MyAppleMenu

The Tock-Tock Edition Monday, October 23, 2017

The Fairest iPhone Of Them All, by M.G. Siegler, 500ish Words

If you’re not interested in the X — if, for example, you fear it may have some of the kinks that first iterations of Apple products often have before they’re ironed out — the iPhone 8 is a pretty nice step up from the iPhone 7, but definitely not vital. Ditto, I’m sure, for the step from the iPhone 7 Plus to iPhone 8 Plus. Stepping up from the 6S models is another story, I’m sure. More a “tock”-like feeling.

Apple COO Jeff Williams Met With Foxconn CEO Today Ahead Of iPhone X Launch, by Benjamin Mayo, 9to5Mac

The ‘problem’ components appear to be from other manufacturers so it doesn’t seem from the outside to be Foxconn’s fault. Nevertheless, managing supply and output of the highly-anticipated iPhone X would be an important topic for Williams and Gou’s talks.

With iPhone X Imminent, iPhone 8 And iPhone 8 Plus Selling Close To What An 'iPhone 7s' Would, by Mike Wuerthele, AppleInsider

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners has examined the retail chain in the United States, and are seeing expectedly soft sales of the iPhone 8, likely in anticipation of the iPhone X. The company notes that the share of total sales make the iPhone 8 family release look more like an "s" model —but this also appears to be by Apple's design.

Follow the Money

Apple Pay Now In 20 Markets, Nabs 90% Of All Mobile Contactless Transactions Where Active, by Ingrid Lunden, TechCrunch

Bailey announced that the service is launching in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the UAE in the next few days, bringing the total number of countries where it is used up to 20. And she said that 4,000 issuers worldwide now work with the wallet (that is, there are now 4,000 credit and debit card issuers whose cards can now be uploaded to and used via Apple Pay).

While these may not sound like a massive numbers on their own, 20 markets represents a full 70 percent of the world’s card transaction volume. This underscores how Apple is approaching the roll out of its payment service: it is moving first to where the money is.

Death on the Roads

Smartphones Are Killing Americans, But Nobody’s Counting, by Kyle Stock, Bloomberg

Over the past two years, after decades of declining deaths on the road, U.S. traffic fatalities surged by 14.4 percent. In 2016 alone, more than 100 people died every day in or near vehicles in America, the first time the country has passed that grim toll in a decade. Regulators, meanwhile, still have no good idea why crash-related deaths are spiking: People are driving longer distances but not tremendously so; total miles were up just 2.2 percent last year. Collectively, we seemed to be speeding and drinking a little more, but not much more than usual. Together, experts say these upticks don’t explain the surge in road deaths.

There are however three big clues, and they don’t rest along the highway. One, as you may have guessed, is the substantial increase in smartphone use by U.S. drivers as they drive. From 2014 to 2016, the share of Americans who owned an iPhone, Android phone, or something comparable rose from 75 percent to 81 percent.

Stuff

You Can No Longer Buy A 256GB iPhone 7 From Apple, Giving The iPhone 8 A Leg Up, by Damon Beres, Mashable

It no longer sells a 256GB iPhone 7, previously the largest capacity, leaving consumers with three options: 32GB, 128GB, or the 256GB iPhone 8.

Bottom of the Page

One of Apple's greatest achievement is the management of supply-chain such that Apple products do not need to sit on a shelf somewhere to wait for customers to purchase eventually.

On the other hand, Apple has never went out of its way to make sure customers do not have to wait before purchasing some desirable piece of hardware. Long lines at stores and long waits -- sometimes for weeks and months -- is not rare.

iPhone X does not break this tradition.

~

Thanks for reading.