Apple seems to be running out of steam. Xiaomi, "the Apple clone," is now releasing cars and XR devices. Meanwhile, it has been a while since Apple released a new product line. The last one was the Apple Vision Pro. With Apple Intelligence, they have shown that they can't "think different" anymore.
Sure, Apple will remain a trillion-dollar company for a long time, partly because its competition keeps shooting itself in the foot. Windows and Android are hostile towards power users and bloat the system with pre-installed apps, and they are both stepping on the gas.
But the real question is: how long can brand loyalty alone sustain the hype of new Apple products? And when will Apple stop being considered a "growth" company?
HN users will complain when a company tries to be all-consuming and unfocused then others deride them as uninspired when they are only focusing on a core business (which in this case still makes Apple endless amounts of money).
This is just some high fashion accessory they release, like a clothing company selling wallets on the side. It's not a big deal.
> Apple will remain a trillion-dollar company for a long time, partly because its competition keeps shooting itself in the foot
You must mean the competition was driven away. Apple and Google play a a dance that protects their profits, but Chinese companies didn't play by the same rules and were becoming too disruptive.
Yep, Apple has lost its way. Looking at the release of the latest OnePlus 15, the only reason to keep going with an iPhone is basically ecosystem lockin.
In my opinion they are losing on all front but the chips, and those have become of secondary importance in smartphone and about to get heated competition in laptops.
In the short term, Apple can work on their pricing, considering their large margins they have a lot of runway, but they need to find something to keep being the top dog.
I don’t think people here understand the pricing for this market category. This is not a phone case or a container, it is a handbag/shoulder bag, which can go for $100-500+ (do not underestimate the long tail for this market). The prominent display of Issey Miyake branding is indicative that this is a foray into fashion. Whether it looks good, or whether the Apple Pocket will be fashionable, is an open question, but it would be stupid and brand damaging for Apple to price this item lower.
$1465: That's what a nylon+paper bag from Issey Miyake costs. Then the price of this cut-up sock makes sense: it's not an iPhone accessory, it's a luxury fashion item.
Let's consider strategy. There are two variables: P, the price, and Q, the quantity. Of course by reducing P you increase Q, and vice versa, so besides being dependent on each other, they have an inverse relationship. At some pair, PQ is maximized.
Apple knows this. So of course they did not set the price P to maximize Q. They set the price P to maximize PQ.
The question should be why P maximizes PQ. I submit that it is because of dopey articles that create a luxury effect around the product. I believe that if necessary, Apple would (and may even already) write and publish these articles themselves.
People make irrational purchases all the time and I don't really see a problem with that. What makes me wince is when people are trying to rationalize their irrational purchases, especially with strangers. Or when strangers seek to make them feel silly or bad about it.
My hypothesis is that irrationality is economically inefficient at a macro scale; dollars flowing through manufactured irrational purchases get centralized into Apple’s coffers to be directed via their inefficient centralized decision making.
This hypothesis of course may be false - maybe Apple is better suited to take those irrational dollars and deploy them more rationally.
(1) makes companies market (lie) more aggressively, because it ends up working out.
(2) makes prices irrational, because if a bunch of stupid people will buy your shit product, why would you care about the 1% who actually do their research?
The general public always mock companies who market to luxury markets, but that doesn't mean it's a bad business to be in or customers won't flock to it. This is nothing new.
That was released as a joke. Twenty years later and no longer released as a joke, Apple is showing they are still in touch with the sensibilities of the modern Apple customer.
People are so dumb! But, Apple has to make up for producing trash products and having to pay Google a cool billion a year cause their "Intelligence" is as dumb as their customers.
People can either immaturely complain fruitlessly or deal with the human condition and accept fashion is important to some, perhaps by profiting from the creation of fashionable novelty the market desires.
And for sure people will buy it. I don't think there is a price point where some people would not buy it. Fashion doesn't make sense, it never has.
There is a great joke about this:
A woman rushes into Yves St. Laurent's studio.
"Oh Yves!" she cries, "you've got to help me, I'm in a panic, I have this gala coming up and I have no hat to wear"
Calmly, Yves walks to the nearest table, picks up some rolls of ribbon and starts draping them around the woman's head, and in 10 minutes flat he has made this fantastic creation.
She looks in the mirrow "Oh, Yves, you've saved me, how much do I owe you?"
He says "make it 2500 euros"
She starts yelling "2500 euros??? are you mad? for a bunch of ribbon?"
