iPhone – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

Thoughts Before WWDC 2026

Looking ahead and looking back

Wait and see.

That’s the summary of my thoughts for Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference this year. That event happens next week. The waiting and seeing will happen over the summer, possibly all the way until this time next year.

I’m not talking about what Apple will talk about at the conference and in the keynote. I’m talking about what they actually deliver down the road and when they deliver it for the numerous operating systems with 27 tagged on at the end. Some will get love. Some won’t. That’s nothing new. (Ask iPad users.) For a company with so many resources each year’s releases always seem to curiously remind me that Apple picks a platform to focus on, and seems content to let others wither on the vine for a time.

To be fair, I’ve always had a wait and see attitude towards most tech announcements, because what looks sexy and is hyped in the demos, press releases, and podcasts, sometimes makes it into the hands of users, sometimes not. Prior to 2024, Apple usually delivered on what it promised. But that changed with Apple Intelligence. A name I bet they wish they’d never let see the light of day. They didn’t deliver then and haven’t since. They promise they will this time, although who knows what that will really mean. The weight of wait and see has become heavier.

This also comes at a time when there’s a burgeoning backlash building among consumers against anything related to Artificial Intelligence. So the climate is not nearly as inviting as it was two years ago. For what’s it worth, I think it’s becoming harder and harder to sell any product or feature that guarantees its inaccuracy up front, promising to do better in the future. But there sure seem to be enough takers and talkers thinking different on that than I.

Curiously, Apple seems to be hedging its bets, apparently set on using Google’s AI as the foundation. Some say that’s a place holder until Apple rolls its own AI after it’s mistaken first rollout, the way it did with Maps. Some say it’s a wise move for the future because it might save Cupertino some cash and more blowback from having to build out its own data centers. I say, wait and see.

From what I read Google may be reinventing itself and the Internet with its efforts, but those efforts aren’t meeting with thunderous applause and accolades. At least compared to Google’s competitors. Besides effectively putting Google in the catbird (chatbot?) seat driving all AI chatbot activity on the majority of handsets sold on the planet (Android and iOS), who knows how it will turn out. No chatbot can predict, nor can any human. That said, the marketing puzzle about what’s Apple and what’s Google is going to be fun to watch play out, even in the end it’s going to be meaningless to most consumers.

There’s also word that this year’s OS releases will also focus on fixes and not new features the way Snow Leopard did for Leopard on Macs back in the day. Intriguingly there were quite a new features for Macs in that release. Speaking of Macs, there’s also talk that they will see more of Liquid Glass than we saw the first time around. To be honest, I’m grateful for last year’s comparative neglect of Liquid Glass on the Mac. I’m waiting and seeing with a bit of trepidation how attention is focused on that this year. I’m also waiting on the day when someone finds a way to sell me on rounded corners on rectangular displays.

I would welcome fixes. Boy, would I welcome fixes. I’ve long maintained that the cadence of Apple’s OS release cycles is too rapid to allow it to effectively address problems. I get that there’s a long view and a necessity to look ahead, but when you’re hearing leaks about the next year’s efforts before this year’s are announced I think the tempo is too fast and it becomes too tempting to push things off until the next year.

I’ve written about a number of things that bug me off and on. Because they bug me off and on. I’ll list some that stand out that I wish would get attention. That said, most seem to fall back on issues with iCloud. Hearing talk that however Apple rolls out the new Siri or chatbot feature will allow that feature’s chat history to sync across devices via iCloud gives me a shutter. I’m guessing that will lead to more unexplainable stops and stutters in iCloud syncing in general.

So, here’s a small list of things I hope, but am not counting on, seeing addressed.

iCloud syncing. Just make it reliable and give us Sync Now buttons. We get one is Messages. How about the rest of the core apps?

Perpetual Betas: I know, and respect that Apple is continuing to work on each new operating system throughout the year. Kudos. It can’t be easy. That said, find a way to keep from mucking things up on the backend for users who don’t participate in betas. Perpetual beta weirdness is hell for normal users.

Phone app. Apple made significant changes last year. They need to make more. There’s no reason in the world I can see for not going all in to help users more efficiently get rid of unwanted or fraudulent calls.

