[jannyfer]

> What Apple does best lies at the combination of hardware, software, physical materials, and human-computer interface design.

This was true maybe a decade ago, but not so now (under the watch of Tim Cook).

You listed Mac hardware becoming popular in the age of AI as examples of "unexpected wins". Maybe that's true (I don't know if it is) - but Macs were only 8% of Apple's 2025 revenue. Apple has become an iPhone company (50% of revenue) that sells services (26% of revenue).

And AI can eat away at both. If Siri sucks so hard that people switch away, that would also reduce Services revenue from lost App Store revenue cuts. If Google bundles Gemini with YouTube and Google Photos storage, people might cancel their iCloud subscriptions.

I think the parent comment was making the point that Tim Cook's Apple has missed the boat and it doesn't show signs that it's going to catch the next wave.

I have an iPhone 16 and I'm locked in because of all my photos being on my iCloud subscription. But in 2030, if my colleague can use their Pixel phone to record a work meeting, have it diarized, send out minutes, grab relevant info and surface it before the next relevant meeting, and Siri can still only set a timer for 5 minutes, then I might actually switch.

[alwillis]

> Macs were only 8% of Apple's 2025 revenue.

If the Mac were its own standalone business, it would rank at no. 134 on the Fortune 500 with $33.7 billion in revenue. Also, that's a 12% increase in revenue compared to 2024.

If anything, AI has brought more attention to the Mac. Just about every major AI app is released for the Mac first. I've seen complaints about it on HN.

The latest is Claude Cowork. It was released for macOS on January 12th; it didn't ship for Windows until February 10th; it's still not available for Windows running on ARM.

It's been nearly a year since Dia launched [1], the first AI browser, and it's still not available for Windows.

We just had the frenzy over OpenClaw [2] with AI enthusiasts lining up at Apple Stores to buy a Mac mini just to run it!

The most popular AI channels on YouTube are almost exclusively using Macs. Apple seems to have enough runway until they get their act together.

[1]: https://browsercompany.substack.com/p/letter-to-arc-members-...

[2]: https://builder.aws.com/content/399VbZq9tzAYguWfAHMtHBD6x8H/...

[pjmlp]

Outside US, most people that buy Macs do so because they are developers targeting iDevices, or can afford Apple and want the ecosystem that comes with their iDevice.

An independent Mac business that doesn't have such tie-ins, would sell much less.

[vachina]

> Siri sucks so hard that people switch away

I don’t think people choose iPhone for the Siri.

> my colleague can use their Pixel phone to record a work meeting

I think lots of startups are tackling this in this space. Hardly a native feature. Attainable an app install away

[lolive]

Tried an android phone given by my company. Gemini is at your fingertips, with a single button press. That’s INCREDIBLE! [everything Siri never delivered]. Put that into a headphone or headphone-enabled glasses. Plus a ring. And the need for an advanced UI-based phone fades away for many usages.

[tokioyoyo]

I’m not sure how to say it without sounding like an Apple fanboy, but Tim Cook has been the CEO for the past 15 years. Every single year people have been whining how “he’s not visionary and etc.”, but at some point you have to give him some credit. Apple of 2026 has completely different landscape versus apple of 2010/earlier. Scaling from millions to billions of sales is incredibly hard, and he’s been able to accomplish it.

[teaneedz]

Would you feel the same if in 2030, all the actions you describe, work most of the time but still produce questionable output requiring time to verify and fact check due to the probabilistic nature of the LLM engine? This is unsolvable with LLMs. I don't want an embedded or agentic AI but do give me the option to pick a model of my choice and accept the risks when I want to. I don't want tainted generated summaries, replies or code in certain critical areas.

[wrxd]

> I have an iPhone 16 and I'm locked in because of all my photos being on my iCloud subscriptio

Ever heard of the Data Transfer Project? https://support.google.com/photos/answer/10502587?sjid=95203...

[tarsinge]

I get your general point but specifically regarding :

> have it diarized, send out minutes, grab relevant info and surface it before the next relevant meeting

Slack already has this integrated and it works quite well.

[coldtea]

Also, since AI will mean most are just let go, why would they need meeting minutes? AI would be so crucial as to be the make or break phone/laptop feature, but people would still have meetings?

At best they will use it to tell them for special offers that they can buy with food coupons.

[mvanbaak]

How about using a 3rd party app? Gemini and chatgpt apps can already do a lot!

[nandomrumber]

If my colleagues phone can do all that, great - I don’t need mine to.