Apple hardware is outpacing Apple software

Something interesting about the new iPhone 16: the software isn't ready. Specifically, the AI ("Apple Intelligence") enhancements promised by Apple are still only that: promises.

Apple can develop hardware faster than it can develop software. That's a problem.

Apple has had this problem for a while. The M1 Mac computers first showed this problem. Apple delivered the computers, with their integrated system-on-chip design and more efficient processing, but delivered no software to take advantage of that processing.

It may be that Apple cares little for software. They sell computers -- hardware -- and not software. And it appears that Apple has "outsourced" the development of applications: it relies on third parties to build applications for Macs and iPhones. Oh, Apple delivers some core applications, such as utilities to configure the device, the App Store to install apps, and low-powered applications such as Pages and Numbers. But there is little beyond that.

Apple's software development focusses on the operating system and features for the device: MacOS and Pages for the Mac, iPadOS and Stage Manager for the iPad, iOS and Facetime and Maps for the iPhone. Apple builds no database systems, has lukewarm support and enhancements for the Xcode IDE, and few apps for the iPhone.

I suspect that Apple's ability to develop software has atrophied. Apple has concentrated its efforts on hardware (and done rather well) but has lost its way with software.

That explains the delay for Apple Intelligence on the iPhone. Apple spent a lot of time and effort on the project, and (I suspect) most of that was for the hardware. Updates to iOS for the new iPhone were (probably) fairly easy and routine. But the new stuff, the thing that needed a lot of work, was Apple Intelligence.

And it's late.

Thinking about the history of Apple's software, I cannot remember a similar big feature added by Apple. There is Facetime, which seems impressive but I think the iPhone app is rather simple and a lot of the work is in the back end and scalability of that back end. Stage Manager was (is) also rather simple. Even features of the Apple Watch such as fall detection and SOS calls are not that complex. Operating systems were not that difficult: The original iOS was new, but iPadOS is a fork of that and WatchOS is a fork of it too (I think).

Apple Intelligence is a large effort, a greenfield effort (no existing code), and one that is very different from past efforts. Perhaps it is not surprising that Apple is having difficulties.

I expect that Apple Intelligence will be delivered later than expected, and will have more bugs and problems than most Apple software.

I also expect to see more defects and exploits in Apple's operating systems. Operating systems are not particularly complex (they are as complex as one makes them) but development and maintenance requires discipline. One gets that discipline through constant development and constant monitoring of that development. It requires an appreciation of the importance of the software, and I'm not sure that Apple has that mindset.

If I'm right, we will see more and more problems with Apple software. (Slowly at first, and then all at once.) Recovery will require a change in Apple's management philosophy and probably the senior management team.