“The iPhone 6 has set sales records since its first week of release and led to Apple’s most profitable quarter ever. There have been some bumps in the road, but the market — and Apple’s customers — continue to have that loving feeling,” Anthony Wing Kosner writes for Forbes. “What could possibly go wrong?”
“In a word, software,” Kosner writes. “A growing chorus of developers and Apple-watchers is raising the alarm that the buggy releases of iOS 8 and Yosemite are part of a systemic decline in the quality of Apple’s software. The now-yearly release schedule for both iOS and OS X combined with the increasing complexity of the overall Apple ecosystem have put a strain on its engineers, these voices say.”
“To quickly recap, iOS 8 has had problems with Photos, ringtones, data usage, Family Sharing, iCloud syncing, cellular network connectivity, WiFi performance, Messages, Accessibility and security. Yosemite meanwhile has had persistent WiFi issues along with iCloud and UI glitches and performance problems on not-so-old Macs,” Kosner writes. “One of Apple’s biggest fans, John Gruber of Daring Fireball, wrote back in October: ‘From the outside, it seems like Apple’s software teams can’t keep up with the pace of the hardware teams. Major new versions of iOS aren’t released ‘when they’re ready,’ they’re released when the new iPhone hardware ships. On Twitter the other day, I suggested that perhaps Apple should decouple major iOS feature releases from the iPhone hardware schedule. That’s probably untenable from a marketing perspective, and it might just make things more complex from a QA perspective. But something has to give.'”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple needs to do better. Our expectations, some of us as users of Apple products since the early 1980s, are not being met when it comes to operating system quality. Used to be, you could pretty confidently install brand new operating systems from Apple. Recently, we’re more inclined to wait for a few point releases than not. It’s downright Microsoftian. Lately, your software seems rushed, Apple. Is “rush job” really the impression you want to give your customers?
Slow down, Apple! Getting it right is far more important than getting it out.
Frankly, Tim, we don’t need a new Mac or iPhone/iPad operating system every year and Apple Inc. doesn’t need it, either. What we really need are operating systems that are rock solid and do what they’re supposed to do when they’re supposed to do it. That would be good for Apple, too – in more ways than one. Simply add new features to existing OSes with continued point releases that refine and extend the experiences and services you want to deliver.
And… pause to toggle OS X Yosemite’s Wi-Fi off and on for the third time this morning… fix the fscking OS X Wi-Fi, will you already? It’s embarrassing.
Seriously. Go back to when it friggin’ worked right (prior to OS X Mavericks) and figure out WTF you changed/added that screwed it up and FIX IT. Sheesh.
No Wi-Fi issues on Yosemite since it launched (no Wi-Fi issues before then either).
I use Apple Airport Extreme AC router and prior to that the latest Airport Express without issue.
I’ve had no issues with Yosemite. But the article does miss how godawful iTunes 12 is, the inability to sync wirelessly, and how ridiculous iOS 8.1’s battery management is: ever had your phone shutdown with 33% of the charge left?
Call Apple support. They will remotely run a battery test and replace it if necessary.
That means it is not a problem? Sw is glitchy bottom line……
I have not had any battery issues with iOS 8.1 on any of our 5 iPhones or 2 iPads.
I would rather see Apple put software efforts into iWork feature additions and other software than keeping to a yearly OS release schedule. Apple could always add new features to OS X or iOS with a .5 OS software update rather than an entire point jump.
No WiFi on and off toggling needed for our Yosemite 2009 iMac or 2014 15″ Mac Book Pro either. These words of Yosemite WiFi problems are strange to me. 🙂
iTunes however could use not only a rewrite but offerings up to 16 & 24 bit 48-96kHz uncompressed audio. Not as though bandwidth won’t allow for it these days.
MacBook Pro Retina here, and I have to toggle WiFi at least once or twice a day. Very unusual for Apple!
My Dad gave up on resetting WiFi on his iMac and ran an Ethernet cable to his office which didn’t previously have a direct connection.
I assume Apple realizes they slipped a bit and will do better next time.