Error Messages. Tell us more. Yes, I know something failed. Tell me more about what failed and point to a solution or information that can help me find out more.

Apple Mail. Rules in Apple Mail need to work consistently, or just be done away with. Features in Apple Mail on iPhones and Macs need to be brought into line with each other. It makes a mockery of trying to unify things between iOS and macOS.

Shortcuts. Yesterday’s future is probably some tomorrow’s further fading feature. Shortcuts are great when Apple doesn’t change things behind the scenes that cause them to break. That happens too often. Rumors that you’ll be able to create them via a chatbot sounds potentially promising. But if they are still going to randomly break, what really is the point?

Contacts. A small amount of attention could do wonders with this seemingly forgotten, yet essential app.

Apple Music on the Mac. Why is this app so bad for a company that says over and over again that it loves music?

Reminder Notifications for Shared Reminders. There has to be a way to programmatically dismiss a shared reminder notification once it has been completed and marked off. Fix it. It is just simply annoying. Especially in the context of all of the improvements in the Reminders app the last few years.

App Store. For a company that spends untold amounts of money on its brick and mortar stores, I remain shocked at how they can be proud of the software versions of any of its App Stores.

watchOS Software UI: We’ve already heard there won’t be much in the way of changes for the Apple Watch this year. But at least pay attention to some of the software design.

Settings. Find a way to clean up this mess. There has to be a way.

Note that many of the issues listed above are still hanging around and are the same as in my list last year.

As much as the attention will be on whatever Apple attempts with Apple Intelligence after WWDC 26, attention will also quickly pivot to the fall when new devices are announced. Given that we’ve heard countless times that devices like Apple TV and HomePods, and other home related products, are waiting in the wings for software focused on AI features to catch up, it will be curious to see what attention, if any, they get during WWDC. I don’t think those devices will be announced until the fall. I don’t expect any hardware announcements of any kind next week.

Speaking of waiting in the wings, much will also be made about this being Tim Cook’s final WWDC as CEO with John Ternus due to take spotlight this September. Much attention will be paid to the semiotics surrounding all of that during WWDC and after. That will be interesting to watch, but since WWDC 2026 feels more and more like a catch up year all around, I’m guessing next year’s event might be more telling. We’ll have to wait and see.

So, there’s my thoughts. That and nickel won’t buy you anything.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above. This site does not use affilate links.

MacBook Neo and iPad: Here We Go Again

Tired arguments get a new leash on life

When Apple released the MacBook Neo it was obvious to most that Apple had introduced a product that would shake up the larger laptop market. Lurking just underneath that obviousness was how it might or might not affect the iPad market. It was only a matter of time and timing, before those who, both rightly in some cases and wrongly in others, criticized Apple for not delivering the iPad of their dreams that could do anything and everything seized on the Neo’s success as a pivot point in the discussion.

An iPad Pro with a scribbled message that says iPads and Neos. There is an Apple Pencil laying on the iPad

The quest for the perfect device for everyone is and will always be an imperfect one. Much like the arguments. In addition to its impact on the laptop manufacturing markets, the MacBook Neo proves just how imperfect those arguments are. Yet, there’s already a large dollop of discourse saying that the Neo proves Apple’s iPad strategy needs adjusting. Add to that the rumors of a touchscreen Mac that continue to recirculate the same way the iPad discussion does just prior to WWDC each year.

On Michael Tsai’s Blog there’s an excellent collection of links and comments that’s worth a look if you’re at all interested in this ultimately meaningless debate. The links feed off a post from Craig Mod, titled MacBook Neo and How The iPad Could Be, that argues “iPads should be radically touch only and MacBooks should be keyboard-first.” I can’t say I disagree. But I think the discussion should go further than either/or.

There’s got to be several data centers worth of AI-scraped web articles on the ups and downs of the iPad floating around and how Apple’s strategy held it back. And yes, the iPad has had its ups and downs. But I would argue that’s mostly, not completely, a question of preference rather than any “the iPad should be this or that” win or lose proposition.

