Cook promises shareholders Apple is 'planting seeds' and 'rolling the dice' on future prod...

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Comments

  • Reply 61 of 92
    bwikbwik Posts: 565member
    entropys said:
    Cook's leadership in new innovative products is questionable. His relationship with Jobs worked because Jobs was the visionary and Cook did the logistics.
    I have little faith in his leadership of a corporate vision, especially after the hype he built behind the "Hello Again" keynote only to introduce a silly Touch Bar keyboard.

    Expectations are low...
    The trouble with innovations is they don’t always work. The Cube and the Touch Bar are examples of that.  Innovation requires risk.
    There is no question Apple has done well under Cook’s leadership. Its margins are healthy and the supply chain no doubt is impressive.  But I suspect you are right that he isn’t the vision man that Jobs was. 
    Innovations frequently don't "Work."  Somebody has to make it work.  They have fight like hell, stay up all night and iterate like a god until it does work.  

    Tesla.  Also, Edison.  The Apple today is totally different and not like the golden era at all.  The Apple today is struggling to retain its existing footprint.  And doing a damn good job too.  But eventually they will fail to maintain dominance and they will recede, precisely _because_ of innovation and the fact Apple isn't doing it.

    I commend Tim for doing what innovation he has.  Apple Watch and medical and privacy.  But I believe Tim lacks the skills to bring his own innovations into full monetization and market buzz.  The market is not crazed for Tim's medical ideas and privacy ideas, because Tim has failed to fully articulate their value.  Steve would have people stampeding for those things.  And he would be slave driving and firing staff until ideal such products are delivered.
    edited March 2019
  • Reply 62 of 92
    harrykatsarosharrykatsaros Posts: 75unconfirmed, member
    Cook's leadership in new innovative products is questionable. His relationship with Jobs worked because Jobs was the visionary and Cook did the logistics.
    I have little faith in his leadership of a corporate vision, especially after the hype he built behind the "Hello Again" keynote only to introduce a silly Touch Bar keyboard.

    Expectations are low...
    Do you likewise complain about Samsung, Amazon, and basically every single CEO? Jobs was unique in that he was a product manager, probably more so than an actual CEO, as he didnt do much the typical CEO job description and left that to Cook and others. CEOs are rarely "product visionaries". There's absolutely nothing troubling, concerning, yada yada about Cook being a normal CEO. He happens to be one of the greatest ones in modern history.
    Completely agree. If anything it should be Phil Schiller feeling the pressure. 
  • Reply 63 of 92
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    j1334 said:
    I’d be blown away by an iMac Pro without a screen. Getting ready to “roll the dice” on a PC workstation :(
    So you mean a Mac Pro? Coming soon....
  • Reply 64 of 92
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    While I do have confidence in Apple and its future, what worries me most about them is Cook's unfailing, unflinching complete optimism in their future.   Steve (and other wise leaders) knew that their organization was only as good as their next product and that they were not immune to failure.  Rather, their humility, honesty and knowledge that they were fallible kept them focused on both excellence and success.

    No Tim, I would prefer hope to optimism. 
    With the cash, and cash flow, at Apple’s disposal, the supply chain now well-balanced after a decade of rapid expansion, and a stable design and engineering team laying down one after another generation of CPU, GPU, and other in-house silicon, the company is firmly in control of its destiny.  

    There’s an easy to conceive roadmap that cuts through several industries ripe for disruption or currently in the early stages of being disrupted, and I can think of no company better positioned to take advantage.  

    Look what Apple’s Smartwatch did to the mechanical watch industry.  If you can’t see the writing on that wall, wait ten years; it’ll be a nostalgic historical bookmark in the making by then.  Samsung Gear didn’t do that, nor did Fitbit.  It was Apple’s entry that set the wheels of fate in motion.  

