Apple still has 'magic,' innovation, says CEO Cook

Still haven't seen anything remotely "innovative" since the launch of the original ipad, and even that was already a few years late to the party. Hell, their 4th gen devices haven't even been that well received due to glaring issues like lower battery life, longer recharge times, and lower game performance than the second generation! They haven't gone into uncharted waters since the original ipod (and it was technologically an odd choice, given everyone else used flash memory rather than a tiny hdd)

Their biggest recent (past 2 years) innovation was a change in screen size. The rest? - shamelessly copied from what Android and Google brought.

iPad Mini rocks. Best tablet on the market. In Japan where personal electronics rule, Apple is definitely the winner with a lion's share of the market.

Gone are the days of the open newspaper and now people are using iPads. IPad Mini is the perfect build for Japan's on the go lifestyle.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

I want a machine on which I can record my dreams and play them back later. The iDream? Apple?

Apple remains ahead of its rivals in the ability to innovate and create magic despite tougher competition in key sectors like smartphones and tablets says the most soporfic man in the world.

Ahead? in sales, yes for time being they are leading some areas but change is in the wind. Innovate? iOS needs some of that - it's essentially unchanged since 2008! a few tweaks here and there but essentially the same lifeless interface. Android has evolved rapidly since 2008 just compare Android 1.0 to 4.2.2. I have been around since 1.5 and now can vouch how much things have evolved and progressed.

Innovate? why are techheads getting tired of ios and the jailbreaking nightmares (to try and get some of the same functionality of Android) and switching to Android 4.2 (jellybean) because it's equal to and superior to ios? iOs desperately needs a switch - basic mode and advanced mode. Sure plenty of punters will be happen with status quo, leave that as the default option, but at least give those with the ability and desire for their device to do more, to do so.

p.s. why the need for the damage control statements from Apple anyway? if you weren't coasting in Cupertino, why would you bother to speak up?

Zichi,

I haven't read any good reviews of the two tablet innovations by Microflop, even on the PC sites with people complaining about the short battery life, lack of disk space because of the bloated installed OS, the digital pen not working with some apps like Photoshop, the need to buy a whole bunch of accessories. The keyboard cover, a mouse, a bunch of memory sticks for files.

All things that can get lost or mislaid.

This is par for the course for Microsoft. They have always treated their customers as Beta testers.

Apple products work.

Unlike others that could be mentioned, Apple doesn't bleat about forthcoming "innovations" that don't forthcome.

Time Capsule backs up our data and gives us a personal WAN. We can stream music through iTunes to any room in the house using Remote on an iPad, iPhone or iMac. Photos are instantly shared and easily edited with iPhoto.

And all done EASILY. Without having to thumb through a huge manual.

Apple has got it right.

And with Jony Ives overseeing software as well, there are some interesting things coming up.

IPads remain the No1 selling tablets. All the iPads, iPad2, iPad3 and iPad4 have great battery life, never less 10 hours unlike those Microflop tablets with very short battery time. The Pro model is less than 5 hours. The retina iPads take longer to recharge because the battery is almost twice the size needed for the display. IPad2 charges in about 3-4 hours. The retina iPads charge 5-6 hours.

Apple remains the leading tablet manufacturer and that's unlikely to change anytime soon.

It's funny, like clock work the Apple haters are out in force again. Apple will be on to for a very long time. How could they have come this far? And when the competition THINKS they have a jump on Apple and the media goes crazy and tries to push people into buying 2nd rate products. Apple watches, listens and learns from their mistakes and what the competition comes out with. Keep the people in the dark, they tweak, they expand and improvise on their competitors products and weaknesses and then turn up with something catchy and new again. There was a reason why Jobs picked Cook and as picky Jobs was, he knew exactly how good and what direction he would take the company, both men are not fools and if you Apple haters think so, then you guys don't know anything about technology. Can Apple make some small refinements on there products, sure, but overall, the competition just can't quite make it to the big leagues yet.

“What Apple does is sweat every detail… The customer experience is always broader than what can be defined by a simple number.”

Well... as the owner of an Apple computer since the early to mid 1980's, I can say that I haven't been at all impressed with the "customer experience" recently. Apple (and to some degree Microsoft) seem to be going toward this whole 'simplification' thing where they take away your ability to do anything other than what they want you to do. iTunes 11 is far inferior to iTunes 10 because it just can't do a good chunk of what the old iTunes could do. The day they replace the standard operating system with the launcher (which I'm sure they're aiming at) is the day I give up. I've never had a problem with the Macs I've owned until I recently upgraded to Mountain Lion. Though not everyone suffers endless problems with Spotlight and Time Machine, I have and I'm starting to get sick of things that don't work and of usability that seems to disappear with each upgrade. It's like Microsoft Office all over again. Very frustrating!

Zichi you own a iPad, why you think everything just work?, on my MacBook retina the menu icons keep going missing, I have to login in save mode and restart so they can come back, and that is not the only problem I been having, there are many people having the same problem with the menu.

What idevice I own?

MacBook Pro 17 MacBook Pro retina, the high end with the 16gb and 750 SSD Apple TV Two iPad 4 generation, one LTE the other WIFi for my wife Two iPhone, iphone5 and the 4gs.

