“Has anybody else noticed how the rate of emergence of new Apple rumors appears to be accelerating?” Jonny Evans asks for Computerworld. “Surely I’m not alone in witnessing Apple’s alphabet of looming innovation becoming increasingly more visible?”
“I confess, it upsets me when I read some of the criticism thrown at Apple CEO, Tim Cook,” Evans writes. “Just like the iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch will be understood as agents of profound change within five years.”
“We know these include Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, artificial intelligence, connected systems and connected wearables. We know these include mobile payments services, extended entertainment services, collaborative productivity tools and more. We know Apple is innovating in processor design, materials science (Liquid Metal) and more. We even know it is innovating in its supply chain, aiming to become 100 percent powered by green energy and for its products to be 100 percent recycled,” Evans writes. “We know all this and yet the tired critical narrative continues to claim that Apple isn’t inventing, slamming Tim Cook as ‘Pipeline Tim.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote on Saturday:
For only about the second or third time since Steve Jobs departed this earthly plane, we’re getting the sense that something wicked this way comes!
It may be years out, but, when all is said and done, many Apple naysayers are going to be saying, “They’re baaack!”
We have just one wish: That Apple would keep their eyes on all their current products and update them regularly. The company is large enough and rich enough to keep everything on the shelves fresh and… we lied, second wish: to never have 6+ week shipping delays on any new or existing products (see AirPods and the 8-Core Mac Pro for two current examples).
Apple CEO Tim Cook deserves criticism for:
1. letting products — and, indeed, entire product lines — languish terribly under his watch; and
2. for serially launching products late or with ridiculously low suppliesNeither situation should have happened or be allowed continue to happen.
Tim Cook should double-down on timely product updates and ensuring that supplies, from launch onward, befit the “Operations Genius” moniker that some bestow on him lest it become even more ironic.
SEE ALSO:
Apple + satellites = ? – April 22. 2017
Why Apple may be interested in space satellites – April 21, 2017
Lazy Apple. It’s not hard to imagine Steve Jobs asking, ‘What have you been doing for the last four years?’ – December 9, 2016
Doesn’t seem massively different to what we get in the run up to a WWDC and 5 months out from the typically release of a new iPhone.
Tim Cook is a social justice warrior loser and Steve Jobs imposter. Anybody who backs him is just a delusional fanboy and apologist.
MDN pulls punches. Cook deserves criticism for those faults and more:
– Releasing under-cooked products like the (new) Apple TV & remote
– Releasing poorly-designed hardware like the Mac Pro Trashcan
– Releasing poorly-designed & constantly reorganizing software like iOS 8, 9, 10, recent iTunes
– Releasing clusterfsck service webs like iTunes/Store + Apple Music + iCloud + iCloud Photos
Because in our must have now, instant gratification society, Apple moves as slow as molasses. That’s why, duh.
Like ship it yesterday, fix it later!
And have a conniption, when it’s not perfect.
People are never satisfied by Apple’s announcements.
From 2001:
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/001_300/250.html
And then we wonder why no one listens to us.
All this wonderful stuff in the pipeline and they make the mistake of “forgetting” or understanding the languishing, ill-thought out & pro reviled 2013 Mac Pro? Get the basics done right Apple and don’t you dare forget it again.
Sometimes I wish I could push a button and a giant foot would materialize and kick all the male hierarchy at Apple hard into the groin area as punishment for their stupidity. Then as they’re bend over in pain another foot kicks their sorry asses from behind and they go flying. Do you idiots have any idea how much pain you’ve likewise caused your pro customers by your unfathomable negligence and design folly?
I hear ya, Fesarius, but I’ve been just too swamped going through all of the details in all of the Macintosh rumors I’ve been reading this week.
Especially all of those rumors on the Mac Pro (including just what the heck Apple actually meant when they said ‘modular’!). The quantity … and technical detail quality … of all of these Mac Rumors (hey, someone should name a website that) has just been too overwhelming for little old me.
But seriously ..
The general uptick seems to me to be a sign that someone’s probably reviewing their 2018 R&D budget plans, so there’s going to be a little leaking for a variety of motivations: the primary goal of the leakers is to secure next year’s money for their development group – – so that they don’t have to go back to “boring” stuff like the Mac.
