John Gruber Says 'Something is Rotten' at Apple

[dewalt]

I’m curious as to what it is that they’re running into that’s a problem. Conceptually it’s not complex. But my theory is that the security aspect is hampering significant progress. Only so much they do on on device and not waste resources.

Source: In a related AI industry

 

[TheDauterive]

The original iphone didn't work when he demod it. He had to do things in a specific order or the device would crash. There was still a ton of work left to do before it became a working device.

There was still a ton of work to do on the original iPhone, but the work was, in fact, done. I had the first iPhone and there is a reason it took over the market, it was absolutely amazing. The problem with Apple Intelligence is that the work hasn’t been done. John’s particular beef seems to be that Apple knew they couldn’t deliver on their promises which was clearly not the case with the original iPhone because Steve did, in fact, deliver. That makes all the difference in the world to a company’s reputation and credibility.

 

[milkrocket]

You're acting like a sycophants.

Apple Knowledge Navigator envisioned exactly what the future of technology would ans should be.

The problem in that video is that they took a human assistant and made it virtual.

I don't need a computer to read out my appointments for the day, one-by-one. That takes way too long, and I have to hold all that info in my head.

Instead just show me the calendar and I can see my whole day, week or even month at a glance.

It is like trying to replace a legacy process, where people used to write things in notebooks, But instead of storing it digitally, they create an autopen to fill out the notebooks

 

[dominiongamma]

I’ve already started my journey by moving everything to Google starting today. Notes, files, word processing, e-mails, calendar, and everything else.

Even if Gemini or Galaxy AI isn’t perfect yet, they certainly have a much higher ceiling than Apple Intelligence does. The way Siri has been programmed for the last 14 years tells it all.

You giving Google your data

 

[TwoBytes]

Not to diminish working in tech, but Apple could have by now delivered what they showcased at WWDC.
That’s the difference between Steve days and Tim days.

If any company could pull it off, Apple could.
It’s ironic as you can use chat GPT to program contextual awareness into an app but the entire company of Apple can’t?…

Gruber is right to really calling them out.

 

[SpotOnT]

I'm sorry what?! Steve didn't do that. It was total secrecy. Look at the iPod or original iPhone. He didn't make crazy promises he showed up and showed off what they had. Demos being hugely important to his method.

The first iPhone was a buggy mess that could only operate in the exact order he showed it, because they only had a demo version of iOS when Steve went to introduce it the world. A lot has been written on that day, and it is a bit of a miracle the thing worked at all for him.

Also, there were many times that Steve said this is the future, this is how the ecosystem will grow, etc. and then it never did.

Let alone the crazy exaggerations that bordered on clear lies. I am thinking of things like the iPod Hi-Fi speaker which was anything, but Hi-Fi.

 

[Schlotkins]

Things must be pretty awful for John to be willing to burn some bridges like this... this is not in his economic best interest.

I'll be honest, I have all apple stuff, but I have also been kind of considering jumping ship a bit. If there was an iMessage app for android that would probably do it.

 

[ignatius345]

Tough but fair.

I continue to get a lot of great use out of my Apple products as I have for many years. But: the amount of smoke around this whole Apple Intelligence thing has been absurd. The intent behind the vaporware marketing was to induce people to buy the latest and greatest hardware with the headline feature of being able to run features that were promised and yet were not apparently even close to being delivered. That's shady AF (as the kids say), and when a decidedly pro-Apple journalist like Gruber calls them out for it, that tells you something. I sincerely hope this is a wakeup call in Cupertino.

But hey, at least we got 16 GB RAM on our base model Macs out of it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[dss33k]

Some posters here are making excuses for Apple by saying that they don’t care for AI. This isn’t about AI, this is about Apple promoting a completely new way of using your devices. Go look at what Apple promoted, or read Gruber’s article carefully and completely.