But I.m not a fanboi, I don't stock, I don't work for apple, why I have to be trashing MIcrosoft because I use apple product, I can't understand why people do that.

Trying to feel special because they own a stupid device?

Please stop about what apple will bring next, no one knows.

When this site going to put a edit function on this site, so 1988.

Any put a coma between devices.

If Apple just stopped their lawsuits and put their energy into what they do best, the consumer will be the winner. Now they just look like a bunch of whiners who lost it after Jobs died. Not everyone is a fanboy, most people need more convincing as to fork out another $700,- for basically the same product( a 3gs with 6.1 can do most of the things a "5" can do). Give android some decent competition that's all we ask for...

Zichi,

Windows 8 hasn't gone down too well, especially with the business people. Microflop are already busy working on its next OS to be named, wait for it, "Windows Blue."

Is that "Blue" as in "Blue Screen?"

It's very difficult to find a good review of it.

Didn't MS fire the guy who thunk it up?

I agree with Donkusai.

iTunes 11 is WAY better than iTunes 10 because it does so much more!

It's funny how people diss it because it's cleaned up and does things in a slightly different way, and they beef about Apple for "not innovating!"

Zichi,

You're a Brit, I'm sure you'll understand this.

I love bikes. Before coming to Japan, I had a series of old British bikes.

You had to keep tinkering with them to keep them running.

That was the fun of it, not just riding them.

I see the same thing with Windows aficionados.

They love to tinker.

With computers, I just like to get work done. With Apple products, I can put my attention on what I am doing rather than on the computer itself.

I don't have time to tinker.

Zichi you own a iPad, why you think everything just work?, on my MacBook retina the menu icons keep going missing,

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4155648

Apple fans want to see the magic and not just hear it. An iPhone in 2 sizes would be a great start.

One advantage that Apple does have is that all accessories are a one size fits all. =Try to get an accessory for an Android phone that actually fits and works (much harder to find - much easier to get online)

Zichi,

I miss my single cylinder 650 AJS. The Bonneville was a lovely bike. That was class!

I had a badly corrupted Time Machine backup that I couldn't do anything with until the latest Airport upgrade came along. I installed it and DiskUtility, free with every Mac, rebuilt the thing. It took several hours to do it, but it did and it works now. The log was pages long. But now, I can access my two years or so of backups.

That was the only thing that I hadn't been able to fix on MacOS. Even DriveGenius and DiskWarrior couldn't do it, but DiskUtility, coupled with the Airport upgrade came up with the goods.

Mountain Lion works beautifully on my iMac, iOS runs my iPad and iPhone beautifully and they all play nicely together.

I think Apple is consolidating, cleaning up, at the moment, rather than disrupting the market with new products like the iPhone and iPad. But that's not to say that there aren’t new products on the horizon. I'd bet that there are. Apple certainly has not lost its magic and it hasn't "peaked."

Not, as they say, by a long chalk!

badsey3,

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4155648

That's a good link. It shows you that the people who have "trouble" with their Macs behaving strangely load up the system with all kinds of dodgy add-ons. ASM? Microsoft Mouse Driver? Virus detection software?

No wonder things don't work as they are supposed to.

My iMac is six years old. It's fast and everything works as it should.

But I never allow the Hard Disk to get fuller than 50% and I don't load up the system with all kinds of add-ons. I also never turn it off or restart it. That way it gets to run its cleanup routines while I'm sleeping. That keeps it perky and on form!

I love how insecure crapple fansn are that they need to compare their products to others rather than their own prior products!

BertieWoosterFeb. 13, 2013 - 11:49PM JST

My iMac is six years old. It's fast and everything works as it should.

If it's actually 6 years old it doesn't support OS10.8, and if it was 6.5 years old it wouldn't support jack by now

I don't know how the posters above can bear to join in the Mac vs Windows debate.

It's the most pathetic and ridiculous discussion in cyberspace.

Who cares what machine you have as long as it gets the job done?

@Zichi, Bertie, basroil et al...

There are much much more important things in life than what label you have on a silly little gadget...

Apple has a huge market to conquer, Cook is right when he says that 50% of the market can't reach iDevices. Last Chrismas iPhone 5 sold out in less than 48 hours in all Brazilian phone carriers, and now in February, they don't have it on stock, neither can deliver it in less than one month. Brazilians still are flying to Orlando and Miami for tourism, and for buying Apple products in US. No wonder that US will drop the need of a visa to Brazilians in 2014: they are the #2 group that spends more while in US, in billions of dollars. Apple stores are the second or third more visited spot by Brazilians, so you see that most tourists visiting USA means buying Apple products. Samsung devices were the most sold smartphores in the X-mas season. But, and this a big BUT, O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper analysed that it's because Samsungs are everywhere, while Apple products are hard to get. A comparison of percentages of sold devices by brand and complaints of malfunctions and insatisfaction shows that Samsung devices were the "champions" by a large margin. Microsoft devices with the Windows8 are not selling well in Brazil despite a huge ad campaign in the internet, papers and magazines. All this without an Apple retail store till June, with the first to be open in Rio and then Sao Paulo. Apple may be not the perfect tech company, but it's years ahead of competition. It does not promise or deliver bling-bling features that doesn't work or that are unnecessary, or OSses that freeze and crashes or are prone daily to malwares.

