Craig Federighi Talks macOS Big Sur Redesign, Siri, Default Apps and More in New Interview

[CarlJ]

It's a freaking calculator app......it doesn't have to be "great".....it just has to do math.....my god.

If you're really dying for a calculator app, there are literally thousands to choose from. Go with PCalc if none of the others jump out at you.

I get that people would like Apple to ship one by default, but people go off on this as if Apple had banned calculator apps on iPadOS, instead of merely not shipping one of their own. It's not that you can't get one to fill your dire need, it seems more like you want to feel outraged about having to lift a finger to get it.
[automerge]1593207536[/automerge]

No, 11.1, 11.2, etc. Just like with OS X (10)

I'm guessing we'll see 11.0.1, 11.0.2, etc, and then next year we'll see 11.1.

 

[gene731]

Apple Maps is actually better than Google Maps now

It seems a lot of people may have been too young to remember or have forgotten but google maps had their growing pains as well. Apple Maps did and now they (I think) are at a fairly decent place. Enough so Apple Maps is my default map and if I do doubt the routing I google map it then to either verify and or switch to google maps. Waze seems a little too “busy” for me.

 

[JGIGS]

Here's hoping Apple de-Forestalls the UI. Ick.

This isn't Forstall's UI. The UI is based on ios 7 - 13 Forstall was long gone by then. I believe Ive oversaw and approved the current UI. Which ironically, has actually better gotten since Ive left.

 

[Asarien]

Craig is so cool

Craig’s such an elitist d-bag.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

"extremely consistent" - I bet Steve Jobs is laughing in his grave. The amount on inconsistencies that have crept into Apple over the years are endless.

 

[MacBH928]

Craig Federighi seems very normal here versus his excited world changing Apple Executive alter-ego he uses for the Keynotes. That being said, it is very humble from a trillion dollar corporation executive to give an interview for a youtuber.

 

[BWhaler]

Wow. Great interview.
abd yes, puts Graber Interview to shame.

 

[alexfc]

Guys, given that Big Sur has rounded corners that seem to fit nicely on iPad's screen (

https://twitter.com/x/status/1276627910883934209

), is this any indication that future MacBook will adopt a rounded corner display or it probably doesn’t mean anything?

 

[cmaier]

Wow. Great interview.
abd yes, puts Graber Interview to shame.

Yeah, he's really good. Much more engaging than gruber's interview was.

 

[alex2792]

…and? Even if that were the case, Apple has no vested business interest in keeping people on Apple Maps. They make Apple Maps because they think it's a good default choice for Apple customers.

WRONG. They collect lots of crowdsourced data from Maps users.

 

[cmaier]

WRONG. They collect lots of crowdsourced data from Maps users.

So? they can’t tell who *I* am or what *I* am doing with maps.

 

[MacBH928]

It's a calculator. What needs to be distinctly different? Animations?

I beg to differ, years ago I used Ti calculators and I still feel there are the best form of calculators out there and beats out any default calculator app I have seen shipped with any device.

To be fair, that iPad screen must be the biggest calculator out there, you have to give it a real thought how to make that a calculator. They keypads would be as larger as mini burgers.

 

[cmaier]

I beg to differ, years ago I used Ti calculators and I still feel there are the best form of calculators out there and beats out any default calculator app I have seen shipped with any device.

To be fair, that iPad screen must be the biggest calculator out there, you have to give it a real thought how to make that a calculator. They keypads would be as larger as mini burgers.

HP-49 beats TI

 

[Abazigal]

Craig Federighi seems very normal here versus his excited world changing Apple Executive alter-ego he uses for the Keynotes. That being said, it is very humble from a trillion dollar corporation executive to give an interview for a youtuber.

A YouTuber with over 10 million subscribers. Someone like MKBHD is practically a media personality at this point, you value the demographic they can reach out to, and it’s free marketing, so why not?

 

[Tozovac]

It's a freaking calculator app......it doesn't have to be "great".....it just has to do math.....my god.

This is Apple after getting the basics right.

What next? Mistake overthinking the small things that don’t need overthinking..

[automerge]1593223780[/automerge]

And that's why you aren't an Apple software engineer. "Good enough" isn't their philosophy. In the meantime, no one's stopping you from downloading a run-of-the-mill calculator app or just asking Siri.

No. It’s possible to be “good” as in”Great!” “Pencils down!”

It seems impossible for Apple to stop the unnecessary plastic surgery when significalt change isn’t really needed.

