What do you want to see from AppleInsider in 2024?

jSnively

Hey everybody 👋

We're coming to the end of 2023, and as such I thought it would be instructive to solicit some input from everybody out there. As forums users you represent some of our most dedicated (and long-time) readers, and we are most interested in hearing what you have to say. It's no secret that things like Google's push into generative AI search results, the wobbly state of social media, and general consolidation and infulencer-ization of the publishing space (the internet as a whole, really) continue to be or will be challenges for an organized independent publication like ours -- that said, everybody here believes at our core that the best way to withstand bumps in the road is to just do the best job serving our audience (and the larger Apple-focused audience as a whole) as we possibly can. At the end of the day, the quality of the end product is what matters most.

Which is where y'all come in.

We're not going to make any commitments here, and there's always a push/pull between business interests and ideal solutions, but if those who care would be kind enough to leave a comment on this thread about what you'd like to see us address in the new year, let us know what we're doing well, let us know what you think what we're not doing well, what you think we should be doing differently, etc. that would be incredibly helpful as we evaluate our roadmaps for the new year, and really help us prioritize efforts. Even if you don't get a direct reply, please know that we will be watching and reading this thread and it will make a difference.

A preemptive and massive thank-you to everybody who contributes to this thread, and from everybody on the team: We are humbled and grateful that you continue to choose and read AppleInsider. We been around for nearly 30 years (*gulp*), and the plan is to continue to be here for at least another 30

Have a happy holiday season everybody!

gatorguy

I think you've performed an admirable balancing act. Navigating issues and technologies that may not be unique to Apple yet have quite an effect on their products and services and the industry at large can't be easy. There's no pleasing everyone all of the time, but you've managed to please most of us most of the time.

I like most of the more in-depth articles you periodically provide concerning both Apple-centric and general industry events, along with developing technologies from competitors and partners, and how they might relate to future Apple products and services. I wouldn't complain about at least monthly articles, more if you have the staff, where you step beyond the news reporting and dig deep into the way/how/where things are heading, or should. Outside of that, I don't believe I have any suggestions.

Kudos for the job you've done this year!

kingofsomewherehot

I want to see the "The Big Redesign Feedback Thread" thread from 2020 removed from its pinned position at the top of the Recent Posts page.

avon b7

I think you all do a great job and the balance of Apple and non-Apple content seems fine (considering the site is of course Apple centric).

I understand that some writers may be a little OTT with the 'pro Apple, anti everything else' stuff but again, the balance seems reasonable. On the other side, there are opinion pieces that criticise certain Apple products/decisions and don't seem to worry about how Apple might take things. That's good to see. 

Personally, I'm no big fan of DED's style but I do remember one particularly good USB-C article that I think he wrote (I might be mistaken) explaining the myriad of things to take into account when using the cables. Frankly excellent, I thought and very helpful. Those kinds of articles are five star content so anything in that line is nice. 

News content is fine. Editorial pieces, fine. Product reviews, fine. Live summaries, fine. 'Time to publication' from when news or products hit. Excellent. Updates to those stories when needed. Excellent, too. Reviews, hands on etc all fine. I have no issues with ad content either. 

I don't normally have time to watch video content so I can't really speak about that.. 

If I do have a 'sensation' of something maybe it's less camera focused comparisons but that might just be a sensation. 

Maybe I'm just easy to please! It's also true I might be slightly less demanding because I appreciate the time and effort it takes from - everyone - just to make things happen, especially when perhaps many times it's just for the love of doing it. 

So, well done and Happy Christmas & New Year! 

jSnively

kingofsomewherehot said:

I want to see the "The Big Redesign Feedback Thread" thread from 2020 removed from its pinned position at the top of the Recent Posts page.

Haha, we pinned it so if people needed to find the feedback thread easily they could, but that's fair. Unpinned. 

muthuk_vanalingam

Kudos to the AI team on the tremendous job in everything that you do. This is the only forum where I do read comments and find them to be useful/relevant/polite to a large extent/informative. It is an extremely difficult balancing act but you guys have pulled it off successfully so far. Keep it up.

mattinoz

 At times there are 3-4 related articles each with their own thread of conversation going but covering and re-covering the same ground over and over.

I'd like to see Articles contain links, at the end say, to recent other articles of the same topic. 
Especially when there is a direct follow-on. Even going as far as making the new story one continuous forum post from the old one sometimes.

It would be interesting to link the last half-dozen claims from various analyses and pundits so it becomes clear when they are shoot-gunning ideas out with little information. 

Mike Wuerthele

mattinoz said:

 At times there are 3-4 related articles each with their own thread of conversation going but covering and re-covering the same ground over and over.

I'd like to see Articles contain links, at the end say, to recent other articles of the same topic. 
Especially when there is a direct follow-on. Even going as far as making the new story one continuous forum post from the old one sometimes.

It would be interesting to link the last half-dozen claims from various analyses and pundits so it becomes clear when they are shoot-gunning ideas out with little information. 

