Products Aren’t the Jewel in Apple’s Crown. Credibility Is, and the Brand Just Messed It Up

In the summer of 2008, Apple launched a massive product that ultimately became one of the biggest disasters in its history. While you might recall the successful releases of the iPhone 3G and, especially, the App Store, you may not remember the disastrous launch that accompanied them.

MobileMe. That fiasco was MobileMe, an email platform designed to compete with services such as Exchange and BlackBerry. Unfortunately, it was a total disaster plagued by frequent service crashes and unexpected credit card charges. The situation was so dire that The New York Times humorously dubbed it “MobileMess.”

Just two years later, MobileMe was discontinued. Some time after that, details about how the company handled this failure came to light. In 2011, Fortune revealed that then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs summoned the MobileMe team to a meeting shortly after the launch.

Here’s what the outlet reported:

“According to a participant in the meeting, Jobs walked in, clad in his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, clasped his hands together, and asked a simple question:

‘Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?’ Having received a satisfactory answer, he continued, ‘So why the fuck doesn’t it do that?’

For the next half-hour Jobs berated the group. ‘You’ve tarnished Apple’s reputation,’ he told them. ‘You should hate each other for having let each other down.’ The public humiliation particularly infuriated Jobs. Walt Mossberg, the influential Wall Street Journal gadget columnist, had panned MobileMe. ‘Mossberg, our friend, is no longer writing good things about us,’ Jobs said. On the spot, Jobs named a new executive to run the group.”

This incident highlighted how significant the MobileMe failure was for Jobs, even though it’s since faded from memory.

However, that was the Apple of the past.

Something’s Rotten at Apple

Analyst John Gruber recently published “Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino,” a concerning analysis of Apple’s current state. In it, he explained how different Apple is today compared to the time when Jobs managed the company.

Gruber focused on the state of Apple Intelligence in general and the new AI-driven Siri in particular. Apple is committed to generative AI, which doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon.

However, Apple Intelligence’s features are limited and lackluster. Other major tech companies and several startups continue to release new advancements and increasingly impressive features. Meanwhile, Apple remains stuck. Although initially interesting and heavily focused on privacy, its approach has become disappointing due to its frustratingly slow deployment.

What is particularly alarming is the situation with Siri. After WWDC 2024, Apple announced that “Siri will be able to deliver intelligence that’s tailored to the user and their on-device information. For example, a user can say, ‘Play that podcast that Jamie recommended,’ and Siri will locate and play the episode, without the user having to remember whether it was mentioned in a text or an email.”

Those promising features for Siri turned out to be just empty promises. Apple never demonstrated these options publicly. The company only showed a pre-recorded demo, not a live presentation, where Siri supposedly performed all the tasks Apple claimed it could handle.

Gruber pointed out:

“What Apple showed regarding the upcoming ‘personalized Siri’ at WWDC was not a demo. It was a concept video. Concept videos are bullshit, and a sign of a company in disarray, if not crisis.”

Moreover, Apple discussed these theoretical features again in the September event and suggested that Siri could understand the personal context to better respond to requests. On March 7, Apple announced that the AI-driven Siri version wouldn’t be available until at least 2026.

Not only has Apple failed to demonstrate these new Siri features publicly, but all it’s shown are concept videos illustrating how the feature should function. Additionally, a recent ad featuring The Last of Us’ Bella Ramsey was recently removed from YouTube without any explanation.

These are troubling signs, all pointing to the same conclusion: a potential failure.

This is particularly concerning because Apple usually doesn’t make promises about product launches only to backtrack later. An example is the much-discussed AirPower wireless charger, which was a minor accessory. However, the AI-driven Siri fiasco is far more significant. Apple’s digital assistant is crucial for the company to remain competitive in the AI landscape.

This raises the question of what’s happening at Apple. Over the last 30 years, the company has built a solid reputation and gained extraordinary credibility. People choose its products because they “just work.” Despite a few significant missteps (such as the MacBook’s butterfly keyboard and the iPhone’s throttling), Apple’s products continue to stand out for their reliability.

Apple’s Credibility Is Starting to Take a Hit

Some worrying signs point to Apple’s credibility starting to falter. Apple fans have long been waiting for the brand to launch its next disruptive product, but the wait seems far from over. While the Apple Watch and AirPods have been popular, they didn’t revolutionize the market. What’s more, the Vision Pro hasn’t made the impact many expected from such a major release.

In addition to all that, Apple seems to have canceled its Project Titan and the rumored Apple Car. More worryingly, two and a half years after ChatGPT’s arrival, the Cupertino company only provides an assistant that rewrites emails and generates cartoons. It’s incredibly disappointing.

While Apple continues to report impressive numbers, there are signs that sales figures are stagnating or even declining. The company has shifted from a minimalist catalog to a calculated maximalism. It’s even altered its release schedule, moving away from the annual cycle for many products. Apple needs the next big thing and appears to be searching for it in its software. Some expect a radical redesign in iOS 19 next year, but many details remain unknown.

The excitement of product launches has also diminished. During the pandemic, Apple shifted to pre-recorded events and embraced this format. As a result, the company now relies entirely on pre-recorded videos for all types of product launches. In the past, attending an Apple keynote was an exhilarating experience, where you could watch CEO Tim Cook and his team present their new products live.

Now, it’s like going to the movies.

Remembering BlackBerry

Is there any good news at all? Not really. The iPhone 16 series is far from exciting, and the new iPhone 16e models don’t inspire much confidence given their prices.

Interestingly, the surprising highlight is Apple’s computers. The M4 Mac mini brought a refreshing update, and the new M4 MacBook Air is an excellent refresh of a long-favored laptop among everyday users.

In fact, Apple’s last significant innovation was likely its chips for desktops and laptops. The launch of the Apple M1 SoC set the stage for a technological shift. Although its successors haven’t made quite the same impact, they’ve further reinforced the company’s considerable edge in performance per watt. While more powerful processors are available, the industry still envies the efficiency of Apple’s chips.

Apple’s financial performance remains remarkable. Its services division is thriving, boasting an impressive 1 billion subscriptions across its several platforms.

This economic success is certainly a testament to Cook’s leadership. While many have speculated about his successor, Cook has proven to be an exceptional manager. When he took the reins of the company, Apple’s market capitalization stood at $350 billion. It’s soared to more than $3 trillion–almost a tenfold increase. Meanwhile, the stock value has quintupled, and the company has achieved consistent revenue growth.

When examining Apple’s financial results, everything appears to be going well. However, the company might be at a crucial turning point, similar to the situation BlackBerry faced. Notably, it’s a common misconception that BlackBerry collapsed immediately after the iPhone was launched. In reality, that wasn’t the case.

According to Sherwood News, BlackBerry enjoyed some of its best years following the iPhone’s launch. In 2011, the company achieved record revenue of $20 billion. Although 2012 saw a slight decline, things were still relatively stable. It wasn’t until 2013 that it began to experience a steep decline, which has continued since then. It took nearly six years for BlackBerry to become irrelevant. Could the same fate await Apple?

While it’s impossible to predict the future, one thing is clear. Just as BlackBerry (and Nokia) failed to respond adequately to the disruption caused by the iPhone, Apple seems to be struggling to adapt to the rise of AI. The challenges surrounding Siri exemplify these issues, but there’s an even bigger concern.

It appears that no one at Apple can provide the necessary criticism, much like Jobs did when he sensed that things weren’t going well.

Image | Laurenz Heymann

Related | Apple’s Paradox: The World’s Most Valuable Company Has No Interest in the Data Center Boom