Tesla Design Chief on Apple Products: 'There's Nothing to Look Forward To'

[nwcs]

All consumer electronics goods follow the same model: iterate, iterate, iterate. Revolutionary market changing ideas/products are rare no matter how the press (or people) want to slap the label on something that is really just an evolutionary change.

I agree with him on the watch. Aside from the fitness bits there isn't much point to it for me. If I hadn't gotten the one I have for free, basically, I'd probably not wear it now.

 

[PC_tech]

Those are just his opinions but here are some hard cold facts.

1. Tesla makes good EVs but average cars.
2. They (Tesla the Company) are over hyped and over valued and will find it really hard to compete once tax benefits for EVs dry up.
3. Elon Musk is a giant turd. Tim Cook is just a shrewd boring business exec in comparison.

These are just your opinions, not facts ????

 

[PC_tech]

Sigh……

He’s just doing this because Apple Car is likely going to destroy Tesla’s market share once it comes out. He knows whenever Apple comes out with the product, the refinements they make is what makes the product stand out.

And Tesla knows once Apple comes out with a car, it’ll be a car “perfected” and that will be the one other automakers will copy, not Tesla. And Tesla, they’ll be forgotten about.

Dream on Tesla and Elon Musk. Your distraction tactic won’t work on most Apple evangelist like me. As soon as Apple releases the car, many of us will likely dump their Tesla for Apple’s.

Sigh, there is no Apple car and isn’t going to be one ?

 

[diamond.g]

The “performance” models (although way faster) also nerfed the standard models with OTA update.

Did they?

 

[PC_tech]

Apple isn't finished yet... what a closed-minded moron, made blind to the future by his own fanboyism.

Ironic, there’s a lot of that on here daily…..

 

[wood1208]

Some people I know still using very old iPhone 6S and Macbook and etc and still works well. Have you asked Tesla customers about the reliability of Tesla cars. Pathetic. Not even half the reliability of Toyota ICE,Hybrid vehicles besides Tesla cars have far less complex parts as counter part ICE/Hybrid.
I hope someone, may be Apple come out wit EV that is better than Tesla cars to show first comer advantage don't last too long..

 

[Hessian]

hello, macrumors users. no need to get offended. they attacked apple, not you.

True, but most can’t help commenting on a statement that will age like milk. ?

 

[ilikewhey]

I don't get a new AW every year either... who ever told you that it was a requirement?..

Never said it was a requirement, who told you that? I do get a new iPhone every year, I would probably do the same for AW if they are useful ?

 

[ilikewhey]

so compare a iPhone 5 to the iPhone 13 and tell me that the model S has changed more. Tesla updates their products in the same way

maybe apple just needs to announce their products 3 years before they are capable of making them.

Are you seriously comparing making phones to making cars? Not even legacy auto like merc or bmw has that quick of turnaround time between announcements and delivery, take the merc eqs for example, it’s been ages since announcement yet you hardly see anyone taking delivery.

 

[wood1208]

Tesla does not even update their cars annually. In its entire run, the Model S has had only 1 iterative revision. I can barely tell the Model 3 and the Model Y apart. Only two new things they have done are Model X (which has not significantly changed since release) and the (gag) cybertruck which they have not delivered.

Of all people to complain that Apple is not doing anything new in design it should not be coming from this guy. Even copycat Samsung has done more drastic innovative designs with their foldable phones.

UPDATE: I figured out what he must have meant by “There’s Nothing to Look Forward To”. He thinks Apple should announce more products and services that they are not going to deliver for years or ever. That way you can look forward to them.

Tesla has set the example here:
- Tesla Semi
- Tesla Roadster
- Tesla Cybertruck

And the best one of all… the one you can pay for in advance while looking forward to it and hoping it will one day work:
- Tesla Full Self Driving

And in Sept 2020; Elon Musk Promises to Make a $25,000 Tesla (in 3 Years).

 

[WWPD]

Poor guy, forced to wear an Apple watch.

 

[diamond.g]

And in Sept 2020; Elon Musk Promises to Make a $25,000 Tesla (in 3 Years).

They walked that back last month.

 

[Denzo]

He's not wrong. As an apple groupie for years and iPhone 13 PM owner, the Samsung flip 3 has been the most exciting bit of tech I've used in years.

 

[nt5672]

Truth hurts.

 

[huge_apple_fangirl]

Are you seriously comparing making phones to making cars?

Tesla and their fans love to call their cars “computers on wheels”, so why not?

 

[Chicagoblah]

The guy that designed the Cybertruck is saying all this? That pretty much explains it.

Its funny, that and the Roadster are prob the only interesting designs to come from them. All the other Teslas I see on the road look vanilla/boring.

 

[diamond.g]

Its funny, that and the Roadster are prob the only interesting designs to come from them. All the other Teslas I see on the road look vanilla/boring.

Wasn't that the point?

If all other specs were the same would you rather have a BMW i3 (or Nissan Leaf) or a Tesla Model S?

 

[SamuelFleming]

Looking at that insane Mazda concept car, I am just glad he left the company. They are making some truly beautiful cars over there and he clearly wasn't the start of that.

 

[svish]

Apple makes really good products. Some designs are iterative. But the products are excellent.

 

[Kid Red]

Yes, I agree he's not one to talk when you look at the Model Y and CyberTruck. However, I can't deny that his words ring true.

First it was Steve passing and Tim deciding to stop the every 2 year refresh and then it was Jony leaving. They're no more ooh and ahh with product unveiling, it's all pretty straight forward. The current iPhones are a rehash for a few gens ago.

Hopefully, this triggers a spark at Apple and they begin to care about design again. Like addressing the protruding camera that makes the iPhone wobble on tables and then there's the notch...

 

[webkit]

Ummmm. First Tesla model S from 2012 looks the exact same in 2022. Case closed….

Very similar but not exactly the same. There was a new front fascia in 2016 and they did some styling tweaks last year.

 

[macgabe]

OT Nearly a decade has passed since bendgate!

 

[webkit]

You do realize that Tesla doesn't receive any EV credits in the US?

Teslas still qualify for tax credit/rebates in various states. In California, for example, you can get rebates up to $4,500 plus an additional $750 "Clean Fuel Reward". There are also other potential incentives from local utilities.

 

[quagmire]

Hilarious the paranoia and the attacks on Tesla just because one employee at Tesla makes a throw away comment about Apple during a wide ranging interview.
For most companies, which includes both Apple and Tesla, most new products are a refinement of the previous model. Revolutionary changes, such as click-wheel to touch-screen ipod, are rare and can’t happen on an annual basis. Indeed you’d have to ask serious questions about any company radically changing their products every single year.
He’s a designer, so he’s just looking at the external design, to him it makes no difference that Apple has made a huge revolutionary change in chipsets. Just like most of us when looking at a car wouldn’t get excited by changes to the chemical composition of the battery inside.

Keep calm and carry on.

Nope I need to go on full on attack mode because I put my identity and ego behind a company. So if anyone makes a statement about said company that I can perceive as any kind of attack, I will take that as an attack against myself! I will lash out with quips based on headlines I saw on twitter without knowing the full details of said article!

Without said company, my life is worthless!

 

[PhaserFuzz]

The issue with Apple nowadays is that literally everything is leaked ahead of time. There's no excitement anymore with announcements mostly because of this fact. If they do the AR/VR headset right, that could be the next big thing they innovate on.