I use android pay… It’s the future…
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I made a video on this yesterday, but to summarise my thoughts. I overall think it was a little bit of a lackluster event.
Apple Card - disagree with the Goldman partnership. Using MasterCard as their Payment gateway makes sense. however how will it work in terms of credit checks and improving peoples credit which is a big use case for credit cards. I also don’t know if no fees (including no late fees) is passive encouragement to young people to rack up debt. the cashback is cool, but i prefer to use my Amex and get my points to convert for flights. A stronger loyalty scheme i would’ve been a fan, but the current proposition doesn’t interest me.
I agree with @saf regarding the perceived value of Apple News+ but 50% would undercut all of those publishers. And there’s an article with a senior person at the WSJ who said in order not to undercut their direct business they’ll only put a handful of “general news” within Apple News+ - If the rest of the publishers follow this suit - consumers will pay $9.99 for general news, and then have to subscribe individually to the magazines anyway for more substantive journalism. it’ll effectively be used as an acquisition channel.
Arcade - on the surface doesn’t seem that compelling but i think if the price is right it’ll be more successful than I initially thought.
Apple TV+ - All depends on price and content but with Disney coming with their own service and the volume of other streaming services already in flight, i think its a bad thing for consumers to have to subscribe to 4/5 places to access content.
Its not had a good impact on their shareprice as @Rat_au_van shared - so i think worldwide sentiment was low. Unlike after Google’s Stadia event the shareprice rose.
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What are we all thinking about Apple Card when it hits the UK?
I’m tempted to sign up tbh.
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I want… I’m a sucker for Apple
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It’s a credit card so no thanks from me.
Also Monzo and Starling already has the same, if not better, spend tracking functionality in the form of a debit card.
What is wrong with credit cards?
Not a fan of them. I think they incentivise you to spend more than you need to through rewards e.g cash back and points that are of a lower value than if you just didn’t spent the money.
Prefer to stick with debit cards.
I still own a credit card for emergencies and large deposits e.g. for a holiday. But beyond that I don’t like them.
Don’t forget to keep your Apple Card in a handy place… like never taking it out of the house.
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11, 11 pro, 11 pro max…
There’s one last big mistake on these iPhone 11 dummies, and it also relates to the back. The accessory maker that created them used the same back panel and clear glass as Apple’s iPhone XS, but that’s not what the iPhone 11 will look like. According to multiple reports, the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max will feature a frosted glass back, and Apple will delete the “iPhone” logo we’re used to seeing on all of its iPhone models.
It’s almost time for another Apple Event, and we’ve noticed an interesting trend on the app over the last few months 
Apple is currently #29 in the most owned stocks on the app, close to Microsoft #28 and Disney #31.
However, when we compare it to the most popular US stock on Freetrade, Tesla, we can see this:
You can see that, while demand for Tesla has continued to increase in line with our rapidly growing customer numbers, Apple has more or less remained static – ultimately declining in popularity.
However, if you had invested in shares in Apple at the beginning of January 2019, you’d be looking at an increase of around 19% up to the end of August 2019.
How do you feel about Apple’s prospects? 
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They’re stagnating I think. They need to launch a good new product and by the sounds of it with the blacking out shop windows maybe they are. Would love to see them buy Peloton/Spotify. I think the time to buy Tesla has probably gone
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I’d rather hold Apple than Tesla any day. In fact I do have a few Apple shares and no Tesla
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I invested at the end of January and am up 45%
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Is that graph showing us the number of trades (buys and sells), or the gross, or net value of trades, or what @Freetrade_Team?
TSLA is -30% in 2019, AAPL +36%. One of them has always felt like a long shot, the other like a dividend stock that’s so safe it’s practically a bond.