Also no WiFi issues on Yosemite. With Airport Express or Time Capsule, or airport WiFi.
I concur. I have yet to see these problems. I think its a FUD campaign. Target the products, then target the company. It’s happening at all levels of society, from governments, both foreign and domestic, coping, hacking, theft, lies.
I am getting tired of this crap. Certainly don’t give them a free ride, where deserved, but don’t cheat to bring them down.
It seems, no matter how successful you are, there’s someone out there waiting to f$;) you up.
It’s not FUD actually. I am a tester and I have 8 Macs here in my office for testing. Wifi has been a considerable problem on and off here. I’m also using all-Apple hardware. Not everyone sees it, and it’s inconsistent. If you’re not seeing it, that’s good. It also varies on model to model here.
“Not everyone sees it, and it’s inconsistent.”
Which makes a bitch to diagnose and fix.
I think some people would do better and contact Apple to give them more date to work with than to bitch and moan on the web. (I hope I can exclude you specifically.)
Besides Finder being unstable and prone to crash, it had a hair trigger as well. I once tried to copy a large group of video files from one folder to another, and they all started. There were over a thousand of them all trying to play at once. I actually was surprised the whole thing didn’t crash at once. I force quit all the media players that opened. With that many open files, it was the only way to get it back under control quickly. Web links were just as touchy. Bookmarks too. Just moving the pointer over something could trigger it to open.
Surely if Apple had a quick over-the-phone fix they would have a quick install-an-update fix out already.
Apple’s philosophy (unlike Microsoft’s) is that it is their job to maintain your system’s stability not yours.
Because YOU don’t see them they don’t exist? You’re a pompous ass.
You do realize there is a bigger picture here. I called like I saw it. Speaking the truth does not make anyone an ass, but to assume, makes an ass out of u and me.
I clear my caches and log files, on a regular bases, scan and repair permissions.
Try it, and let us know how that performs for you.
There is a difference between “calling it like you see it” with some hard data or insight and saying “I don’t have a problem so maybe its overblown”.
The latter gets old to hear when you do have the problem as I have had. And it doesn’t makes any sense. Nobody is saying these WiFi issues are plaguing everyone.
I have fifteen IMacs, three Macbook Airs, an Mac mini server, and a 2008 MacPro. . . none of them are exhibiting any problems.
I have just as many and they all have problems.
Frankly, I just don’t believe you.
I can be using my MBA on wi-fi and it seems that the connection just goes dead. I’m using a 3 TB Time Capsule router. The MBA still appears to be connected but simply nothing is happening web wise. I pick up an iPad and have no probs and none on my iPhone 6 Plus either and yet the web seems frozen on the MBA. I used the diagnostic tool and it recommended that I set up 4 or 5 GHz band network which I did. Still has the same problem. I’ve learned that I can toggle wi-fi off and back on and the connection finally picks back up. This is a real issue. And if these basics have issues, I begin to question if that secure enclave might have an issue that was overlooked by some engineer. The LAST thing Apple needs is loss of confidence from any segment of their customers considering the headway they are attempting to make into credit cards and such that REQUIRE security. Would people trust that new Apple Watch to securely process their transactions, for example, if they are dealing with a company that can’t get basic wi-fi right? As I inferred from MBN’s statement, this is highly reminiscent of Microsoft just before their fall. I’m in a freeze on Apple products til I see these issues fixed and new releases shipped clean.
while I agree with this article and have had my work adversely affected over the last few weeks by updating to Yosemite, this Forbes article does not put into context how minor these problems are compared to the PC and Android platforms bugs and usability issues are the norm. NOW FIX MY DAMN WIFI.
It doesn’t put it into context because that context no longer exists – At least on the mobile front. Unfortunately the bugs that used to plague Android no longer are the case and at least for the past 2 years, the iOS crash rate was significantly higher than Android (app crashes). The old adage, ‘well it could be worse, we could be using the other guys’ is no longer a good enough crutch.
And the Trolls come dancing.