Article body text generally does, but not in a list or anything like that. We’ll talk about it!

tenthousandthings

I like the attempts to maintain perspective and suggest the possibility that Apple might know what they are doing, like the recent iMac article by Peter Cohen. Concise and to the point. But it's also good to see Professor Dilger back and thinking about future products. His lectures are long and rambling, but there's usually a "there" there. I'm rarely disappointed.

I think this coming year will establish what Apple has in mind for the refresh/redesign cadence of Mac silicon, and how it relates to shipping products. I don't think this is well understood, and a lot of assumptions are floating around. Anandtech does a good job of summarizing and explaining the industry press releases and investor Q&A, but they don't try to put it into perspective with regard to Apple's product lines, nor do they really try to characterize the TSMC-Apple alliance, which is, IMHO, the defining story of the past decade of the semiconductor industry, and likely that of the next decade as well.

One approach would be to try to get a better sense of what TSMC is doing overall, in its partnership with Apple, and with its "3DFabric Alliance." Your story of the Arizona investment with Amkor Technology didn't provide that perspective, nor did anyone else's, as far as I am aware (i.e., not very far). Amkor is a member of the 3DFabric Alliance, listed under OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test), which includes "advanced packaging." It probably wasn't a coincidence that Apple let cameras into one of its own testing facilities the same week they announced that investment.

That brings me to another possibly big story for 2024 -- the M3 Ultra. Another thing mentioned in the most recent 3DFabric Alliance press release is a tenfold increase in substrate performance. TSMC has at least two packaging technologies that use substrate, CoWoS (basically chiplets) and InFO_oS (what Apple uses for UltraFusion). I don't know if the breakthrough in substrate programming applies to the latter, but if it does, it could be a big deal.

https://pr.tsmc.com/english/news/3070

https://3dfabric.tsmc.com/english/dedicatedFoundry/technology/InFO.htm

https://www.anandtech.com/show/17626/tsmc-forms-3dfabric-alliance-to-accelerate-development-of-25d-3d-chiplet-products

rundhvid

Easy.

— Daniel Eran-Dilger 🙏

— Chip Loder 🙏

Reading any of the pieces these two guys have written, gives one an immediate feeling of “how am I able to access this for free?”


Also, following Apple’s Mother Nature—featuring “Henry David Thoreau”—a very critical piece by an AI-staff writer (I can’t remember who it was), is appreciated for its honesty: “this is what I mean about the subject, and these are my reasons”.
—I myself disagree vehemently with the fella, but the piece—nonetheless—contributed by challenging my own beliefs, which is how public debate becomes qualified and relevant.  

JuliannaVanderbilt

I’d say just keep doing what you’re doing. If it’s not broken don’t fix it. Apple Insider is full of surprises. I like surprises. Especially when they’re not clickbait - Apple Insider sets a great example here - but based in fact and wonderfully written. Keep surprising me. 

⭐️👁⭐️

Alrescha

More than anything, I'd like to see your headlines stop treating rumors and allegations as fact.  It's infuriating.  And by infuriating I mean it makes me stop reading AI for months at a time, deleting it from my RSS reader and browsing habits.

Wesley Hilliard

Alrescha said:

More than anything, I'd like to see your headlines stop treating rumors and allegations as fact.  It's infuriating.  And by infuriating I mean it makes me stop reading AI for months at a time, deleting it from my RSS reader and browsing habits.

We have a rumor rating system that clearly labels every rumor based on how likely it is given the source. Our headlines always state when something is an announcement from Apple versus a possible future. If it doesn’t directly say “Rumor” or “supply chain” in the headline or lede, it says something like “may” or “might.”

if you have examples of where this isn’t true, that would be helpful. We appreciate the chance to do better if there’s something we can improve.

Alrescha

Wesley Hilliard said:

Alrescha said:

More than anything, I'd like to see your headlines stop treating rumors and allegations as fact.  It's infuriating.  And by infuriating I mean it makes me stop reading AI for months at a time, deleting it from my RSS reader and browsing habits.

We have a rumor rating system that clearly labels every rumor based on how likely it is given the source. Our headlines always state when something is an announcement from Apple versus a possible future. If it doesn’t directly say “Rumor” or “supply chain” in the headline or lede, it says something like “may” or “might.”

if you have examples of where this isn’t true, that would be helpful. We appreciate the chance to do better if there’s something we can improve.

The last time was some months ago, and I'm not aware of a simple list of headlines to review.  I appreciate that we agree on how things should be.  I have restarted my RSS feed and am rubbing my hands together in anticipation :-)

Applejacs

No criticism from me. I really appreciate being exposed to other ways to consider things that the writers and readers, who are much more savvy than I, thoughtfully compose and then post here.
My time and $$ are well spent here. I plan to be here for quite a while, too.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everyone!

jSnively

Alrescha said:

Wesley Hilliard said:

Alrescha said:

More than anything, I'd like to see your headlines stop treating rumors and allegations as fact.  It's infuriating.  And by infuriating I mean it makes me stop reading AI for months at a time, deleting it from my RSS reader and browsing habits.