Being an iPad user since the first edition, I’ll say this. Most of the dissatisfaction I’ve seen over the years comes from those who wanted the iPad to be more like a Mac than those who used it primarily as a tablet. Without trying to be derisive, I’d venture to say that most who complained were keyboard jockeys by trade. I don’t begrudge them their complaints. From that perspective the complaints did and still do make sense. In many ways they were following Apple’s lead from the “What’s a computer?” days, before Apple abandoned that tack and sailed into broader and more lucrative waters with Apple Silicon.

Admittedly I’m showing my own preference here. I use an iPad as a tool in my work as a theatre practitioner. I’m on my feet with a script on my iPad, using an Apple Pencil to take notes. If I need to do keyboard work in the rehearsal room, I plop the iPad on a Magic Keyboard, do the keyboard related task, then pop the iPad off again and get back on my feet. When I’m back in my digs, I mostly work on a Mac. Apple’s ecosystem makes this all possible. When it works well.

Personally, I hope Apple keeps developing and delivering all of its current line of products. Stretch capabilities in some to the limit, and limit others with less.

The current lineup serves me well. Frankly, I can’t imagine any changes Apple could make that would alter how I work. I’d be content with that future, even though I know the tools I’m going to use are going to change regardless of my current comfort zone. If that future is all about creating hardware to run AI, as it appears to be, the decision points are going to shift away from most of the spec and capability differences we’ve been accustomed to in the past anyway.

Craig Mod argues that “the specificity of our tools should be radically clear.” I buy the argument, but extending the discussion I’ll say it’s better to have more capability than less. Most users don’t touch anywhere near what even the most limited devices can offer. In my experience they find their way to whatever level they need, which is a much lower one than most realize. Those of us who may made need more, don’t understand that most users couldn’t care less.

Moving on, and with the “What’s a Computer?” miscues behind us, Apple’s current challenge and our headaches stem more from Apple trying to meld its operating systems into some sort of grand cohesive vision that feels the same across all of its devices. Admirable. But ultimately flawed in the same way that each different computing device Apple sells is as different as any two users who use that same device. Vive la différence.

I’m sure Apple gets that, but until the MacBook Neo that wasn’t quite as smack the Apple press in the face apparent, even though there have been lesser featured iPads at lower price points prior to the Neo. You could argue the same about the iPhone Air, but the higher price obscures the point.

With talk of higher priced “ultra” iPhones and who knows what else supposedly on the horizon, who knows where all of this really leads. I’m guessing Apple will be more than content to have a multi-layered series of price points attracting customers from both the low end and the high end. That all leads to more users spending money on Apple services and that’s the key to Apple’s continued growth. More hardware entry points (price) bring in more users than new features most won’t ever use. It’s simple math.

As long as Apple’s hardware profit margins can be maintained across its lineup, even with lower priced and perhaps less capable hardware, it’s pretty much a slam dunk. The success of the Neo not only points to this strategy, it should also point ahead to a diversified hardware lineup that fills many needs, as long as there is a clear and distinct choice for the toolsets that suits them best.

(image from the author)

More Thoughts On The Cook/Ternus Changeover

Honeymoon timing

Yesterday’s news of Tim Cook handing over the CEO mantle to John Ternus was news only in the sense of the timing. As I said then, it’s been expected for a while. It reminds me of any Apple rumor. It’s not true until it’s announced, even though most of the announcements turn into mostly confirmation these days. Note that Wall Street barely moved a tick on that news today. That tells you how well the ground was laid.

Apple ceo jpg.

Of course yesterday’s announcement has prompted exactly what you would expect, yielding tons of coverage on websites and podcasts. For Cook there have been accolades and brickbats, both deserved. For Ternus there has been excitement and a little caution.

Before I get to some thoughts of my own, here are a few links I found worthy of sharing because they stepped outside of the expected.

M.G. Siegler takes us on A Cook’s Tour.

Daryl Baxter saw more shock in the Apple community than I did. He reminds us that Tim Cook introduced the first Siri as part of his first iPhone event in 2011. He points ahead to this year’s announcement by John Ternus possibly poised to announce a promised better Siri. What goes around, might come around again. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 15 years to get it right this time.

And Horace Dediu looks way ahead to 2040, when Ternus himself steps down to begin the transition to the next CEO. John Ternus Has Left Big Shoes To Fill is quite a trip into the future. You’ll get a chuckle or two.