    See iPod, see iPhone, see also iPad, the list goes on.  Apple has put to shame, and put to sleep, competitors and legacy technologies that none of its competition dared to discard.  Floppy diskettes, CD-ROMS, keypads on phones, the recently lamented headphone jack.  Apple doesn’t need to hope.  Tim Cook and the entire team of Apple employees have every reason to be confident in the company’s future prospects.  
    I think you missed  point:   I wasn't predicting Apple's doom.   I agree that they have a lot going for them (which you described very well) that will help insure their continued success.

    But, Tim's ongoing hyper-optimism may point to over-confidence -- and that can take down the biggest, best and strongest.  It worries me. 

    Steve was far more humble.   He was far more likely to understand that Apple's success was never going to be guaranteed. 
    designrcgWerks
  • Reply 65 of 92
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    While I do have confidence in Apple and its future, what worries me most about them is Cook's unfailing, unflinching complete optimism in their future.   Steve (and other wise leaders) knew that their organization was only as good as their next product and that they were not immune to failure.  Rather, their humility, honesty and knowledge that they were fallible kept them focused on both excellence and success.

    No Tim, I would prefer hope to optimism. 


    Jobs had more humility than Cook? Okaaay....
    If you only watched his product presentations or listened to what was said about him, you would likely miss the fact that he was very aware of his and Apple's fallibility.   That's humility.
    cgWerks
  • Reply 66 of 92
    1st1st Posts: 443member
    mind blowing stuff? can't wait - it has been too long since major invention occur - semiconductor, steam engin, telecommunication, etc.  Need something really game change to blow my mind - it got muted by all the "time share", "kitchen share", tweets, snaps... hopefully, tim got some heavy guns to blow mind ;-) autonomous or AI? come on, Apple, you can do better. 
  • Reply 67 of 92
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Let’s just get those Mac Pros, MacBook Pros and iMacs taken care of first. The “mind blowing” is speculative stuff like those idiotic folding phones, with no proven market.
    Spam;    I’m very much in this camp.   If Apple can’t get decent Macs out the door, at reasonable prices, I really doubt that they can release anything new and of value.   Reasonable prices here means competitive if or some what higher than the competition.  3X the cost is not reasonable.  
  • Reply 68 of 92
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    entropys said:
    Cook's leadership in new innovative products is questionable. His relationship with Jobs worked because Jobs was the visionary and Cook did the logistics.
    I have little faith in his leadership of a corporate vision, especially after the hype he built behind the "Hello Again" keynote only to introduce a silly Touch Bar keyboard.

    Expectations are low...
    The trouble with innovations is they don’t always work. The Cube and the Touch Bar are examples of that.  Innovation requires risk.
    There is no question Apple has done well under Cook’s leadership. Its margins are healthy and the supply chain no doubt is impressive.  But I suspect you are right that he isn’t the vision man that Jobs was. Iterations keeping product up to date aren’t happening I suspect because it complicates the supply chain and raises costs. We don’t know what ideas haven’t happened because margin protection was uncertain.

    Who could be? Forstall had elements of the perfectionist that Jobs was, and maybe a bit of the vision too, so from the rest of the executive’s perspective he was a goner once Jobs had passed away.
    I have to disagree with much that you imply here.   For one the Mac lineup is in terrible shape.   Far too expensive for what you get.  Many Mac models simply don’t hit the mark from a technical users standpoint.  Frankly the only person to blame here is Cook.  

    The onky well engineered model model to be released recently (the last two years) has ironically been the recently released Mini.  The rest of the lineup has taken the wrong approach for a transitional period.   The transition here is the move in the I dusty to USB-C.   There is nothing wrong with USB-C, in fact it is very godtech, however when it is the only port on new hardware it just demonstrates Apples lack of understanding when it comes to legacy support.   To put it another way, Apple really needs to support people with legacy hardware needs for at least 5 years becouse USB has become so wide spread in the industry that it will take a very long time before the port isn’t needed at all.

