Not anti-Apple. Just wishing they'd pull their finger out in order to get me drooling to buy something just for the hell of it once more...
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Falls From 1st to 17th Spot in 'World's Most Innovative Company' Rankings
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Not anti-Apple. Just wishing they'd pull their finger out in order to get me drooling to buy something just for the hell of it once more...
Cant understand why last year was first position because the iPhne X (nothing new in smartphone industry but few inprovements) the apple watch 3 (nothing new in the smartwatch industry beyond few improvements) or arkit which is still in development
Apple certainly could be doing better but how are these charts made up?
For example Walt Disney. What are they doing besides Toy Story 15, Frozen 69, rerun of Lion King and copying Netflix? NBA? Really?
I can't talk about the other companies (besides Alibaba which is a sort of Amazon copy) because I have never heard of most of them.
Apple again, the Watch 3 was somehow super innovative last year (it wasn't) but the Watch 4 (it was) gets no mention?
For example Walt Disney. What are they doing besides Toy Story 15, Frozen 69, rerun of Lion King and copying Netflix? NBA? Really?
I can't talk about the other companies (besides Alibaba which is a sort of Amazon copy) because I have never heard of most of them.
Apple again, the Watch 3 was somehow super innovative last year (it wasn't) but the Watch 4 (it was) gets no mention?
Apple stopped making large strides with innovation years ago. Instead Apple drip-feeds innovation via incremental annual updates to their products.
There's been no innovation with macOS for years. Instead it just gets a tiny maintenance release annually with a new stupid name & a couple of new features.
iOS is in reasonable shape but Android hasn't stood still and raced past iOS in certain areas. However, iOS is tired, dull & needs a huge revamp, particularly on iPad where iOS just makes ground-breaking hardware behave like a giant iPhone.
I don't really need to say anything that hasn't already been said about the severely neglected iMac. And don't get me started on the inept & badly designed MacBook Pro's. They need an urgent redesign and lets hope Apple don't get too innovative on the already sky-high pricing structure.
There's been no innovation with macOS for years. Instead it just gets a tiny maintenance release annually with a new stupid name & a couple of new features.
iOS is in reasonable shape but Android hasn't stood still and raced past iOS in certain areas. However, iOS is tired, dull & needs a huge revamp, particularly on iPad where iOS just makes ground-breaking hardware behave like a giant iPhone.
I don't really need to say anything that hasn't already been said about the severely neglected iMac. And don't get me started on the inept & badly designed MacBook Pro's. They need an urgent redesign and lets hope Apple don't get too innovative on the already sky-high pricing structure.
To be fair apple watch ecg is a huge inovation, we have to play fair with apple we all moan we want more and trust me I do but they are still the fastest and best eco system out there
I used to think that, but honestly think that people are really just genuinely disappointed in Apple. Which is a mix of Steve passing and just the company inevitably changing.
People feel really passionate about Apple because of Steve and he underdog story of the company. People act like they have a personal intimate bond with Apple.
And I get it, Apple’s products have changed so many lives and the company has really revolutionized many things.
We don’t know how it would be if Steve was alive, but even while he WAS alive, the company wasn’t perfect by any means.
Apple really needs to lift its game, its not enough to make the iPhone/iPad faster each cycle or improve the spec sheets of its products. They need true innovation and even if the also release a foldable iPhone at the end of the year they will be seen as coping Samsung, which is not a good place to be!
You mean the ECG that if I went to the store and bought a new Apple Watch still wouldn't be available on my wrist? It's not rolled out outside the US, so here (Norway) the innovation level for Apple looks even lower.
No, people are just fed up with Apple not investing all the money they make from us into new & exciting products. There's no ambition to do anything more than incremental updates to hardware and it's sad.
Apple's software across all platforms is stale, boring, out of date & years behind rival platforms & services. As an example there's no excuse for iTunes in it's current state at all. Why does iTunes still exist? It should be a web app with an optional native app for those that still sync locally & the podcast & video section spun off into different apps.
I would argue Apple had very rarely made large strides at all. People seems to remember those glorious days, and forget Apple is actually the master of iteration.
The biggest problem, was in the old days Apple manage to iterate and innovate at a very fast pace with little resources . Steve have often repeated this "the total was greater than the sum of the parts". In 2018 Apple earned more Net Profits than All of 2006 to 2011 Combined, the year when Steve passed away. If you take it up to 2014, the first 3 years roadmap still had Steve's finger print all over it. And from 2014 to now, there was clearly lack of focus and vision, the pace of iteration were slow, while the number were doing great, I don't feel the product, comparatively speaking as good as they were.
