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I'm not sure if 5 years of stagnation in the Mac lineup is a blip. Perhaps as a percentage of revenue? In terms of customer satisfaction, it was rough. Those ke

I'm not sure if 5 years of stagnation in the Mac lineup is a blip. Perhaps as a percentage of revenue? In terms of customer satisfaction, it was rough. Those keyboards were really bad, and not everyone has the ability to just swap them out with the new fancy computers coming out now, so many will be feeling them for some time to come. Same thing with the Mac Pros. But yes, things are now looking pretty amazing in the hardware department. Unfortunately, the concern is now with the software. macOS has been going downhill for a while, and Big Sur doesn't give me a ton of confidence. Of course, the Mac is some insignificant portion of the Apple's footprint these days, but I have to say their mobile offerings have been kind of a yawn too. Don't get me wrong, perfectly competent, no need to switch or anything, but iPod to iPhone happened in 6 years (!), and I don't think the Apple Watch is anywhere near that level of consistent culture defining technology that kind of defined "the spirit of Apple" from the original iMac to the iPhone (I'd like to say "to the iPad", but unfortunately the product has been kind relegated to a side purchase vs. the Mac-replacement I think it honestly had the opportunity to be -- and I guess could still be, its not like any "window" has been missed, just hasn't really done much in the last 10 years either, in terms of definitive changes in workflow like the iPhone did). As a customer, the subscription stuff is honestly just somewhere between boring and annoying. "Apple One" with its 3 different plans and still tremendously confusing options (if I let my parents have access to the movies I've purchased, they can no longer buy their own movies -- what? why? It's strictly more profitable for Apple to let them ALSO use their credit card instead of locking them out of being able to make their own purchases just because I shared my content). Honestly, I have to strain really hard to remember what "Apple One" includes aside from Apple TV+. Oh right, News or something? The ability to not get annoying iCloud space errors that users remain not fully comprehending? Now, flip that around, and investor-wise, you are spot on! I am LONG $AAPL, just short Apple products (software specifically). Which is unfortunate, because they are still probably the best, just no longer... "good". It used to feel like a premium experience, for a premium price, now just the latter.

jen20 5y ago
This again. > Those keyboards were really bad, and not everyone has the ability to just swap them out with the new fancy computers coming out now, so many will be feeling them for some time to come. The butterfly keyboards are the only laptop keyboards made to date that I can type on for a full day. So speak for yourself: long may I be “stuck” with mine.
- tolmasky 5y ago
  That is great, but they literally break. This isn't about ergonomics, but the fact that the keys literally stop working. I had no issue with the "feel" of the keyboard, I had an issue with my "T" key no longer doing anything, while my "E" key registered twice, sometimes three times, when I tapped it. The exact same keyboard without these issues would have been totally fine in my book (well, I suppose the TouchBar is a different story, but I digress). This is not a vilification of the "design" per se, but a well documented quality problem. Apple has had to extend replacement policies, etc. This was not some shared delusion we all had. They changed them for a reason.
anonymouse008 5y ago
This 100% ^^ Apple can be seen as an excellent MBA course in operations, as probably to be expected. I'm not going to say Steve was a all knowing genius, but it's a pretty dang smart move to put someone in place who will put the company on such firm economical footing while you wait for your next big thing (person) to emerge from the organization.

jen20 5y ago

This again. > Those keyboards were really bad, and not everyone has the ability to just swap them out with the new fancy computers coming out now, so many will be feeling them for some time to come. The butterfly keyboards are the only laptop keyboards made to date that I can type on for a full day. So speak for yourself: long may I be “stuck” with mine.

tolmasky 5y ago
That is great, but they literally break. This isn't about ergonomics, but the fact that the keys literally stop working. I had no issue with the "feel" of the keyboard, I had an issue with my "T" key no longer doing anything, while my "E" key registered twice, sometimes three times, when I tapped it. The exact same keyboard without these issues would have been totally fine in my book (well, I suppose the TouchBar is a different story, but I digress). This is not a vilification of the "design" per se, but a well documented quality problem. Apple has had to extend replacement policies, etc. This was not some shared delusion we all had. They changed them for a reason.

anonymouse008 5y ago

This 100% ^^ Apple can be seen as an excellent MBA course in operations, as probably to be expected. I'm not going to say Steve was a all knowing genius, but it's a pretty dang smart move to put someone in place who will put the company on such firm economical footing while you wait for your next big thing (person) to emerge from the organization.