    As for legacy hardware out side of side of the USB connection  Apple hasnt been too smart here either. Again you can’t expect the world to go digital via USH-C overnight at the snap of the fingers. 
    avon b7anantksundaram
  • Reply 69 of 92
    CheeseFreezeCheeseFreeze Posts: 1,247member
    Investors care about their dividends - not about innovation. That is how Microsoft operates with its coninuous less than controlled changes to interfaces and products in order to impress market with "change" and generate revenue. Did it pay off? They would care about innovation if there was no dividends but share value grrowth only and that is how Jobs understood this.
    That’s nonsense. Innovation is not a goal, innovation is a very important instrument to reach a goal, which includes more revenue, larger market share, more profit.
    Shareholders care about that; in order to make money as one you need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of a company and have a high level understanding on the strategy that the company aims to execute.
    anantksundaram
  • Reply 70 of 92
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,324member
    This definitely must mean the SD card slot, a USB-A port, MagSafe, and a good keyboard are finally coming back to MacBooks called "Pro."  Such insanely great decisions would indeed blow away The Rest of Us.
  • Reply 71 of 92
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    wizard69 said:
    entropys said:
    Cook's leadership in new innovative products is questionable. His relationship with Jobs worked because Jobs was the visionary and Cook did the logistics.
    I have little faith in his leadership of a corporate vision, especially after the hype he built behind the "Hello Again" keynote only to introduce a silly Touch Bar keyboard.

    Expectations are low...
    The trouble with innovations is they don’t always work. The Cube and the Touch Bar are examples of that.  Innovation requires risk.
    There is no question Apple has done well under Cook’s leadership. Its margins are healthy and the supply chain no doubt is impressive.  But I suspect you are right that he isn’t the vision man that Jobs was. Iterations keeping product up to date aren’t happening I suspect because it complicates the supply chain and raises costs. We don’t know what ideas haven’t happened because margin protection was uncertain.

    Who could be? Forstall had elements of the perfectionist that Jobs was, and maybe a bit of the vision too, so from the rest of the executive’s perspective he was a goner once Jobs had passed away.
    I have to disagree with much that you imply here.   For one the Mac lineup is in terrible shape.   Far too expensive for what you get.  Many Mac models simply don’t hit the mark from a technical users standpoint.  Frankly the only person to blame here is Cook.  

    The onky well engineered model model to be released recently (the last two years) has ironically been the recently released Mini.  The rest of the lineup has taken the wrong approach for a transitional period.   The transition here is the move in the I dusty to USB-C.   There is nothing wrong with USB-C, in fact it is very godtech, however when it is the only port on new hardware it just demonstrates Apples lack of understanding when it comes to legacy support.   To put it another way, Apple really needs to support people with legacy hardware needs for at least 5 years becouse USB has become so wide spread in the industry that it will take a very long time before the port isn’t needed at all.

    As for legacy hardware out side of side of the USB connection  Apple hasnt been too smart here either. Again you can’t expect the world to go digital via USH-C overnight at the snap of the fingers. 
    That's true -- if you believe that an Apple product is just a chunk of hardware -- similar to an HP or Dell.
    But it's also false -- because Apple products are far more than a chunk of hardware -- it's the Apple software and ecosystem that make them great.  The hardware is just there to deliver the important parts that do the heavy lifting.

    That said, I agree that Apple needs to up its game with Mac hardware.
  • Reply 72 of 92
    I've read all these comments, and it really surprises me that everyone puts the blame for Apple's problems on Tim Cook.  Tim was never intended to be a product manager.  He was intended to be the one who made the company run smoothly.  Tim's responsible if the announced products don't show up on time, or if they are not easily available upon introduction, etc.  As far as I can tell, those essential functions are being executed better than ever.  I remember how difficult it was to get some iPhone models when they were introduced; now it's pretty easy because he's worked out supply chain kinks to perfection.  So all praise to Cook.

