Do they think we're stupid, like we wouldn't notice? Have the engineers over at Apple lost their damn mind?
When the iPhone X was finally revealed, it was done so with a shiny number attached to it. For $1,000 (124.23 hours, after taxes, for anyone working the newly coveted "$11.50 an hour" jobs) you could buy the newest in tech trends. It didn't do much extra: a few upgrades here, some new glass there. Yet Apple still believed people would pony up their hard-earned ducats for the pleasure of saying "I've got it and you don't."
Which, according to Apple, 18 million people did. Yet for those that got suckered into it, they're each having a rude awakening of their own aside from the price. Turns out, the iPhone X is the shittiest phone Apple has ever made. And ongoing experiments from multiple outlets prove it.
Take electronics warranty provider SquareTrade, for example. In November, testers gave the phone a standard drop test — holding it about 6 feet over the ground and letting gravity have its day. The iPhone X’s OLED display was shattered, beyond usability. The site gave the phone a breakability score of 90, or “high risk.”
CNET did the same thing, only this time the phone was dropped from about 3 to 4 feet high (standard pocket height). Its casing cracked, and the phone suffered damage on 3 out of 4 of its corners.
The problem? Well for one, your thousand-dollar phone is now broken, unable to be used until repair. And it'll cost you, too. SquareTrade estimates fixing the screen can run upwards of $300, and any other damage puts you close to the price of a new iPhone 7 (with the other thousand — you could have invested — gone for good).
This all comes during the same time the tech behemoth had to finally apologize for programming in planned obsolescence, its updates essentially slowing down old iPhones on purpose to encourage people to buy new ones (even though it wouldn't admit fault).
"We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down," the company's blog says. "We apologize."
It would go on to say they "believe" it has something to do with degradation of the chemicals in the batteries or (surprise, surprise) some of the updates the company sends out and forces users to install. Few people bought the explanation. Between that and the breakability of the newer, more expensive phone, customers might be opting to finally bail on Apple.
As Newsweek recently pointed out, the iPhone X has been a flop.
"A research note by analysts at KGI Securities, seen by Apple news site Apple Insider, estimated iPhone X shipments in the first quarter of 2018 were at around 18 million devices—a significant reduction on previous flagship iPhones.
"Respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told the publication that the lack of demand will see the 'end of life' for the iPhone X, meaning it will not be offered to customers as a lower-cost option when new iPhone models are released later this year."
The company, which has yet to respond, might be discontinuing the model as early as summer 2018 — marking the first time it would stop production of a series without retaining sales of it the year after.
Or maybe, Apple can just refund all 90 million U.S. iPhone users a cool $2,000 for being so troublesome. That $180 billion it hides in off-shore accounts will more than cover that.
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