Apple Wonderlust 2023 (12th Sept'23)

[AINDRASIS_GUPTA]

Bruh people are buying in droves even if they are forced bundled with accessories. Pros are anyway in short supply due to 3nm constraints, and will be for a few months. So demand is pretty strong, not just in India but overseas as well.

Kuo: iPhone 15 Pro Max demand is outpacing last year’s 14 Pro Max

Production challenges remain. The iPhone 15 series went on pre-order in the first wave of countries last Friday and we now have some our first set of...

www.gsmarena.com

iPhone 15 Pro Max demand outselling supply, says Goldman Sachs

Shipping dates show that the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the best-selling iPhone 15 model worldwide, and is now backordered into November 2023.

appleinsider.com

This isn't new. Every year the same headlines appear. These are some from the last year:

Kuo: iPhone 14 Pro Max Popularity Could Lead to More Differentiation Between iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max

Apple has seen high demand for the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max, which could lead the company to further differentiate the next-generation iPhone 15...

www.macrumors.com

iPhone 14 Pro Max sees strong demand, iPhone 14 Plus has disappointing numbers: Kuo

While the iPhone 14 Pro Max is the most pre-ordered phone in the iPhone 14 series, the 14 Plus had less demand than the iPhone 13 Mini, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

indianexpress.com

And this from the year before that:

Kuo: iPhone 13 pre-orders stronger than iPhone 12, shortages of iPhone 13 Pro to persist until November - 9to5Mac

Three days after pre-orders officially opened, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with a new investor note today detailing...

9to5mac.com

Just goes to show that Apple plays this "demand/supply" narrative intentionally every year with the Pro models. Nothing new though because companies like Nvidia and AMD have already been there and done that. Taking a page from the country's finest minds.

 

[desiibond]

Read somewhere that the intricate telephoto camera system in the pro max is also a production bottleneck. Don't know if it was a credible source, though.

Even 15 Pro is very hard to get.

 

[psyph3r]

Just goes to show that Apple plays this "demand/supply" narrative intentionally every year with the Pro models. Nothing new though because companies like Nvidia and AMD have already been there and done that. Taking a page from the country's finest minds.

This. artificial scarcity sells. There's no 3nm shortage, Apple itself had reportedly booked over 90% of 3nm chips for this year from TSMC.
It's exactly like how diamonds are priced, not because of their scarcity itself but because corporations like De Beers control the supply.
As for the Dubai videos, expect a ton of the phones to land in Kerala

 

[desiibond]

This. artificial scarcity sells. There's no 3nm shortage, Apple itself had reportedly booked over 90% of 3nm chips for this year from TSMC.
It's exactly like how diamonds are priced, not because of their scarcity itself but because corporations like De Beers control the supply.
As for the Dubai videos, expect a ton of the phones to land in Kerala

Bhai, Apple wanted to go with 3nm fab for M2 but fab challenges made them to stick to 5nm for M2 design. Just because they booked entire years slot doesn’t mean they are getting mountains of chips. As of July, yield rate of 3nm is 55%. Yield rate of 5nm is over 90% now. That if 4nm is over 75% and Qualcomm is sticking with 4nm fab for sd8 gen 3, as per reports. TSMC struggling with 3nm yield was known fact since April.
These fake selling out blah blah is Modus operandi for Chinese maal. Last year, I was in office and from day one, 14pm was available at store in Bangalore. Not the case this year. The supply struggle is real this year. Even Croma and Reliance Digital are not showing stock for pro max.

 

[psyph3r]

Even Croma and Reliance Digital are not showing stock for pro max.

Yea because they made the 15 so unappealing that the people are willing to splurge a bit more and get the pm instead.
Also with an extra price hike over last year, they're more inclined to ship those to markets where it'll move immediately. I mean the high storage models literally cost 2.2L with apple care, peak clown world.