My theory is that Tim Cook saw his country club buddies riding the AI wave and lost sight of the bigger picture, getting carried away. This is what happens when pretty much the only thing you care about is the stock market. Tim has been on the path of pinching pennies for years now, and chickens are coming home to roost.

 

[August West]

Boomer tim needs to let go. These guys hang on and destroy places. Dude call it good and let someone else run the show. You did great things for the stock. Take care

Not going to happen - "and in fact remains the most profitable company in the world"

 

[Blue Nova]

The problem with Apple is they stoped listening to their users, they have this policy “We won’t deal with it unless enough people report”, that’s a very bad policy. Look where it took you to. They do have a big problem with Sir.i Siri should be used from any device whatever device is closest to you, it should respond Whether it is an iPhone and iPad or a HomePod mini. and Siri should be revamped they should come up with a different name cause it’s already a bad name, Siri does not understand every command, Siri does not remember what you asked before while ChatGPT remembers all of that and supposedly they are integrating it with Apple operating system but I don’t see any of that yet. On tech support within the last few years whenever I call Apple support specially in the evening I get someone that will probably do the same thing that I would have done if I have to look it up on my own, they don’t have any trained tech as many as they used t.

 

[Rogifan]

Mr. Gruber is mad. I thought this is where he was going, but then he didn't, so I will. Maybe the decision to announce things they weren't sure they could deliver had two motivations. One, they needed to join the AI party in a serious way. And two, the ideas on the table for the iPhone 16 were a slightly better camera, and nothing else. So they plopped Apple Intelligence on the table and thought this would get them caught up to ChatGPT and give them a selling point for the 16 lineup.

Gruber also suggests he knows of people within Apple who knew they couldn't deliver this stuff.

The fiasco is that Apple pitched a story that wasn’t true, one that some people within the company surely understood wasn’t true, and they set a course based on that.

Is he speculating here? Or is he dropping a hint that people within Apple knew they couldn't deliver on this?

According to Mark Gurman Craig Federighi voiced “strong concerns” about features not working.

Mark Gurman (@markgurman) on Threads

NEW: Inside Apple’s Siri delays and the issues facing Apple’s AI organization. Details on Craig Federighi voicing strong concerns about the features not working, how long features will be delayed, projects getting killed and more...

www.threads.net

 

[wirefire]

The writing was on the wall when Apple had to revisit some of the rolled out AI features because of questionable answers and incorrect information. AI is only as good as its training, and if you are getting bad answers and summaries on the small stuff like emails and texts, you are going to get absolute trash on the more complex things. the "direction" of iOS 18 is just crap. businesses rely on this stuff and when you start automatically grouping and categorizing emails without any real obvious explanation of what is new on the device, and why some emails appear to be missing... people get pissed off.

Yes these features will come in time. but an actual reliable AI that I would be comfortable saying "buy movie tickets for matrix 5 at the local AMC for the time closest to 3pm for 2 people in the 4th or 5th row" and actually deliver on that is likely 2-3 years away on a phone at minimum. yes it can be done now, but only if you design it specifically to do that one thing. if you want a general AI to understand that and deliver on it reliable it just isn't there yet. AI is stupid expensive and so far it does not monetize well.

 

[LightProtector]

Apple may have lost their credibility, but John Gruber gained a lot by speaking the truth.

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

The joy of unboxing any new Apple device is long gone, in fact I have over the years updated less frequently than ever. But hey, the stock price is at an all time high it's not like when at the top Tim is about to get complacent and then lose to the "next big thing", oh wait it's time for fresh blood.

 

[Rogifan]

I beg your pardon, the hell? Apple could release a bag of dog **** and I’d put money on Gruber finding some dubious way to praise it.

I don’t think Gruber is as critical as he should be but he can get on his soapbox, like when he’s complained about iPad OS in the past.