    Steve's heir for product development is Jony Ive.   I don't think anyone disputes his product design chops, particularly in regard to the new iPhones and Apple Watches.  Apple Watch has been quite a success, although it's built more slowly than Apple's other products.  As I'm out and about in the USA, I'm seeing more and more of them around(*).

    Let's consider Apple's breakthrough products.  iPhone was based on iPod.  iPad was based on iPhone.  Apple Watch was based on iPhone.  So we can see Apple's most revolutionary products actually evolved from previous successes.  It's logical to think that if Apple has a new breakthrough product, then, it will evolve from iPhone.  It's even possible that Apple's next breakthrough product could be an evolution of Apple Watch, made to be standalone instead of dependent on iPhone.  

    Moving forward, we will always need something with iPhone's functionality, even if it is no longer an iPhone.  Apple seems like the logical company to produce that device, no matter what it may be. To be honest I think a watch-like device is more likely to be iPhone's successor than glasses or a VR headset.  

    So the real question is whether Apple has lost its way in terms of breakthrough products.  Well, Apple Watch is a breakthrough product in that it has thoroughly disrupted the watch industry and left its Android-based competition reeling.  But it is not (yet) replacing iPhone in the hearts and pockets of customers.  It does show that Apple's product development team can in fact continue to develop fresh products people love.

    What are the next future innovations?  Foldable phones seem interesting but nobody seems to have produced anything like a great one yet.  Apple certainly could.  5G phones are not going to have significant 5G networks for at least a year or two going forward, so I would say there's little point to a 5G Apple phone today.  I am confident that being slightly behind won't be much of a disadvantage since the full standards for 5G are not even set yet.  Better to have a 5G phone when the standards are set and the technology is ripe.

    We are all looking forward to the next big thing.  Let's hope Apple produces it.  Even if it doesn't, it would be surprising if they had no entry into the market.  Sometimes being late to market even works better.  Consider the original iPhone.  It was far from first, but it was the best.  Maybe that's what will happen with the new, new thing.

    Whatever it actually is.

    (*) I am an expat spending most of my time in Costa Rica, which is a lower middle income country with a microscopic Apple market share.  There are iCon stores here, which look like 2/3 scale models of Apple Stores, and they cater mainly to the tourist and expat markets.  Prices are given in US dollars, not local currency, and are about 25% more than US prices.  As a result, almost everyone buys their Apple products in the US and brings them here.  The price difference in most cases easily pays for the round trip flight to the USA!




    sacto joefastasleepGeorgeBMacbakedbananas
  • Reply 73 of 92
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    designr said:
    Cook's leadership in new innovative products is questionable. His relationship with Jobs worked because Jobs was the visionary and Cook did the logistics.
    I have little faith in his leadership of a corporate vision, especially after the hype he built behind the "Hello Again" keynote only to introduce a silly Touch Bar keyboard.

    Expectations are low...

    Apple released 2 of the biggest products in tech history in the past few years. One of them being Apples 2nd biggest product ever.

    Wow. The standards for Apple are ridiculous!!
    What products are you referring to?
    This should be fairly obvious. 
    macxpress
  • Reply 74 of 92
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    macxpress said:
    Cook's leadership in new innovative products is questionable. His relationship with Jobs worked because Jobs was the visionary and Cook did the logistics.
    I have little faith in his leadership of a corporate vision, especially after the hype he built behind the "Hello Again" keynote only to introduce a silly Touch Bar keyboard.

    Expectations are low...
    True innovation should come from within Apple, not Tim Cook. Steve Jobs was unique and I don't think it matters who was CEO after Steve Jobs, there will never be another Steve Jobs because Steve was an unconventional CEO. He did what most CEO's almost never do. If you ever thought for one second that Tim Cook was supposed to be the next Steve Jobs then you're sorely mistaken. Its Apple's job as an entire company to develop/release the next best thing. A company is a team of hopefully talented people, not just a CEO that says okay make this and make this exactly this way because that's the way I want it. 

