Meh.. I think you have forgotten iOS 6.. it was pretty useless compared to iOS 11, even android surpassed it back then. iOS 6’s biggest feature was removing google maps, and introducing Apple maps.
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Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple's Biggest Challenge to Innovation in Recent Years Has Been Software
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Meh.. I think you have forgotten iOS 6.. it was pretty useless compared to iOS 11, even android surpassed it back then. iOS 6’s biggest feature was removing google maps, and introducing Apple maps.
The funny thing is, Apple doesn’t see itself as a hardware company.
Is this a really good example of where Apple is lagging? I’ll answer that rhetorical question? No. Apple is never first: eg finger print reader, nfc, etc, but it’s usually implemented in way that’s better than the competition. Eg Face ID.
Maybe they don't. But I don't go by what they say, but what they do. Looking back at the last 5 years in particular, Apple has withdrawn the few apps they offered on non-Apple platforms down to the bare minimum... iTunes and iCloud. Once iOS devices don't require a connection to a computer, I suspect they'll discontinue iTunes for Windows.
Apple doesn't make money on their software. The software is there only to drive hardware sales. This is why software like Messages is an iOS/macOS exclusive.
Apple may not, but most reckon it is... I guess if Apple never charged a premium on hardware, and instead priced software that way, then we may have thought that.
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Don't forget all the promised features that are STILL not available, like iMessage in iCloud. In two months, it will have been a year since they announced it. So sad...I've been so disappointed in Apple this past year.
Exactly like that, with modern hardware inside. I work with video and photo and juggling external hard drives has gotten to be absurd. I just want to jam a bunch of extra big-ass naked drives inside a tower and not have to worry about it.
I don't know how one can be so certain when it's only a rumour.
I hope it's true though. It gives me some hope that Apple hasn't been completely unproductive with Mac the last few years. With the resources they have, they have to be up to something, otherwise completely mismanaged.
I hope it's true though. It gives me some hope that Apple hasn't been completely unproductive with Mac the last few years. With the resources they have, they have to be up to something, otherwise completely mismanaged.
Seems like a Pro China sentiment than anything concrete. Seems likes the ‘analyst’ has a different agenda. And I’d point out that ARK kit matters currently in no meaningful way to the average consumer. Until it does more than let you put floating game pieces on your table or see virtual furniture it will not matter to the market as much as, say everything else your phone does including the spyware, software/hardware on many other platforms.
Iconoclasm. Anchor. Just a couple tweaks jailbreak devs developed to be able to do this.
If Apple opened iOS to allow options for user customization, that would just be f***ing lovely.
Goodbye home bar, goodbye full screen phone calls, goodbye massive stock app headers, goodbye obtrusive volume indicator, hello customization of battery indicators, way more control center customization, quick composition for messages, lock screen customization.
iOS is capable of so much more than Apple allows for it.
Come on...MS fixed things? Since Win95 Windows has been horrible in more ways than I can list. I think perhaps your protesting too much and accidentally substituting opinion for a concrete discussion of best practices.Maybe?
Apple is turning the computer into an appliance. The writing is on the wall that eventually:
- You will not be able to make any OS modifications.
- You will not be able to compile and/or install any FOSS to run on your Mac.
- You will only be able to buy/install software from Apple and approved developers and only through the App Store.
- You will only be able to backup/reinstall/reinitialize the OS using Apple-provided technologies.
- You will not own your computer, simply a license to use your computer, which can be revoked by Apple at any time.
- You will only be able to administer Macs en masse using Apple-provided tools, assuming enterprise administration of Macs survives.
If much of this sounds like iOS to you, you are not alone in your thought process. I imagine in Apple's world "What's a computer?" has become their mantra.
- You will not be able to make any OS modifications.
- You will not be able to compile and/or install any FOSS to run on your Mac.
- You will only be able to buy/install software from Apple and approved developers and only through the App Store.
- You will only be able to backup/reinstall/reinitialize the OS using Apple-provided technologies.
- You will not own your computer, simply a license to use your computer, which can be revoked by Apple at any time.
- You will only be able to administer Macs en masse using Apple-provided tools, assuming enterprise administration of Macs survives.
If much of this sounds like iOS to you, you are not alone in your thought process. I imagine in Apple's world "What's a computer?" has become their mantra.
The only reason Apple exists as it is today (and as prosperous) is because of its once excellent software. Never perfect, admittedly, but why customers were willing to pay a premium for the hardware: because the overall experience with Apple's operating system and attendant software was worth it. Because overall, whatever one wanted to do and accomplish, It Just Worked.
Fast forward to today and that is no longer the case. In some respects, yes, but not to the same degree and the examples of same are becoming legion.
In my view the answer and solution are simple enough. For all his faults Steve Jobs was keenly focused on the user experience, he demanded excellence in this. Apple needs to return to no less than that. Put the customer and their needs and wishes first, and they will you as well.
Fast forward to today and that is no longer the case. In some respects, yes, but not to the same degree and the examples of same are becoming legion.
In my view the answer and solution are simple enough. For all his faults Steve Jobs was keenly focused on the user experience, he demanded excellence in this. Apple needs to return to no less than that. Put the customer and their needs and wishes first, and they will you as well.
I have both a mac and a windows computer, I prefer windows10. I use both but prefer 10.
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Pure BS. I have not had ANY customizations or “workarounds” removed. Obviously you are not speaking from experience. Inventing a subscription model which doesn’t exist is pathetic. Why do fanbois feel the need to invent bs?
I also have a mac.
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Win 98 se was decent, xp was great. 10 isbetter to me than osx and I run both.
Innovativion is more than developing chips. It’s a way of thinking. So no, it says nothing about how much Apple is innovating and Apple seems to be doing fine in the innovation department.