The first of my thoughts has to do with timing. Not specifically the timing of the announcement, but the timing that any new leader gets when stepping into that role. There’s a window of time in which new leaders get a bit of grace. Most call it a honeymoon. While enjoying that honeymoon it’s perfectly acceptable to foist off blame for anything that goes wrong on the last guy.

That will obviously be difficult with Tim Cook stepping into the role of Executive Chairman of the Board. Sort of like going on your honeymoon with your significant other’s father tagging along. But it will be even more challenging given the apparently well deserved narrative being hyped about Ternus’ hardware smarts and his responsibilities in recent years. He’s had his hands on much of the Apple Silicon generation of products, almost presaging the announcement of his ascension to CEO with his role in the recent release of the MacBook Neo.

Adding to the challenge is the well known and well worn narrative about Apple’s long view roadmap of rolling out new products. The story is that Apple is always working ahead on the next generation of a product as it is preparing to release the newest version. What products will we see over the next period of time were green lighted by Cook?

Ternus’s prior role in overseeing hardware also means all of the products rumored to be in Apple’s pipeline for later this year and into next year will certainly feature his fingerprints. But they will also have Tim Cook’s. The question will one day be which product can the world accept as the first Ternus only product. Does it matter? Not really. But it will be treated as if it does. Ask Tim Cook about how that went once he assumed the CEO mantle.

We also all know that there are apparently hardware products (HomePods, Apple TV, other home products) waiting to be shipped once Apple gets its act together with whatever the new Siri is, and how well that works with whatever they will call what heretofore has been labeled Apple Intelligence.

In my way of scoring, the success or failure of those products will fall into the Tim Cook column, regardless of any contributions by Ternus. Again, does it matter? And again, not really. But there is much riding on that this year. One way or the other it will be an imprint on Ternus’ first efforts, whether that’s fair or not.

As to that last thought on Siri and Apple Intelligence, that’s software. That’s software holding back the release of hardware products for Apple, which is first and foremost a hardware company that relies on its own software.

As I’ve said many times, the hardware I’ve seen the since the dawn of the Apple Silicon era is very good, if not exceptional. The software needs lots of attention and work. It’s not just the design choices, it’s the chinks here and there in the armor that sour.

Ternus may be the hardware product guy, but he’s now going to be the guy responsible for the famous and coveted “whole widget.” Obviously that includes the software. And also, the marketing of that whole widget. Software design and implementation has been a bitter bite of the Apple lately, as has some of the marketing. As Ternus expands his view, I will be watching how Apple’s software develops under his leadership with a keen eye.

That expanded view also includes services. New CEOs always like to make a bold statement when they first sit in the chair. While there’s a lot being made of the semiotics trying to show continuity between Cook and Ternus, I can think of one thing Ternus could do on September 1, that would immediately set him apart an Apple on a new course.

Announce an increase in the base amount of iCloud storage users get for free. 5GB hasn’t cut it for awhile. Cut and run from that legacy and begin making a bold new path.

MacBook Neo-ing

Neo newness

On an errand with my wife I happened to be in the neighborhood of one of the two Apple Stores closest to me and decided to drop in and take a look at the new MacBook Neo.

The Citrius MacBook Neo on display at the Apple Store

I’m decidedly not in the market for one of these, but I imagine one of the folks I support will find this more than suitable for their next computer. My intent was to just handle the machine a bit and see if the build felt as nice as most of the very raving reviews say it does. Bottom line, it does.

As I said in an earlier post, I think all things being not equal, the price point is the feature of note for this device. And based on reviews I’m seeing, I think that more than holds.

Speaking of, you might want to check out Sam Henri Gold’s thoughts in This Is Not The Computer For You. I concur with his points on the impact this move by Apple is going to have. Here’s a brief excerpt:

Somewhere a kid is saving up for this. He has read every review. Watched the introduction video four or five times. Looked up every spec, every benchmark, every footnote. He has probably walked into an Apple Store and interrogated an employee about it ad nauseam. He knows the consensus. He knows it’s probably not the right tool for everything he wants to do.

He has decided he’ll be fine.

Lots of people are going to be fine with the MacBook Neo. And that’s fine.

