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I'm almost certain that everyone has this story entirely backwards because people are used to thinking in a linear sequence of this happened, then that happened

I'm almost certain that everyone has this story entirely backwards because people are used to thinking in a linear sequence of this happened, then that happened. Apple famously works backward from that process. Reading the story behind the story, I think what happened is that several years ago, Apple execs were looking at a range of plausible technologies that were becoming feasible and were trying to find some kind of coherence among them through the story they wanted to tell. The story that was really speaking to them, as Gruber identified [1], was that finally the professional and consumer market were about to merge in really interesting ways. I think what happened was at that point in time, they decided that the iPhone 15 Pro was going to be used to film the keynote for the iPhone 15 Pro and that this was the target given to all teams to give them clarity and focus to deliver a coherent end product. Even tiny things like, why did they delay the introduction of USB-C for so long? Start making sense under this framework. If you're not used to this mode of thinking, a lot of the things I'm saying can sound like a stretch but if you adopt the framework, a lot of tiny things they mention suddenly make sense. People are focusing on the specific output which is a single video but the power comes not from the output but from understanding the process that resulted in that output. Apple knows that other companies will always struggle to reproduce their exact process which is the core source of a durable sustaining advantage. [1] https://daringfireball.net/linked/2023/10/31/downplaying-shot-on-iphone https://daringfireball.net/linked/2023/10/31/downplaying-sho...

soulofmischief 3y ago
So under this framework, why did they delay the introduction of USB-C for so long?
- Aloha 3y ago
  Because they promised thr connector wouldn't change again quickly when they introduced lighting.
  - smoldesu 3y ago
    And consequently broke that promise by not using Lightning on Mac?
    - thebitstick 3y ago
      Mac never had a 30-pin adapter, so lightning makes no sense. Mac also had Thunderbolt 2 with the miniDP port, and switched to Thunderbolt 3 with a USB-C port.
- shalmanese 3y ago
  Prior launches had more important priorities to include so it was easy for teams to push this feature back knowing that the only mandatory launch date for it to hit was the iPhone 15 Pro launch. Having the clarity over what's important allows teams to perform rather than endlessly debate over tradeoffs.
  - soulofmischief 3y ago
    I question the complexity of the switch from lightning to USB-C, do you have any resources or knowledge to help clarify that part for me? It still feels like a shaky premise to me because had USB-C not been mandated, they'd never have prioritized it. I think they waited until the last minute simply because they could.
    - shalmanese 3y ago
      The iPhone 15 doesn't have 3.0 USB-C because the silicon was only introduced in the A17. Hardware revs are set in stone many moons before so being able to push USB3 support a generation later allows engineers to focus on other tasks. Again, all speculation but the point is how a defined end point allowed teams to receive clarity over tradeoffs and move quickly. It's very typical of how Apple works (which you can see in Vision 1.0 where certain things were wildly overspecified and other were wildly under for that reason). The exact details may be wrong but the logic of how they got to this place feels right.
- ClassyJacket 3y ago
  Because they make money off every Lightning accessory sold.
YinLuck- 3y ago
[dead]
makeitdouble 3y ago
Another variation of this approach is the Amazon Press release method, where internal product pitches start with what the press release would look like, and they walk through the step backwards to see what is needed to make that happen. PS: A summary of the method https://www.productplan.com/glossary/working-backward-amazon-method/ https://www.productplan.com/glossary/working-backward-amazon...
atleastoptimal 3y ago
It doesn't seem that complicated. It's as simple as "The camera is pretty good now, what if we marketed its quality by shooting our event with it and hyping it up that way?" Likewise USB-C: "We can make more money if we have a special proprietary charger". It's never that complicated really, it's all in execution.
mahalex 3y ago
> they decided that the iPhone 15 Pro was going to be used to film the keynote for the iPhone 15 Pro And they didn’t do that: as far as we know, the keynote for the iPhone 15 Pro was not shot with iPhone 15 Pro.

soulofmischief 3y ago

So under this framework, why did they delay the introduction of USB-C for so long?

Aloha 3y ago
Because they promised thr connector wouldn't change again quickly when they introduced lighting.
- smoldesu 3y ago
  And consequently broke that promise by not using Lightning on Mac?
  - thebitstick 3y ago
    Mac never had a 30-pin adapter, so lightning makes no sense. Mac also had Thunderbolt 2 with the miniDP port, and switched to Thunderbolt 3 with a USB-C port.
shalmanese 3y ago
Prior launches had more important priorities to include so it was easy for teams to push this feature back knowing that the only mandatory launch date for it to hit was the iPhone 15 Pro launch. Having the clarity over what's important allows teams to perform rather than endlessly debate over tradeoffs.
- soulofmischief 3y ago
  I question the complexity of the switch from lightning to USB-C, do you have any resources or knowledge to help clarify that part for me? It still feels like a shaky premise to me because had USB-C not been mandated, they'd never have prioritized it. I think they waited until the last minute simply because they could.
  - shalmanese 3y ago
    The iPhone 15 doesn't have 3.0 USB-C because the silicon was only introduced in the A17. Hardware revs are set in stone many moons before so being able to push USB3 support a generation later allows engineers to focus on other tasks. Again, all speculation but the point is how a defined end point allowed teams to receive clarity over tradeoffs and move quickly. It's very typical of how Apple works (which you can see in Vision 1.0 where certain things were wildly overspecified and other were wildly under for that reason). The exact details may be wrong but the logic of how they got to this place feels right.
ClassyJacket 3y ago
Because they make money off every Lightning accessory sold.

YinLuck- 3y ago

[dead]

makeitdouble 3y ago

Another variation of this approach is the Amazon Press release method, where internal product pitches start with what the press release would look like, and they walk through the step backwards to see what is needed to make that happen. PS: A summary of the method https://www.productplan.com/glossary/working-backward-amazon-method/ https://www.productplan.com/glossary/working-backward-amazon...

atleastoptimal 3y ago

It doesn't seem that complicated. It's as simple as "The camera is pretty good now, what if we marketed its quality by shooting our event with it and hyping it up that way?" Likewise USB-C: "We can make more money if we have a special proprietary charger". It's never that complicated really, it's all in execution.

mahalex 3y ago

> they decided that the iPhone 15 Pro was going to be used to film the keynote for the iPhone 15 Pro And they didn’t do that: as far as we know, the keynote for the iPhone 15 Pro was not shot with iPhone 15 Pro.