Apple is giving fans a tough time

By now, we've grown used to Apple's September events, where superlatives and beautiful presentations sugarcoat mostly incremental innovations. This year, the temperature in the room has changed though. Sure, Apple announcements have always been catnip for its haters. But this time round, even loyal fans are finding it harder and harder to defend the once beloved brand.

😶 What I'm not talking about

• The Apple Vision Pro: it's clear by now that 'spatial computing' is not the game changer Apple wanted it to be. I'm curious where the company takes this next. They took a big swing ... and missed. But they came out swinging, and the initial premise seemed exciting.
• The iPad commercial: a lot of creatives use Apple products, so putting instruments and other beautiful objects in a hydraulic press surely touched a nerve. They didn't read the room – especially given the anxiety about AI and the creative industry. But that can happen.
• Being an absolute money printing machine: Apple has got a number of absolute hits in their line-up, which earn them plenty of margin, often with nice service revenue on top. Especially under Tim Cook, Apple is an immensely well-run company. Through it all, it still sticks to a clear vision for how technology should serve us, and maintains a laser focus on industrial and interface design.
• The quality: sure, even Apple drops the ball every once in a while, but most of their products are still the best in the market.

🤬 What I am talking about

• The App Store:
  • To Apple's credit, they single-handedly created the platform that revitalized software sales, and spawned multiple multi billion industries on top of it.
  • So getting some amount of the revenue generated through the App Store is deserved. But it's hard not to call their practices for what they are: pure rent seeking. For a recent example: here's Apple taking a bigger cut from creators on Patreon than Patreon itself.
  • As a result of shenanigans like this, you will have a hard time finding developers that are happy with their relationship to Apple. But they stick it out, at the whim of the Cupertino king.
  • And you just know Apple knows it has a clear monopoly, because of how they behave when opponents of practices actually try and do something about it.
• The Digital Markets Act:
  • Even before the EU law, Apple's compliance with any court order or law that tries to put a stop to their anti-competitive or anti-consumer rules is nothing short of laughing in the face of said regulators, and its partners as well. Here's just one example, when Apple was forced to allow outside payment methods:
    • Publishers still had to pay Apple 27% commission, which - combined with a 3% payment processing fee - effectively amounts to the same 30% App Store tax.
    • And even then, only text links are allowed. So not actual UI buttons, or God forbid: a price comparison table.
  • Most notably of course, Apple is acting like a big baby in their malicious compliance with the European DMA.
    • Sure, publishers can now directly distribute their apps. But have you met the Core Technology Fee? Or they can even launch competing app marketplaces, although that requires jumping through more hoops than a '50 circus lion.
    • And if you had hoped all the DMA-required measures (see below) would loosen restrictions outside of Europe as well ... think again.
    • This is also causing a schism among even the most loyal Appleites. For example: here's the legendary John Gruber arguing with the amiable Federico Viticci of MacStories.
    • I'm not a markets experts, and even the EU itself acknowledges European bureaucrats are making it difficult for their homegrown tech companies. But at least they are trying to rein in Big Tech.
    • And let's just admit it: the DMA has already resulted in cool stuff like game emulators, competing browser engines, default app preferences, etc.
    • But even then, Apple can't help itself from being a sore loser: as some sort of preventive strike, it's withholding their new AI features with European customers. (Emphasis on the word 'customers'.)
• Apple Intelligence
  • Which brings me to my final gripe: Apple Intelligence.
  • I'm not talking about the vision (or even the name) ... because I actually like it. It looks like a smart take on integrating AI into the OS. I even think Apple Intelligence being the gateway (or gatekeeper) to other AI assistants (like OpenAI's or Google's) is clever.
  • But here's what I find baffling: it won't just be Europeans that will have to wait for Apple Intelligence ... it will be anyone who buys this year's new iPhones. Granted: the wait will only be a month or so, when iOS 18.1 finally ships. And even then: many Apple Intelligence features won't be available till late 2025.
  • So there's the rub: Apple is shipping the new version of its flagship product ... without its most-hyped new feature.

👎🏻 This is Apple in 2024

Here we have it. For years, both things were true: yes, Apple was the world's most valuable company, yet it brought tremendous value to its many fans.

Increasingly, it's hard not to call out many of their moves for what they are: the behavior of a monopolist, and a bully. The company used to be there 'for the crazy ones'. Now, it seems it's mostly there for its shareholders.