My theories on why Apple's software quality has degraded so much.

[Circa1984]

I disagree with most of this. Microsoft famously had a lot of bugs, but they spent years untangling the OS, and now it's rock solid. You may disagree with their design choices and shoehorning AI everywhere, but the fact is that they can without it disrupting core OS stability or requiring a re-branding of version numbers or moving to a tick-tock release cadence.

Apple needs to untangle their mess. It doesn't matter if it's a paid upgrade or not. Someone at the top is more concerned with yearly feature releases than stability and it shows. Period. End of topic. They need to prioritize stability. Once they do that, there will be fewer death by 1000 papercuts.


Actually I think it's worse; the Apple Silicon is really really ridiculously fast. So fast that tasks that could take 8+ minutes on an Intel i7, were taking under 30 seconds on the M1. The M5 is about 50% faster than that, or 15 seconds.

That also means developers are no longer concerned about optimization. When you're encouraged to move fast and not worry about speed, it encourages devs to do things because they work, not because it's deliberate. All of these non-deliberate choices add up to rot.

Windows Rock solid? Something as simple as Microphones regularly failing to work, connecting to multiple monitors or an office conference room system - problems, problems, problems. Midday updates? Bloatware and ads, the most vulnerable system to hacks, viruses and randsomeware? ASIO drivers are a disaster, still after decades issues with Graphics card drivers working correctly with certain games/configurations. If you do anything more than check email, browse the web - Windows fails in many areas.

 

[maxoakland]

So I’ve read through a lot of this thread. Nowwhere is anyone specific about the software they are complaining about. If it's the OS, even 25 years ago I never bought into the new system until it was on the .6 derivative.

I don’t have any software that doesn’t work. Please be specific. I started with an apple II. I’m currently using a Macbook Pro M4Max 48gb.

People have made hundreds of comments and posts about Apple's software when it isn't working right. This isn't the thread for that. People have generally come to accept the reality that Apple's software quality has declined. If you're interested in finding out why, go back to those many posts. Read blogs by Michael Tsai and others. It's not hard to find that information

This thread isn't about the what, it's about the why. Trying to figure out why things have gotten this bad

 

[KRBM]

How does referring to the version that is presented and released in 2025 as "macOS 26" simplify things?

Wild take. Just because it’s not perfect you’re going to say that it’s no better than “unique case per platform based on god knows what”?

What’s up with this attitude of “if it’s not perfect, it’s no good at all”? I feel like it’s a very American thing to do.

 

[Basic75]

Wild take. Just because it’s not perfect you’re going to say that it’s no better than “unique case per platform based on god knows what”?

Incrementing the major version number for every major version felt natural to me.

What’s up with this attitude of “if it’s not perfect, it’s no good at all”? I feel like it’s a very American thing to do.

I'm not American. Using next year's number for this year's release feels very American.

 

[KRBM]

Incrementing the major version number for every major version felt natural to me.

I'm not American. Using next year's number for this year's release feels very American.

Natural, perhaps, but “simpler”? Can you from the top of your head recall the version numbers of macOS, tvOS, visionOS and watchOS for a given year before 2025?

Maybe it’s just an English-language-internet thing.

 

[chmania]

Windows Rock solid?

Yes, it is!
And, it is getting better all the time.
Bashing Windows in an Apple-centred forum is just pointless.

 

[Basic75]

Natural, perhaps, but “simpler”? Can you from the top of your head recall the version numbers of macOS, tvOS, visionOS and watchOS for a given year before 2025?

I really liked Snow Leopard! For anything not the Mac I don't really care. Perhaps it's more of a problem if you do need to reference old versions more frequently.

 

[RedWeasel]

Natural, perhaps, but “simpler”? Can you from the top of your head recall the version numbers of macOS, tvOS, visionOS and watchOS for a given year before 2025?

Why would we need to? I can recall that iOS 7 came with a huge UI refresh for example. I don't care too much about which year it came out.

 

[whatnot]

That is also the power button. Just use a finger that isn't set up for Touch ID and hold it there till the Mac turns off. Aside from that, touch Id is rather helpful imo

well, I don't use touch ID, and not only is the button useless without it, but you can turn off your machine any way you like, and it will start up by hitting any key, so wtf.

 

[bmark]

Tim Cook's leadership is why Apple's software quality is in the dumpster!

 

[ayephoner]

Incrementing the major version number for every major version felt natural to me.

I'm not American. Using next year's number for this year's release feels very American.

There are a million products out now, all with different version numbers tied to them. I, personally, love the trend of moving to year numbers rather than version numbers. I don't care which version I'm using of any given product, but I do care about how old it is when I purchase or use it. It also unifies software and product numbers. I wish the current iphone was the 26 lineup instead of the 17. AW is a good example. The AWU2 is launched along side the AW11 and the iphone 17. Doesn't that just muddy the water?

As for "next year's number", this is a pretty common practice. It helps marketing, especially during the majority of the year that product exists in the "next year" (macOS 26 came out in mid September, so after just 4 months it might feel dated if it were named '25').

 

[ayephoner]

To extend my point a bit, here are some current apple products:

Apple Watch Ultra 3
Apple Watch Series 11
Apple iphone 17
Apple airpods 4
Apple airpods pro 3

 

[Basic75]

As for "next year's number", this is a pretty common practice. It helps marketing, especially during the majority of the year that product exists in the "next year" (macOS 26 came out in mid September, so after just 4 months it might feel dated if it were named '25').

Counterpoint, we have had "MacBook Air (Late 2020)" and similar for the Mac for a while now...