It was tough to snap any good pictures that captured the colors of the new Neos (is that redundant?) on display because the Apple Store lighting, the new colors, and iPhone photography just weren’t working that well together. But I fired off the camera for a few you can see in the gallery below.

It’s a good thing they provided matching tinted display pads for each different color, except the Indigo model in the first picture. Almost as if they knew.

The next two shots in the top row feature the Blush and Citrus versions from the front and behind. The larger one show the size different between the Citrus flavored Neo and the MacBook Air.

On the way out of the store as we were passing the iPhone display, we noticed that the iPhones were synced to run the same ads for F1 that you see before any Apple TV offering of the moment. The different ad images race across each of the separated screens. Neat effect, but it made my wife, who, like I, is sick and tired of seeing these already, stifle a curse until we got out of the store.

The Gadget Price Conundrum That Isn’t Really A Conundrum

A future of haves and have less

It’s always fun watching folks trying to shoehorn yesterday’s conventional wisdom into tomorrow’s reality. It might feel like dealing with a today thing, but it’s actually making the point by missing it.

Julia taubitz 3X8a5pxNG4k unsplash.

Recently I’ve seen lots of blogging and social media mouthing off that such and such a device is boring, or isn’t innovative enough, or just iterates on last year’s model. Pick a device category and you’ll find a chorus singing that song. In the wake of Apple releasing the $599 MacBook Neo this week, which as a device seems anything but boring, I’ve seen plenty of folks complaining about the tech Apple left out to hit that low price point.

But that low price point is the point. And it’s not just a way to expand the market to more cost conscious consumers. That will happen of course. But Apple is opening up a future of higher price points for newer tech by now selling these lower priced Macs and iPhones that are anything but the low priced junk it once dismissed.

In case you’ve missed it there’s been a lot of preparation to condition the market for more advanced and more innovative tech that’s going to cost considerably more than what the median has been for quite some time.

No one knows for sure, but folding iPhones are predictably going to rival folding smartphone price points of other makers, and be much more expensive than what most consumers (I’m not talking tech writers and gadget bloggers) are used to seeing.

Whether costs go up because of new tech and new innovations, DRAM shortages, tariffs, wars, or what have you, the point is Apple, Samsung, and others are seeding the low end of the pricing fields to create more room for more expensive tech in the higher, richer pastures. Tech is poised to make some bolder moves, or so they tell us, but not everyone is going to be able to afford to play on the high end. But there is an essential, increasingly more marginalized market, perhaps not as lucrative on the margins, but still worth harvesting.

It’s no different than seeing the mix of higher end vehicles in the same traffic jam alongside rusting out beaters on the highway.

It’s actually and accurately a pretty sober assessment of how the frame of income inequality is gaining a more intense focus lately, even though it’s been that way for quite some time. Unless we’re EMP’d back to the Stone Age, tactile tech in our hands is going to be a part of all of our lives for quite some time. (Call me when you can do a video doctor’s appointment on an AI pin.) We’re just going to see a broader gap between what’s essential to have and what’s nice to have if you can afford it.

(Image from Julia Taubitz on Unsplash

Apple’s MacBook Neo Will Probably Hit Many Sweet Spots

The sweet spot that matters most is the price

I support a number of folks, both older and younger, who only use computers in the same basic way they use their smartphones. I’m thinking Apple’s new MacBook Neo, with a starting price of $599 will hit many of their sweet spots.

Of course, we’ll all have to wait for the reviews after the first wave of reviews, the ones that real users take the time to share before we really know what’s what. But if nothing else the pricing is going to be one of, if not the, winning feature. If the build quality lives up to what Apple usually provides I’m guessing it will be a hit, and sell millions, adding new opportunities for Apple Services revenue growth.

I saw someone somewhere yesterday say that you can buy an also newly introduced iPhone 17e alongside a MacBook Neo for the same price of the base MacBook Air. They are not far off. The number of iPhone users I know who have shied away from Mac computers, simply because of price, will I’m sure will be checking this out, especially since you’ll be seeing them on sale at Walmart, Best Buy and other outlets. Certainly given that possible customers will be able to see these computers in locations no where near Apple Stores.

Online chatter is about as you’d expect with both positive and negatives responses to the announcement. The negatives focus on what Apple did not include and lesser specs than existing MacBook lines. But in the end, the spec that matters is that $599 starting price. My guess is the online chatter and the reviews are going to be largely irrelevant regarding the success of this product.

