll scratch almost just by looking at it, but it was seen as a premium material at the time, used for things like aircraft canopies.
I wouldn't mind seeing a plastic iPhone again. The 3GS and 5C were very nice to hold.
while in my experience well designed plastic is more durable in regards to withstanding drops, it simply isn't that great when it comes to waste.
but of course aluminum built phones alone will not safe our planet. first and foremost the consumer need to be aware that it is really bad practice to get a new phone every single year, or even more frequent than that.
you don't even need them and in most cases barely make a difference to the ones from previous year(s) anyway
but of course aluminum built phones alone will not safe our planet. first and foremost the consumer need to be aware that it is really bad practice to get a new phone every single year, or even more frequent than that.
you don't even need them and in most cases barely make a difference to the ones from previous year(s) anyway
It’s all about chasing clout and status. Gotta appear to be absolutely on trend. It’s the same social phenomenon that drives fast fashion. (That said, if you have some basic mending skills, I would imagine that you could prolong the life of articles of fast fashion clothing. Though, chasing current season fashion trends means it would probably be painfully unfashionable.)
