Gregg Thurman on UBS: Apple's long-term DRAM contracts may expire in June - 'Do we have any tech production managers among us?'
on UBS: Apple's long-term DRAM contracts may expire in June - 'Gregg – I’m happy to bring everyone’s attention back to this sort of thing again. One of the great things about PED3.0 is that the hive mind tends to look further and more accurately into Apple’s future than any of the talking heads who are always offered up by the media, and they do it based on all the various pieces of information that gets gathered or brought to this venue. Good point about when the increased cost of chips may hit the bottom line. I can’t remember where I read it, but conjecture was that Apple and TSMC are already prepping for production of the M6 chip to power the macs, etc. They characterized it as the first Apple processor based on TSMC’s N2, but the article I linked above says that’s already happening, and N2P ramping is in the pipeline. Either way, it looks to me like Apple and TSMC are absolutely working hand-in-glove to ensure coordinated supply and advancements continue, when it comes to powering Apple’s product line.'
on UBS: Apple's long-term DRAM contracts may expire in June - 'Consider: If Apple releases iPhone X in October, they probably start manufacturing no later than June, right? So for Apple to do that, they’d have to have the supply chain locked down for deliveries starting in June. So when would Apple have to have the memory under contract for June? And how much lead time would the supplier need to put together that contract? I’m no expert in supply chains or in manufacturing processes for state-of-the-art semiconductors, but I have to think the lead time has to be a year or more…'
on Apple in India: Steady gains - 'Presumably as Apple sells more new iPhones in India there are also more used iPhones available at a lower price point for new users to enter the Apple universe.'
on Apple bear Dan Niles turns bullish (video) - 'Dan Niles positive on Apple? Then the “Tooth Fairy” has to be real. Or better yet, Denmark tells Trump they’re giving America Greenland at the end of the month. Dan Niles has been wrong on Apple for so long that he ought to just stay in his “Negative Nancy Lane” for continuity. Better yet, say nothing and take a page from Tony S. and just admit that he has been wrong on Apple.'
on Saturday Apple video: Steve Jobs shows his temper - 'Hi, @Joseph, Great points! I should explain that I am someone who feels uniquely & deeply protective of Steve. I came to know Steve in 1981 when I was 18 and he was 26. He became something of a big brother to me over the years. People think of Steve as harsh, bullying or cruel. But if you knew Steve quite deeply, he was nothing like that. He just cared incredibly deeply about what he was doing. What he was doing—and its service to humanity—was infinitely more important to him than anything else, including money, power, fame, etc. Steve struggled a lot because the vision that he was continually developing inside himself was so vast and beyond what any normal human being could comprehend or digest. I think he always felt alone at some level. It took me many years to understand what was happening in some heated arguments I had with Steve in 1981. When we were arguing, I was under the impression that we were sitting together in 1981. What I didn’t realize was that Steve was actually speaking to me from 1996. It took me until 1996 to understand: Finally I get it! He was 100% right 15 years ago. I couldn’t see even the surface of what he was seeing back then. I don’t disagree with you about the smarminess of these App Store developers. And there are certainly many other examples (e.g., Adobe) where Steve had fair justification to come down on someone like a ton of bricks. But I don’t think CEOs of Fortune 10 companies should ever bully or try to coerce tiny partners. (I feel the same way about U.S. presidents…) The Buddha described Wise Speech as always having four characteristics. It is: Truthful, Useful, Kind, and Unifying. As you point out, Steve’s harsh words for the App Store developers were truthful. But they were not useful, kind, or unifying. I think Steve could have made the same point instead by rallying (unifying) everyone around the shared aspiration of an impeccable, safe end-user experience. And he could have appreciated developers’ good qualities instead of decrying their shortcomings. If you are a highly visible, powerful leader, the expectations that you carry of others can have enormous force. If you expect people to be dishonest and unmotivated, they generally will become as you see them. But if you appreciate the best in them, they will aspire to become the fine people you see. (I believe Dale Carnegie popularized this concept—to “give others a good reputation.”) I think Tim Cook is very skilled at Wise Speech and understands all of this. If Steve’s life hadn’t been cut short so prematurely, I think he would have loved studying Wise Speech and would have excelled as a practitioner.. (He was a dedicated Zen Soto Buddhist.). If Steve had had a powerful, creative way to deal with his frustrations about being misunderstood, I think the world would have seen and understood him so differently—as the deeply caring, passionate, brilliant bright light of a person he was.'
