We’ve all seen the reports. Apple is “hurting”. Corporate released a letter to investors recently which gave their guidance for the 2019 year. They stated shorter than expected revenues, and blamed it on a few things. One being the different timing of iPhone launches, another being the strong US dollar creating much higher prices in other countries like India, third being supply constraint due to an “unprecedented number of new products to ramp”, and fourth, China.

When I saw this, I knew the tech world would ignite with their thoughts on how Apple is failing. How their refusal to “innovate” and their stubborn pricing would finally catch up to them. How Steve Jobs would’ve never allowed any of this to happen, and how Tim Cook needs to burn in hell. And, almost immediately, these comments came.

So what’s the answer for Apple? That’s the question that all the tech-tubers have been trying to answer. It’s a fun one to debate upon as well. From Dave2D to Rene at Vector, to the Vergecast crew, everyone’s had their opinions. And I wanna give mine, which I believe, is the only true correct opinion. Don’t bother reading anyone else’s opinions, because I’m always right. ‘

Apple Services:

The main reason people use an iPhone, and stick with the iPhone, is because of Apple’s services. I’m talking about iMessage, Photos, Apple Music, iCloud, Calendar, Facetime, hell, people are still using Photobooth till this day. Not too mention on the pro side like Final Cut, Logic, and Photoshop for iPad. Unfortunately for Apple, they have seemed to lost sight of this. Look at iCloud. While it syncs seamlessly and it generally works fine, it’s still a complete mess. In terms of just a file system, I’ve even considered moving everything to Dropbox. And by doing that, we’re now presented with the biggest problem for Apple.

Once I move to Dropbox, I’m one step further from the Apple ecosystem. I’m thinking about switching to Spotify, because its UI is much quicker and more efficient. This means I’m another step further. I can easily move to Google Photos, since I’m already synced to it. I can very easily switch back to Premiere. I can use Outlook for my contacts and calendars (the industry standard), and before you know it, the only thing keeping you attached to the iPhone is iMessage. While iMessage is great – well, it’s hands down the best – it’s not enough for some people to pay over $1000 for an iPhone (almost $1800 in other countries). This has been compounding over the last 3 years.

So in order for Apple to start to regain market share, they need to start crafting killer applications again. They have the money. The acquisition of Texture was a great idea, but it’s not a killer app. Why not buy Dropbox? Use that team to completely overhaul iCloud. Make it so good, so fast, and so private, that if we aren’t using “Apple Drop” to store and send files, it’s a detriment to not only ourselves, but to the other people receiving the files. That’s what it feels like with iMessage. And they need to make it feel like that for every other service.

Companion Products:

The thing Apple has been doing right lately, is creating the most amazing companion products out there. The Apple Watch 4, the iPad Pro 2018, the Airpods, the Apple Pencil 2, all these products are fucking phenomenal. Unfortunately, for Apple, we want more of them. If you’re not going to convince us to stick with iPhone through your services, you better try and dazzle us with innovative gadgets. The reason it’s unfortunate for Apple is because it’s much harder to pull off. Impressively, they’ve been doing it. But I think we’re starting to see Apple fumble a bit on this route. Where the fuck is Airpower?  Why is the Homepod so retarded? Why is that all you’re offering?

Cook’o’nomics

While I think this small misstep this year is good for Apple, I do fear that it will only make them double down on Cook’o’nomics. What is Cook’o’nomics you ask? Well it’s essentially Tim Cook’s weird idea that if you withhold very small, very cheap & simple things from very expensive products; you make that person a very happy consumer and more willing to buy those very small, very cheap gizmos, at a very high markups. Case in point, the fact the iPhone doesn’t come with a headphone dongle, or a fast charger, or even a fucking cleaning cloth. Or how about how the Macbook Pro ships with a great charger, but a USB-C cable that ISN’T Thunderbolt 3, in fact, it’s solely for power. I could go on, but you get the idea. I hope Cook learns from this, and starts to reintroduce MORE for LESS.

At the end of the day, all Apple really needs to do to remain the king is lower their prices a bit, fix iCloud / iOS, and stop nickel and diming its customers. It’s really that simple. I love their products. They are the best built products in tech, and I absolutely love the Mac / iOS ecosystem. But if something better comes along, which shouldn’t be very difficult right now, I’ll have no problem jumping ship. The problem is, for Apple, many people have already found their better alternatives, and are waiting on Apple now, rather than the other way around.