>>to exceed your monthly data allowance in one minute instead of two.
It matters for operators and network capacity.. every byte takes less spectrum, fewer channels and less licensed bw.
>> they aren't even designing their own cores
Incorrect, they have an architectural licence, and the snapdragon cores are customised with codenames like Krait, Kyro, Scorpion and so on.
Apple has limited options to grow profits in a rapidly commoditising market. The way they choose to increase their margins is to spend more on marketing and to squeeze suppliers. They don't invest in R&D and have one of the lowest R&D spends in the industry. Most tech companies invest in R&D (google 15%, fb 20%, qualcomm 22%, apple 4%). The engineering innovation actually comes from suppliers. Much of what is called their innovation are not in engineering but in design. Cook is a supply chain guy and innovation is basically a supply chain procurement within Apple.
As someone within this industry it surprises me how little tech journalists understand how the industry works and how much of what is being credited as apple innovations have little to do with them.
What you can credit them for is design. A tech fashion house.