You can watch Apple’s clever product intro video below.

Apple’s Color Wheelies

Color me a gadget utilitarian

I’ve never been one to be that obsessed with the color of tech gadgets or any of the other tools I use. Sure, colors attract, and I’m all in for more color rather than less in many things, but I’ve never been one who has made a gadget purchase based on color.

CleanShot 2026-02-23 at 11.21.19@2x.

In fact, I usually shy away from bolder color choices. I’ve typically chosen whatever version Apple is marketing as black when it comes to iPhones and whatever case I bury them in. I do the same for laptops, not straying too far from silver or occasionally the variant of Space Black that seems to change more frequently than I imagine happens in the dark depths of space. I do own a Blue iMac 24, but the last time I really saw the “blue” on the rear of the enclosure was when I set up the device.

I feel the much the same when it comes to other non-computing tools. Walking through a hardware store I always view the bright green, bright orange, red, aqua, and other multi-color designs of drills, other hand held tools, lawn care equipment, etc… as somehow cheaper than those with a more muted approach. They look more utilitarian, and frankly, suggest longer lifespans. As my grandkids age and I shop for their gifts, the more brightly colored tools look like toys to me.

I know I’m probably the oddball when it comes to color coveting. There certainly seems to be a lot of excitement about Apple presumably releasing new products with a slew of new color options soon. But I think of my computing devices the same way I do other tools. I acquire and use them to complete a task. Many others see them as personal statements and that’s cool. More power to those who need that or appreciate that sort of whimsy.

Another way I think of this is that if a tool maker needs to market new colors to keep customers excited about their products, it means the product has probably reached maturity enough to more than prove its value. But that doesn’t always keep the marketers employed.

(Images from 9to5Mac and MacRumors)

More Thoughts On iOS 26’s iPhone App Changes

Still very much a work in progress

Back last fall I wrote about the changes Apple made to the iPhone’s Phone app in iOS 26. I thought they were both helpful and confusing. I followed that up a month or so later suggesting that smartphone makers needed to make delete and report spam buttons more of a priority.

New Shareshot.

I still maintain the points I made in both of those posts, but here are some more thoughts after having used the Phone app since.

Regarding the Hold Assist Detection feature what I said earlier very much still applies.

It makes me think that the designers of this feature have never used the Phone app to call a pharmacy or a doctor’s office where the person answering the phone is so busy that when they answer they speak so fast that you can’t understand what they’re saying. In my experiences attempting to use this feature in cases like those, the person on the other end just hangs up and I have to make the call again.

Recently I spoke with a receptionist at one of my medical providers about this feature and her response I sums that up well from the other end of the line. Simply put she said, “I have no time for such nonsense.”

She said essentially the same thing about the Screen Unknown Callers feature that allows the call recipient to see who is calling or leaving a voicemail. As I previously mentioned I have the Ask Reason for Calling option selected. Early on there were a few callers that actually left a voicemail, but that seems to have diminished over time. My speculation is that those doing the calling have caught on and just continue down their call lists. With this same medical provider I missed several calls because she was using a different number assigned by their phone system than I had placed in my contacts and the call logged as Unknown.

As to making spam reporting a more prominent UI feature not buried under a series of menus and taps, if Apple (and others) were really serious about making life easier for their users they’d add a Delete and/or a Delete and Report Spam option to the notification of a call. I mentioned in that earlier post that this Call Filtering feature would probably lead to a whack-a-mole game with spam callers. Based on the increasing frequency of spam calls I’m receiving I think the spammers are currently on a trajectory to win that game.

I still don’t know why all phone calls I receive, welcome or unwelcome, are listed as a Priority Notification. Since last autumn I’ve changed my lazy habits with contacts and been diligent about providing good contact metadata for doctors and others I do business or social interactions with. At that point that appeared to be the best way to try and take advantage of the newer features. But honestly I don’t think it matters much at this point based on what I’m seeing.

I support several elderly relatives who use their iPhones for basic needs, communication being the primary one. Having had a chance over the holidays to physically examine their devices, I noticed little usage of the delete function in the Unknown Call Callers section of the Missed Calls list. There were long lists of unknown callers. I imagine at some point we’ll see articles on how to clean up those lists.

