“Steve Jobs died in late 2011. Since then Apple has upgraded the product line, pretty much as expected; thinner, lighter, faster. Yet, during that time period since Jobs’ passing, Cook’s Apple has managed only two new products of significance, both accessories for the iPhone. Watch and AirPods,” Jeffrey Mincey writes for Mac360. “Mac sales are at record levels, but the product line has languished; the Mac Pro has never been upgraded, and both the Mac mini and iMac are in need of a refresh, a year or two overdue.”
“Meanwhile what was Jobs’ last hurrah– the post-PC era ushered in by the iPad, has languished as well, and sales have fallen to their lowest level since before Jobs died,” Mincey writes. “Instead of upgrading and improving the iPad line, Cook seems satisfied to not bother with putting his pipeline of products where his mouth is. If Apple is firing on all cylinders then how is it that so many product lines are in need of an upgrade[?]”
“The stock price, cash pile, and recent financials make Apple look good on the surface, but a company’s future is not to rest on its laurels. New products are the future and Apple doesn’t seem capable of doing much more than keep the status quo humming along while sending in a few accessories to disguise the empty pipeline,” Mincey writes. “The Tim Cook era is likely to go down in history as Apple’s most profitable but based upon the most anemic products.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Cook has an impossible act to follow.
That said, the less Cook talks of Apple’s pipeline and the more it delivers, on time and in sufficient quantities, the better.
“Pipeline Tim.” That sticks until the vaunted pipeline actually delivers… On occasion, Steve Jobs teased the product pipeline, too. The difference is that Steve Jobs repeatedly delivered. — MacDailyNews, November 23, 2016
This is the kind of story where you want a Like button because I totally agree but i don’t like it at all. If there isn’t some massive innovation “in the pipeline” – and I don’t mean an upgrade to an existing product – Cook’s tenure will likely go down as the most expensive in terms of OPPORTUNITY COST. Apple has made its money in recent years just sitting on its ass. Imagine if it had actually delivered a few more products expanding its reach and influence. It seems very happy with services. I seem to remember Microsoft reaching that same point.
Not defending Tim. But nobody really nows whats in that pipeline. Who knows could be something amazing. And maybe not. I’m hoping for the amazing stuff. I’m sitting on my money waiting to buy something- so I wish they would come out with something and fast.
This article is something of a hit piece designed to cater to the disaffected. At the very least, the author is guilty of exaggerated claims intended to reflect negatively on Cook.
The excerpt published by MDN has two glaring factual errors:
1) “…the Mac Pro has never been upgraded”
This is clearly false. The trashcan Mac Pro was released under Cook. Some may not think of it as an “upgrade,” and the trashcan Mac Pro has admittedly not been updated since its release. But the article makes it sound like happened with the Mac Pro since Jobs died, and that is untrue.
2) “Instead of upgrading and improving the iPad line…”
Again, patently false. The iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil is clearly a different product from its predecessors and paves the way for the next round of new iPads this calendar year.
In addition, the iPad mini was released just over a year after Steve Jobs died. Many may attribute that product to Steve as being in the pipeline when he passed away. But Steve never liked the idea of a smaller iPad (and, admittedly the iPad mini has never been as popular as the original 9.7″ form factor). The iPad mini is even less attractive now, given the availability of 5.5″ displays on the iPhone Plus models.
Exactly right, KingMel. Steve disliked the larger phone sizes and the smaller tablet sizes. He also eschewed styluses. Thus I credit Tim Cook for all three product developments, and spit on those who incessantly hammer him for lack of daring or imagination.
How convenient that events should conspire to prove us right… That is no proof, but mere happenstance advertised by pride. — Santayana
Daring and imagination? Is this the same Cook that came out with larger phones and smaller tablets a couple years *AFTER* the market segment was already proven by others?
This is not the same as the iPod or the iPhone coming out after the market segment existed. BOTH those changed the way those market segments worked. The iPod changed the way people used portable music players. The iPhone changed the way people used smart phones.
The larger iPhone and the smaller iPad did NOTHING to change the market or the way people use smart phones or tablets. The 12.9″ iPad Pro was more of the same. The related stylus was just an extension of what others were already doing.
As I’ve said here before, I don’t need for Apple to have ground breaking products every year or two. I do need them to have them every few years. But, even more importantly they need to keep the entire product line (or set of product lines, if you prefer) up to date and at the forefront of their respective technologies.
I need Apple to focus on *US*, the customers and much, much less on Wall Street and the financial community.
Correct in pointing out what is so obvious with Apple present day that KingMel and Herself completely missed. The rose colored glasses of adoring fans never cease to amaze.
“I need Apple to focus on *US*, the customers and much, much less on Wall Street and the financial community.”
I beg to differ, slightly. Appeasing Wall Street for the largest company on planet Earth is a good thing. Provided the decisions do not affect *US* and as you point out repeatedly and correctly — they certainly fall short.
I have a problem with Clueless Cook taking a corporate social justice role (PC) and advocating identity politics by picking winners and losers for his highness time and attention.