Yep, Samdung phones have no problems, cause samsung says so. Just came from Walmart (iPhone 6 gold 129$. Sweet)
The guy across the counter has a new samsung phone that locks up on a call and only unlocks after the call ends. But he cannot end call except by pulling battery. Now we know why samsung keeps the removable battery. LOL Just so sweet.
Just saying.
Amen to this article.
Three iPhone 6’s and one iPhone 5 running iOS 8.1.2 …. and all four have had substantial trouble connecting to my home WiFi. Incorrect password or some garbage like that.
Nothing else on my home WiFi has had these issues. Nothing.
Ridiculous to say the least.
At last this is the first time (article and you) who I have heard say there are wifi issues on iOS8 as well as Yosemite though because of the warnings on the latter i have not upgraded on my main Mac on my secondary which I don’t use much. Mind you my wifi has gone completely as of today but thats to do with the useless Virgin Superhub I think.
Add the “peer to peer” AirPlay to the list of fails. Bought Brand new Apple TV and “peer to peer” fails!!! Come on Apple, get it together!
Love Apple and I agree 100% with MDN’s Take.
I suspect yearly updates are mandated by the CFO at Apple.
It is time to stabilize everything. I’m not on Yosemite to keep my sanity and stability.
2 year update cycles would be just great for me.
With a moderately complex set of higher end software on the Mac, it can take thousands in upgrade costs and a week or more to hopefully get a new Mac system updated & stable.
Doing that once a year and losing a week to the intense upgrade is EXPENSIVE.
Stability is more important than new features!
I only upgrade to major OS releases when forced to do so by economic need.
Quite agree , yosemite is utter crap , the UI is awful & I have t restart my mac every few days as it keeps crashing in the finder
I can’t say I’ve had problems with iOS 8 or Yosemite. I suspect that the author’s conclusion that recent releases are buggy comes from reading too many internet forums.
I have no comment on Yosemite’ wifi issues as I don’t use wifi at home. But after two weeks of having Finder hairballs galore, I backed my system drive and formatted and reinstalled Mavericks. It’s still got some rough areas but it’s easier to deal with than that disaster Yosemite! Ten minutes to read network attached drive only if finder decided not to immediately crash. Longer still to transfer files. You can keep that POS.
Hold on there cowboy, I have been an Apple user since the ole Apple 2C, and I haven’t witnessed the frequency of issues with Apple updates since System 7. These latest releases have indeed been unusually buggy and, or, unstable. I concur, get your act together 🍎.
Wifi issues on my 2012 mbpr
Rotation/orientation issues on my iPhone 6 Plus
Horrible third party keyboard support
I can say in the rush to get Swift out the door, Apple’s original texts on the subjects are now defunct. The syntax of swift has changed. The IOS examples for Swift are much better than the OSX. If one were to read the all the examples out there on using NSDocument for OSX in the Swift language, one would think Swift is only good for making text editors. It is a shame, Swift could of been “grand-unification” for OS X and iOS apps.
Yes, Apple should only come out with a new OS every 3 years!!!
I agree. OS’s are more the solid foundation for all else so make the foundation solid instead of worrying about feature bloat. Since the OS is now free anyway big yearly & flashy new named iterations seem less important instead of smaller incremental improvements. ZFS anyone?
Thankfully, I’m not among the Wifi issues reported (2010 and 2013 MBPs).
This is absolutely correct. 100% agreement.
I’ve had a few issues with all of my current Apple products since the new releases.
I got past the wifi issue on my 2012 MBP 13″ before the main release, but have had issues with it connecting to some networks EVEN WIRED.
My 2010 Mini music/video server doesn’t always show up on my MBP screenshare even though it does on my 2013 iMac. also, the Mini absolutely would NOT take the Yosemite update. After a couple of weeks it showed more than one update available and when I checked the App Store one was to the current version of Yosemite. The Mini had updated itself so I figured 10.10.1 would go smooth. Nope. Same hang up for hours at ‘4 minutes left’.
My MBP and iMac both seem to have wake issues every now and then (but so do I….)
