My take: this was done to pull consumers back into the cycle of upgrading to every new release. iPhones already do so much more than most people need. With the RAM price hikes, even though there was an influx of sales (according to a store rep) initially, I think Apple was expected a significant decline; people just choosing to stick with their current device to avoid paying the premium.

Leasing not only allows Apple to keep "selling" people new devices, it will also mostly like accelerate the second-hand sales and resource recycling arms of the business. Consumers will be more willing to upgrade sooner and stay in perpetual payments vs having to buy out the device at lease end - and Apple gets back newer devices where the recycled tech is arguably more valuable.

Yeah the era of the personal computer is over.

Companies will prioritize components for cloud computing and lease us thin clients...

*gestures at prices*

So, government regulation will lead to all bad things we see today in capitalism? But capitalism won't. This is not very sound logic.

Capitalism doesn't exist without government regulation. Who's going to enforce the contracts? Who's going to break up the giant entrenched companies rent-squeezing every cent out of their natural monopolies, and then using their illicit gains to crush any would-be competitors as they ooze into other markets?

Literally everything listed for 'government regulation will lead to' can and has happened in unchecked capitalism. Insider connections rule everything right now in this current regime of chest-beating 'capitalists.'

Capitalism and socialism aren't real things outside of freshman year econ textbooks.

Pure hn libertarian moment

for all values of spherical cows in a vacuum

> Government regulation will lead to: > > - Giant entrenched companies that are difficult to disrupt thanks to insider connections

Oh, you mean like Apple, Google, and Microsoft?

> - Lack of competition, price increases, terrible customer service and pretty much everything that "anti-capitalists" today complain about in regards to capitalism.

Have you looked around? This is already happening.