 

[matrix07]

About new Siri interface I only want to know one thing, can we edit what we asked like we used to?

 

[cmaier]

About new Siri interface I only want to know one thing, can we edit what we asked like we used to?

Yes

 

[matrix07]

They are saving it for when they do floating windows.

Exactly my thought!
Floating windows on iPad will come.
[automerge]1593232377[/automerge]

Does this mean the next version of macOS will be called 12.0?

Why? It will be 11.1 and everyone knows it.
[automerge]1593232616[/automerge]

We can say the same with the app maps on macOS, tbh who the heck checks a route on a desktop or laptop 😑.

Me. The reason is simple. It’s so much easier. Once you got the route you sent it to the phone and out you go. Without this ability I wouldn’t do it on my Mac I must confess.
But if I’m using iPad then Maps on iPad is fine as well.
[automerge]1593232792[/automerge]

Some of his points make sense, others do not. Calculator and Weather... it doesn’t need to be amazing. But if it does, they‘ve had a decade.

They also have many things that are more priority.
[automerge]1593232974[/automerge]

I just opened it and put in the name of a handful of local businesses and a park go to regularly. It found one of four businesses and doesn't believe the park exists (although it's technically there as a green patch on the map, just not named). Google Maps found all of them.

Not exactly a winning experience.

I rarely have a problem searching for business locations I want to go to, and I’m using Apple Map exclusively since it’s launched.

 

[matrix07]

Off-topic: The following reminded me of something:

My only personal computer is a Chromebook. I sure wish I could back up my iPhones with the Chromebook. (Chromebooks tend not to have capacious storage drives, true, but of course you can plug in a thumb drive or possibly insert a flash card.) I figure Apple may not want to make Chromebooks more appealing by offering this functionality (since Chromebooks are dominating iPads in the education market), but why don't they allow iPhone users to back up their iPhone to an iPad?

What do you mean “backup your iPhone to iPad”?
[automerge]1593233490[/automerge]

I am SO interested in the speed of Apple Silicon chips for future Macs.

Apple most probably knows.

Nobody asks them.

(Did I miss someone?)

Gruber asked (if I remember right).

 

[HVDynamo]

Seriously don't understand why people are making such a big deal about the battery icon.

It's the ugliest battery icon I have ever seen.
[automerge]1593240580[/automerge]

I wouldn't be so sure. Apple might take this chance to make macOS releases more like classic Mac OS and iOS/iPadOS/etc. — have a major release each year, and minor and point releases throughout the year.

Yeah, Now that Microsoft has sort of copied the OS X strategy with Windows 10 they probably want to change the game again.

 

[macness]

Great! Now give us split screen multitasking

 

[Pangalactic]

Craig Federighi seems very normal here versus his excited world changing Apple Executive alter-ego he uses for the Keynotes. That being said, it is very humble from a trillion dollar corporation executive to give an interview for a youtuber.

Yeah, very humble to give a 10-minute interview without any "grilling" to the top tech Youtuber in the world. I've never seen such an example of modesty in my life 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

 

[Seanm87]

Guys, given that Big Sur has rounded corners that seem to fit nicely on iPad's screen (

https://twitter.com/x/status/1276627910883934209

), is this any indication that future MacBook will adopt a rounded corner display or it probably doesn’t mean anything?

Yes it feels like they'll be a redesign with the arm Macs and im sure they'll go with rounded corners.

 

[manu chao]

Giant calculators are not fun to use. As soon as iOS supports apps opening as small, overlapping, floating windows there will be a calculator app built in. Or even if they allow apps to only open as slide-over apps.

I would already be happy if there were an easy way to open my (third-party) calculator app in slide-over. Right now the only reliable way to do so is to put it into the dock. Because even if you put an app into the slide-over ‘history’, once you open it in splitview or fullscreen, it’s no longer in the slide-over ‘history’.
[automerge]1593257215[/automerge]

WRONG. They collect lots of crowdsourced data from Maps users.

Sure, but they use differential privacy. And chop up routes into different bits such that they never store a full route from start to finish.
[automerge]1593257377[/automerge]

What do you mean “backup your iPhone to iPad”?

An offline backup as one can currently do with iTunes on Macs and Windows (or the ‘Finder’ in Catalina).

 

[usagora]

It's the ugliest battery icon I have ever seen.

Alrighty then. I guess you'll somehow survive it, though. I'm pulling for you.