The other worse part is the fact that smartphone prices are skyrocketing and carriers are starting to signal they're no longer willing to bear the burden of 0% financing the phone to you based on the risks involved.

T-Mobile stepping out declaring "nothing" with their EIP Flex 36 that has a 0-24% creditworthiness-based interest and Klarna stepping in to do Apple leasing is a bad sign ahead.

So now it's not only thinking about "buying a new phone"... it's "how are you paying for it now"... will that be cash, a credit card, carrier finance, carrier lease, or your next of kin?

So many bells/whistles/gimmicks that no one asked for. Cynic in me figures product managers just want something shiny to show for the promotion.

But for real, I can't tell the difference much between a 17pro's image output vs a 16's (or 15's). Phones have plateaued.

The same with a laptop (what the hell is a copilot Laptop when it's at home? It can run software?). Most people can cope just fine on any laptop that was above a certain price point from the last 10 years. The only issue has been developers have just been forgetting about resource usage and increasing demand with their software which causes some devices to be a little less speedy.

If the EU can force battery replacement then I suspect laptop sales would drop greatly, which for the world would be a good thing