The negativity in these comments is shocking and smug. However you feel about Apple and specific design decisions, Jony Ive is inarguably an exceptionally talented, successful, and influential designer that pushed entire industries out of chintzy, eye-sore, fast-fashion territory. High quality materials and (largely) enjoyable user experiences. Every human values that. The reason companies prioritize that is because of Jony Ive and Steve Jobs, like it or not.
Fair enough but I think there’s still a lot of bad blood among professionals as he pushed Apple products (particularly the laptops) away from premium workhorses towards something like luxury consumer products. A lot of the decisions he made have (thankfully) since been undone in the latest generations.
I don't disagree that they transitioned the industry to higher quality materials but they fully embraced the fashion lifecycle. There's a new iThing released every year immediately making your fully functional prior year iThing obsolete.
They might be using higher quality materials and adhere to aesthetic functionalism or whatever but their products fully embrace the fast-fashion expiration date.
> immediately making your fully functional prior year iThing obsolete.
Obsolete, or just no longer the newest, most coveted thing? I am still using an iPhone 11 and my wife uses an iPhone 8 and neither of us would consider our devices obsolete. Just less shiny and desirable.
I fully expect this to be down-voted into oblivion but here goes...
Obsolete is perhaps not the best choice of words, especially considering the pedantry of some folks.
Like fashion, Apple relies heavily on peer pressure, status, and perception to compel people to upgrade their devices at regular intervals by continually making minor aesthetic changes to the device such that it's apparent to others at a glance the vintage of your kit.
Obviously not everyone cares or can afford to care and, like vegans and crossfitters, they'll let you know who they are.
Apple does similar things with products like iMessage where they purposely call out those people not using their platform. The make interacting with those people less pleasant and nerf functionality down to the lowest common denominator from 15 years (e.g. potato quality photos). So much so that if you're not using an Apple device you'll probably hear mention of blue vs green bubbles on a monthly basis if not more frequently.
Apple has cultivated an upgrade/adoption culture that is part FOMO and part the persistent feeling that someone somewhere is looking down their nose at you. This is very much how the fashion industry operates.
> Apple relies heavily on peer pressure, status, and perception to compel people to upgrade their devices at regular intervals by continually making minor aesthetic changes to the device such that it's apparent to others at a glance the vintage of your kit.
I would argue that what you are describing is actually the relentless March of technological advancement. Look at the quality of the cameras and processors 2-3 generations apart and tell me again with a straight face that Apple is riding on peer pressure to entice people to buy the new generation. It’s bullshit - they keep iterating on dozens and dozens of features and improving generation by generation. The average user doesn’t need to upgrade every year - nor do they! - but doing so every 3-5 years yields massive benefits in terms of technological advancement.