We have a rumor rating system that clearly labels every rumor based on how likely it is given the source. Our headlines always state when something is an announcement from Apple versus a possible future. If it doesn’t directly say “Rumor” or “supply chain” in the headline or lede, it says something like “may” or “might.”

if you have examples of where this isn’t true, that would be helpful. We appreciate the chance to do better if there’s something we can improve.

The last time was some months ago, and I'm not aware of a simple list of headlines to review.  I appreciate that we agree on how things should be.  I have restarted my RSS feed and am rubbing my hands together in anticipation :-)

On that note, I noticed we haven't been including our rumor scores in our RSS feeds... we do now

tht

2024 looks to be my year to finally replace my iPP10.5 with an iPP13 OLED w/16 GB RAM. 

I would like more articles on iPad Pro Stage Manager, its usage with higher end apps, the limits of background tasking, and accessories for it. I will be buying a sleeve. 

Virtual keyboard user all the way. 

jwdawso

Thanks for risking opening up a thread that can shell you with a lot of criticism. 

1) The DED articles harken back to an AppleInsider with thoughtful articles and a lot less “advertising” articles.  The thoughtful articles get crowded out by the advertising articles.  So update your app to split out the types of articles. I know there are categories in the app, but they are not used properly. 

2) The reviews are mostly fluff. Andrew needs to be unleashed.  Let him do detailed reviews that includes comparisons to competitors, and let the chips fall where they may. No product is perfect for everyone so the negatives don’t need to negatively affect your advertising income. 

3) Stop being a Gurman and Kuo mouthpiece. It’s way annoying. Develop your own sources, and stop with this rumor rating. Either stand behind your reporting or don’t write it.  Gurman and Kuo are playing you the fool. 

4) I like how you implemented the comments into the app!

Mike Wuerthele

jwdawso said:

Thanks for risking opening up a thread that can shell you with a lot of criticism. 

1) The DED articles harken back to an AppleInsider with thoughtful articles and a lot less “advertising” articles.  The thoughtful articles get crowded out by the advertising articles.  So update your app to split out the types of articles. I know there are categories in the app, but they are not used properly. 

2) The reviews are mostly fluff. Andrew needs to be unleashed.  Let him do detailed reviews that includes comparisons to competitors, and let the chips fall where they may. No product is perfect for everyone so the negatives don’t need to negatively affect your advertising income. 

3) Stop being a Gurman and Kuo mouthpiece. It’s way annoying. Develop your own sources, and stop with this rumor rating. Either stand behind your reporting or don’t write it.  Gurman and Kuo are playing you the fool. 

4) I like how you implemented the comments into the app!

We’re glad Dan is back too! 

 I’ve looked through your comment history, and you’re off-base about paid pieces. If a post is sponsored or an ad, we clearly label it as such. If it isn’t labeled, then we didn’t get paid to write it.

Editorial staff is firewalled from the monetization team. 

 You’re also confusing reviews with versus pieces, for the most part. Both are different categories of pieces, and you can tell a review by just that — the word “review” in the title. If it says versus, then it’s generally a spec compare. 

Some folks want reviews, and some want spec comparisons. The two are not the same. 

 And as far as rumors go, nothing is going to change. We stand by the review rating, and because of it, we cover them more critically than most. More to come on this after CES. 

 Thanks for the feedback!

Penzi

jSnively said:

Hey everybody 👋

leave a comment on this thread about what you'd like to see us address in the new year, let us know what we're doing well, let us know what you think what we're not doing well, what you think we should be doing differently, etc.

This is a more general comment that asks what AI wants to be when it grows up… although I haven’t been reading since your foundation (about 20 years), your shift in figuring out what will pay for the site has been interesting. Okay, I lied. This is going to get very specific: I never expected to find solutions to the sorts of things Chip Loder excels at on AI. And while it seems quite far removed from my perception of your remit, I’m all for it. It’s going to be a useful part of my kicking-and-screaming conversion from entertainment seeking user to developer of things I feel are missing in my IT devices… in short: keep up broadening your appeal as far as I’m concerned.

eriamjh

I thoroughly enjoyed the deeply deeply researched topics. I don’t know if those bring bigger popularity or hits than the controversial ones.

 I can say for sure that you should to avoid the political stuff because that just makes people (like me) upset. And I know I shouldn’t get upset even if I agree.  Just bringing it up is not good.  Better to say nothing.   I should take my own advice. 

FUD-busting articles are great because they shut down the haters.  It’s important to put negative sensational headlines in perspective.  Just don’t blindly dismiss everything negative as being FUD there’s a sliver of truth in everything.  

I will always point out the typos or grammar.  It’s not meant to be snide or critical or bash you.  It’s just fun especially if I can make a pun or a joke.  No harm offense is meant.   It’s just ribbing and I love ribs.  I expect you to fix them silently or not.  That’s your choice.  

Thanks for running this site.  I’ve been coming for many years.