    And STILL to this day, I have yet to have this question answered, if Tim were to be fired as CEO of Apple, who is a better replacement? Nobody can ever answer this question. It always just gets ignored. So basically, people want to bitch about Tim, but they can't tell anyone who would be better and saying anyone would be better than Tim Cook isn't an answer because you know damn well it isn't true. 
    The fact that no one seems to have an answer for it is, imho, is a knock against Apple and not necessarily pro-Cook. 

    Any decent company should have a clear succession plan. 
    cgWerksmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 75 of 92
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    macxpress said:
    Cook's leadership in new innovative products is questionable. His relationship with Jobs worked because Jobs was the visionary and Cook did the logistics.
    I have little faith in his leadership of a corporate vision, especially after the hype he built behind the "Hello Again" keynote only to introduce a silly Touch Bar keyboard.

    Expectations are low...
    True innovation should come from within Apple, not Tim Cook. Steve Jobs was unique and I don't think it matters who was CEO after Steve Jobs, there will never be another Steve Jobs because Steve was an unconventional CEO. He did what most CEO's almost never do. If you ever thought for one second that Tim Cook was supposed to be the next Steve Jobs then you're sorely mistaken. Its Apple's job as an entire company to develop/release the next best thing. A company is a team of hopefully talented people, not just a CEO that says okay make this and make this exactly this way because that's the way I want it. 

    And STILL to this day, I have yet to have this question answered, if Tim were to be fired as CEO of Apple, who is a better replacement? Nobody can ever answer this question. It always just gets ignored. So basically, people want to bitch about Tim, but they can't tell anyone who would be better and saying anyone would be better than Tim Cook isn't an answer because you know damn well it isn't true. 
    The fact that no one seems to have an answer for it is, imho, is a knock against Apple and not necessarily pro-Cook. 

    Any decent company should have a clear succession plan. 
    I meant no one here has a better CEO. Everyone wants to bitch, but nobody has a better person to do the job. It's not up to AppleInsider Forums to seek out the next CEO. I'm sure there is in fact, a succession plan at Apple should Tim want to step down. 
    edited March 2019 fastasleepbakedbananas
  • Reply 76 of 92
    sacto joesacto joe Posts: 895member
    I've read all these comments, and it really surprises me that everyone puts the blame for Apple's problems on Tim Cook.  Tim was never intended to be a product manager.  He was intended to be the one who made the company run smoothly.  Tim's responsible if the announced products don't show up on time, or if they are not easily available upon introduction, etc.  As far as I can tell, those essential functions are being executed better than ever.  I remember how difficult it was to get some iPhone models when they were introduced; now it's pretty easy because he's worked out supply chain kinks to perfection.  So all praise to Cook.

    Steve's heir for product development is Jony Ive.   I don't think anyone disputes his product design chops, particularly in regard to the new iPhones and Apple Watches.  Apple Watch has been quite a success, although it's built more slowly than Apple's other products.  As I'm out and about in the USA, I'm seeing more and more of them around(*).

    Let's consider Apple's breakthrough products.  iPhone was based on iPod.  iPad was based on iPhone.  Apple Watch was based on iPhone.  So we can see Apple's most revolutionary products actually evolved from previous successes.  It's logical to think that if Apple has a new breakthrough product, then, it will evolve from iPhone.  It's even possible that Apple's next breakthrough product could be an evolution of Apple Watch, made to be standalone instead of dependent on iPhone.  

    Moving forward, we will always need something with iPhone's functionality, even if it is no longer an iPhone.  Apple seems like the logical company to produce that device, no matter what it may be. To be honest I think a watch-like device is more likely to be iPhone's successor than glasses or a VR headset.  

    So the real question is whether Apple has lost its way in terms of breakthrough products.  Well, Apple Watch is a breakthrough product in that it has thoroughly disrupted the watch industry and left its Android-based competition reeling.  But it is not (yet) replacing iPhone in the hearts and pockets of customers.  It does show that Apple's product development team can in fact continue to develop fresh products people love.

