Source: Apple to Announce New Products This Week

[gwhizkids]

Acquiring startups means nothing. I have invested in 10 startups in the last 10 years and 9 already died. Developing AI requires a vision, a purpose and putting together a small team of very talented people which can unleash the true potential of this technology with the sufficient resources. I don't know if Apple has that. What I know is that Apple didn't transition Siri to AI natural LLM because of fears that it will start telling stuff that will hurt Apple brand image. Apple wanted Siri only to tell what it is trained to tell and only in the fields/topics it is allowed to speak (e.g. football scores, weather forecast, movies cast, etc etc). This limitation significantly crippled Siri to the point where it actually "dump" compared to what the competition has to offer. So, I don't know what Apple has in its sleeves but I hope it is something big, otherwise, they may loose the train, just like they lost it with Titan project where incompetence and lack of clear vision led to 10 billion loss in development costs and showed Apple inability to compete with Tesla, Rivian, Lucid and other "startups".

You are making quite a few unwarranted assumptions here:

- you don’t know what startups Apple acquired or why (people, software, hardware or all three)
- No offense but I’ll bet Apple’s due diligence process in acquiring those startups is probably more thorough than what you are capable of doing while investing
- Unless you work for Apple at a fairly senior (VP or higher) level, you have zero idea of the talent level they may have in this arena.
- Similarly, unless you are a senior Apple exec, you have no way of knowing why Siri is not yet using a LLM. In fact, you have no way of knowing that Siri is not using an LLM now.
- Personally I’ll take “dump” [sic] Siri over a garbage Gemini that is more interested in its “own” political viewpoint than being correct. Being first to the party doesn’t always mean having the best product. Ask Palm and Motorola and Nokia how being in the smartphone market worked out for them vis á vis the iPhone.
-Finally, you have no idea what went into Apple’s decision to kill Project Titan. I can assure you from having very extensive experience in the auto industry, including in autonomous vehicle deployments, that the entire industry was convinced in 2016 and 2017 that Level 4 and 5 autonomy was just around the corner (perhaps 2-4 years out). They have all been proven wrong. I’ve never thought this was a good fit for Apple, given the complexity of the industry (it’s hard, very hard). I’d say it’s to Apple’s credit that they have elected to stop throwing good money after bad. Let’s check back in 5 years and see who’s still around. I doubt Rivian will be. And Tesla will probably still be chasing the elusive Level 4.

None of this, of course, means Apple will succeed in AI. But it’s too soon to write them off, also.

 

[Chuckeee]

Acquiring startups means nothing. I have invested in 10 startups in the last 10 years and 9 already died. Developing AI requires a vision, a purpose and putting together a small team of very talented people which can unleash the true potential of this technology with the sufficient resources. I don't know if Apple has that. What I know is that Apple didn't transition Siri to AI natural LLM because of fears that it will start telling stuff that will hurt Apple brand image. Apple wanted Siri only to tell what it is trained to tell and only in the fields/topics it is allowed to speak (e.g. football scores, weather forecast, movies cast, etc etc). This limitation significantly crippled Siri to the point where it actually "dump" compared to what the competition has to offer. So, I don't know what Apple has in its sleeves but I hope it is something big, otherwise, they may loose the train, just like they lost it with Titan project where incompetence and lack of clear vision led to 10 billion loss in development costs and showed Apple inability to compete with Tesla, Rivian, Lucid and other "startups".

There’s a difference between a large corporation, acquiring a start up and and someone just investing in a start up. It sounds coldhearted, but when a major corporation invest in a startup, their real intention is either their technology or personnel. Where the technology isn’t necessarily a widget, but much more often is the IP associated with a widget that is intended for use someplace. And for many many startups, that is their goal; they want to be taken over and bought out. There really isn’t a question of the startup going bankrupt because the real goal is to absorb it. And don’t feel too sorry for the startups since many startups, their sole intention is to eventually get bought out by an Apple or Google.

This is significantly different as compared to our typical start up investor who thinks he’s going to spin the wheel of fortune and get rich by discovery, the next Tesla, Amazon, or Texas Instruments, or whatever. Much more high risk, but high reward game.

 

[whadzinaname]

Where is the iPad refresh? LOL

 

[nikaru]

You are making quite a few unwarranted assumptions here:

- you don’t know what startups Apple acquired or why (people, software, hardware or all three)
- No offense but I’ll bet Apple’s due diligence process in acquiring those startups is probably more thorough than what you are capable of doing while investing
- Unless you work for Apple at a fairly senior (VP or higher) level, you have zero idea of the talent level they may have in this arena.
- Similarly, unless you are a senior Apple exec, you have no way of knowing why Siri is not yet using a LLM. In fact, you have no way of knowing that Siri is not using an LLM now.
- Personally I’ll take “dump” [sic] Siri over a garbage Gemini that is more interested in its “own” political viewpoint than being correct. Being first to the party doesn’t always mean having the best product. Ask Palm and Motorola and Nokia how being in the smartphone market worked out for them vis á vis the iPhone.
-Finally, you have no idea what went into Apple’s decision to kill Project Titan. I can assure you from having very extensive experience in the auto industry, including in autonomous vehicle deployments, that the entire industry was convinced in 2016 and 2017 that Level 4 and 5 autonomy was just around the corner (perhaps 2-4 years out). They have all been proven wrong. I’ve never thought this was a good fit for Apple, given the complexity of the industry (it’s hard, very hard). I’d say it’s to Apple’s credit that they have elected to stop throwing good money after bad. Let’s check back in 5 years and see who’s still around. I doubt Rivian will be. And Tesla will probably still be chasing the elusive Level 4.