Apple Music, Apple Map, The Coming Apple TV Sub, etc.... There is clearly a lack of a Product Person that comes in and says "This Sucks". Do it again.
Last edited:
Making the Mac faster each cycle and improving the spec sheets would be pretty nice.
Apple isn’t releasing a foldable phone at the end of the year, and they don’t need to yet. And for those who are saying that Apple ‘doesn’t innovate’ or ‘they can’t bring anything to the market’, perfect counter examples of execution was the Apple Watch, AirPods, the HomePod at least is competing in a new segment for Apple.
Also, It’s not just products that make Apple successful, it’s their services, and it’s so under-looked by many, that they’re expanding with things like Apple Pay, the App Store has grown exponentially, Apple Music, etc. I don’t think consumers necessarily remain loyal to Apple because of all their hardware standards, it’s the services they offer, which is a likely a reason that Apples growth for services has been on the rise now for years.
So my take (which i'm not even sure of myself) but with a saturated market and generally very well specced competition all producing almost the same things now.. having been with quite a few different manufacturers for various devices, Innovative to me is a reliable device, a good & enjoyable user experience along with great after care and support. I don't think i've recieved this from any other company than Apple - maybe in a sea awash with good products this is what counts as innovation now? versus trying to add an integrated holographic projector (now that i say that.. i want one..!)
edit: What I think i'm saying is innovation can be in the experience as well as the technology. (Damn that was much easier to type!)
edit: What I think i'm saying is innovation can be in the experience as well as the technology. (Damn that was much easier to type!)
Last edited:
This. How are people missing that?
It seems everybody just reads the headline and races to the comment section to exude bitterness.
When did Macrumors comments become so toxic?
Hmmmm!! Unusual comments to read on Macrumors..... not
As you can see from their comments, they do have a lot to say
I’m surprised the AW4 wasn’t mentioned, but not surprised Apple wasn’t higher on the list. But, importantly, no other consumer electronics companies in the smartphone realm were higher on the list than Apple, which to me suggests nobody is considered to be “innovating” in a major way. Although, Google’s Night Sight, machine learning/AI is really impressive.
Apple's services are pretty lacklustre.
But I agree Apple doesn't need to innovate more, their innovation in pretty good and I am sure plenty of weird stuff is brewing somewhere.
What they need to do is execute properly. Execute properly is doing more or less the same stuff than now but on time and done properly. For example:
Who needs years (plural) to launch a run of the mill desktop?
Who takes years to change the CPU of another desktop?
When is iOS going to be more than a phone OS?
Who keeps a failed keyboard design for 3 years? Who designs a failed keyboard design in the first place?
Even touch bar could be a success (the idea is interesting), where is the keyboard with touch bar bundled with the iMac and others, where is it on all other Macs? Are they sabotaging touch bar on purpose?
I could go on easily.
Or, maybe the sentiment has changed? It used to be easy being an Apple fan, not so much anymore. From quality control, major hardware design issues and flaws, poor software reliability, anti-consumer changes, and high prices, it's very frustrating these days.
![]()
Fast Company today published its annual rankings of the 50 most innovative companies in the world, with Apple dropping from 2018's top spot to 17th place this year.
According to the rankings, the most innovative company for 2019 is Chinese tech firm Meituan Dianping, which "expedites the booking and delivery of services such as food, hotel stays, and movie tickets." In 2018, the platform facilitated $33.8 billion transaction for more than 350 million people in 2,800 cities.
![a12bionicchip-800x563.jpg]()
Other companies in the top five include Singapore-based ride-hailing company Grab, NBA, The Walt Disney Company, and women's fishing e-commerce service Stitch Fix. Square, Oatly, Twitch, Shopify, and Alibaba Group also filled positions higher than Apple, whose in-house processor achievements in 2018 were highlighted:
Last year Apple was given first place for its 2017 accomplishments, which included the iPhone X, the Apple Watch Series 3, ARKit, and its work to improve medical care with CareKit and ResearchKit. The year previous it was ranked the number four most valuable company.
To create these rankings, Fast Company says that more than three dozen editors, reporters, and contributors surveyed thousands of companies to identify the most notable innovations of the year and trace their impact on businesses, industries, and the larger culture.
In addition to a master list, Fast Company publishes a breakdown of most innovative companies by sector. Apple topped the list in the "Consumer Electronics" category, beating out companies like Google, Microsoft, and Dell.
Article Link: Apple Falls From 1st to 17th Spot in 'World's Most Innovative Company' Rankings
Surely they get credit for sticking a Kinect in a notch on their phone?
It's still pretty easy if you don't just read the headlines, and think a little further instead of just following the (shortsighted) conclusions everybody else makes