Sexist A-hole
The Apple “true believers” are the Mac people. When they go Apple is finished.
And they are going. Slowly, reluctantly and with heavy hearts they are leaving the Apple fold.
And I don’t think Apple either notices or cares.
The Watch is a trinket. AirPods too. And the iPhone is a good product but it’s not changing people’s lives any more. The iPad is becoming a niche product.
And for many, the Mac has become an obstruction to their work.
The Apple which inspired a generation is no more. Sad but true.
Are you kidding me? The iPhone has changed the way we all communicate and get information. To say it is not changing people’s lives anymore disregards the massive impact the iPhone has had and continues to have to this day. By your same analogy, the Mac which was first released by in 1984 should be put in the same class. There are more Mac users now than has ever been.
Have you tried the AirPods because they are the best bluetooth headphones I have used. The sound quality is truly amazing and the units stay in the ear without moving around. I’ve tried a good number of devices and these are by far the best I have used.
The Mac product clearly needs more attention especially the desktop portfolio. That is the main criticism I have and it looks like Apple are finally acknowledging that.
The iPhone did that, yes, and they have “over 100%” of the profit share in mobiles, but unlike the case of PC OS’s and watch OS’s where they’re so clearly superior, Android commodifies the smart phone market in a way where people can get reliable, adequate devices that do a whole lot without having to enter the Apple ecosystem.
“Real personal computers” aren’t going away for a long time yet. Love my phone, but when I wanna work or compose anything serious, I need my Mac. Apple will lose some very important, if somewhat intangible, if it ceases to lead this enduring market, even if it’s not one “growing to the sky.”
The Mac is still more important to the company as a whole than management seems to have realized, except hopefully, belatedly, and not too late with luck and execution.
Nah, most all the “Mac” people are already gone. Apple has successfully transitioned themselves away from relying on the old desktop/laptop paradigm and to the new mobile paradigm… far more successfully than anyone else. Since the success of Apple’s mobile devices depended on the Mac for so long, some think that HAS to continue indefinitely into the future, but that’s not the case.
Innovation will never come from catering to that long-time Mac crowd anyway… Most of them just want “That windows PC, but running macOS.”
That’s weird….most musicians and photographers I see are continuing to use macs
And designers, developers, architects, artists, people who like well designed products…
Basically everybody.
That’s not contradictory to what I posted. Many hardcore Mac people have moved on or just aren’t updating beyond where they’re comfortable. The future is iOS, but some choose to ignore it.
Forget the artists—virtually every teenager that can afford an iPhone (and some that can’t afford one) has one.
your post ignores the Profits.
as I’ve gone over and over again Macs is the SECOND LARGEST hardware profit maker at Apple after iPhone.
It makes more than iPad : 7 billion vs 5 b last quarter.
Macs make near twice Airpods, Apple Watch, iPod, Beats, Apple TV , accessories, etc. COMBINED ( the ‘Other Products’ category at Apple )
That in spite of the fact of massive neglect, slow updates, no updates and virtually ZERO MARKETING — practically no ads , not even cheap web ads (imagine how much more money they would have made it T.Cs gang had been serious about it)
Macs if it was a separate business would be near 100 on the Fortune 500 list.
Also Tim Cook has spent over 100 billion (with a ‘b’ ) in buybacks etc to shore up the stock. Main reason the stock is low (if it had the P.E of Google, Microsoft etc it would not 100+ but over 300 now ) is that big investors say Apple is a ‘Dangerous ONE product iPhone ‘ company. Airpods and Apple Watch are iPhone ACCESSORIES. Anything happen to iPhone and with the current strategy you can kiss the company goodbye big investors say. So DIVERSIFYING the company with high earning Macs etc. is a compelling strategy.
And seriously the argument that Apple should ignore Mac because of some vague concerns that they ‘lack resources’ to do BOTH is silly. They’re got 200 billion , they are doing ‘Planet of the Apps’, the sex romp of Dr Dre’s life miniseries, Coffee Table books, Fashion shows like the Apple sponsored Met Gala, Jony Ive is making Christmas trees and his designers are spending a year and half making door handles for the new Campus (according to Reuters)…
What has changed in the last 10 years that current Macs we have today, can’t handle it?
