Apple is a great example of branding a company that could deliver the customers’ desires and keep them loyal for decades. One of my friends used to tell me that if one day Apple stopped producing its MacBooks, she would stop using a personal computer immediately. I don’t think she meant it but rather wanted to show how important and useful Apple’s products are, even to a degree that many consumers can’t imagine their daily lives without those gadgets.
With this being said, we all understand that no company can stay the same, and sometimes they need to kill some products or create new ones, which somehow changes the brand’s face and identity. Forbes recently published an article called “Apple May Require A Gradual Strategic Shift To Maintain Growth” which made me think what if one day we really don’t have our Macs or iPhones, which some people believe would be replaced by smart pins or similar technologies?
In this article, we will be discovering the current position of Apple with its beloved products and whether or not they are still competitive, since many rivals work day and night to produce some sort of revolutionary alternatives to own the trophy of the best tech and innovation company in the world. Let’s start with Macs.
Gaming is rising but are Macs good for gaming?
As gaming continues its meteoric rise in mainstream popularity, Mac users may be wondering if Apple’s sleek machines make worthy gaming rigs. Unfortunately, the consensus in the Mac vs PC for gaming debate is a resounding “not really” – at least compared to the powerhouse performance offered by the latest gaming-focused Windows PCs.
The core issue stems from Apple’s laser focus on optimizing its hardware for professional creative workloads like video editing, music production, and graphics design. While tremendously capable of those tasks, macOS systems simply aren’t tuned to extract maximum gaming performance.
Take graphics processing, for instance. High-end Windows gaming laptops and desktops pack potent dedicated GPUs from Nvidia’s RTX and AMD’s Radeon lines – video cards purpose-built to blaze through graphically demanding games at max settings. In contrast, even the top-tier MacBook Pros only come equipped with integrated Intel Iris or Apple’s own M-series silicon, which maxes out around Xbox One-level graphics capabilities.
Games often get ported to macOS long after initial PC releases too. And when they do arrive, it’s common for developers to dial back graphical details or implement other optimizations to ensure smooth performance on lower-spec Apple rigs. The end result is a compromised gaming experience that fails to harness modern titles’ full graphical glory.
That’s not to say Macs can’t handle older or less intensive games competently. Lower-spec indie hits and classic franchises frequently run great within macOS’s streamlined environment. But for maintaining butter-smooth frame rates on cutting-edge AAA blockbusters – especially at higher resolutions – gaming PCs thoroughly outclass Apple’s hardware across the board.
iPhones haven’t been changed for years: What’s Next?
While the iPhone remains Apple’s flagship product line and a sales juggernaut generating $46 billion this year alone, critics are increasingly questioning whether the line’s innovation pipeline is running dry. Year after year, new iPhone models largely adhere to the same fundamental formula – incrementally boosting processors, cameras, and ancillary features without fundamentally rethinking the overall user experience. It begs the question: What bold moonshot ideas lay on Apple’s mobile roadmap to keep customers compelled?
There’s no denying the iPhone’s stratospheric success to date. Around 1.46 billion active iPhones are currently in use worldwide. In premium flagship phone segments particularly, consumers voraciously keep upgrading year after year – from 232 million iPhone 13 series units shipped just in 2022. Apple’s smartphone clearly remains an object of desire and brand allegiance.
Rivals like Samsung’s innovative Galaxy Z Fold and Flip lineups are starting to seize market share by leaning into foldable and dual-screen form factors. On the other hand, Google’s excellent Tensor-chipped Pixel smartphones earn raves for their sophisticated AI processing and image computing capabilities. So, reshaping the face of iPhones remains a significant challenge for Apple.
Siri is still way too far from being called a Smart assistant
When Apple introduced Siri as a virtual voice-controlled assistant way back in 2011, the digital helper seemed equal parts impressive and overhyped. While competent at basic hands-free queries, voice transcriptions, and simple task reminders, it quickly became apparent the system’s “intelligent” component amounted to little more than web search aggregation powered by Wolfram Alpha data.
Over a decade later, Siri still suffers from that fundamental lack of genuine artificial intelligence. Consider what’s happened on the competitive landscape just in recent months: OpenAI’s ChatGPT exploding onto the scene demonstrating next-generation language understanding and problem-solving capacities. Google is continuously empowering its Gemini to expand into multimodal capabilities seamlessly combining text and visuals. Anthropic’s Claude exhibits self-awareness and emotional intelligence. Even Siri’s mobile archrivals like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant are racing to implement large language model underpinnings for more cogent dialogue.
Unfortunately, Apple’s assistant still lacks the depth, contextual awareness, and generalized intelligence to engage in substantive conversations, answer follow-up queries, learn from interactions, or truly grasp complex queries the way modern AI systems can. Sure, over the years Apple has ported Siri to more devices and modalities – but under the hood, it’s still essentially a voice-to-web search interface with some baked-in process automation.