    What are the next future innovations?  Foldable phones seem interesting but nobody seems to have produced anything like a great one yet.  Apple certainly could.  5G phones are not going to have significant 5G networks for at least a year or two going forward, so I would say there's little point to a 5G Apple phone today.  I am confident that being slightly behind won't be much of a disadvantage since the full standards for 5G are not even set yet.  Better to have a 5G phone when the standards are set and the technology is ripe.

    We are all looking forward to the next big thing.  Let's hope Apple produces it.  Even if it doesn't, it would be surprising if they had no entry into the market.  Sometimes being late to market even works better.  Consider the original iPhone.  It was far from first, but it was the best.  Maybe that's what will happen with the new, new thing.

    Whatever it actually is.

    (*) I am an expat spending most of my time in Costa Rica, which is a lower middle income country with a microscopic Apple market share.  There are iCon stores here, which look like 2/3 scale models of Apple Stores, and they cater mainly to the tourist and expat markets.  Prices are given in US dollars, not local currency, and are about 25% more than US prices.  As a result, almost everyone buys their Apple products in the US and brings them here.  The price difference in most cases easily pays for the round trip flight to the USA!




    Wow! - a well thought out and nicely written comment. Thanks, David!
    David H Dennis
  • Reply 77 of 92
    avon b7 said:

    entropys said:
    Great Tim, where is my next iMac?
    Wait, I thought the chief whine was "Yeah but where's the new Mac mini!" lol...folks will just keep rotating it based on what's not out yet
    Whine? Whine!

    People had to wait years for it. If there is one thing it wasn't, it was whining.

    People were asking entirely justifiable questions about an update.


    You're whining about a product you're not going to buy. I know it.
    Dude, being an apologist for substandard product maintenance is in no way going to help anyone get the best products for the money spent.

    A product may still be perfectly usable without a substantial upgrade for a couple of years. But at some point, in technology, progress makes it so that if you don't at the very least upgrade the processor (let alone other parts) all the while charging premium prices you start to look negligent.

    And that describes a lot of Apple's conduct the past few years.

    That's not to take away from the things the company has done right, but to let certain products languish for years sends a very poor message: We believe in this product today, but who knows how we'll feel about it over the next few years. But don't worry, you'll still pay lots of money for this very same product in three or four years.

    That sort of conduct seems beneath Apple's quality standards.
    anantksundaram
  • Reply 78 of 92
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    I've read all these comments, and it really surprises me that everyone puts the blame for Apple's problems on Tim Cook.  Tim was never intended to be a product manager.  He was intended to be the one who made the company run smoothly.  Tim's responsible if the announced products don't show up on time, or if they are not easily available upon introduction, etc.  As far as I can tell, those essential functions are being executed better than ever. 
    Well, except that a lot of existing products haven't gotten regular updates, let alone announced products. But, I think it's mainly that he's at the top, so the 'buck stops there' kind of thing. One of my main criticisms, I suppose, is that there are now too many things going on at Apple to which he didn't say 'no'.

    macxpress said:
    macxpress said:
    And STILL to this day, I have yet to have this question answered, if Tim were to be fired as CEO of Apple, who is a better replacement? Nobody can ever answer this question. It always just gets ignored. So basically, people want to bitch about Tim, but they can't tell anyone who would be better and saying anyone would be better than Tim Cook isn't an answer because you know damn well it isn't true. 
    The fact that no one seems to have an answer for it is, imho, is a knock against Apple and not necessarily pro-Cook. 
    Any decent company should have a clear succession plan. 
    I meant no one here has a better CEO. Everyone wants to bitch, but nobody has a better person to do the job. It's not up to AppleInsider Forums to seek out the next CEO. I'm sure there is in fact, a succession plan at Apple should Tim want to step down. 
    How about Scott Forstall? Not sure if he has CEO chops, but at least he seemed to understand UI and that kind of stuff.