I have to admit my iPhone 4S 64 GB works near flawlessly since the latest update. It was barely usable before that.
Now, I believe Apple either has a roadmap they are using to add/remove/adjust features to get to a point of nirvana between OS X and iOS but are taking it incrementally for developers and users OR they are using yearly ‘updates’ to add to Microsoft’s woes by doing it all for FREE. OK…..maybe a little of both.
When I updated my MacBook Pro to Yosemite, I had the “one minute left” for over 24 hours. I called Apple and they assured me it WOULD finish, if I would just be patient. I was about to give up and do a hard restart and a clean install when it suddently did finish. It was the darndest thing. Since then, no problems whatsoever.
I stopped my first try after an hour. Four hours for the next try and then overnight the next time. I have NEVER had an update take that long. I decided I didn’t need it that bad since it added nothing to my music/video library playback.
Wait, I’ve been reading MDN since oh about 2004 and it was my sole source for Apple news for some time. I’m sure you guys remember just as well as I do the struggles that have come along with just about every new OS release from Apple in that timeframe. When they were much smaller than they are now. I mean for heaven’s sake, remember when Leopard was actually causing large scale data loss? Leopard had tons of bugs, not unlike Yosemite, that impacted Wifi, bluetooth, external volumes and more and it was 2.5 years in development! Tiger didn’t really stabilize until around 10.4.2. Mail and iChat were chronically buggy at launch. Don’t even get me started about .Mac sync issues. New features have always introduced new bugs on OS X and the same goes for iOS. It’s the nature of software, folks. The only OS X release that was relatively free of drama was Snow Leopard and that’s because it introduced ZERO new features.
The truth is that this narrative is incredibly flawed and reveals that tech journalists have incredible short and convenient memories. Apple software is no more buggy today than it ever was. Given how much the company has grown in the past decade, I’d say that’s quite remarkable. The really sad part about these kinds of hyperbolic memes is that they inevitably get picked up by the clueless mainstream media and suddenly the masses, who don’t ever read beyond the headlines, are mindlessly telling each other that Apple quality is going south. How many “normal” people have asked you if your iPhone 6 bends? See what I’m talking about? You should be better than this MDN. If you don’t believe me, go check out your archives.
OMG !
What are you doing, Cyclonus, throwing logic and reason into this?
Your reality check is very timely in this seasonal surge of FUD. By the way, 5150 seems to ring a bell. Something to do with IBM?
This *IS* Forbes, after all. Their motto is, “If you don’t have anything bad to say about Apple, then don’t say anything.” I’m an instant adopter and I’ve experienced no issues with any of my numerous Apple products. We, as a family have 5 iPhones, 3 iPads, 2 Laptops, 2 Mac Pros, and a bucket full of iPods. We also use an Airport Extreme which networks with a couple of Airport Express modules in order to cover the property adequately.
There are only two issues we’ve ever had with our WiFi. The first is an intermittent dropping of WiFi connections. We’ve traced that down to a very noisy (electronically) microwave appliance. Guess what, most microwaves operate around the 5 Ghz frequency. We fixed that problem with a new microwave (non-Samsung, of course).
The second WiFi issue is the crappy wireless routers our neighbors use. We can “see” the networks of 3 neighbors from our place, and when they all gang up on the same channel we’re operating on things can slow way down. The only solution when that happens is to move our network to a different channel. The Wifi Explorer app is your friend in this situation.
Blame Apple! Blame Apple! Never admit you atre too stupid to read the instructions!
And most of you folks only see what’s visible. As a developer, I have to deal with buggy SDKs, poor documentation, abysmal performance from Xcode, etc. All the while, Apple took the time and the resources to introduce a new programming language! Really? Who needs a new programming language these days? Although Swift is very nice and I plan to start using it at some point, it will take a while. Why? Because it’s buggy!
All in all, I don’t understand Apple considering the poor state of their software.
I have to say that’s a great MDN take, it’s totally spot on. Apple’s software is an essential component of what distinguishes it from the rest, it has to be better, powerful yet simple and intuitive to use. It’s a high bar but it is one that Apple needs to meet and maintain.