Other than planned obsolescence, the only thing that’s changed is people’s expectations.
Apple looks much better if I lower my expectations!
WTH, you can say the same thing, referring to NASA going to Mars, and have the same effect, ooozing sarcasm.
How about focusing on Simply Great, instead of deliverables.
I for one, welcome any delays, if it means solid design / engineering and a rock solid product.
l am so happy that you are still waiting for Apple to improve and innovate.
Frank you write like my mother
Your are your mother’s biggest regret. How’s feel to be such a loser?
I am sorry for disappointing those who sound like my mother.
Bad mouthing yer ma. What a despicable son. You must be the abortion she wish she had.
My mom is super critical, but she loves me. If you were my mom, I would say go ahead and abort me, so I can get a new ma.
It’s not (necessarily) a case of currently available Macs “can’t handle it”.
With the Mac Pro, it’s that they handle it slower yet can cost much more than the competition.
With the Macbook Pro, it’s that they handle it less capably (limited to 16 GB RAM, when high-end competitors offer 32 and even 64 GB RAM, with RAM and SSD not upgradable after purchase).
In both cases pros are paying for things pros do not want, or do not value over potential performance (form over function, small, thin, quiet, energy efficient to a fault, etc).
Pro’s expectations haven’t changed, that’s clearly obvious with so many clinging on to the cheese grater Mac Pros. No, Apple attempted to change pro user expectations… and is failing with good reason.
So it’s the price. I can agree. If the assembly line is 5 years old, why am I paying first run prices? If they can knock off $1000 and be price competitive with the rest of the industry, would most buyers be happier? Is this the “Apple Tax” in full effect?
It’s not price so much as *value*, but you covered that reasonably well. And yes, I think most would be happy if prices got incrementally lower the older a product line is without a refresh. The recent Mac Pro price adjustments were long, long overdue.
Yes it is all about value, and to that end, the long, long overdue adjustment on the Mac Pro was very much “too little, too late”:
in addition to the bump up in hardware specs, it should have also included a $1000 reduction in MSRP.
“Pro’s expectations haven’t changed,”
Which is why if you want to really INNOVATE, that’s the first group you leave behind. Steve started the push by meeting with Final Cut Pro’s and letting them know ‘we’re done listening to you’ and it continues now.
Get out of bed and check out an Apple Store. Always packed from open to close. New Macbook Pros setting like Air Jordans. Or if you prefer to live under a rock check out Apple’s last earnings statement and note the Mac Sales. Our local coffee shops 3 out of 4 are Mac Laptops. Yes you need to get out and see what’s really going on.
Reality will never stop the pouting and whining.
Absolutely. Simply accept Apple’s sad performance and appreciate every disappointment. Feel better now?
“sad performance” — e.g. iMacs that can do HD video editing. What is it you want to do that you can’t?
Anecdotal evidence is simply not a great indicator. We are all happy that you hang out with other Apple devotees, but where I live, which happens to be on top of a rock, not under it, there is a significant diversity to electronics. Apple is one leader, but not the majority. I think if you looked at objective national or worldwide data, Apple doesn’t hold a 75% market share in anything it sells.
Does Nike even sell Air Jordan shoes anymore?
It was recently estimated that to assemble, manufacture, design, manage, distribute, sell, support, etc., the iPhone 5S alone involved more nearly 400 thousand people.
Yet most of the folks that complain here still can’t remember to take out the garbage or clean up their mess as they promised their mothers/wives every day to do.
And to paraphrase something that Steve Jobs once told us, ‘the issue is that the technology has catch up before you can build it’.
I think that we tend to forget that virtually everything that Apple introduces, they have to create/design the machines to build the parts: not like the rest of the industry that simply has to put new toners into their photocopiers.
Perhaps, but when that turns to creating custom screws when a standard one will do for the sake of solely making repairs difficult, it’s questionable whether it adds any ‘value’ for the consumer.
1984. First Mac. Custom screws.
Why? Because both Steves realized that ‘consumers’ didn’t have the ability to make repairs. And they still don’t.
