Welcome to our Apple Breakfast weekend column, which includes all the Apple news you’ve been missing this week in one handy summary. We’re calling it the Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s great if you want to read it over lunch or dinner, too.
The king has evil advisers
There’s an age-old practice in the UK – and probably other shitty monarchies* – whereby shrewd political operatives disguise criticism of the king by complaining instead of his “bad advisers.It’s a fiction that has been exploited to great effect by a few Prime Ministeralso, and more than once I have caught myself applying it to the CEO of Apple.
Tim Cook is a seemingly respectable man in a transparent way. Around the periphery of his role as head of Apple, he’s done some transparently decent things, from championing the rights of gay and transgender people and migrant workers to fending off climate-skeptical shareholders. But when it comes to the company’s core business, his eyes are on profits. He has one of the top corporate jobs in the world for a reason, which is that under his leadership Apple has made and continues to make a lot of money. And as tempting as it is to assign the company’s least fluffy strategies to an imaginary evil adviser (perhaps a profit-obsessed shareholder spokesman), the simpler explanation is that Cook is a ruthless businessman.
First time even seeing an ad for Android and it’s all going off
Take iMessage, for example, which was in the news this week when Google pulled a huge billboard trying to shame its rival into adopting the RCS messaging standard so that iPhone and Android owners can text each other from a position of equals. Now, if Cook’s Apple existed to make the world a better place (as we sometimes like to think) this would be a no-brainer. There are technical hurdles, sure, but a universal standard across all platforms would help people stay connected more easily regardless of device choice. Apple doesn’t want to, however, because iMessage (and the shaming doled out to Android users when they join a group chat and force everyone to use SMS) is a brilliant way to encourage people to buy iPhones. And Cook’s job isn’t to do the right thing for his competitors, it’s to do the right thing for Apple.
A similar principle applies to the company’s ongoing, multi-pronged battle against allegations of anticompetitive behavior. Again, it’s hard to argue that allowing users to fix their own devices, for example, wouldn’t make life easier for at least some people. But in-house, authorized repairs are a juicy source of income, so Apple resisted the idea as long as possible and then rolled out a self-repair program ostensibly designed to discourage people. Ditto for payment systems and alternative app stores: both have endured, not because they open users up to security issues (a useful but fixable consideration) but because they undermine valuable revenue streams.
Overall, I’m fine with this. It’s not Apple’s job to make our lives easier. It is a company, whose only tasks are to increase profitability and obey the law. Also, I generally don’t trust corporate responsibility: if we want change, why should we depend on the charity of some cause? Instead, we should enforce the behaviors we demand from our companies using the law and the ballot box. Not just because it’s the only language they understand, but because they can’t change their minds when it gets inconvenient.
Okay, I’m English, I can tell.*
IDG
Trending: Top news of the week
In memory: five once-exceptional products Apple killed in 2022.
Jason Snell explains why Apple’s most puzzling decisions they are not as crazy as they seem.
We have rounded the five most impactful features Apple unveiled in 2022.
And here five CES 2023 announcements Apple fans should not ignore.
Repair the iPhoneAnd more New Year’s resolutions Apple needs to do.
Jason Cross discusses Apple advantage of 3nm chip (and explain why it really doesn’t matter)
Apple is “seriously” considering a price cut such as iPhone 14 Plus sales slump.
Apple shares MagSafe with the world in the new Qi wireless charging standard2.
The gossip
Which of Apple’s biggest rumors will become reality in 2023?
WWDC 2023 it could be from Apple most exciting keynote in years.
A pair cheaper than AirPods “Lite” it will reportedly help Apple compete with sub $100 earphones.
It’s a Apple Watch bigger and brighter is reported coming next year.
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus it is said to get a massive Pro camera upgrade.
Apples first release of 2023 could be a Android application.
How big will 2023 be for Mac? This big.
Fortnite May go back to the iPhone in 2023.
Podcast of the week
The New Year is often used as a gateway to change. And while Apple does a lot of things right, we hope Apple takes that cue and introduces a few much needed changes. Macworld staff talk about some things we hope Apple will do in 2023 in this episode of the Macworld Podcast.
You can watch every episode of the Macworld Podcast at Spotify, sound cloudsthe Podcast appsor our site.
Software updates, bugs and problems
Apple has ‘temporarily’ pulled a core functionality of iOS 16.2.
Noted the overexposed raw image export error in macOS Monterey Photos? Don’t worry, it is fixed in macOS Ventura.
And with that, we’re done for this week. If you would like to receive regular roundups, please subscribe to our newsletters. You can also follow us on Twitter for the latest news. See you next Saturday, enjoy the rest of the weekend and stay Appley.