When they slow down they get blasted for sitting on their hands, the stock takes a dive for lack of innovation, and the Fire Tim Cook brigade has a field day. So lately they are flooring the accelerator, screeching down the turnpike and sideswiping vehicles like the wild ride of Mister Toad.
Anything in the middle of those two extremes, and they would be a middling company, just another cow in the herd. Life would seem a little flatter.
Except that over time, the updates must be stretched out as the platform matures and everything settles into a more stable era.
I used to update OSs as soon as the came out. Not this time. I’m still waiting to be assured Yosemite is debugged. And I have checked out Yosemite on retina and non-retina 27″ iMacs at the Apple Store, and, first impressions, it’s no fun to view on a non-retina display. The retina display is something else, and isn’t so bad, though I would swap out Helvetica for the better spaced and more readable San Francisco (AppleWatch font). So, yep, get the OS right first; they don’t have to be tied with hardware releases. Unless razzamattaz is the name of the game and marketing dictates technological advance. If you can time it and it works straight out of the download tube, go for it. Otherwise, wait. Apple will lose out in the impressions stakes.
Only use AirPort Extreme at office and home and Yosemite wifi has sucked. Getting tired of turning it off and on to reconnect.
OMG, a Forbes piece that blasts Apple? Apple’s software is so far beyond every other vendor out there – it’s not even close. We should always ask a lot of Apple, but to jump on a Forbes hit-piece and agree with it? Come on. These “major issues” are affecting very small numbers of users and are hardly the first time Apple software has been problematic.
I challenge any of these journalists to do some research (crazy, I know) and compare iOS 8 and Yosemite bug lists with their predecessors going back a decade or so. They’ll absolutely find that there’s no story here. Then again, no story means no income for them, I suppose.
Like I said, this is from Forbes. No other explanation needed.
There you go again, Cyclonus, what are thinking ????
The latest “outrage” should always be portrayed as the worst, recalling a rosy past for comparison, to sternly point out how far the mighty have fallen. — A trick so old it’s a method, and never fails to draw a murmuring crowd.
I agree. Most reported problems are real and worth fixing, but not a sign of the sky falling.
Apple always has and always will be imperfect. I don’t remember the last time I did anything perfectly either.
Well, I do agree with the author when it comes to the issues with iOS8. I have long list of, different & annoying problems on both my iPad Air and iPhone 5S. All problems that severely Impact usability which I never had with even the original release of iOS7 when I had my 4S. Hell iOS7 is now looked at in terms of stability as ios6 was.
Not sure I i can agree with the problems mentioned about Yosemite. I’ve only heard about wifi issues but it never happened with my Macs. Both my 2010 Mac Mini & 2011 iMac run it beautifully. Not one OS crash / reboot. The only time I had an issue was with the 2nd beta developer release actually.
Snow Leopard; best ever!
Anyone remember the T-shirts that said “I’m waiting for OS8”?
Anyone remember when OS-X “just worked”?
“performance problems on not-so-old Macs”
Good to hear. I thought it was just my 2007 24″ aluminum iMac’s fault. Not. In fact after a second reformat and fresh OS install, it is now only very rarely freezing up for a few seconds at a time, rather than commonly for may seconds at a time. It is 7 years old after all.
The other thing I dislike is Safari has become a RAM hog big time, for all of my Macs.
Tend to agree. On my Macbook Air 256GB, it kept telling me I was almost out of HD space. Couldn’t figure out why. So I dumped a bunch of movies off it. Still did it. Did some digging and saw that, for some reason, Mail was talking up around 80GB of space. Reinstalled the OS and seemed to fix it. But WTF? And I keep having to enter my PW on my one email account. Over and over and over. Again, WTF?
…and fcpx has bugs now,,,with OS X Yosemite
Zero WiFi issues on my late 2012 mini, or the four iMacs I manage at the local community centre. And for me Yosemite is the best OS X release ever.
YMMV.
