One of my biggest fears for a floundering Apple is that they start to depart from their commitment to privacy-first design.
The reasons for Apple Intelligence's relative lackluster abilities are numerous and, from everything we hear, primarily political - but I'm certain some executives are questioning whether initiatives like Private Cloud Compute [0] were holding them back. And with app store revenue under siege, some must be questioning whether Apple could get a larger cut of the advertising market to make up for their losses... and such a push would come with all the cross-app tracking implications that are necessary to be competitive there.
IMO this would be a foundational mistake, and a massive tragedy. So many of us choose Apple products not only because of the silky-smooth interactions that flow from their long-standing intentionality in hardware and software design, but also because of the implicit promise of security, privacy, and stability that comes from the lack of hodge-podgeness that's somewhat inherent to the Android and Windows ecosystems. Take away that brand promise, and it's a downward spiral. But bigger companies have made worse choices before.
They don't really care about privacy. Take a look at the 1000 page privacy notice when you first set up a device. There are no settings available. All of it is actually a justification for collecting data.
if they cared, they would "allow" you to firewall your phone.
I guess I am not afraid of that so long as Apple still makes the bulk of their profits on hardware. To be sure though, they have been trying to move more strongly into "services" — as every company seems to be (MSFT, for example).
I think it’s likely because nobody understands or believes it.
Techie people on HN adopt a “no true Scotsman” attitude, and assert that anything is not enough. People who know nothing don’t understand enough to understand the nuances, see the obvious abuses of privacy on the web, Facebook, etc and assume it’s bullshit.
Nobody understands or believes Apple's stance either. All they'll do is give us whitepapers on how things should work, which we know has been fabricated at least once in the case of Push Notification backdoors: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/apple-admits-to-...
This isn't a no-true-scotsman attitude. This is a rational reaction to security theater when nobody can prove that Apple is doing what they claim to be doing.
Apple's computing model is, in fact, fundamentally incompatible with privacy. They can say they value privacy all they want but as long as the user doesn't control the machine themselves it means almost nothing.
I've heard this in Apple's PR campaigns a lot. How is forcing users to upload the private files to iCloud through UX dark patterns a "privacy-first design"?
Me as a tech-knowledgable person fell for it while actively trying to not enable iCloud. Apple devices, never again.
Apple's real innovation is a walled garden that has grown in thickness to the point where it is finally starting to exceed legality. The garden is starting to feel more like a prison.
As with most big corporations, Tim and company have an insatiable appetite for your money --- and they have shown an obsessive willingness to restrict free enterprise itself in defiance of court orders if that is what it takes to get it.
Always has been a prison. People who wanted to break free had to download dodgy software to "jailbreak" their iPhones and now it's so locked down that even that option is no longer possible.
Unlike IOS itself, most IOS jailbreak tools and package managers are open-source and auditable, as are many of the unsanctioned applications commonly used on jailbroken devices.
The fact you nevertheless refer to this software as "dodgy" really shows how well Apple's messaging works to deter people from using it, even when their main argument against it is security (from what?).
Funny, considering that without Apple's draconian restrictions on user freedoms, IOS security is basically nonexistent even when compared to the low standard set by Android. It is true that the inside of Apple's jail feels safe, but in truth, there is much less keeping attackers out than users in.
> Danny Bolella:
> In all sincerity, I would of course love for many of the AI goodies we see with IDE’s like VS Code and Cursor make it’s way (natively) into Xcode.
I think instead it's time for Apple to acknowledge developers moving out of the Xcode ecosystem and Apple should instead embrace development in VSCode, etc.
They already have a Swift LSP, but I think expecting iOS developers to switch over to VS Code is probably going a bit far. By the time you build things like code signing, SwiftUI previews, build settings, etc. into it, you’re basically building a new IDE on top of VS Code rather than just supporting VS Code itself.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s possible. It’s just what you’d get at the end wouldn’t really resemble VS Code. Even though I spend a lot of time writing web app code in VS Code, my hope – wearing my iOS developer hat – is that they have a skunkworks project to replace Xcode with a new native IDE, not that they embrace VS Code.