Custom screws will also “limit” the qualified people to only those that obtain authorization and tools exclusively from Apple to repair. Good for control I admit but could be abused. Perhaps that is one of the arguments currently made for the “Right to Repair” bill currently under discussion.
Gotta say i’m not too happy having to wait till the beginning of june before my AirPods arrive ;(
It will only get worse before it gets better. I have no more faith or confidence in Tim Cook.
Mac Pro: Half the size of the cheese grater. Same design. No need to change. Mostly empty space filled with a basic configuration inside coupled with a lot of ports. Open slots for many more drives, cards, etc. $2,495. Made in The USA. Announced and ready for delivery November, 2017.
Look at this!!! Have you SEEN cutting edge innovation defined this clearly before? The entire PC industry would note this laundry list of true innovations and know that YES! Apple has returned to teach the world how true innovative desktops are DONE!
I had just posted above how catering to whatever Mac Pro market exists requires no imagination and no innovation… and here’s an example why. 🙂
This article is Fanboi Tripe. Apple is like a dilettante, going 5 directions at once and accomplishing nothing. The rumors are accelerating because Apple has an increasingly empty pantry- vaporware. Apple is looking more and more like a poser: someone who owns a surfboard but cannot surf and a guitar that cannot play.
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple they had 5 places for every Dollar, but were able to launch the hardware lines and software – including the reworking of NeXTSTEP into Mac OS X complete with the Classic layer allowing a transition path for consumers. Take some time and look at the timeline of Apple’s work during that period and compare that small and cash restricted company to the big, fat lazy one wandering aimlessly today. They should be able to chase rainbows- I’ll advised or not- and take care of existing consumer lines.
Jobs may have been a difficult person to work for but he got results and most who worked for him got their best work done at Apple. Tim Cook seems like pleasant guy but shows no indication of fire in the belly. Elon Musk knows exactly what he wants to do, Jeff Bezos knows exactly what he wants to do, Mark Zuckerberg knows exactly what he wants to do, but does anybody have a clue what Tim Cook wants for Apple? You can ask any employee at the companies those guys head and they know what they are about and where they are headed, I doubt you could get that from most Apple employees.
Many companies flounder or fade away after the founding generation is gone and Apple today seems more than a little like the Apple of John Sculley. Apple is coasting on core product lines and throwing a lot of money around that ends up producing little of value. It also looks like the Ballmer Era of Microsoft – iteration instead of innovation, copying the work of others and following the market rather than leading it.
Totally reminds me of Microsoft: my iPhone reboots when I invoke Siri every now and then. This occurs at least once a day, and at very inconvenient times. There is also a persistent cookie on my iPhone that I can’t get rid of, even when trying to manually delete it. This has to be a major security flaw. And lastly, before 10.x my iPhone would reboot when every I went on certain websites.
Last time I called customer service I hung-up the phone after waiting for 17 minutes.
There are probably more issues than I can think of right now, but the point is the software has more bugs than ever befire, the customer service has degraded substantially over the last few years and the designs are stale. It’s like Microsoft part two.
Apple can do all it needs to do. It just hasn’t recently.
So basically, all the resources needed, but no ‘will’ to direct it.
Well Said Jonny Evans! I’m glad to see I’m not the only one out there in the real world! Apple Stores are packed from open to close, Coffee Shops loaded with Mac Laptops, Bars & Clubs I see more & more people with Apple Watches, iPhones galore. Some other commenters here need to get out and see the world! Tim Cook is Doing a Fantastic job IMHO.
Expectations for company performance tend to rise when the the company is sitting on billions of dollars of overseas cash and has no real resource limitations. Yet what has happened since Cook arrived is Apple repeatedly has dropped great product lines, allowed formerly great product lines to go completely stale without update, and deliver product releases late and in limited quantity. All the products he has released have been fashion trinkets and me-too subscription services that are neither easy to use nor reliable.
Apple will be fine financially by just releasing annual iPhone releases, but the company looks more than ever like a buraucratic mess unable to come up with all new products and a one trick pony that has lost touch with its legacy product ranges that did delight customers once — when Apple was the underdog and actually cared about delivering user value instead of maximizing cash extraction from users.
MDN is spot-on the money!
Both of those things shock never be happening for a comply that size with the revenue they have.