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They wouldn’t buy Spotify, I think - they got their own platform and it’s quite good:
(Source - Chart: Spotify Keeps Apple Music at Arm's Length | Statista)
Peloton costs $2k at least + $3k in the first year in total with the subscription servce, etc. How scalable is it? I’m sure Apple would want to slide their software into Pelotons though, because data is the oil in this century. Also, many people can afford Apple Watch - the best selling high-margin smart watch - and these people don’t even have to like fitness.
Apple may be going after Tile - the maker of stuff trackers (link) with Apple Tag:
https://9to5mac.com/2019/09/01/apple-item-tracking-device/
I think the idea of Tile is great but Tile’s management missed its opportunity (could’ve been IPOing this year?). The business idea is still extremely great, especially if you travel a lot. Years ago, I successfully tracked my bag somewhere on the East Coast once - it worked better than the airline’s lost luggage system.
In defence of :
- Apple Watch is a billion dollar+ business on its own - wearables, home, accessories brought USD 5.5 billion in sales in the last quarter.
Apple Watch is the best selling smart watch - period.
- “Services” is the second largest business after iPhone - USD 11.5 billion in revenue in the last quarter.
(Source - 10Q)
You can list Apple’s iPad on NASDAQ and it’d be a “better” tech company than any of the newcomers who have iPOed recently.
The iPhone echosystem lock-in is also very strong - it’s hard for people to leave iPhone, even if you switch to Google Pixel with Android 10 (different UI, lack of iMessage, etc).
The differences between the two OSs are becoming small - they are all just copying each other.
Android Studio wants to be more like X Code - if you’re a developer. Kotlin vs Swift.
Never thought I’d see so many people with pricey iPhone X after it was announced a couple of years ago. Apple are masters of distorting reality.
(Source - 10Q)
Now, 
→ :
The average phone upgrade cycle is changing not in phone-makers’ favour - definitely a concern for Apple’s largest segment (the iPhone):
(Source - Blog - Ting Internet)
But Apple has managed to convince the world that paying $1000+ for something we used to pay half that is OK.
Compared to Samsung, Apple is in a league of its own in terms of brand perception. They know how to make psychology work in their favour.
And they know how to manage finances - borrowing at ultra low rates to fund dividends while minimising taxes thanks to the cheap debt.
My concern is what can the ex-COO and now CEO Tim Cook do with innovation, now that Sir Jonny Ive has left and many others have too in the past (one of the chief designers of iPod/iPhone left and founded Nest which was bought by Google).
Another elephant in the room is the state of machine learning (a subset of AI or whatever you want to call it):
Siri is 
.
Apple bought Siri, popularised the voice assistant thingy, and then god knows what happened. Actually, someone did some research:
And search is everything - ask Amazon, Microsoft (with Microsoft Search and the Alexa tie-up), and the leader - Google (Assistant). They managed to hire a top AI person from the GOOG but you can’t rebuild an AI platform and catch up with Amazon in 1 or even 2 years while the rest of the leading pack are also moving.
Also, Microsoft and its partners have finally started making cheaper and better laptops.
Macs are Apple’s 3rd largest business by revenue after iPhone and Services.
Windows 10 is quite great - it does the job. And, if you like Linux, side-load the open-source OS onto your sleek Acer or HP laptop and it’s still cheaper than a Macbook Pro. If you read some hardware or domain-specific forums, many people are discussing how upgrading to Win10 machines from old MacPros was OK + they saved some money.
The upgrade cycle for laptops is nowhere near the smartphones I think.
P.S.
Apple has USD 211 billion of cash and marketable securities.
(Source - 10Q)
It is still a MOAT.
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This would explain some of the weirder Twitter photos.
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Apparently the big reveal is going to be Augmented Reality Glasses.
I’ll hold off on buying Apple till around the time where the 5g phone will be announced. As an earlier poster said it seems they’ve stagnated…unless they pull a rabbit out the hat today and shock everyone!!
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Apple Livestream Event: Apple Special Event — September 10, 2019 - YouTube // https://www.apple.com/apple-events/livestream/