Not sure about this, I let all my apps use mobile data except for the App Store coz I only want to update apps using WiFi.

Watchers wonder if Apple has lost its magic

SAN FRANCISCO: Is Apple facing a rare, simple pause in growth in a tough global economy or has it lost its magic for dreaming up must-have new gadgets like the iPhone?

The question was front-of-mind April 27 on Wall Street, where shares in the California-based company fell more than 6% to US$97.82 (RM381.30) by the official close of trading on the Nasdaq exchange.
The drop erased the equivalent of US$40bil (RM156.10bil) in market capitalisation and came after Apple reported its first year-over-year quarterly revenue drop in 13 years on April 26.

Apple also forecast that the current quarter would be difficult.

Revenue was down during the first three months of this year due to the first drop in iPhone sales since the release of the world-changing handsets in 2007.

Sales of iPhones have been the engine for Apple earnings for a while.

Cruising on a flagship?

FBN Securities said in a note to analysts that it was “concerned” that since taking over as chief executive in 2011, Tim Cook has not delivered “any real transformative products.”

An Apple Watch that made its debut last year was seen as the company’s first foray into a new product category under Cook. Apple has not revealed sales figures for its smartwatch, but Cook said on an earnings call that they “met expectations” during the quarter.

Given the absence of official sales figures, observers are left to speculate how Apple Watch is doing in the market. The fact that Apple Watch synchs to iPhones has raised doubts it could be a stand-alone hit instead of an accessory.

Apple Pay, the service that lets iPhones act as digital wallets, is viewed through a similarly dependent lens.

Apple has long been a ripe target for rumours, with recent speculation including talk that the company is working on self-driving cars and virtual reality.

“The car entry would be years away and it would not at all be clear if Apple would succeed – especially considering Tesla’s recent success with its Model 3,” FBN said in its note.

Tesla has been swamped with orders even though release of the car is a year away.

Seeking a new Steve Jobs

“The pace of innovation has completely slowed down at Apple,” said Global Equities analyst Trip Chowdhry.

“The projects that Tim Cook is talking about are taking so much time... by the time they are ready they are already obsolete.”

Chowdhry depicted Apple as a company that was in fine shape except for a bedevilling lack of vision and passion at the top, pointing a finger at Cook, chief financial officer Luca Maestri, and senior vice president of retail and online stores Angela Ahrendts.

“Get rid of these three people, and Apple will come back to its past glory,” the analyst said.

Apple has thus far delivered on the vision of Steve Jobs, and a new visionary who is at least as passionate as the iconic figure is needed to fix the company, Chowdhry reasoned.

He recommended former Apple executive Jon Rubinstein for the job.

Former Apple manager Guy Kawasaki, who helped launch the Macintosh computer in the 1980s said in a CNBC television interview that the company needs to get back to making products people “lust” for.

Kawasaki gave the example of iPhones that boast improvements from prior generations but don’t stand apart from predecessors in big ways.

“We need a product that leaps to the next curve,” Kawasaki said.

“I don’t think that is simply making the iPhone smaller or the iPad bigger.”

He said that Jobs and his famous “reality distortion field” could dazzle people with product upgrades, but without him such modifications have not come across as revolutionary.

Meanwhile, many analysts have taken to counselling investors to be patient.

“Just wait until 2017, when comparisons will be easier,” advised FBN, noting that earnings will then be up against those reported this year instead of a year in which a hot-selling iPhone 6 debuted.

The coming iPhone 7 could be a “game changer” according to RBC Capital Markets. Analysts also pointed out that with more than a billion Apple devices being used around the world, Apple is positioned to rake in money selling content, products and services to users. — AFP

Yes, I used to use HLB and this is normal for TAC request, took me few times before I realized how it worked.. Just make sure you are looking at the phone screen and not doing anything else on the phone when you've requested for the TAC and you should be able to see the TAC. TAC requests from MBB, Citi and HSBC comes in the form of regular SMS.

Anyone going to queue?

https://machines.com.my/pages/whs2016

Well, it's worth the while if you can get your hands on one of the demo items. Anyway, let us know how the is the crowd there!

Ya, the big difference is only the demo sets which have the warranty (or lack of it) issue consideration.

For the clearance sets, not too much difference for the best sellers, maybe worth it for the slow movers (like the iPad Air 2 128GB). I'm giving it a miss, too.

Can you hold off your purchase for two or three months though? The iPhone is very near it's refresh cycle and even if you don't get the latest one, we would expect some price reduction in the current models after the announcement of the new ones.

Is your phone still under warranty? If it is, you may not have a choice as repairing outside will void the warranty.

I'm with you on this. The protruding bulge that is the camera lens is truly ugly. Steve Jobs would be turning in his grave if he saw that thing. Hopefully it's just a rendering and the actual thing will not be that ugly. Tempted to try Android's latest and greatest if not for the fact that I have friends and family on iMessage and FaceTime...

Never trust any dodgy preorder schemes online, particularly if the price is too good to be true and they require you to pay the full amount as a deposit.

http://www.lifeproof.asia/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwu...saMMaAqoY8P8HAQ

You can find them at any Machines outlet

RM3k seems to be the fair value, lower if you are in a hurry to sell

Wow, that is insanely fast, considering no official specs out yet...

Wow, a 5th beta and we're still a month away from the official launch...

Don't you mean iPhone 7?

Anyways, I'm skipping this upgrade too.

Long way to go... At least another month before announcement and a couple months later before we see it on our shores, ha ha...

Anyways, I can't remember any stand out feature in iOS 10 that I'm looking forward to, ha ha ha...

This post has been edited by attw: Aug 11 2016, 07:51 AM

Latest rumour has it that the announcement will be on September 7th.. Lets wait and see...

Yup, I moved over from the non-S upgrade to the S upgrade cycle last year. Phone has better internals and more refined. The best part is the availability, queues are shorter!

Yes, even their sales is declining. The Steve Jobs momentum has only carried them this far and it's time they find a new innovator to shake things up a little

I have a friend who just sold off his Note 5 exactly after a year. He said it wasn't because of the phone suddenly becoming slow, but battery life deteriorated badly. Even after resets and disabling non essential apps.