=:~)
Same here, although I only manage 5 Macs. As luck would have it, I’ve not seen any of the problems. And I’ve been running 10.10.2 on three of those Macs.
agreed.
If Apple is to continue to succeed, they really need to get a better product our the door. It’s just impossible for me to believe that with all the beta testing that is done(… should be done….) that these major problems are not ID’d and fixed before release.
Apple needs to “stick to the knitting.”
Adding to MDN Take which I agree strongly with for once… for iPhone at least, if you can’t completely decouple the software/hardware cycles from each other then do the major iOS update every 2 years along with the major hardware refresh.
We don’t need a new freaking O/S every year specially when it forces the crappiness of the iOS 7/8 UI’s upon us.
10.10 is unfortunately still significantly less stable than Mavericks. Shame on you Tim.
Apple Apps crashing on my MBP early 2014, not only Mail, also Reminders and Notes.
I am seriously thinking about going back to 10.9, even if I would miss iCloud drive a little. But not too much, because there is not such iOS App to explore my content with the iPad.
Let us know why Microsoft and Dropbox can do better on Apple Devices, please let us know why Apple still does not provide Preview App on iOS 8, come on.
Integration means almost seamless use of it all. And don’t emphasize the wrong word here.
Fix your shit.
WIthout Steve Jobs demanding perfection, Apple will just be another tech company.
The decline is already taking place. How do I know this? Look at IOS 8 and Yosemite.
These tech journalists gripe that Apple’s software is buggy, but if it’s too long until something is released, they’ll act like Apple’s just doing nothing.
Fact is, with every release, the software does more, and gets more complicated. If any of you can create bug free software, where are you?
That said, I do agree that the yearly release thing could slow down a bit.
I have had no problems with either Yosemite or IOS 8. I never get the original release and wait for the .1 release. I also don’t ever get the first version of new hardware so I won’t be getting an Apple Watch anytime soon.
BUT I do not like the Pages interface changes. Seems like changes mad just to make changes.
I also do not care to get a thinner IPhone. I have an IPhone 6. Better battery life is far more appealing than an even thinner design.
I’ve given up all hope that Cook or his perma-smirked software boy can write a reliable IMAP email app. One that doesn’t have to be toggled off/on to get attachment 5 times a day.
MDN’s take sounds more like an echo chamber. As if only a few months ago (pre-iPhone 6, iOS8 & iWatch) you were not berating Tim Cook for lack of innovation, along with the busy bodies of the tech journalism world, now that innovation is not an issue (never was, really, except for the media impatience), you are starting to sing another tune; the new tune is “Slow down”. Why don’t you (MDN) slow down instead and look back and see how you can be consistent in your messaging.
The same thing happened when the whole, totally manufactured, kerfuffle was going on about “skeuomorphism”. Everybody and their brother was suddenly an expert designer, and had to say something about it. Despite some really thoughtful blogs by design experts who advised caution at the time, MDN along with others served their usually echo chamber role and whipped up the frenzied criticism of the time. It must have affected Apple designers, as it turned out we ended it with the so called flat design of iOS 7 & 8, and the removal of most of the beautiful & thoughtfully designed iconography of earlier years.
Again, I suggest you take the same medicine you are prescribing to Apple, and slow down and think before you foist another unhelpful suggestion again.
Apple needs to employ many many new employees, many of those with “experience background” laid off by companies running Windows PC when not Windows PC developers and manufacturers. They introduced bugs, glitches, bad UI elements and functionalities as viruses and bacteria do in human body. The medicines (Apple spirit training) were insufficient if not completely absent, leading to what old Mac Users are not accustomed but all those new to Apple customers are and find it normal. No, it is not not normal. Normal is, as Steve Jobs would have appreciated : ” It just works in the intuitive way.
The software quality control has hit a sort of low. I’ve been using Macs for 30 years and there have been a few hiccups. (Anybody remember the TCP/IP problems from the late 90s? Yikes.)
Mavericks and iOS 8 are the current hiccups, IMO. In particular, the interface guidelines seem to have gone out the window. iTunes 12 is the worst iTunes I’ve used and I’m a fan of iTunes.