Their big mistake so far is not going up against Office 365 for corporate email hosting (effectively destroying Outlook and Google Workspace) and launching their own MDM.
The minute you can put an iCloud email on your corporate domain, REALLY manage your Apple fleet centrally from a web portal without Jamf, and properly use iCloud for business, Apple wins on every front.
Spending years collaborating with Microsoft over platform SSO was a train wreck and a waste of time (we waited years and nothing works, all the Microsoft stuff is full of bugs).
And why does this make sense? Most of Microsoft’s profit is Office 365, and a decent chunk of Google’s revenue is Workspace; Apple has a chance to go after it all.
I don’t think Apple’s organization structure and its current leadership team are going to be able to handle a corporate market. It takes a different mindset, attitude and focus to work on that. But, never say never! I doubt this will happen anytime soon.
This 'no corporate sales' approach has always been an unwritten Apple rule. It seems likely there are active agreements made with Microsoft in exchange for MSOffice support on Apple hardware.
IMO that would be a huge mistake. Why would they go head to head with MS in the corporate space?
Rather, Apple played to their strengths and made corporate IT come to them. I was there in the early 2010s when they tried to force everyone to leave their iPhones at home and carry a blackberry for work email. Where is blackberry today?
Microsoft tried to have it all once, too. What happened to the windows phone?
The big money is not in corporate, Apple was the one who proved it, Google followed quickly. Microsoft doesn't get to keep that crown because it's so good at it, no one is really interested anymore. Apple still eats their hardware pie up without much effort already.
Pushback from the HN crowd? I'll say it anyway, Apple should double down on AI.
As loopy as the news of the purchase of Jony Ives company (?) that made the rounds lately, I am pretty sure that what I want to carry around in my pocket from here on out is an AI assistant that rivals OpenAI's or Anthropic's. Whether it can be feathered in to Apple's existing xOS and put into the iPhone, or it requires writing a new platform is yet to be seen. But it's clear to me at least that this is the future.
In fact, if a new AI initiative required a new chip from Apple (A19? A20?) it would make a wild selling point to get some of us to buy new hardware just so we could get the new AI features (Yep, still on my iPhone 12 Mini I bought just before I retired).
(And here I didn't even use the word "agent" — whoops, I just did.)
Today on my Linux machine I can prompt an agent and have it run shell commands directly. Until Apple is able to reproduce this on their devices they're behind the curve and I'm nearly certain their leadership is afraid of giving users that much control.
I don't think running shell commands is the achilles heel of Apple's ecosystem. I am quite sure most Apple customers are happy not to be running shell commands; they've done pretty good job so far without any shell access ability (unless you're strictly speaking about MacOS — and here too most of their customers have no doubt never launched Terminal).
The agent part may be important — but that's also the thing most likely to land in a future xOS.
> Today on my Linux machine I can prompt an agent and have it run shell commands directly. Until Apple is able to reproduce this on their devices they're behind the curve
> But Gruber says that this year, for the first time since 2015, Apple has declined the invitation to join. Notably, Gruber published a blog earlier this year taking critical aim at Apple’s mishandling of AI features. Coincidence, I’m sure!
I suspect instead that Apple, knowing they fucked up w/ regard to devs, want to completely control their own mea culpa and not risk a slip-up/soundbite coming from a talk show.
I do expect an apology during the Keynote. How sincere an apology, well that's up to the developers to decide.
> They’ll keep pretending that the Vision Pro is a beloved innovation and not just collecting dust on the shelves of early adopters.
Will they? Or will they instead just artfully not talk about the VisionPro at all. Perhaps quietly pull it sometime later this year. I don't think Apple will want to die on the VisionPro hill.
> Apple executives would do well to remember that it was apps that made the iPhone what it is today.
Are apps still what make the iPhone what it is today? And here I am speaking as a user. The "joy of discovery" when installing new apps died a long, long time ago. Installing a new app is cause for anxiety. If it even works and does not spy on me (or charge me for basic functionality "in app" — or worse yet, require an account or subscription), is it going to become an important addition to my "lifestyle" or another icon buried on some screen or folder in SpringBoard?