 

[letmein]

Unicorn store in CyberHub, Gurgaon was jam packed. Like literal people wall-to-wall. I wanted to check the 15 Pros, but decided against it.

 

[desiibond]

Yea because they made the 15 so unappealing that the people are willing to splurge a bit more and get the pm instead.

Spot on. I am going with pro max for this reason alone. But this also means that the demand is real. Preorders for 15 pro models is crazy. Tim Cook is going to bath in gold coins.

Also, 15 models too are going to sell a lot this year but thanks to them being on A16, having dynamic island and there is very good supply stream now. Order now and you get it in a week. Not sure if you remember but when Apple released 6, it had mind blowing sales numbers.

Also with an extra price hike over last year, they're more inclined to ship those to markets where it'll move immediately. I mean the high storage models literally cost 2.2L with apple care, peak clown world.

Two years down the line, I will not be surprised if base pro max costs 2L.

 

[Ssreek]

I will better stay away from this thread. People are talking about spending 2L+ already.

 

[alekhkhanna]

This isn't new. Every year the same headlines appear. These are some from the last year:

Kuo: iPhone 14 Pro Max Popularity Could Lead to More Differentiation Between iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max

Apple has seen high demand for the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max, which could lead the company to further differentiate the next-generation iPhone 15...

www.macrumors.com

iPhone 14 Pro Max sees strong demand, iPhone 14 Plus has disappointing numbers: Kuo

While the iPhone 14 Pro Max is the most pre-ordered phone in the iPhone 14 series, the 14 Plus had less demand than the iPhone 13 Mini, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

indianexpress.com

And this from the year before that:

Kuo: iPhone 13 pre-orders stronger than iPhone 12, shortages of iPhone 13 Pro to persist until November - 9to5Mac

Three days after pre-orders officially opened, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with a new investor note today detailing...

9to5mac.com

Just goes to show that Apple plays this "demand/supply" narrative intentionally every year with the Pro models. Nothing new though because companies like Nvidia and AMD have already been there and done that. Taking a page from the country's finest minds.

The scarcity was real. I tried to get my hands on the 14PM last year in 3 countries, and finally managed to get one in Nov at Bangkok Airport with just 2 pieces left.
The 3nm yields are not great. It’s very well known. Pro production will struggle for a few weeks to months.

Yea because they made the 15 so unappealing that the people are willing to splurge a bit more and get the pm instead.
Also with an extra price hike over last year, they're more inclined to ship those to markets where it'll move immediately. I mean the high storage models literally cost 2.2L with apple care, peak clown world.

Not sure if I’m talking to an anti Apple account, but what’s unappealing about 15 ? Decent camera upgrade, minor processor bump, dynamic island etc. It’s a solid upgrade. More impactful than Pro upgrade.

 

[psyph3r]

but what’s unappealing about 15 ?

It's a painfully iterative and gimped device in comparison to the rest of the range, pricing here is messed up but anyone with half a brain will be enticed to spend 300$ more to get the Pro atleast just for the faster cpu, data transfer speeds, better cameras and higher refresh rate.

 

[desiibond]

It's a painfully iterative and gimped device in comparison to the rest of the range, pricing here is messed up but anyone with half a brain will be enticed to spend 300$ more to get the Pro atleast just for the faster cpu, data transfer speeds, better cameras and higher refresh rate.

300$ is still 50% more money compared to base iPhone. In many countries like India, how many can pay 1.4L for a phone? 15 is a great phone if you do not compare with previous model.
Even if you compare, it’s worth paying 10k extra for brighter display (if you consider cashbacks and exchange offers giving extra 9k), faster cpu, dynamic island, better build and better battery life, type c port, better camera.

To be honest, iPhone 14 to 15 is bigger upgrade than s22 to s23.

 

[alekhkhanna]

It's a painfully iterative and gimped device in comparison to the rest of the range, pricing here is messed up but anyone with half a brain will be enticed to spend 300$ more to get the Pro atleast just for the faster cpu, data transfer speeds, better cameras and higher refresh rate.