In summary, I’d say the new Phone app features are still helpful and still confusing. Like everything else with Apple these days they should be categorized as a work in progress. Here’s hoping we won’t be on hold too long before we see progress happen.

Matt Gemmell on “The Fallen Apple”

Dissatisfaction with the familiar breeds contempt

Matt Gemmell begins with an understatement. “It’s a troubling time to be a long-term Apple customer.” It doesn’t get any easier to read after that. Nor should it.

Shutterstock 1478322374.

Like many Apple users these days, including myself, Matt is expressing his dissatisfaction with Tim Cook’s Apple. Misery loves company. So does commiseration. The Fallen Apple is a powerful read, and I suggest you do so.

Yes, he points to Cook’s knee-bending and kowtowing that betrays much of the carefully cultivated culture Apple spent untold sums creating over the years, now tossed aside like a decaying FineWoven iPhone case. Perhaps with a sparing nod to rationality Gemmell calls it an act of “corporate sacrifice.”

But this paragraph is particularly damning:

I sometimes think about the full-page, black-background Steve Jobs memorial on the Apple site, with the list of tributes you could send submissions for. Then I try to imagine the same thing for Cook, and I find that it only cheapens the original. The Tim Cook of the Trump era is the erasure of a man who previously could do little wrong, but I think that ultimately it has also laid bare a person whose goals and even motives are as far from Apple’s erstwhile values as it’s possible to be. While Jobs gets to be remembered with artful aphorisms and elaborate hagiographies, surely Cook’s epitaph must be something along the lines of “another record quarter”.

Corporate rationality, like it or leave it, is often as distasteful as it is easy to comprehend. But in my view it requires the wrong kind of different thinking when you’ve built a company on creating an emotional connection with your users.

One thing leads to another. Gemmell points not just to the cultural upheaval and downward spiral, but also to a future that appears uncertain. As he puts it, “More perniciously, Apple is also hemorrhaging people and knowledge.” It makes one wonder if Apple University is still in existence. If so, what exactly are they teaching these days?

But, and to the larger point, he correctly states Apple isn’t hemorrhaging profit.

I hope very much to be wrong, but I fear that Apple’s skyrocketing revenue masks a steep institutional decline that is already well underway, propelled by the fact that success itself, improperly managed, is a poison.

It must be something for folks like Cook, Trump, Musk, etc… to sit atop such vast piles of money, knowing how much dislike and distaste they engender and how it undermines the thrones they cling to. Apples ripen and fall. Unless they are harvested. Either way, there’s an end.

Read the rest here.

(image from Johann Lensless on Shutterstock

Nikita Prokopov Takedown of macOS Tahoe Icons Is Iconic

Apple should be embarrassed. It won’t be.

Nikita Prokopov takes Apple’s macOS Tahoe designers to task over their use of icons in menus in a a terrific, yet saddening post called It’s Hard To Justify Tahoe’s iCons. It’s an iconic takedown over what I also find an unnecessary and distracting visual change in Tahoe. Set aside that I think it’s unnecessary and unattractive, it’s just implemented so poorly it makes me wonder how many resources Apple devoted to something this poorly done, and how many more resources it will have to devote to hopefully cleaning it up.

CleanShot 2026-01-05 at 16.39.47@2x.

Prokopov’s post is filled with examples that points up inconsistencies and confusing metaphors. It is illustrated extremely well with enough examples that anyone at Apple should find the cataloging of it embarrassing.

In his conclusion he states:

In my opinion, Apple took on an impossible task: to add an icon to every menu item. There are just not enough good metaphors to do something like that.

But even if there were, the premise itself is questionable: if everything has an icon, it doesn’t mean users will find what they are looking for faster.

And even if the premise was solid, I still wish I could say: they did the best they could, given the goal. But that’s not true either: they did a poor job consistently applying the metaphors and designing the icons themselves.

It’s well worth a read, but I tell you this, as bad and as distracting as I thought this macOS Tahoe design feature was, Prokopov’s post is full of so many examples that it actually makes Apple’s choices even more distasteful.

(Image from Propokov’s post)