Stuff is going out with too many bugs.
Frankly, Tim, we don’t need a new Mac or iPhone/iPad operating system every year
WOW ! E.S.P..
More time to fix bugs. AND don’t “fix” what doen’t NEED fixing.
Give me back my 3D-glass look. Don’t have inside info but, maybe time to hire back Scott Forstall.
Last night connected the dated MacBook Air via WiFi to iPad HotSpot to Internet via 4G.
Something called mTraffic from App Store on the MBA was telling me the WiFi connection from the iPad to the MBA was virtually constant at about Rx 536 MB/s and Tx 30 MB/s.
However, the speed to the internet from varied from woeful at 10 KB/s to 1.5 MB/s and above, which astounded me. Seemed to depend on the web site, with Apple sites being the best performers.
So methinks the problem may not be so much with the performance of the WiFi per se, but with variable/questionable iinternet connections.
My misinterpretation of numbers: The 536 MB/s and 30 MB/s should read 536 MB download total and 30 MB upload total; had total MB option selected instead of speed option selected in mTraffic. Needless to say, correlation between download speed and URL was consistent.
Using Apple products for over 30 years. The current state of Apple products (hardware and software), is probably the worst it’s been in all my experience. Wifi issues, FaceTime issues, crashes, etc continue to plague iOS for the pat 2 years. This, iPhone 6+, will be the last Apple product I ever purchase.
The problem with this story and MDN’s take is that this isn’t a new development.
This is basically status quo. I have been a user since the 128K and a developer for the past 15 years. This is nothing new. The only change I can see is that the developer community is now much larger than it was even 7 years ago.
If I want to send something via AirPlay from my iPhone to my iPad i have to try at least two times. Toggle it off and on before it happens. When it does, it’s amazing. But it should work the first time.
In Apples own words, “It should just work”.
I have varying day to day minor issues with both iOS and OSX that come and go.
Mini, iPhone 5, and iPad mini. Consistent pattern on the wifi issue, some crashes.
Apple user since Apple II, no question in my mind that the marketing geeks have gotten too much influence, too many things happening too fast at the cost of quality experience.
Marketing wants to get features features features features features features features features features out there whether they are ready or not. (the repeating of features in this post is not a bug, just me trying to make a point)
You can’t possibly test everything ahead of time, some things don’t show up until they get in the field, everybody should understand that.
HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean you just blindly keep throwing new features out there just to make the kiddies happy. You have to slow the pace of new feature adoption so that the users are not overwhelmed with stuff that does not work as expected. Just explaining it is not enough. We will tolerate some bugs, NOT A LOT, and that is what we have now.
I am a content creator, and so OSX is my highest priority, more important for that to be right than iOS. As far as OSX, Snow Leopard was the best, the direction since is tolerable, I would have stayed there had most of my 3rd party content creation apps have required it due to their “upgrades” Apple apps for content creation aren’t even in the picture for my daily work.
iOS has the most day to day issues for me, things come and go, and with every update of iOS, some bugs are fixed but new bugs show up. WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU? I won’t even bother to answer my own question on that one. But without OSX content creators, there is nothing to put on iOS. But please fix iOS.
After using iPhone and iPad for a couple of years in my day to day job, my plan at upgrade time is to back down to least expensive iPhone, not replace my iPad, but to upgrade to Macbook Air using iPhone personal hotspot when it is needed, and move totally away from the iPad. Touch interface is not good enough for any content creation of any kind, and iWork package for iOS is worthless, just takes up space.
Overall, the product quality for the user is what will determine Apples overall future. Both OSX and iOS need work, OSX being more important because all apps start there. Marketing geeks and their rollout schedules have too much influence.
Worked for two major auto manufacturers, and I have seen this pattern before. Hoping for the best.
Tim Cook wants Apple to be a luxury brand maybe similar to Mercedes Benz. However, as a user of both products I would far rather have Apple copy Toyota. Very nice and they just work and work and work. Something that unfortunately be said for MB.