Ram is victim of thinking different. It’s packahed with SOC. It enables unified memory at the cost of upgradability. Try buying Nvidia GPU with 64GB + RAM. It will cost multiple Macs.
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From “think different “ to “Rethink nothing!”. It’s time for Tim to go!
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This is exactly it. People are complaining about Nintendo for the same thing. What are they meant to do? We're in a totally new phase in technology - hardware leaps have slowed to a crawl, manufacturing processes are hitting a wall which is affecting how much miniaturisation can happen, we've established a lot of what works and what doesn't in terms of UI and accessories. It feels like nobody remembers the wild 2000s where technology was improving at an incredible pace. But going from 50nm to 40nm lithography brought enormous power reduction, performance benefits etc, we're in an era where we're going from 3nm second gen to 3nm third gen and we're not getting the huge boosts we used to get.
I feel like so many people pine for that era of innovation because there was so much room for innovation in "the olden days". Micro hard drives paved the way for the iPod. Now flash memory gets twice as fast but 8Gbps doesn't really do anything for end users that already weren't hitting the 4Gbps speeds. Storage getting bigger and cheaper and wider data pipes being installed around the world made a backbone for high data demand services like music and TV. We now have laptops that last days on a single charge and outperform even high end desktops from less than a decade ago, but we demand "more innovation"? It just feels like people want change for the sake of change, and newness for the sake of "new" rather than actual improvements in their day to day lives with technology. Meanwhile, I feel like Apple have been innovating - AirPods that function as hearing aids, the wealth of health data the Apple Watch collects, the aforementioned powerful and long life laptops, taking a risk on headset computing with Vision Pro.
But really, where are the bold new frontiers left to conquer? Until there's a major technological leap to invigorate the market, I think we're in a period of steady iteration. Please don't give me change for the sake of change, it's how we make perfectly useable products bad.
Yes, a good manager, and looks like he is one. But we were talking about a visionary, a leader that stays on the quarterdeck and guides the ship.
AI is not the kind of revolution that 3D TVs, curved TVs, Second Life or MiniDisk wanted to be. It's a real revolution like GUI and mouse input, World Wide Web, smartphones.
Right now? AI and one could argue that Apple failed to realize this and jump on board soon enough.
Someone else is thinking along the same lines as the OP (but for more specific reasons), namely shareholders: https://www.economist.com/business/2025/06/08/can-tim-cook-stop-apple-going-the-same-way-as-nokia
Regarding supposed lack of innovation (and AI), Apple's success is as a maker of very ergonomic software, well integrated into stylish (while not so consistently ergonomic) hardware for which it can charge a pretty penny. Hardware specs etc have only ever mattered to the extent that they enabled the software to run seamlessly.
The markets have identified the Next Big Thing - rightly or wrongly - as LLMs, which one would think is right up Apple's street, going back to a productivity focus where they began. So the One More Thing is meant to be the integration of an LLM with the OSs but that leaves Apple in a bind.
Apple's model has been well-suited to recent technology trends, such as eat-all-you-can music and television, since they could hook them both back to their profitable hardware while making additional money from their ergonomically (you'll be get bored of that word in this post , but it matters hugely in the context of Apple - think the ease-of-use mantra of old) integrated marketplaces. The biggest weakness in the ergonomic 'whole' was always 3rd-party software, which was finally solved (and now under threat) with the App store as a services model. The latest gap filled is the silicon itself, where the risk is that it can't on-shore production cost-effectively.
However Apple has been selective with the information services they've chosen to build themselves, e.g. maps because it integrates well with its focus on productivity ergonomics, but not a search engine or encyclopaedia. An LLM is a massive undertaking so they either have to buy one at the currently massively inflated stock prices or be giving over personal information to a provider, who may at some point try to renegotiate the deal to push ads - the antithesis to an ergonomic environment!
