Bill Donahue on Mark Gurman: New Mac Mini any day now, AirPods with eyes not until next year - 'I’ve been thinking exactly this for most of this year, Gregg. At what point do government leaders who are being asked to give massive tax cuts and subsidies to the hyperscalers to build their massive energy- and water-sucking datacenters clue in to the fact that that model is in serious jeopardy.'
on Mark Gurman: New Mac Mini any day now, AirPods with eyes not until next year - 'I asked Gemini “does apple purchase memory from third party vendors for their SOC?” Yes, absolutely. While Apple designs the custom processor architecture (the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine logic) in-house, they do not manufacture their own memory chips (DRAM). Instead, Apple purchases the physical memory dies from major third-party semiconductor manufacturers. The primary suppliers that provide these high-speed memory components include: Micron (a major historical and current primary supplier for many of Apple’s devices) SK Hynix Samsung How It All Comes Together Procurement: Apple buys raw memory chips (such as advanced LPDDR5X DRAM) from these third-party vendors. Advanced Packaging: Apple ships its custom-designed silicon processors alongside these third-party memory chips to contract manufacturers—most notably TSMC. Integration: Using specialized packaging techniques (like InFO-PoP or Integrated Fan-Out Package-on-Package), TSMC physically mounts and interconnects the third-party memory directly onto or right next to the Apple processor die. This creates the final unified system-on-a-chip module that goes into an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, combining Apple’s proprietary processor design with mass-produced memory hardware from global semiconductor leaders.'
on Mark Gurman: New Mac Mini any day now, AirPods with eyes not until next year - 'If these machines are configured with SoC unified memory, where will the memory venders fit into this? I don’t think they will. Ergo, increased Apple gross margin.'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - 'I do have a thought: How will you type on this darned thing? Because I have big, clunky hands, I have to either type on my iPhone with one hand and essentially “move” the iPhone with the other to get an angle (the source of a LOT of my typing errors, btw) or I have to try to use two hands and type with my two index fingers – really tough, ergonomically challenging and literally tiring on the iPhone Max. And it won’t be helped by the increased weight, IMO. So you’ll basically need to either fold it back to an iPhone to type anything or prop it on a flat surface like presently with an iPad, and if you want to have an inclined surface to improve that ability, you’ll have to have some kind of gizmo that’s attached to the “back” that swings out – or have something attached to a protective cover that swings out… …and now I’m thinking you’ll need a second screen on the outside, adding even more complexity, cost, and weight… Nope. A foldable iPad I can see, with a single foldable screen. A foldable iPhone sounds a lot like a boat anchor….'
on Mark Gurman: New Mac Mini any day now, AirPods with eyes not until next year - '$18,299 or $40/month for the most loaded Mac Studio. 512gb ram option can’t be ordered for a month so unknown how much that adds over 256gb config now in my cart.'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - 'I think the critical question is: How well does this thing work as a pocket phone? How thin? How light? How much battery life? I think Jerry’s hypothesis is intriguing. But the opposite could be truer: That the foldable is actually a very weak replacement for an iPhone …and a very weak replacement for an iPad as well. Two weak things do not add up to something strong. I love the idea of being able to unfold my beloved iPhone into something larger. But I have a hard time imagining how that could be accomplished without making a very sub-optimal product. (Case in point: iPhone Air.) I hope Apple has figured out something dazzling here. Based on the iPhone Air, I’m not betting on it.'
on Errol Brandt: A tale of two awesome families of Apple chips (video) - 'Definitely a worthwhile video to view. The next video I saw, MSFT broke OpenAI, was also very interesting. The evil empire may not be totally asleep. The video also talks about other problems with OpenAI as a company.'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - 'Good discussion All. Hypothetical. Assume 100 percent of the Fold purchases come at the expense of a purchase of a different iPhone, ie. 100 percent cannibalization. So Apple makes its 35 percent profit on a $2000 dollar purchase instead of a $1100 purchase? I think I can live with that.'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - '“Use case” matters. Tim Cook seemed hollow and cold in his presentations. Jobs always sold the use case. He *told you* why you needed one and got you excited about it. Cook never did that. He just told us how scored *he* was. Now it’s up to Ternus. This will be a huge test for him and one I’ll be watching closely.'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - 'Enjoy owning the latest new thing. As the owner of a Vision Pro gathering dust I think I’ll pass on this shiny object.'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - 'I’m with Ted Kluger here. ….Sure. That pretty much every one here can buy one is nice… but so what? It may be a great product for the upwardly mobile. Vision Pro was a great product for the upwardly mobile. But after the upwardly mobile have sated their early adopter needs, who’s left to buy this product? There is an ever worsening cost of living issue compounded by RAMageddon, that is undercutting the potential consumer base, not to mention idiotic tariff regimes and another pointless, endless war that will drive up logistics cost and eat away at disposable income. As a subscriber in this self-cited savvy investor group… I want to know what this is going to do to AAPL. What is our collective and considered opinion about how it affects revenue and EPS? Which markets will buy it and what will it cannibalise? How many can they may with component constraints? Personally I think there are serious issues on both the supply and demand side. Would love to be told I’m wrong. (apologies if this comes across a bit terse)'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - 'I’m perfectly happy if Jerry gets the last laugh – we all win. My only comment would be: if you have a strong conviction on something AAPL related, then, sure, get it out there on this forum, BUT don’t harp on it endlessly… please.'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - 'Of course BMW drivers don’t look down on the smaller vehicles. The M3 *defines* the ultimate driving machine: nimble and quick! And, yes, of course smaller than the 5, 6, 7, and 8 (don’t see many of the latter around anymore. I think the 1s and 2s are kinda cute. And also, a 2024 M3 is a fair bit bigger than the old E30s of yesteryear. To me, though, the idea of “versatility” in a Cadillac as an SUV just seems silly. I can’t imagine one of those things ever driving over a curb, much less off-road. Roomy? Yes. Practically a conference room. Comfortable? I am sure they are. Practical? Meh. (The M3 does not go off-road, either. Stiletto heels do not belong in mud or even barely grass – though I do have a few near-horror stories.)'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - '“ Kind of an empty last laugh, I’d say, considering that the foldable skeptics of 3.0 will profit by exactly the same amount as the pro-folders” That was exactly my immediate thought. But on 2nd thought, I’m thinking the ones that stop laughing first are not 3.0 members (Apple longs), but those Apple critics who short Apple or not own it.'
on Premarket: Apple is green - '@Gregg Once the new iPhone comes out we will see it get lots of press because of the new Siri AI. Everyone will want to be out there with their test results.'
on Premarket: Apple is green - 'In afternoon trading Apple is up $1.58 of 0.51% at $310.93. The major indexes are mixed on the day. Powering the DJIA into positive territory is Visa which is poised to set a new all-time high. The shares are trading up $10.06 or 2.71% at $381.10. Just behind Visa on the day is Disney which is up $2.34 or 2.17% at $110.12. Disney has been a big multi-year under performer. Over the past five years the shares have dropped 38.28% and year-to-date the shares are off 3.18%. Over the past month the shares have climbed 16.13%. Under the new CEO the company is pressured to increase profitability and reverse the multi-year underperformance in the share price. Back to Apple. Let’s see how the shares close out the day. Apple is outperforming the broad market today.'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - 'It’d be great to see Foldables in SactoJoe’s next get-together❣️'
on Apple foldable: Jerry W. Doyle is prepared to have the last laugh - 'That’s hilarious Romeo – I hereby nominate you for a Hasselblad Award! But I’m also wondering who’s the guy whose ear is just peeking out from the side of the photo?? It looks vaguely familiar… 🙂'