on Apple in India: Steady gains - 'If there was more info about the revenue share of the India market it would be revealing. There are some tidbits here. “Smartphones priced above ₹30,000 (around $327) grew 15% year-over-year in 2025 and accounted for a record 23% of total shipments — the highest share ever — according to Counterpoint.” Here is some quick math and assumptions. I guess Apples shipments share overall of 9% comes out of the 23% of the total shipments of Smartphones priced over $327. Unless they are really selling older models at prices less than retail prices from the past. So of the approximately 35 million higher priced phones sold in India Apple sold about 13.68 million. Around 29% growth from the previous year. If that is correct it is pretty good market share growth for that category. Assembling iPhones in India is paying off in more than a few ways.'
on Saturday Apple video: Steve Jobs shows his temper - 'Hi, Jonathan. “Instead of seeing them as creeps…” Except – they were creeps. And Steve Jobs gets to take them to task for screwing over his company’s users. As a long time user AND a long time investor, I applaud that. Tim Cook is a nice guy, but he also can, and does, take people to task for screwing over the Apple user. I’m guessing he learned that from Steve Jobs…. Oh, and whoever the buffoon was who ignored Mr. Jobs’ plea and refused to shut down his live blog gets to go through history as a proven first rate asshole….'
on Apple bear Dan Niles turns bullish (video) - 'What do they usually say, Gregg, that the truth is probably somewhere in the middle? Watch it be $2.78! Ha.'
on Apple in India: Steady gains - 'A quick AI search says iPhone shipments grew 16% from 2024 to 2025.'
on Apple bear Dan Niles turns bullish (video) - 'This guy is dead to me … not interested in his opinion … I prefer this forum'
on Utah state symbols: Dutch oven, brine shrimp, porcini mushrooms and... Android OS? - 'Dear Above Commenters, Your remarks are TOO FUNNY! LMAO'
on Oscars: NYT's critic horrified by Best Picture nomination for Apple's 'F1' - 'In our family from 8 to 68 we all enjoyed it immensely – technically way ahead of anything else. Only watched a few minutes on Apple Vision Pro, but still impressive without spatial. And, variety is the spice of life: Apple’s ‘Tehran’ S2 and the BBC’s ‘Night Manager’ S2 and are making a big impact currently. Highly recommended.'
on Oscars: NYT's critic horrified by Best Picture nomination for Apple's 'F1' - 'Gregg Thurman said: “Ron, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that F1 was filmed in visionOS, with plans to rerelease post WWDC. If TC announces that you’ll find me at the Apple Store an hour later (and anxiously awaiting 2027 Kansas basketball).” **Gregg, the only technology enthusiasts who might want to hold off buying an Apple Vision Pro are 20 or 30 years younger than we are…and, IMO, even those folks shouldn’t wait for a lighter, less expensive model because the current product is so absolutely mind-blowing. Whether or not F1 was filmed in visionOS, you’d never regret buying an AVP. I do hope Apple announces more sports available for the Vision Pro and that Kansas basketball is among the teams that are included.'
on UBS: Apple's long-term DRAM contracts may expire in June - 'How many times have we heard Apple is doomed because component X is in short supply and price is surging. Ignoring that the price rises will hurt more apple’s competitors who probably don’t have the long term deals and buying power of Apple and certainly don’t have Apple’s margins to absorb the increase. Plus even though memory is significant we don’t know if other components have been falling in price lately. Perhaps they have as Apple has been reporting higher GM. Finally, anyone else surprised that base iPhone pricing has hardly changed during this long run of inflation? Maybe Sept this year if indeed memory becomes a cost concern for Apple?'
on He shares his Apple family plan with two people wrongly convicted of murder - 'Apple “Family” plans (U.S.) aren’t really about legal family at all. They’re a small sharing group — up to six people — set up on trust. Apple doesn’t ask whether people are related, married, or living together. Each person has their own account, and one person agrees to take responsibility for the group. That leaves the hard part to us. Rules can tell you what’s allowed, but they don’t tell you what’s right. If someone uses that flexibility to help people who’ve already lost decades of their lives to a broken justice system, it may sit outside a narrow idea of “family,” but it sits squarely inside the idea of basic human decency. It’s not gaming the system; it’s choosing to act, quietly and concretely, instead of stopping at sympathy. (Apple’s family-sharing rules are largely the same everywhere, even though prices and availability differ by country.)'