They're clearly trying but it's not working yet. Tim's failures would potentially be in not leading a team that was anticipating the rapid improvement in LLMs or bungling the deployment - if that's the case then we'll see him move on. That he currently shows no signs of doing so indicates that the future product is going to be very worthwhile, we just have to be patient!
The markets have identified the Next Big Thing - rightly or wrongly - as LLMs, which one would think is right up Apple's street, going back to a productivity focus where they began. So the One More Thing is meant to be the integration of an LLM with the OSs but that leaves Apple in a bind.
Apple's model has been well-suited to recent technology trends, such as eat-all-you-can music and television, since they could hook them both back to their profitable hardware while making additional money from their ergonomically (you'll be get bored of that word in this post , but it matters hugely in the context of Apple - think the ease-of-use mantra of old) integrated marketplaces. The biggest weakness in the ergonomic 'whole' was always 3rd-party software, which was finally solved (and now under threat) with the App store as a services model. The latest gap filled is the silicon itself, where the risk is that it can't on-shore production cost-effectively.
However Apple has been selective with the information services they've chosen to build themselves, e.g. maps because it integrates well with its focus on productivity ergonomics, but not a search engine or encyclopaedia. An LLM is a massive undertaking so they either have to buy one at the currently massively inflated stock prices or be giving over personal information to a provider, who may at some point try to renegotiate the deal to push ads - the antithesis to an ergonomic environment!
They're clearly trying but it's not working yet. Tim's failures would potentially be in not leading a team that was anticipating the rapid improvement in LLMs or bungling the deployment - if that's the case then we'll see him move on. That he currently shows no signs of doing so indicates that the future product is going to be very worthwhile, we just have to be patient!
As for the keynote itself (back on topic) the most impactful announcement was probably the new windowing in iPad OS, being comparable to the full implementation of MultiFinder in System 7. Overdue perhaps but better late than never.
One personal Cook vs. Jobs gripe that I do have is that when Jobs returned one of his steps to making the hardware more affordable (and the business more profitable) was to slim down the product line, to 2 laptops, 2 desktops, and cutting any ancillary lines whose integration with those wasn't better than third parties, e.g. printers, Newton, the camera...
There are currently (approximately) 4 laptops, 5 desktops, 6 tablets, 7 phones, mercifully only 3 watches & 8 headphones. The minimally integrated are the headphones (rescued by being extremely profitable), HomePods, AppleTV and the Vision Pro (which I'll forgive, as being a not-openly-acknowledged experiment). Not the end of the world.
There are currently (approximately) 4 laptops, 5 desktops, 6 tablets, 7 phones, mercifully only 3 watches & 8 headphones. The minimally integrated are the headphones (rescued by being extremely profitable), HomePods, AppleTV and the Vision Pro (which I'll forgive, as being a not-openly-acknowledged experiment). Not the end of the world.
Same complaint every year it seems, rather twice a year. Not that I disagree with all the criticisms but look, it could be worse, in the "Galaxy far far away" tech is pretty stagnant. Even Star Trek went back to buttons and only got touch screens a century later. /joke
Maybe in terms of software Apple and other tech giants should slow the updates except for security and bug fixes.
Maybe in terms of software Apple and other tech giants should slow the updates except for security and bug fixes.
This take pops up a lot, but I don't think it's totally fair. Apple started working on ML/AI long before the buzz around chatbots started.
Apple started shipping NPUs in phones/tablets back in 2017, its software has used ML/AI to enable various capabilities for years (a wide range of things like Face ID to photo subject indexing to gestures on Apple Watch). They are mostly invisible to the user (which they should be) but they are there.
Should they have rushed out a chatbot or something chatbot-adjacent to appease the market? Eh... personally, I don't think so. The current solutions (like CoPilot+) are pretty poor with a mixed reputation. It's still not entirely clear what the right format for "AI" will ultimately be.
Personally, I'm just glad they've pulled back on Apple Intelligence to spend more time getting it right (the Apple Intelligence mess last year was totally unnecessary, IMO 😅).
