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Apple takes 66% of smartphone profits, HomeKit, Mac Pro, Apple AR & more on the AppleInsider Podcast

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This week on the AppleInsider Podcast, Victor and William talk about how Apple is making so much more money from phones than even its closest rival Samsung. Plus the rumored Apple AR glasses, Mac Pro availability, and what on earth is Apple doing making HomeKit accessory development code open source.

AppleInsider editor Victor Marks and writer William Gallagher discuss:

  • Apple takes 66% of smartphone profits
  • Part of the reason it makes that proportion of the industry's money is that the iPhone has never been cheap. Yet iPhone pricing overall is less than we usually think
  • Two patents give more indications about the direction of the rumored Apple AR glasses
  • William is looking for a Mac Pro in all the wrong places. He's been talking to Apple Stores about which will stock it.
  • Apple joins Amazon, Google, and Zigbee Alliance in working on CHoIP (Connected Home over IP) open source standard
  • Apple also makes the HomeKit Accessory Development Kit open source
  • Dark Mode may actually be bad for your sleeping, but Victor has solutions that will help
  • Usually people complain about Apple, but this time it's Apple doing the complaining. Very unusually, the firm has written a complaint to the EU about hoarding of self-driving car patents.

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3 Comments

bloodshotrollin'red 437 comments · 16 Years

Affordably accessible HomeKit devices are as rare as hens teeth. Take a look at Amazon and you'll find 2000 Alexa and Google and IFFFT home voice assistants for every 1 HomeKit device. Licensing has meant from day one Apple had lost that particular race. Siri is still hopelessly inaccurate, educationally challenged and hard of hearing. Couple those handicaps to a scattering of overly expensive wall sockets, bulbs, and light switches and you'll see just how bad Apple have been in trying to tie these technologies together.

I'm not at all sure releasing it as Open Source will revive it enough to stop it from spiralling into the Black Hole Division at Apple Corp.

cgWerks 2947 comments · 8 Years

Affordably accessible HomeKit devices are as rare as hens teeth. Take a look at Amazon and you'll find 2000 Alexa and Google and IFFFT home voice assistants for every 1 HomeKit device. Licensing has meant from day one Apple had lost that particular race. Siri is still hopelessly inaccurate, educationally challenged and hard of hearing. Couple those handicaps to a scattering of overly expensive wall sockets, bulbs, and light switches and you'll see just how bad Apple have been in trying to tie these technologies together.

I'm not at all sure releasing it as Open Source will revive it enough to stop it from spiralling into the Black Hole Division at Apple Corp.

The problem is... what is the alternative? You can get a bunch of crap from companies that won't protect your security or privacy, or you can deal with Apple's non-functional 'interface' if you want to voice command it. Pick your poison, I suppose. Maybe someday (another decade?) home automation stuff will be worth it, but IMO, it is currently just a big mess and waste of money.

And, maybe by then, Apple will have figured out they need to improve their search technology beyond 1995.

daven 722 comments · 16 Years

I'm not happy with but am ok with the limited number of Homekit accessories given the breaches in other home device security. (e.g. Ring cameras)