None of this, of course, means Apple will succeed in AI. But it’s too soon to write them off, also.

I didn't write off Apple, quite the opposite.
Your arguments are quite poor, basically implying that if I'm not senior VP or expert in certain field, I cannot share my view, which is only based on empirical information and common sense. I don't know what AI talent Apple has in house, but such talent still hasn't showed anything groundbreaking or something even at the level of the competition. This is a FACT. I don't know why Project Titan went to hell, but I know it did, and this is another FACT. While all other major tech companies are releasing AI products and solutions, Apple is not giving any sign of having anything remotely at the same level. This is also a FACT. Could Apple have anything big in its sleeve, hiding from the public eyes? I don't know. But I have been following closely Apple for decades now, and I know that they cannot make miracles and its foolish the assume that they have the smartest and most capable people. If they were, they would have acquired Tesla in 2014-15 rather than paying 3 billion to acquire Beats. Just saying.

 

[FineWoven]

I could be wrong, but I think Microsoft is the most valuable company right now.

BTW, I agree with you that non sense to think Apple is dying.

You could be right about that. I know they've traded places at the top of the list off and on for several years now. In any case, it's not like either company is hurting 😅

 

[FineWoven]

You mean 2nd?

For now, technically, yes. They'll be back on top again soon. Then Microsoft again, then Apple, so on and so on. Neither one is exactly hurting if they're hovering around the ~$3 trillion mark...

 

[sunny5]

For now, technically, yes. They'll be back on top again soon. Then Microsoft again, then Apple, so on and so on. Neither one is exactly hurting if they're hovering around the ~$3 trillion mark...

Dont forget that Nvidia is closing soon and both MS and Nvidia will only grow much higher thanks to AI.

 

[FineWoven]

Dont forget that Nvidia is closing soon and both MS and Nvidia will only grow much higher thanks to AI.

Ok that's a fair point, I forget about Nvidia's major rise in domination in recent years. And yeah if they join forces with Microsoft then that could be huge in the personal computing space as well as AI. Still though, their reach would be narrow enough that I don't see it being too big a threat to Apple except maybe when it comes to AI, but that remains to be seen. Who knows, despite their initial delay Apple might come charging out of the gate when they announce their new AI stuff later this year.

 

[gwhizkids]

I didn't write off Apple, quite the opposite.
Your arguments are quite poor, basically implying that if I'm not senior VP or expert in certain field, I cannot share my view, which is only based on empirical information and common sense. I don't know what AI talent Apple has in house, but such talent still hasn't showed anything groundbreaking or something even at the level of the competition. This is a FACT. I don't know why Project Titan went to hell, but I know it did, and this is another FACT. While all other major tech companies are releasing AI products and solutions, Apple is not giving any sign of having anything remotely at the same level. This is also a FACT. Could Apple have anything big in its sleeve, hiding from the public eyes? I don't know. But I have been following closely Apple for decades now, and I know that they cannot make miracles and its foolish the assume that they have the smartest and most capable people. If they were, they would have acquired Tesla in 2014-15 rather than paying 3 billion to acquire Beats. Just saying.

Who said you couldn’t share your views?

Certainly not I.

All I said is that unless you were a senior Apple executive you have no clue about the things you were asserting. But if you want to continue sharing such “information “, knock yourself out.

 

[OUsooner08]

“They also tend to work out the kinks before releasing products” - always the same argument yet you look at VisionPro and that’s definitely not true. visionOS is full of bugs and gen 1 hardware are just full of compromises. It’s very clear Apple chose to rush it to market to just so it can meet the deadline. Please don’t use that Apple only releases when it’s ready. VisionPro and first AppleWatch were definitely not.

Great you don’t like foldable phone but at least you have a Choice. You can choose to unfold the phone or not. Maybe some people will find it useful. Be honest the only reason Apple doesn’t want to release fold iPhone is not to cannibalize iPad sale.

And iPad has been stagnant for how many years??? It’s the same thing year after year, even Apple’s best selling cheap iPad is already 3 years old. And this is not just me saying that. My kids practically grew up with iPhones and iPad just upgraded from 4 year old iPhone 11 to 15, and their reactions were ‘that’s it?’ Nothing new.

Apple is just boring now. TC doesn’t care as long as there’s enough people blindly buy and upgrade every year.

Where did I say I don't like foldable? I own one, it's niche. You have a choice, if you want a foldable go by one.

How is it stale? What do you want, a triagle tablet? It's a tool meant to do specific functions. I find these arguments that "it's boring" to be really shallow and weak. Seriously, a phone or tablet do phone or tablet things. It's not a piece of art, you're not admiring it, you buy them to perform tasks.

Does your iPhone or iPad do what you want? Make calls, send emails and texts, consume media, etc...yes. Do most people slap a phone on their phone....yes. Then why does a device need to change, if it works it works.

Also look at the competition, Pixel, Samsung all their phones and tablets look more or less the same over the past several years so the argument is kind of moot at this point.