That was in the late 90s when Apple was running out of money. Jobs promptly went back to Multiple models for iPods, laptops and so on. Now, at least there are two lines for laptops, MBP, and MBA. Under Jobs Apple had MBA, Mac Book, MacBook Pro, 13, 15 and 17 inch. Many more variants on processors, drives and so on.
Apple is in the business of making money, they were giving away share to Androids with bigger screen, iPhone 6+ was more in response to losing market for big screen. Apple has plenty of money unlike being weeks away from bankruptcy.
I think they were dabbling in AI , such Siri and automation, but LLMS were not something I believe they were investing in. They over promised and under delivered in 2024 regarding Apple Intelligence and Siri. I think that failure highlights how they were surprised at how fast AI became a major factor.
Clearly they were ‘dabbling’ in 2017 when they spent a bunch of their SoC transistor budget on a NPU expressly to run AI processes…
Ok, so ML is the less trendy branch of AI, and not hyped like LLMs are, but it’s still AI.
They were surprised at how LLMs caught on, and were behind in that sub field of AI, but I actually think their current approach is a good one. It’s long term sustainable, friendly to developers to leverage in their apps, has a better privacy model, etc.
I know everyone’s going nuts for chatbots and having fits over Siri not having been converted to a hallucinating LLM, and it clearly is lacklustre for those who need to talk to their phones, but I think Siri is the least important aspect of Apple’s AI.
I am, literally, going to keep asking this question in this thread: what visionary guiding, what innovation, are you expecting from Apple that Cook isnt providing?
It seems to me that it’s more a lot of y’all yearn for an era when the internet was new and personal computers werent a mature platform, which has nothing to do with Cook vs Jobs
I miss that era too. It was fun! Everything was exciting while we were figuring out all the things we could do.
That’s not a permanent state though. Eventually systems mature, all the low hanging fruit is harvested, and progress slows. It’s how things work.
What??
You joined this site a month ago.
Rumors used to be much more common in the past.
I’m still using a IPhone X Pro… Why- nothing inspiring or with NO problems.
Is there a touch screen laptop.
Is there a 4k iPad, or 14 inch iPad…
The iPad mini and touch have better resolution that the PRO… wtf..
Does Apple TV 4K run at 120hz.
Does Apple TV allow hires audio…
Are we ever going to be ahead of Samsung…
Is there a touch screen laptop.
Is there a 4k iPad, or 14 inch iPad…
The iPad mini and touch have better resolution that the PRO… wtf..
Does Apple TV 4K run at 120hz.
Does Apple TV allow hires audio…
Are we ever going to be ahead of Samsung…
Didn't really have much choice on that one
It all worked out in the end, though. P.A. Semi joined Apple and the rest is history 🙂
Fortunately I’ve not seen most of those issues on my Macs.
And I’ve not connected my iPhone or iPad to a Mac for years, I find it easier to use iCloud, and for me this has made setting up a new device pretty quick and easy.
Not sure what metric you are referring to with iPads, the Pro has higher resolution than Mini or Air? In addition the Pro has a brighter screen with HDR support.
Apologies if I’ve misunderstood something.
It could be argued that Apple supports hiring audio via its subscriptions.
As for being ahead of Samsung, I guess that’s not an easily quantified topic.
For me I like the Apple eco system and think it’s pretty good.
I’m with others who have said Apple isn’t always the first, but they often deliver a better experience when they do release something.
So, what would be revolutionary? But then, how to develop a revolutionary device in f.e. 1 month?? Than any no-brainer could make a revolution 🤷♂️
But then Apple discontinued the iPod. Where's my iPod with wifi and bluetooth so that I can connect it to my car or airpods or sync it with a NAS or use Spotify on? In 2005 we had all sorts of neat gadgets. In 2025 we have slate style screens, and in the case of the MBP, a screen with an attached keyboard. There's nothing else besides that. There's no phone with a keyboard. There's no dedicated music player, there's hardly even dedicated cameras anymore.