 

[russell_314]

Your post is what bean counters love. Those of us who miss the old innovative products would drive that graph even higher but you’re too content with less

I’m sure Apple is hiring if anyone have these innovative ideas that would drive their stock through roof. It’s easy for people Gruber and even myself to say no Apple should do it this way. How many of those people have run a multi trillion dollar company? I sure haven’t and I don’t think Gruber has. Has he even run a multi billion dollar company?

This is like me telling a Super Bowl winning football team “Well you could’ve done better. If I was the coach, here’s what I would’ve done and you would’ve won the Super Bowl twice in one year.” Tim Cook has won the Super Bowl. John Gruber is on the sidelines complaining about the winning field goal and saying how he could’ve got a touchdown.

 

[Rogifan]

It is not Tim that needs to go, it is Craig Federighi. He is the one in charge of software.

But Craig is not in charge of AI. And accord to Mark Gurman he voiced concerns about this stuff not working. So who didn’t listen to him?

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Totally agree! My brain has been irreparably damaged by the lack of an iThink Pro neural implant, which should have been commercially available by now.

 

[AssassuN]

Glad to be seeing this much needed culture shift.
Even the devout Macrumors posters are seemingly in agreement that Apple has been asleep at the wheel.

Hopefully this is reflected in earnings and Apple actually feels pressure to come out with more stable software (I say this as a shareholder)

 

[ONJ]

Finally! Thank you Mr Gruber. I wish you had of said something back in 2011.

 

[russell_314]

I beg your pardon, the hell? Apple could release a bag of dog **** and I’d put money on Gruber finding some dubious way to praise it.

I’m sure some days he does. I seriously think some of these tech pundits say things to manipulate the stock based on if they’re selling or buying at the time. Every time before an iPhone event, I hear them go on the news saying they don’t think Apple is going to release anything innovative this year, so the stock goes down. Then the event happens and they’re all excited like wow look what Apple just did. The stock goes up.

 

[Kmh241]

This is not rocket science people. I can simply explain what has happened. Apple put all their eggs in the AR/ VR Vision Pro work and ignored and took their eye off the ball of AI. I wrote this in 2023 and would LOVE to have this get in front of Tim Cook and other Apple executives.

Warning to Apple 2023:

I hate to say it and please screenshot my comment for the record… Apple is making a MASSIVE mistake, they are putting all their eggs in the limited VR/AR basket and everything else is suffering and delayed. The result Apple will fall further behind (just like with Siri. Lead then lose strategy) It is way past due to have Tim Cook step aside and get some innovation and risk taking back at Apple. Steve warned others “if you focus on to many things, you will become the best at nothing.” Look at the AI race that has popped up. Apple has not even shown up to the party yet. And yet Apple will state some bs about “we are not always first” I love Apple but as each month goes by and we get nothing really that exciting from the product line people will start to defect to other better & cheaper technologies with a fresh “Wow & useful” factor at a lower price. Apple please wake up and prove us all wrong. (Oh and sorry the next big thing is not going to be an Apple car, sorry)

Hoping and wishing that Apple makes some serious course corrections. Fingers crossed.

A real Apple fan.

 

[walkin]

AI is the fiasco. Apple has no more good ideas, and computer technology has reached its limits.

 

[BGPL]

Siri has been a disaster from the beginning, we just didn't know it until Alexa and Google showed us how bad it really was. I think they're trying to build this incredible AI model on top of a poor foundation, which is Siri. They need to drop Siri completely and start over - hell, maybe that's what they did and this is why it's taking so long. Seems like a new AI personality would be best introduced with iOS 19 and not iOS 18.x. Regardless, Gruber is right and Apple has failed in many other ways aside from AI and Siri. They struggle to keep their Mac hardware up to date, with staggered processor upgrades, some of which goe years without a proc upgrade. One thing about Intel and the PC vendors, they upgrade their Intel processor by the numbers, every class and every model gets the new processor. Not sure why Apple can't do that - they've never really taken Mac seriously. I think is Steve was still around it would be a completely different story.