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Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple's Biggest Challenge to Innovation in Recent Years Has Been Software
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Oh I don’t know, I think Apples been pretty innovative in the way it breaks its software over recent years? Or use it to throttle devices to boost sales.
Apple's biggest challenge software? lol - they can't even make a monitor anymore.
Snow Leopard was full of bugs when it was first released and didn't start to show real stability until the 10.6.3 update. So naturally by the 10.6.8 update Snow Leopard was rock solid stable.
As a general rule of thumb its best to lay off the latest release of macOS until to at least the .3 update as running any new software before any updates have been issued is asking for trouble as it is post Beta stage software.
In the case of macOS High Sierra now the 10.13.4 update has been released its about the right time to upgrade from macOS Sierra.
If I could find something else to use other than iTunes to load my iPhone, I would.
Apple's "biggest challenge in innovation in recent years has been in software, not hardware," according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
"In several cases we have seen Apple lagging in software versus hardware development, which bodes badly for its innovation strategy of software and hardware integration," wrote Kuo, in a research note obtained by MacRumors.
Kuo's sole example is that Apple's first-mover advantage in augmented reality has been "significantly narrowed" by Chinese smartphone maker OPPO.
He believes that OPPO has caught up with Apple's ARKit platform in only six to nine months, largely based on the fact that the augmented reality version of Honour of Kings will be compatible with not only iPhones but also OPPO's lower-priced smartphones when it launches next month, despite high-tech requirements.
"The key is that OPPO is in charge of developing API, integrating hardware and software, and cooperating with SenseTime's algorithm and Tencent's game software development team," said Kuo, referring to the two Chinese companies that developed Honour of Kings, estimated to have over 200 million players, mainly in China.
Kuo adds that, since the debut of ARKit at WWDC 2017, there has been no "heavyweight" augmented reality app for iPhones and iPads.In terms of software in general, it can be argued that the past year wasn't Apple's greatest. iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra have suffered from several bugs, ranging in severity, including a major root password vulnerability on Macs to iMessages appearing in the wrong order across devices.
Fortunately, in January, multiple reports claimed that Apple plans to increase its focus on the quality of its software platforms, presumably resulting in a greater emphasis on bug fixes, performance improvements, and stability.
Article Link: Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple's Biggest Challenge to Innovation in Recent Years Has Been Software
Totally agree - new hardware doesn’t deliver much, neither do OS updates, they’re just incremental improvements. Where’s the REAL innovation??
[doublepost=1523467947][/doublepost]Totally agree - new hardware doesn’t deliver much, neither do OS updates, they’re just incremental improvements. Where’s the REAL innovation??
I’m sorry, I haven’t read through all of the replies so far so this might have already been said.
I do believe there is some truth in this opinion. I use Apple’s Pro apps such as Logic and Final Cut Pro. Logic is pretty solid and I can’t think of an outright better DAW but Apple really haven’t done anything with it for a few years other than backport some GarageBand features.
As for Final Cut, I use it as my primary NLE and I prefer its simple, clean interface to Premiere or Avid but it’s lagging behind in many areas compared to its competitors. Adding more powerful colour grading tools recently was appreciated, but it still lags behind Lumetri in terms of power. The VR stuff is cool, but niche. Where is the killer feature? I only hope that Apple is waiting for its new Mac Pro to hit the market before it gives Final Cut a seriously big update.
And After Effects vs Apple Motion? There’s no comparison.
I do believe there is some truth in this opinion. I use Apple’s Pro apps such as Logic and Final Cut Pro. Logic is pretty solid and I can’t think of an outright better DAW but Apple really haven’t done anything with it for a few years other than backport some GarageBand features.
As for Final Cut, I use it as my primary NLE and I prefer its simple, clean interface to Premiere or Avid but it’s lagging behind in many areas compared to its competitors. Adding more powerful colour grading tools recently was appreciated, but it still lags behind Lumetri in terms of power. The VR stuff is cool, but niche. Where is the killer feature? I only hope that Apple is waiting for its new Mac Pro to hit the market before it gives Final Cut a seriously big update.
And After Effects vs Apple Motion? There’s no comparison.
Sad, but seems to be true. With the sole exception of Win7 to Win8 I've never seen the usability of a UI go backwards as fast as it has with post iOS6 and post Snow Leopard. It's just been an utter sh*t show since that era. (Note, I'm not talking about aesthetics, or even reliability, I'm talking purely about UI usability.) And at least MS seemed to figure out they had blundered and got stuff mostly-fixed in the next major revision.
Incremental updates are better than rewrites of software from the ground up. Remember how Microsoft got their fingers burnt when they first released Windows 8 taking that approach.
I would agree... except, Aprture is not gone, I use it on the latest MacOS: 10.13.4. It's a great program.
I disagree.
I think hardware is way behind the software.
Look at the hardware. The bad design speaks for itself.
Mac Pro- a complete failure. After 12 years still nothing until 2019. Really?
Macbook Pro with a Touchbar- Another big failure
Mac Mini- Not upgraded in years...
iMac- The design was not upgraded in years. not user upgradable.
iMac Pro- for a 6k+ machine it is ridiculous that you cannot upgrade the internal HD.
I think hardware is way behind the software.
Look at the hardware. The bad design speaks for itself.