Calmly, Yves starts to unwind the ribbons spooling them up as he goes and when he's done he hands the woman the ribbons. "The ribbons, you can have for free."
Tangentially related: If only there were shirts and pants without stitching or seams of any kind. I murder clothing tags with obsessive vengeance. Microfiber, wool, and corduroy can burn in the ninth ring of the fiery underworld.
BBC trying to make a couple extra bucks with this ad after that oopsy with Trump. Coverage is coverage, veiled by mockery or not.
To people with bad taste who buy stupid garbage for thousands, such as any of the hideous big shoes of the last decade adorned with a fancy label, this is already on order.
Can't wait to hear the ATP hosts spend 45 min "not" glazing this thing like they do with every iPhone case
Ultimately, it's a fashion thing, it'll sell, I can't blame them for putting it out there, but I'd definitely wonder about any friends buying it
When the iPad came out in 2010, online commenters also ridiculed it. The jokes were so repetitive that people complained about them[0]
/r/technology is sadly not available from that day but the Internet was full of the same few jokes:
iPad?! More like maxipad amirite?
iPad? So they glued 4 iPod Touches together?
Lol, Apple making the same thing others already made but worse?!
Sadly, /r/technology on the day of the Airpods release is also missing. But I was able to find some threads on it soon after[1]
The thing of greatest value to most "netizens" (haha) is ridicule. They love dunking on stuff. In fact, even today if you go to reddit's front page you will almost certainly see a post from /r/clevercomebacks or /r/murderedbywords or so on and so forth.
I don't blame them. When I was young, I too found this enjoyable for reasons that seem so alien to me today I cannot even comprehend why I did it. I, a Linux using child, called the IE and Windows users "Microserfs" in moments of great wit. Perhaps pg was right in that dunking is adaptive for those primarily seeking engagement[2]
That's not to say that anyone is wrong or right about whether some product is good. I thought the iPhone sock was some kind of joke release, but I've definitely passed the point where I know what appeals to the kids (six-seven skibidi). It's just that a gauge that always reads 1.0 on a scale from 0.0 to 1.0 is not a gauge that you can use diagnostically.
MKBHD's point is that this would have worked the way you describe it a decade ago, but is Apple's brand and fans the same as they were back then? At some point doing something like this just makes you look greedy and out of touch.
If Microsoft had tried to sell a "limited edition" zoom sock for $220 it would have produced a lot of mockery and no sales.
True, but that doesn't make it any more ridiculous. It is exactly this 'exclusivity' vibe that has always turned me off from Apple as a company. It's just some gear, and instead they want you to believe it is a whole different world when you're using their devices. People even use it as a filter to determine each others' social worth.
HN has systems to prevent voting rings. Yes, sometimes clickbait makes it to the front page here. Sometimes people just gonna to be baited, even on HN. But flags won out on this one and it spent only an hour on the front page.
jampa|3 months ago
Sure, Apple will remain a trillion-dollar company for a long time, partly because its competition keeps shooting itself in the foot. Windows and Android are hostile towards power users and bloat the system with pre-installed apps, and they are both stepping on the gas.
But the real question is: how long can brand loyalty alone sustain the hype of new Apple products? And when will Apple stop being considered a "growth" company?
dmix|3 months ago
This is just some high fashion accessory they release, like a clothing company selling wallets on the side. It's not a big deal.
ASalazarMX|3 months ago
You must mean the competition was driven away. Apple and Google play a a dance that protects their profits, but Chinese companies didn't play by the same rules and were becoming too disruptive.
seec|3 months ago
In my opinion they are losing on all front but the chips, and those have become of secondary importance in smartphone and about to get heated competition in laptops.
In the short term, Apple can work on their pricing, considering their large margins they have a lot of runway, but they need to find something to keep being the top dog.
bikeshaving|3 months ago
weddpros|3 months ago
https://www.ssense.com/en-th/women/product/issey-miyake/whit...
foofoo12|3 months ago
It isn't a handbag. It isn't a shoulder bag. It doesn't look good. I won't be fashionable. It isn't a open question. It's a sock.
hyperhello|3 months ago
Apple knows this. So of course they did not set the price P to maximize Q. They set the price P to maximize PQ.
