“Early this year, the top-secret laboratory where Apple designs its Macintosh accessories was bedeviled by a crisis on tiny feet. It had to do with the reinvented mouse the team was designing to accompany a new set of iMac computers that will be released today,” Steven Levy reports for Medium. “The input device, dubbed the Magic Mouse 2, would look to users exactly like the previous model. But on the inside and underneath, everything would be different, mainly because Apple was switching to a rechargeable lithium battery instead of the previous replaceable alkaline ones.”
“Late in the process, everything seemed to be going fine. The internal lithium battery was custom-engineered to fit the cavity. The redesigned antenna — necessary to deal with the potential interference from an internal battery — was working well,” Levy reports. But one thing was totally unacceptable.”
“The mouse didn’t sound right,” Levy reports. “That’s what Apple engineering leaders Kate Bergeron and John Ternus told me recently, when I became the first reporter to venture into the Input Design Lab. The occasion for my visit was the release of a new family of iMacs.”
“There are many reasons why Apple is the world’s most valuable company. Tim Cook is celebrated as a supply chain Maester who has internalized the focus on innovation that his predecessor inculcated in the culture. Jony Ive has drawn global raves for making Apple a design icon. Its marketing and branding practices set industry standards. But a visit to the lab where its legacy products — computers — are made suggests another reason,” Levy reports. “Sweating the details.”
Much more in the full article – very highly recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: A lot of companies claim they go the extra mile, but Apple is one of the very few that really does with any consistency.
I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. — Steve Jobs
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s cool new Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad 2, and Magic Mouse 2 rethink how we interact with computers – October 13, 2015
Apple’s new iMacs offer affordable, high-performance desktop systems, powerful peripherals – October 13, 2015
Apple updates iMac family with new Retina displays, unveils all-new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 – October 13, 2015
A 5400 rpm hdd in 2015, insane prices for a 24 GB fusion drive or extra soldered ram, and mdn is still worshipping Apple. You’re truly amazing.
Full article link comes back to current page…
Please fix the link to the full article
View at Medium.com
How does one go about putting a picture into a reply?
Reminds me of the car industry, and the amount of detail spent on the sound of the car door opening and closing, in a satisfying way.
“A lot of companies claim they go the extra mile, but Apple is one of the very few that really does with any consistency.”
A little less consistency with the ever-crappier iTunes would be appreciated, though.
Not to mention buggy Safari reloading….
I belive the full article is here:
View at Medium.com
Nobody outside Apple gets a bur up their ass about user replaceable batteries.
If Apple wants to sweat the details, how about fixing iTunes and base OS X security?
Went over to a friend’s house the other night and fixed a Mac that got drive-by malware.
Shit like that used to only be a problem on Windows.
Whilst I agree that a touch screen running OSX would be bad – because lifting an arm off the keyboard to touch the screen would be all cack-handed, the idea of being able to use the Apple pen on the touchpad to give levels of sensitivity and fine points for drawing detail ( whilst looking at the iMac screen) would not be difficult to master.
Link still not fixed to hit the real page. I guess MDN doesn’t read the comments sections of their articles.