4 ms·

Cook has an engineering degree and Apple did some pretty good engineering before COVID including the A series of microprocessors, Air Pods, Apple Watch, and mos

Cook has an engineering degree and Apple did some pretty good engineering before COVID including the A series of microprocessors, Air Pods, Apple Watch, and most of the M1 development. I understand that people like work from home, but implying engineering can’t be done in an office building is overselling the issue by quite a bit.

InitialLastName 5y ago
There's a bit of a disconnect here in that many on this forum are software engineers, probably mostly working on systems that need no hands-on interaction (or on apps that can be tested easily locally). The products you listed are hardware products (with integrated software) which are much more difficult to work on remotely, especially in a company that prioritizes secrecy as much as Apple does.
- KerrAvon 5y ago
  Apple software engineers who work with prototypes did this for two whole product development cycles. Access to prototypes _can_ still be managed remotely, it turns out.
  - InitialLastName 5y ago
    It's possible to do (I'm doing it), but it's definitely more complicated than in-person, especially when operating across a team. From a hardware engineering perspective, access to equipment is also important; I have a decent lab setup at home, but I've still needed to go into the office regularly to access some testing tools.
- nottorp 5y ago
  > which are much more difficult to work on remotely, <Looks at his desk in his home office. It's full of prototype boards he's doing software for.> Difficult? > especially in a company that prioritizes secrecy as much as Apple does. But that's Apple's problem, not the employees' problem.
bmitc 5y ago
It is my understanding that the team behind the hardware and chip developments refused to work at Apple Park and demanded that a more suitable work area was built for them. https://www.macrumors.com/2017/08/09/apple-park-employees-open-office/ https://www.macrumors.com/2017/08/09/apple-park-employees-op... I think even office areas are not equatable and greatly depends on the team.

InitialLastName 5y ago

There's a bit of a disconnect here in that many on this forum are software engineers, probably mostly working on systems that need no hands-on interaction (or on apps that can be tested easily locally). The products you listed are hardware products (with integrated software) which are much more difficult to work on remotely, especially in a company that prioritizes secrecy as much as Apple does.

KerrAvon 5y ago
Apple software engineers who work with prototypes did this for two whole product development cycles. Access to prototypes _can_ still be managed remotely, it turns out.
- InitialLastName 5y ago
  It's possible to do (I'm doing it), but it's definitely more complicated than in-person, especially when operating across a team. From a hardware engineering perspective, access to equipment is also important; I have a decent lab setup at home, but I've still needed to go into the office regularly to access some testing tools.
nottorp 5y ago
> which are much more difficult to work on remotely, <Looks at his desk in his home office. It's full of prototype boards he's doing software for.> Difficult? > especially in a company that prioritizes secrecy as much as Apple does. But that's Apple's problem, not the employees' problem.

bmitc 5y ago

It is my understanding that the team behind the hardware and chip developments refused to work at Apple Park and demanded that a more suitable work area was built for them. https://www.macrumors.com/2017/08/09/apple-park-employees-open-office/ https://www.macrumors.com/2017/08/09/apple-park-employees-op... I think even office areas are not equatable and greatly depends on the team.