I’ve held the opinion as an Apple
Fan for the better half of the last decade that Apple is lost. When looking at their product decisions and what they’ve decided to ship, it shows.
- iPad is a confusing array of what that device is for. Is it for professional creators? Or consumers? Is it a PC? Or is it a mobile device? For the first time since its inception, it got a window manager at WWDC25. And yet, no support for any other apps outside of the App Store (EU excepted). Not a single creative professional uses it in the workplace. Not a single engineer uses it for development. And yet, a 11 iPad Pro with the trackpad+keyboard is more expensive and less capable than an M1 Macbook
- iPhone: They are absolutely scared to change anything on here because the current culture at Apple is one of "do not change what brings us the most profits". Year over year small improvements, and rising phone costs. OS 26 brought about... a confusing design change. And while some analysts are fooled into thinking that this is preparation for their VR glasses, and even if that was remotely true (it's not) the analysts forgot that half transparent displays still obscure your vision. So that's not it.
- Developer experience. There was recently a post on Hacker News about how the developer exhausted every avenue and was left with OS level behavior that only Apple could change or fix. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43901619 The comments ripped Apple apart. And you know what the response was? Apple finally helped them. But look at the second blog post where the developer posted it's resolved now. Not a single detail. They signed NDAs, and the post was essentially "we can't give any details because secrecy, but Apple helped us. They're great!". I can guarantee you 100% Apple forced their hand, and in fact Phil Schiller has said publicly that they are not willing to help you if you "cry to the press".
Xcode reviews on the Mac App Store are scathing. Swift? Chris Lattner left months after Apple released Swift. And at the time it seemed like he just wanted to focus on something else. The details of why he left at the time was very hidden and hush hush. And guess what? It's come out in the Swift forums. https://forums.swift.org/t/core-team-to-form-language-workgr...
Horrible.
Performative nonsense. Their events are full of carefully chosen words and phrases that showcase a dead culture. One where you can't have any creativity beyond the new presenters and their fashion. Awkward corporate events that aren't fun anymore to watch as they release mundane features like "shake your mouse to make the cursor bigger!".
AI? They spent 2 years removing the "hey" from "hey Siri". Everytime you turn off Apple Intelligence, a software update will force it back on. It still can't handle simple queries. And the UX even more confusing. There's a lot to lambaste in this department, but all of it has been said already. WWDC25 didn't address any of it. The interview with Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak was even more awkward and telling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCEkK1YzqBo
I want Apple to be good. I want them to make great products again. I want them to innovate. But I guess I'm the fool for wanting a corporate entity to be good and cool.