Steve spoke out against this stupidity which ultimately leads to permanently turning off some customers. I don’t want to go into an Apple Store on my way home from hunting and feel alienated, dissed or verbally insulted because I am wearing camouflage clothing.
We are all equal, albeit with different beliefs, and should be treated that way by Apple … 🔫🇺🇸🔫🇺🇸🔫😎
You hunt? What game? My father tried to teach me, but once when he saw I was too soft-hearted to kill a gimpy doe, he gave up on me. Since then I’ve kept up at the firing range, but only with an eye to self-defence.
Maybe my soft-heartedness unconsciously extends to mild-mannered corporate CEOs surrounded by a pack of barking critics.
“You hunt? What game? My father tried to teach me, but once when he saw I was too soft-hearted to kill a gimpy doe, he gave up on me.”
Well, I can only guess your loving father rightly recognized reality and supported you. 😊
My father taught my sister to hunt at a young age. She was really into it for many, many years until one day when we were all hunting Whitetail Deer together, an experience afield changed her mind.
To make it brief: Sister put down a huge buck with a clean shot over a hundred yards away from a stand high in a oak tree. On her way to harvest she witnessed from afar an interloper, standing over the dead deer, who fired a shot into the carcass at point blank range. Hastily, the bad hombre with the help of friends, loaded her kill in a truck and sped off. Unbelievable.
But her son and hubby are avid hunters and she loves fresh venison. The healthiest red meat in the world according to an agricultural department report I obtained from Penn State.
I can only imagine my star ratings falling forever to an all-time low after this revelation. But you know what and I have posted many times. I don’t care about manipulated faceless opinion which does not define me. 😎🔫🇺🇸
Side car: Hey Apple, where is the rifle and deer emoji? Don’t you know deer hunting rules in America and is most the popular. And while I’m at it — bass and trout rule the fishing world, even more emojis you are missing out on providing to MILLIONS.
For decades statistics have shown fishing is the most popular recreational activity in the U.S. (USA TODAY). Swimming sometimes leads, swapping top spots, depending upon the year survey was taken.
“Maybe my soft-heartedness unconsciously extends to mild-mannered corporate CEOs surrounded by a pack of barking critics.”
Confirmed a soft heart, no doubt at all. Whether Cook is mild mannered or overbearing is not the problem. What he does or does not do is the real problem. And his politics, tech preferences (iPad) and personal identity is casting a disconcerting shadow over Apple and alienating customers. Lastly, I am certainly confirmed a critic and hopefully constructive, but don’t like to bark … 🐹🐱🐭
Addendum: I suspect more to be told regarding the gimpy doe story. No respectful hunting father would teach his daughter to harvest a gimpy doe in the first place …
I can only guess my reply was not well received. That’s fine DEER … 😊
Exactly wrong, KingMel.
Yes, the Mac Pro trash can debuted on Cook’s watch after years in the pipeline that belonged to either Steve or Tim? No matter. I don’t know the MDN take you are talking about, but MDN would be 100% correct stating it has never been upgraded under Cook.
It debuted and died. What part of that do you not understand?
Again, not sure where MDN said the iPad has not been upgraded. Certainly not in their take directly above.
Bottom line: You are engaging in semantic perceptions and a spirited fanboy defense of Apple, nothing new for you, we can all appreciate. That said, let’s stick to the facts … 🤔
CORRECTION; You were addressing the excerpt on MDN, NOT their take. My bad. 😁
Still, do not agree.
Said it before and I’ll keep saying it… All of the innovation under Cook’s tenure has been foundational. There’s a lot more in-house thechnology in Apple’s products today then there’s almost ever been. In both hardware, software and services. Tim Cook has been building up and securing a foundation for whatever is to come next.
I think in the next year or so we’ll start to see a lot of what Apple’s been working on behind the scenes.
That is the big hope. And I do hope that you’re right! If the R&D money and the time have been well spent, we should definitely begin to see something.
Commodore in its day also had ‘foundational’ tech like their SID sound chip and being able to switch between 3 different, CPUs each for a different OS (C64, C128, CP/M), via software in the C128 model. In-house tech is not the only factor to keep a company relevant. Management missteps killed the company.
I’ve been witnessing the “I think in the next year or so we’ll start to see a lot of what Apple’s been working on behind the scenes.” song and dance for over two years now. Tim has run out of time. He needs to update the entire product line other than the iPhone and Apple Watch in the next few months or his “great things in the pipeline” will prove to be a flat out lie.
I don’t think it is fair to say that Apple has been sitting on their ass. They just have not been focusing on the products many of us still want and need. The desktop Macs. It is undeniable that the hot competition and big buck are in phone and mobile markets. We’d like think that company of Apple’s size and resources could juggle the continued development of the Mac at the same time.
I can only judge what I see. I do have hopes. But, man, these last few years Apple has found a way to turn most of my hopes into disappointment. I returned the ATV4 – the first Apple product I ever returned because it just sucked.