To be sure though, this is WWDC and Apple is catering to developers. I'm just saying out loud what I feel about the state of iOS apps these days.
> I suspect instead that Apple, knowing they fucked up w/ regard to devs, want to completely control their own mea culpa and not risk a slip-up/soundbite coming from a talk show.
I have watched many of “The Talk Show” post WWDC episodes, but I don’t think John Gruber actually asks (or has asked) tough questions at that event. This time though, it would’ve been extremely awkward not to ask any questions at all about the state of Apple Intelligence and where it’s heading. For Apple, it would be difficult to focus on other topics that it wants to advertise to the audience.
> I do expect an apology during the Keynote. How sincere an apology, well that's up to the developers to decide.
Apple never apologizes in public and doesn’t admits mistakes as mistakes in public (it may sometimes acknowledge certain things and word it very differently). At least not as a full fledged apology of any sort for various reasons. IIRC, there’s already a class action lawsuit filed against it for misleading and false promises about Apple Intelligence. The last thing Apple would do is provide more ammo for that suit to succeed and for more lawsuits to be filed for every misstep and egregious delivery in/from its announcements.
Readit News
The reasons for Apple Intelligence's relative lackluster abilities are numerous and, from everything we hear, primarily political - but I'm certain some executives are questioning whether initiatives like Private Cloud Compute [0] were holding them back. And with app store revenue under siege, some must be questioning whether Apple could get a larger cut of the advertising market to make up for their losses... and such a push would come with all the cross-app tracking implications that are necessary to be competitive there.
IMO this would be a foundational mistake, and a massive tragedy. So many of us choose Apple products not only because of the silky-smooth interactions that flow from their long-standing intentionality in hardware and software design, but also because of the implicit promise of security, privacy, and stability that comes from the lack of hodge-podgeness that's somewhat inherent to the Android and Windows ecosystems. Take away that brand promise, and it's a downward spiral. But bigger companies have made worse choices before.
[0] https://security.apple.com/blog/private-cloud-compute/
if they cared, they would "allow" you to firewall your phone.
Their only commitment is "apple-first to put their hands on user data, everyone else second"
Techie people on HN adopt a “no true Scotsman” attitude, and assert that anything is not enough. People who know nothing don’t understand enough to understand the nuances, see the obvious abuses of privacy on the web, Facebook, etc and assume it’s bullshit.
This isn't a no-true-scotsman attitude. This is a rational reaction to security theater when nobody can prove that Apple is doing what they claim to be doing.
That is the genius of it the tech industry writes the laws. How much money did Apple donate to Trump?
I've heard this in Apple's PR campaigns a lot. How is forcing users to upload the private files to iCloud through UX dark patterns a "privacy-first design"?
Me as a tech-knowledgable person fell for it while actively trying to not enable iCloud. Apple devices, never again.
As with most big corporations, Tim and company have an insatiable appetite for your money --- and they have shown an obsessive willingness to restrict free enterprise itself in defiance of court orders if that is what it takes to get it.
The fact you nevertheless refer to this software as "dodgy" really shows how well Apple's messaging works to deter people from using it, even when their main argument against it is security (from what?).
Funny, considering that without Apple's draconian restrictions on user freedoms, IOS security is basically nonexistent even when compared to the low standard set by Android. It is true that the inside of Apple's jail feels safe, but in truth, there is much less keeping attackers out than users in.
WWDC 2025 Wish Lists: https://mjtsai.com/blog/2025/06/06/wwdc-2025-wish-lists/
WWDC 2025 Preview: https://mjtsai.com/blog/2025/06/07/wwdc-2025-preview/
> Danny Bolella: > In all sincerity, I would of course love for many of the AI goodies we see with IDE’s like VS Code and Cursor make it’s way (natively) into Xcode.
I think instead it's time for Apple to acknowledge developers moving out of the Xcode ecosystem and Apple should instead embrace development in VSCode, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s possible. It’s just what you’d get at the end wouldn’t really resemble VS Code. Even though I spend a lot of time writing web app code in VS Code, my hope – wearing my iOS developer hat – is that they have a skunkworks project to replace Xcode with a new native IDE, not that they embrace VS Code.
