By John Moltz
November 8, 2024 2:00 PM PT
This Week in Apple: Muddling through
Tech CEOs put their heads together to keep the industry afloat, the new Macs are out and the reviews are good, but the Vision Pro forecast has turned to “Outlook hazy, ask again later”.
Tim’s rolloverdex
As you may have heard, there was an election here in the U.S. this week. Yep. So, that happened. And, sadly, it was not for cutest puppy in the Puppy Bowl or whatever (Rufus is definitely the cutest one). After all was said and done, our fearless tech CEOs lined up to congratulate the winner, with Tim Cook tweeting:
Congratulations President Trump on your victory! We look forward to engaging with you and your administration to help make sure the United States continues to lead with and be fueled by ingenuity, innovation, and creativity.
OK, now I actually believe Tim Cook does use Apple Intelligence. Only an AI could come up with bland platitudes like that.
Cook: [type type type] “Siri, make this professional.”
Siri: [bloop]
Cook: “Now make it friendly.”
Siri: [bloop] “Send it?”
Cook: “Sigh. Yes.”
John Gruber noted how similar the congratulatory missives from Cook, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichal and Satya Nadella were, almost as if they’re all on a text thread together (which, if Cook named it, would be called “CEOs”) and worked together on getting that tone juuust riiight. Gruber notes:
I wonder how much it stings to be reminded that all the money in the world cannot buy dignity.
Still, at least Tim still has that cool “Best At Services Revenue” trophy. They might take his dignity, but they’ll never get that.
Three hits, one error
Reviews of the M4-based Macs are now out for your reading pleasure. Jason took a look at the colorful new iMacs and the new MacBook Pros, while Dan tilted with—get it?—the new Mac mini. All of these devices seem like winners with very little to complain about.
The Verge’s Chris Welch says the new Mac mini is “Now the best value in Apple’s lineup”. Pretty good for a device that started out as a way to attract switchers. Remember switchers? We were so young then.
All reviewers noted the odd positioning of the power button on the bottom of the Mac mini but generally agreed that while it was inconvenient it was not a big deal.
Like Kevin, the guy who’s at the coffee shop all day. What does he do for a living? No one knows.
Further, the low-end Mac mini no longer has the issue of slower storage and the storage in the new design is upgradable, if not all that easily. Upgradable storage?! In 2024?! What’s next, upgradable RAM?
No, that is most definitely not next.
Lack of Vision
After rumors of a cheaper Vision product possibly coming as soon as next year, hopefully boosting the number of users and expanding the ecosystem, Ming-Chi Kuo says a cheaper headset is delayed beyond 2027. Mark Gurman chimes in to say Apple is “seriously considering” a Vision device that offloads the computing stuff (my degree is in International Studies) onto your iPhone.
Is that a hot iPhone in your pocket or are you just oh, I see, you’re wearing a Vision Air.
It’s possible this device might come sooner than the “low-cost” Vision product.
In another sign that the future of the Vision line is still being sussed out, Apple launched an internal survey about smart glasses, asking employees to try out the ones currently on the market.
“Better A…” [puts Meta Ray Bans on employee] “…or B?” [puts Bose Frames on employee]
“A… or B?”
Whatever Apple does, it might want to pick up the pace a little bit.
As the Mac was to CompUSA in 1995, so the Vision Pro is to Apple Stores in 2024.
[John Moltz is a Six Colors contributor. You can find him on Mastodon at Mastodon.social/@moltz and he sells items with references you might get on Cotton Bureau.]