I’m sure they feel like they’re right on the edge of glory. But how long can you remain right at the edge? 5 years is a long time to be almost there. And what about “products our competitors can’t match”? Everything going on seems pretty well matched as far as I can tell. Competitors usually aren’t more than a generation behind, sometimes less.
So what gives? Are we on the edge of some great advance or not? If not, UPDATE WHAT YOU’VE GOT. If so, let’s get on with it.
Who care’s about the pipeline. We already know that $1200 iPhone 8s and iPads with zero innovation await us.
We also know that Macbooks are just netbooks, Macbook Pros are netbook pluses, ATV sucks, Apple Music blows, the Apple Watch is a joke, and that Tim Cook not only killed the Mac but virtually all Apple accessories as well.
You obviously don’t know what a netbook is. Today’s iPhone is more powerful than a netbook.
Pipeline width under Jobs: 100 ft circumference.
Pipeline width under Cook: 6 micron circumference.
Pipeline length under Jobs: 1 mile.
Pipeline length under Cook: From Alaska to the Florida Keys. It takes years to get something out of the delivery end of the thing!
Tim has had almost 5 1/2 years. EXTREMELY few products take more than five years from initial concept to shipping product.
You confuse and conflate pipeline with pipe dream … 🤔
The new product story will be answered when Bob Mansfield surfaces. Until then, everything is a refresh.
The new spaceship campus will be opening very soon.. I’m curious what effect this will have on productivity with everyone gets settled and perhaps collaborating more efficiently. I think it will be the beginning of [yet another] exciting era to be working at apple. Anyone know where Mansifield’s office will be?
On one hand the employees will be too busy marveling at their new work areas, on the other they’ll have updated tech and workspaces to interact and do their work hopefully more efficiently.
Certainly, I wish them all the very best working without Apple monitors and a Mac Pro trash can that has not been upgraded since the launch, years ago.
If all the Apple employees have to work on is an iPad and an empty flat minimalist workspace — God help them. ⏹
The article missed another good hit, Apple Pay. While many say its just another NFC payment, the security and anonymous transactions are better than any other one, and its growing like a weed and starting to positively impact Apples financial structure. But overall Tim’s team missed the boat with HomeKit being too restrictive and needing a chip to work. Apple TV 3 could have been a massive hit better than the Echo, but poor ui, no 4k and not having an “aways on Siri” killed it. They are in the right areas, but execution is killing them. And why kill your wifi router when you could make that a mesh system that is the center of the home (aka Google)? lots of missed opportunities so far…. Lets home they can execute better on ideas like HomeKit and Apple TV, while refreshing their product line more often, like they do with the iPhone.
Apple Pay is not a hit yet, but hopefully it will be in the not too distant future. The percentage of iPhone users I know that use Apple Pay is well below 20% (and one place with which I routinely interact has over 4,000 employees and the company phone issued to those people is the iPhone) , and less than a third have even bothered to try it.
Today is 497 days since the last iMac refresh. Ouch.
That’s 71 weeks. Over 16 months. 1.36 years. Not acceptable.
Of course the Mac Pro has been more than TWICE as long. 3.17 years so far.
All Macs need to updated TWICE a year. Apple needs to state a roadmap for businesses.
Simple stuff needs to be done- like 4k on Apple TV, updated keyboards, matching monitors or, heaven forbid, an Apple docking station.
I completely disagree.
Updating all Macs twice a year is asinine. It takes time to amortize the development of new Macs.
But, they should be updated once a year or so. They should, when they first ship, be *THE* state-of-the-art. They should be systems that everyone at Apple (let alone all of Apple’s outside customers) WANT to buy! If a design engineer does not say, “I’d buy that with my own money the first day it ships.”, then there is something inherently wrong with the design.
This goes not only for Macs, but also iPods, iPads, and every other piece of Apple’s hardware and software.
While this ideal will never be attained by any large company with a diverse product line, at least Jobs strove for that. Cook is focusing on the stock price and making nice with the financial world.
As long as they continue to solder in parts that in the past were user upgradeable, twice a year is not unreasonable. If you leave the half year ‘upgrade’ of those same parts to Apple, once a year for major design changes is fine. And definately a roadmap since they are now focusing on businesses rather than the consumer.
Mesh network routers you can put anywhere that’s convenient with “Hey, Siri” and home kit integration. They’re products are getting more personal, but losing the battle for the home.
Yes! I was waiting for someone else to say it. Apple Pay (in the Cook era) is absolutely one of the most important Apple products in it’s history. Not merely an opinion. Watch this one unfold.
I agree. It may not seem sexy to the technorati but it is a compelling economic force and that is what wins the day.
Follow the numbers ..,
And he’s overexposed. Celebrities are aware of this known problem and work to mitigate it. Tim should too. And he needs an agent.
The Apple Leadership School that Jobs set up to prevent a post-Jobs malaise may actually be promoting that state of affairs Evidence is that the School seems to teach how to be successful at the 2011 level which would institute a culture of failure.
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