The minute you can put an iCloud email on your corporate domain, REALLY manage your Apple fleet centrally from a web portal without Jamf, and properly use iCloud for business, Apple wins on every front.
Spending years collaborating with Microsoft over platform SSO was a train wreck and a waste of time (we waited years and nothing works, all the Microsoft stuff is full of bugs).
And why does this make sense? Most of Microsoft’s profit is Office 365, and a decent chunk of Google’s revenue is Workspace; Apple has a chance to go after it all.
Rather, Apple played to their strengths and made corporate IT come to them. I was there in the early 2010s when they tried to force everyone to leave their iPhones at home and carry a blackberry for work email. Where is blackberry today?
Microsoft tried to have it all once, too. What happened to the windows phone?
You’d see nearly every small business and tech bro startup switch to the Apple corporate ecosystem within a few months.
As loopy as the news of the purchase of Jony Ives company (?) that made the rounds lately, I am pretty sure that what I want to carry around in my pocket from here on out is an AI assistant that rivals OpenAI's or Anthropic's. Whether it can be feathered in to Apple's existing xOS and put into the iPhone, or it requires writing a new platform is yet to be seen. But it's clear to me at least that this is the future.
In fact, if a new AI initiative required a new chip from Apple (A19? A20?) it would make a wild selling point to get some of us to buy new hardware just so we could get the new AI features (Yep, still on my iPhone 12 Mini I bought just before I retired).
(And here I didn't even use the word "agent" — whoops, I just did.)
This is the beginning of their decline.
The agent part may be important — but that's also the thing most likely to land in a future xOS.
You can do that on a Mac today as well:
https://steipete.me/posts/2025/claude-code-is-my-computer
Well, good thing you bought a phone from the genius minds that brought us Siri!
It's time for Cook to retire. Let a visionary take his place.
I suspect instead that Apple, knowing they fucked up w/ regard to devs, want to completely control their own mea culpa and not risk a slip-up/soundbite coming from a talk show.
I do expect an apology during the Keynote. How sincere an apology, well that's up to the developers to decide.
> They’ll keep pretending that the Vision Pro is a beloved innovation and not just collecting dust on the shelves of early adopters.
Will they? Or will they instead just artfully not talk about the VisionPro at all. Perhaps quietly pull it sometime later this year. I don't think Apple will want to die on the VisionPro hill.
> Apple executives would do well to remember that it was apps that made the iPhone what it is today.
Are apps still what make the iPhone what it is today? And here I am speaking as a user. The "joy of discovery" when installing new apps died a long, long time ago. Installing a new app is cause for anxiety. If it even works and does not spy on me (or charge me for basic functionality "in app" — or worse yet, require an account or subscription), is it going to become an important addition to my "lifestyle" or another icon buried on some screen or folder in SpringBoard?
To be sure though, this is WWDC and Apple is catering to developers. I'm just saying out loud what I feel about the state of iOS apps these days.
I have watched many of “The Talk Show” post WWDC episodes, but I don’t think John Gruber actually asks (or has asked) tough questions at that event. This time though, it would’ve been extremely awkward not to ask any questions at all about the state of Apple Intelligence and where it’s heading. For Apple, it would be difficult to focus on other topics that it wants to advertise to the audience.
> I do expect an apology during the Keynote. How sincere an apology, well that's up to the developers to decide.
Apple never apologizes in public and doesn’t admits mistakes as mistakes in public (it may sometimes acknowledge certain things and word it very differently). At least not as a full fledged apology of any sort for various reasons. IIRC, there’s already a class action lawsuit filed against it for misleading and false promises about Apple Intelligence. The last thing Apple would do is provide more ammo for that suit to succeed and for more lawsuits to be filed for every misstep and egregious delivery in/from its announcements.
They’ve been doing victory laps about his story about AI for a couple of months now. It’s weird and out of character… I’d guess Apple lied to him.