Mac Pro- a complete failure. After 12 years still nothing until 2019. Really?
Macbook Pro with a Touchbar- Another big failure
Mac Mini- Not upgraded in years...
iMac- The design was not upgraded in years. not user upgradable.
iMac Pro- for a 6k+ machine it is ridiculous that you cannot upgrade the internal HD.
Indeed, those were the days. The hardware was somewhat original but the OS is what defined the Apple brand. Cook and company are squandering the brand’s legacy.
I used to upgrade to the newest OS within a month or two. The delay insured third party products updated their products to work with the new OS. Now, you have to wait for Apple to hone its software. I still haven’t upgraded to High Sierra. The new file system incompatibility with fusion drives was a huge misstep on Apple’s part.
Now there’s rumors that Apple wants to merge iOS and MacOS. My fear is that Apple will dumb down MacOS to improve compatibility with iOS. That would be the final nail in the coffin for me.
Or any other Pro Photo management software. To me this is still unbelievable how they could drop the ball so hard on this.
They're close to losing me, for sure .... and I've been "all in" with Macs and Apple products for about 18 years now.
At the end of the day, it's *always* been "all about the software" with the Mac and even the iOS devices, because they consistently lose the "specs war" vs. other manufacturers. People who primarily care about how much CPU power, battery life, drive space, drive performance, expansion options, display resolution and camera specs they get for the dollar usually won't find Apple offering the "best deal". With Apple, it's ALWAYS been the idea that you're buying into the "experience", the "eco-system" and the "better OS alternative" (to Windows or Android). All of those things come down to how well Apple's people code the software that makes it all go.
Historically, they've been really good at that. Lately, not so much....
I know it's just one application, but the people complaining about Aperture are right. It's not the first time Apple just gave up on and dumped a "Pro" type application they were offering that constituted a reason or excuse to buy/use a Mac instead of a Windows PC, either. (Anyone remember, "Color" - Apple's color grading software, purchased from Silicon Color?)
All the embarrassing screw-ups in OS X High Sierra are more illustration of the problem. Things like accidentally leaving the encryption password for FileVault visible in regular text viewable log files?! Come on, Apple! What's going on over there?
At the end of the day, it's *always* been "all about the software" with the Mac and even the iOS devices, because they consistently lose the "specs war" vs. other manufacturers. People who primarily care about how much CPU power, battery life, drive space, drive performance, expansion options, display resolution and camera specs they get for the dollar usually won't find Apple offering the "best deal". With Apple, it's ALWAYS been the idea that you're buying into the "experience", the "eco-system" and the "better OS alternative" (to Windows or Android). All of those things come down to how well Apple's people code the software that makes it all go.
Historically, they've been really good at that. Lately, not so much....
I know it's just one application, but the people complaining about Aperture are right. It's not the first time Apple just gave up on and dumped a "Pro" type application they were offering that constituted a reason or excuse to buy/use a Mac instead of a Windows PC, either. (Anyone remember, "Color" - Apple's color grading software, purchased from Silicon Color?)
All the embarrassing screw-ups in OS X High Sierra are more illustration of the problem. Things like accidentally leaving the encryption password for FileVault visible in regular text viewable log files?! Come on, Apple! What's going on over there?
I feel even Windows 10 is surpassing macOS. A big part of macOS feels clunky and looks dated.
Yeah. Perhaps Kuo who has been a bit quiet recently has been re-assigned to cover OPPO as a 'promotion'?????
I’ve found the even numbered releases are usually horrible (except windows 2000). With forced upgrades that potentially break things, I simply refuse to go to Windows 10.
I think the problem is more they don't have enough people to give full attention. All the time you hear stories about Apple software (and hardware) engineers being pulled off one team to work on some new thing and whatever they were working on either gets inadequate attention, or gets abandoned completely for long periods of time.
Well, what’s a computer? Am I right(?)!
But I have to say the iPad Pro is used on the go by a lot of my friends in art/design.
Figures how the only example of Apple's software innovation he could come up with was from iOS. What about MacOS?
Compare the amount of innovation happening today in MacOS to the first decade of this century, and it's not even close. Compare the amount of innovation happening today in Mac hardware to the first decade of this century, and again it's not even close. While you can make a fair argument that Mac OS X and Mac hardware is more mature now compared to then, it's also undeniable that Apple can and should be doing so much more for the platform. Just look at what a sad state the Mac mini is in...
Compare the amount of innovation happening today in MacOS to the first decade of this century, and it's not even close. Compare the amount of innovation happening today in Mac hardware to the first decade of this century, and again it's not even close. While you can make a fair argument that Mac OS X and Mac hardware is more mature now compared to then, it's also undeniable that Apple can and should be doing so much more for the platform. Just look at what a sad state the Mac mini is in...
Yet they (MS) foist the updates on you even if you don't want them.
Yet those same updates remove huge amounts of the customisation and 'workarounds' that you oh so carefully applied to YOUR system.
I would also expect that they'll move to a $9.99/month subscription model. Don't pay, don't get access to your files which they have sucked up into the cloud.
After 25 years of developing for the MS platform, I said no more.
I’m not sure why they don’t have some of those features on the iPhone, iOS 11 has been mostly excellent for me on the iPad.
Biggest challenge is software? Obviously, because they absolutely nailed the touch bar.