    Interestingly, after just reading a bit about Forstall, there is speculation over a personality shift at Apple. Apparently, Steve liked strong personalities that would battle it out, and he'd decide. Whereas, Cook likes to keep people who get along well and get rid of 'troublemakers' which I suppose could be seen as people who don't agree. If true, that explains quite a bit. Apparently, Forstall and Ive didn't see eye-to-eye much... and one can see the difference between iOS 6 (Forstall) and iOS 7 (Ive).
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 79 of 92
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,299member
    cgWerks said:
    I've read all these comments, and it really surprises me that everyone puts the blame for Apple's problems on Tim Cook.  Tim was never intended to be a product manager.  He was intended to be the one who made the company run smoothly.  Tim's responsible if the announced products don't show up on time, or if they are not easily available upon introduction, etc.  As far as I can tell, those essential functions are being executed better than ever. 
    Well, except that a lot of existing products haven't gotten regular updates, let alone announced products. But, I think it's mainly that he's at the top, so the 'buck stops there' kind of thing. One of my main criticisms, I suppose, is that there are now too many things going on at Apple to which he didn't say 'no'.

    macxpress said:
    macxpress said:
    And STILL to this day, I have yet to have this question answered, if Tim were to be fired as CEO of Apple, who is a better replacement? Nobody can ever answer this question. It always just gets ignored. So basically, people want to bitch about Tim, but they can't tell anyone who would be better and saying anyone would be better than Tim Cook isn't an answer because you know damn well it isn't true. 
    The fact that no one seems to have an answer for it is, imho, is a knock against Apple and not necessarily pro-Cook. 
    Any decent company should have a clear succession plan. 
    I meant no one here has a better CEO. Everyone wants to bitch, but nobody has a better person to do the job. It's not up to AppleInsider Forums to seek out the next CEO. I'm sure there is in fact, a succession plan at Apple should Tim want to step down. 
    How about Scott Forstall? Not sure if he has CEO chops, but at least he seemed to understand UI and that kind of stuff.

    Interestingly, after just reading a bit about Forstall, there is speculation over a personality shift at Apple. Apparently, Steve liked strong personalities that would battle it out, and he'd decide. Whereas, Cook likes to keep people who get along well and get rid of 'troublemakers' which I suppose could be seen as people who don't agree. If true, that explains quite a bit. Apparently, Forstall and Ive didn't see eye-to-eye much... and one can see the difference between iOS 6 (Forstall) and iOS 7 (Ive).
    Scott Forstall wasn't a Leader. Fullstop. end of story. His public reaction to a public setback showed he wasn't what was needed. It really is that simple.
    1stfastasleep
  • Reply 80 of 92
    scartart said:

    entropys said:
    Great Tim, where is my next iMac?
    Wait, I thought the chief whine was "Yeah but where's the new Mac mini!" lol...folks will just keep rotating it based on what's not out yet
    If Apple updated its computer product regularly, as they have done in the past and how every other manufacturer still does, then .....
    iMac was updated every year until 2015. Now they’re on a two-year cycle: 2015, 2017, 2019. This year might be very late; supposedly Navi has been delayed from June until October, due to AMD needing to re-spin. (Maybe not, it’s only a rumor.) Also, Intel still hasn’t released all the ninth generation CPUs Apple needs for iMac, only the top end are available so far due to high demand for 14nm parts overall and Intel hitting production constraints. So Intel’s prioritizing Xeon and i9. They’re supposed to catch up by June. 

    I expect Mac mini, 12” MacBook, MacBook Air, iMac Pro (and probably the 2019 Mac Pro as well) will also be on a two year cycle. MacBook Pro may be the only model to have a yearly refresh. There just isn’t that much performance increase from one year to the next, typically. 
    edited March 2019 fastasleep
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