I have a iMac Core Duo (Intel) released January 10, 2006 and I believe I bought it that summer. OSX 10.6.8. Everything still works. Good audio. Burning CDs with the internal cd was always poor in my opinion.

http://www.everymac.com/mac-answers/snow-leopard-mac-os-x-faq/mac-os-x-snow-leopard-64-bit-macs-64-bit-efi-boot-in-64-bit-mode.html

Need 64bit processor and 64bit EFI for many of the new apps etc.

@donkusai, if you're having trouble with the new iTunes choose "show sidebar," everything old that was there is still there now and you can bring back the old design. I like the newer version, though I gather iTunes is not as good on Windows.

Incidentally we develop for Windows...on Macs. Being able to have Windows XP/Vista/7/8 in virtual machines that can be backed up and restored from a previous version if a virus hits is da bomb. I traded in my Mac Pro for a Mac Mini with dual SSDs, life is good.

choiwaruoyajiFeb. 14, 2013 - 01:37AM JST

Who cares what machine you have as long as it gets the job done?

True, which is why I discussed how you can just get a dirt cheap ipad 2 and do everything the new ones can, but better. I personally can't get anything done on oversized cellphones, and the only machines that do what i need are four threaded CUDA enabled machines that also have 6-8 hours of battery life for presentations.

Peter PayneFeb. 14, 2013 - 10:01AM JST

Incidentally we develop for Windows...on Macs. Being able to have Windows XP/Vista/7/8 in virtual machines that can be backed up and restored from a previous version if a virus hits is da bomb.

If you have viruses, you have someone that needs to be fired. Well, two people, the guy who downloaded it and the tech guy who didn't install proper AV software.

List of things Apple COPIED FROM OTHERS:

Thin laptops (note that these are actually THINNER than the MBA when it came out):

http://www.engadget.com/2004/05/12/sony-bringing-worlds-thinnest-laptop-to-america/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/24/intels-metro-laptop-prototype-is-worlds-thinnest/

LCD based all-in-one computers:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1367911,00.asp

Tablet with rectangular shape with rounded edges:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1387746,00.asp

And yes, you can just take the screen part, the keyboard is detachable.

Apple has never really innovated in computer devices since 1998, rather innovated in SELLING those ripoffs. PMPs with hard disks are the last thing they actually did an innovative thing (saying screw it to size and letting people stuff their entire music library in a single device)

Apple has never really innovated in computer devices since 1998, rather innovated in SELLING those ripoffs. PMPs with hard disks are the last thing they actually did an innovative thing (saying screw it to size and letting people stuff their entire music library in a single device)

I would not say cramping a hard-disk into PMP is innovative, same for that hyped-up retina.

blackrockFeb. 14, 2013 - 02:36PM JST

I would not say cramping a hard-disk into PMP is innovative

Not technologically, but practically all the competitors of the time used flash since HDDs were too fragile. Can't say it was the smartest move, but at least people did show that they wanted access to all their songs rather than just an album or two. The UI on the other hand was in many ways more refined than ios, and wheel method was nice to have, and not really implemented on many other devices of the time. Again, not entirely innovative, but very well marketed.

same for that hyped-up retina.

Retina displays weren't even apple's idea (mostly sharp), and they are actually the worst way to solve the issue of soft text (nothing else really matters since the displays have internal downscaling for everything but text for OSX), with ClearType being a far more advanced (and practical, since it works with everything other than pen-tile displays). Definitely not innovation, just the next version of the megapixel war (which finally seems to have run out of steam)

http://news.yahoo.com/apple-maps-stranding-fire-victims-apple-isnt-doing-222000443.html

Guess that there is one place where they did "innovate", and that's in making user experience go from world class to classless garbage!

My last 3 laptops have been Macs, currently my family has 2 MacPros, 1 MacBook Air, 3 iPads, 4 iPhones, and one PC computer. I spend more time keeping the PC running than I do on all the Mac products put together. That is a little unfair to the Macs/iPhones/iPads because they have required ZERO maintenance while the PC requires at least weekly maintenance to keep it running smoothly. My first Mac Book Pro, bought about 15 years ago was another story. It crashed all the time but the current models seem to be excellent. I don't know about innovative but I must say that I sincerely doubt if I go back to PCs. Looks like the PC world just keeps spiraling down, with Windows 8 being the latest crash and burn operating system. Macs are more expensive than PCs but in my personal experience they remain functional about 2 to 4 times as long as their PC counterparts with much less work spent keeping them updated and running smoothly. I am not a computer geek, so I don't like working on my computer, I would rather work with it. From that perspective, Apple seems to deliver much better than any PC maker. Indeed, if you are are going to use a PC, you are better off building your own PC or having one built for you than you are buying one if performance and reliability are issues for you. Just speaking from my personal experience.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Apple-iPhone-Trademark-Lawsuit-Gradiente,21098.html

Looks like the first thing they will need to innovate is naming...