The question should be why P maximizes PQ. I submit that it is because of dopey articles that create a luxury effect around the product. I believe that if necessary, Apple would (and may even already) write and publish these articles themselves.
nyx|3 months ago
Waterluvian|3 months ago
vlovich123|3 months ago
This hypothesis of course may be false - maybe Apple is better suited to take those irrational dollars and deploy them more rationally.
programjames|3 months ago
(1) makes companies market (lie) more aggressively, because it ends up working out.
(2) makes prices irrational, because if a bunch of stupid people will buy your shit product, why would you care about the 1% who actually do their research?
dmix|3 months ago
ideasphere|3 months ago
jmpeax|3 months ago
digitcatphd|3 months ago
broodbucket|3 months ago
kotaKat|3 months ago
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/18/beats-pill-vear-returns...
JimDabell|3 months ago
hackernewsdhsu|3 months ago
burnt-resistor|3 months ago
ChrisArchitect|3 months ago
jacquesm|3 months ago
There is a great joke about this:
A woman rushes into Yves St. Laurent's studio.
"Oh Yves!" she cries, "you've got to help me, I'm in a panic, I have this gala coming up and I have no hat to wear"
Calmly, Yves walks to the nearest table, picks up some rolls of ribbon and starts draping them around the woman's head, and in 10 minutes flat he has made this fantastic creation.
She looks in the mirrow "Oh, Yves, you've saved me, how much do I owe you?"
He says "make it 2500 euros"
She starts yelling "2500 euros??? are you mad? for a bunch of ribbon?"
Calmly, Yves starts to unwind the ribbons spooling them up as he goes and when he's done he hands the woman the ribbons. "The ribbons, you can have for free."
pdpi|3 months ago
NetOpWibby|3 months ago
Zealotux|3 months ago
lyxsus|3 months ago
burnt-resistor|3 months ago
IlikeKitties|3 months ago
onewheeltom|3 months ago
WheatMillington|3 months ago
brailsafe|3 months ago
To people with bad taste who buy stupid garbage for thousands, such as any of the hideous big shoes of the last decade adorned with a fancy label, this is already on order.
Can't wait to hear the ATP hosts spend 45 min "not" glazing this thing like they do with every iPhone case
Ultimately, it's a fashion thing, it'll sell, I can't blame them for putting it out there, but I'd definitely wonder about any friends buying it
arjie|3 months ago
/r/technology is sadly not available from that day but the Internet was full of the same few jokes:
Sadly, /r/technology on the day of the Airpods release is also missing. But I was able to find some threads on it soon after[1]The thing of greatest value to most "netizens" (haha) is ridicule. They love dunking on stuff. In fact, even today if you go to reddit's front page you will almost certainly see a post from /r/clevercomebacks or /r/murderedbywords or so on and so forth.
I don't blame them. When I was young, I too found this enjoyable for reasons that seem so alien to me today I cannot even comprehend why I did it. I, a Linux using child, called the IE and Windows users "Microserfs" in moments of great wit. Perhaps pg was right in that dunking is adaptive for those primarily seeking engagement[2]
That's not to say that anyone is wrong or right about whether some product is good. I thought the iPhone sock was some kind of joke release, but I've definitely passed the point where I know what appeals to the kids (six-seven skibidi). It's just that a gauge that always reads 1.0 on a scale from 0.0 to 1.0 is not a gauge that you can use diagnostically.
0: https://www.reddit.com/r/self/comments/auwq1/im_already_tire...
1: https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/51r158/no_apple...
2: https://x.com/paulg/status/1659156372427087874?s=20
tapete2|3 months ago
Of course it is: https://web.archive.org/web/20100505194005/https://reddit.co...
There is even an iPad ad. But no submissions about the iPad though.
cosmicgadget|3 months ago
The ipad jokes were about its name, not the product itself. See also the Nintendo Wii.
julianlam|3 months ago
gtrealejandro|3 months ago
[deleted]
jordanb|3 months ago
If Microsoft had tried to sell a "limited edition" zoom sock for $220 it would have produced a lot of mockery and no sales.
gdulli|3 months ago
jacquesm|3 months ago
foofoo12|3 months ago
unknown|3 months ago
[deleted]
unknown|3 months ago
[deleted]
llbeansandrice|3 months ago
[deleted]
abtinf|3 months ago
keyle|3 months ago
bc569a80a344f9c|3 months ago
Because this place loves outrage just as much as any other community. And it’s no fun to make fun of others in a thread that gets flagged and hidden.
tomhow|3 months ago
tom_|3 months ago
Flag it if you hate it.