The control center and app switcher has been redesigned in like every version of iOS since iOS 7, with control center being the ugliest I have ever seen in iOS 11
Great job Ming. Did you just notice this? The rest of us have known this since iOS 9. Stick to your iPhone Color predictions. 
Scott Forstall left Apple, involuntarily if I remember right, so as far as "showing Apple how it's done" I don't have high hopes for that...
Nah, it's the transition to Timmy Cookland. It's the New Apple. No product, just services.
The transition from PPC to Intel was swift and largely painless.
And what have we been hearing in recent news: "if you get it for free then you are the product", in this case, you are the statistic Apple needs to save face. This is why updates are pushed so agressively.
As a Google Glass owner, yeah, I want AR to succeed (especially the vision Google displayed in their initial advertisement for Glass), but I don't think the killer app for AR will be on mobile device. AR still needs a viable wearable rig.
That said, at the very least I was expecting Apple to release something like a Sir Jon Ive narrated breakout of an Apple product. It would have been a nice demonstration of a new way of doing a spec 'sheet' and helped keep ARKit in the news.
That said, at the very least I was expecting Apple to release something like a Sir Jon Ive narrated breakout of an Apple product. It would have been a nice demonstration of a new way of doing a spec 'sheet' and helped keep ARKit in the news.
[doublepost=1523491967][/doublepost]Apple lost its mojo long ago. The young developers really don't get what made the Mac OS so special to begin with. They code today for what is good enough, bugs and all. I know of bugs that have existed for quite a few years, ones that I've provided feedback for a number of times to no avail. I think it's safe to say Apple has no plans to fix them. iOS is a UI abomination. And macOS steadily declines itself. Those are their crown jewels. If Apple won't polish that, you cannot expect its software offerings to amount to much. For example, iWorks should be a powerhouse today. It should have uprooted MS Office long ago. It's not like Microsoft is known for producing elegant software. Apple 3.0 is meh. I'm holding out hope for Apple 4.0; it has been in the doldrums before.
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
Bingo!
When I look back at the real "arguing points" for why I went with a Mac, while others questioned the point of it vs. a more affordably-priced and better spec'd Windows workstation? It was the OS and software.
But some of the areas where the Mac really shined are growing irrelevant with time, and I'm not sure they're adapting quickly enough.
For example? A huge argument for using a Mac used to be web page design. Especially if you wanted to do WYSIWYG type page design, the Mac had Windows beat, hands-down. You had amazingly good shareware products for OS X like Sandvox or RapidWeaver (and all the plug-ins you could add to it!). You had more advanced tools like Freeway Express, or Tumult Hype if you wanted to work with HTML 5. And of course, for beginning users, Apple used to even include iWeb with the iLife suite. What did they have for Windows? Oh yeah, FrontPage ... which was clunky, buggy, and required CPU sucking server-side extensions on the web host, which many didn't want to use (or billed you extra for if you needed them). Or you could pay hundreds for something like DreamWeaver, but that was available for either Mac OR Windows anyway.
Unfortunately, we're kind of collectively moving past the days of building basic web sites. Now, sites usually use whole back-end environments - where this software becomes much less relevant.
I think it's quite obvious that Apple has moved past a focus on Macs in education, so that's another place where a Mac stronghold has been ceded to the competition. (Google seems to be taking over these days with Chromebooks and "Google Classroom" and so forth.)
It sounds like Apple is taking a gamble that VR and AR is the next space they can gain a foothold. And I guess as far as "emerging technologies" are concerned, there's not a whole lot happening elsewhere, so it's worth a try. But Apple starts playing in THIS space with one foot tied behind its back, due to a long-standing disinterest in selling people the latest graphics hardware in Macs! Their OpenGL implementation is outdated. Their "Metal" API really hasn't taken the world by storm. And the majority of the computers they've sold people still have weak integrated Intel graphics in them.
When I look back at the real "arguing points" for why I went with a Mac, while others questioned the point of it vs. a more affordably-priced and better spec'd Windows workstation? It was the OS and software.
But some of the areas where the Mac really shined are growing irrelevant with time, and I'm not sure they're adapting quickly enough.
For example? A huge argument for using a Mac used to be web page design. Especially if you wanted to do WYSIWYG type page design, the Mac had Windows beat, hands-down. You had amazingly good shareware products for OS X like Sandvox or RapidWeaver (and all the plug-ins you could add to it!). You had more advanced tools like Freeway Express, or Tumult Hype if you wanted to work with HTML 5. And of course, for beginning users, Apple used to even include iWeb with the iLife suite. What did they have for Windows? Oh yeah, FrontPage ... which was clunky, buggy, and required CPU sucking server-side extensions on the web host, which many didn't want to use (or billed you extra for if you needed them). Or you could pay hundreds for something like DreamWeaver, but that was available for either Mac OR Windows anyway.
Unfortunately, we're kind of collectively moving past the days of building basic web sites. Now, sites usually use whole back-end environments - where this software becomes much less relevant.
I think it's quite obvious that Apple has moved past a focus on Macs in education, so that's another place where a Mac stronghold has been ceded to the competition. (Google seems to be taking over these days with Chromebooks and "Google Classroom" and so forth.)
It sounds like Apple is taking a gamble that VR and AR is the next space they can gain a foothold. And I guess as far as "emerging technologies" are concerned, there's not a whole lot happening elsewhere, so it's worth a try. But Apple starts playing in THIS space with one foot tied behind its back, due to a long-standing disinterest in selling people the latest graphics hardware in Macs! Their OpenGL implementation is outdated. Their "Metal" API really hasn't taken the world by storm. And the majority of the computers they've sold people still have weak integrated Intel graphics in them.