Every yearly phone update is iterative. How is it gimped ? It carries the same processor as last years Pro model. Got the dynamic island. Got upgraded cameras.
No one with any brain should get the Pro is he/she doesn’t need it. 15 and Plus models are immensely capable phones. It is a very good iterative upgrade, much better then what the Pros got.

 

[psyph3r]

This is the problem, people giving them a free pass as always. There's no reason for an 80k phone to not have a higher refresh rate & data transfer speeds, it's only done to make it look bad in comparison.

 

[desiibond]

This is the problem, people giving them a free pass as always. There's no reason for an 80k phone to not have a higher refresh rate & data transfer speeds, it's only done to make it look bad in comparison.

Problem is some people thinking that everyone should get features that ‘they’ like. There was a discussion in this thread itself that there are quite a few for whom 120hz does not make a difference. Same is the case with data transfer speeds. Till now, I connected my phone to Mac just once that too to talk quick backup to setup iOS 17. This is in 1.5 years of use. Majority would never plug their phone to a computer. Professionals always go with pro models and they are getting usb 3.

 

[BullettuPaandi]

This is the problem, people giving them a free pass as always. There's no reason for an 80k phone to not have a higher refresh rate & data transfer speeds, it's only done to make it look bad in comparison.

People who've already gotten hooked up into iPhones, people who've already spent premium money for iPhones are highly unlikely to find the missing HRR egregious. Because, all they're conditioned to compare with is previous iPhones. If someone is currently using an older iPhone and is fine with switching from iOS to Android, only they'd compare with all phones at that price point; but I feel like this is a relatively much smaller subset of people. In short words, (virtually) no competition.

Edit - I remember checking out iOS back when every phone was 60Hz. iOS had smoother animations. I think that has some play here, closing the gap at least slightly, between 60 & 120Hz iOS.

As for the data transfer speeds, this is a common corner cut by even some flagship androids, for instance OnePlus 11. The older SoC wasn't designed with USB 3,0 speeds in mind. The decision to use older SoC for base models is sure to make it look bad; but USB 2.0 in current base model is just incidental.

 

[alekhkhanna]

This is the problem, people giving them a free pass as always. There's no reason for an 80k phone to not have a higher refresh rate & data transfer speeds, it's only done to make it look bad in comparison.

I use a work iPhone 12 and a personal 14 Pro Max. The “measly” 60hz iPhone 12 provides does not lack in fluidity vs HRR display on 14PM. Is the display on PM better ? Yup. Brighter, vivid, OLED goodness, excellent DV/HDR, but do I go OMFGSOBAD when using the work phone ? Nope. It got the latest update, is extremely fluid, and I don’t even notice the Promotion vs non promotion display on both phones. Of course, it’s all personal opinion.
If you are anti-Apple, IDGAF, but simply as someone who is interested in tech, Apple’s 60hz displays are much better optimised vs usual android displays, specially since they control both the HW and SW, and animations are optimised to minimise any lag.

 

[r4hul]

Looks like back glass is fragile of pro Max.

 

[alekhkhanna]

Looks like back glass is fragile of pro Max.

While build seems to have gotten softer.

 

[r4hul]

While build seems to have gotten softer.

The same thing happened when bend gate happened with iPhone 6. New material new design.

 

[desiibond]

Looks like back glass is fragile of pro Max.

Finally, was waiting a lot for this video. Had this doubt of non natural colors to have contrasting color when scratched. I will get the natural one only. The cracks on back panel when phone is stressed is a worry. Apple care is anyways very much needed.

The same thing happened when bend gate happened with iPhone 6. New material new design.

Tried the phones today at Apple Store. Feeling in hand has improved a lot. 15 pro max feels lot lot lighter than cousins 14 pro max. Did not like 15 in blue. It feels odd. Avoid light colors in 15. It looks just like white.