The past few days have been pretty hectic in the world of Apple news. The company recently announced that the new Siri experience has been delayed, and sources are saying that the new features promised at last year’s WWDC won’t be ready anytime soon. With all the buzz surrounding Apple lately, it’s got me thinking – maybe what we really need is another Snow Leopard.
If you’ve been using Mac for a while, you might remember how big of a deal Mac OS X Snow Leopard was. Back then, Apple wasn’t churning out new versions of Mac OS X every year like they do now.
When Snow Leopard was released, Apple wasn’t focused on flashy new features or design changes. Instead, they put all their energy into making the software more stable.
I was reminded of all this when I saw a clip from WWDC 2009 where Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s former VP of software engineering, announced Snow Leopard and proudly declared it had “zero new features.” It got me thinking about how much Apple has evolved over the years, and how maybe they could learn a thing or two from their past.
Back at WWDC 2008 Apple’s Bertrand Serlet announced Mac OS X Snow Leopard with an unprecedented tagline:
0 New Features 🔥The aim was to invest into the existing software stack to improve product quality and performance. (Session 300, Mac OS X State of the Union, 1:09:52)
Apple has never been one to easily admit when it’s made a mistake, but there have been times when the company had to own up to its errors. I remember writing about this during the Fine Woven accessories debacle.
Who could forget when Steve Jobs called a press conference just to address the iPhone 4 Antennagate scandal? Or when he openly acknowledged that MobileMe wasn’t up to par and promised improvements?
I do miss that Apple, the one that was willing to be transparent and admit when things weren’t perfect. It’s hard to picture the current Apple making a similar move, like announcing a product with “zero new features” or openly admitting to customers that their products aren’t flawless.
Apple needs to take a step back and fix its software
Fast forward to today, a recent Bloomberg report dropped a bombshell: Robby Walker, the big shot senior director of Siri and Intelligence at Apple, didn’t hold back in a meeting with the Siri team. He straight up called the delays in Apple Intelligence “ugly” and “embarrassing.”
Just to give you some background, Apple got everyone hyped up about Apple Intelligence back in June at WWDC 2024. But when iOS 18 and macOS 15 rolled out, none of the promised features were ready. Some of them eventually showed up months later, but the highly anticipated new Siri? Nowhere to be found. It was even featured in iPhone 16 TV ads, but still no sign of it. And let’s be real, if you hop online, you’ll see tons of complaints about bugs in Apple’s latest software.