Apple needs a Snow Sequoia

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Perceived decline in Apple software quality

  • Many long‑time Mac users (back to System 6/7, OS 9, early OS X) say macOS 13–15 and recent iOS releases feel buggier and less coherent than earlier eras.
  • Concrete complaints: unreliable Spotlight and Finder search, fragile indexing, System Settings laggy and confusing, Messages sync and storage issues, Mail delays and misclassification, iOS keyboard glitches, Photos regressions, Apple TV Bluetooth drops, random UI freezes or focus issues.
  • Several note Apple Silicon hides a lot of inefficiency; the same software on Intel feels sluggish or overheated.

Snow Leopard nostalgia and what people actually want

  • Multiple commenters stress Snow Leopard itself was buggy at launch; its reputation comes from ~2 years of polish and “nothing flashy” focus.
  • “Snow Sequoia” is read as a request for a cycle (or LTS‑style release) focused on bug‑fixing, cleanup and coherency across the stack, not literally zero new features.
  • There’s recurring praise for other “pullback” releases (OS 9, Tiger, High Sierra) that followed heavy feature pushes.

Process, culture, and the yearly release train

  • Former Apple employees say QA finds the bugs; management ships anyway because the September train must leave, and once a bug ships it’s effectively deprioritized.
  • Attempts to push deadlines earlier just moved risky features into dot releases where scrutiny is lower.
  • WWDC and the annual OS cadence are blamed for “must have something to demo” pressure; marketing and top‑line metrics override engineering judgement.
  • Some argue Apple is now optimized for Wall Street growth and subscriptions rather than craftsmanship.

Design, usability, and search regressions

  • System Settings redesign is widely panned: inconsistent, hard to navigate, many options buried behind small “i” buttons; search itself is often broken.
  • Spotlight and iOS search are cited as going from excellent to unreliable, with web “garbage” results, slow response, missing matches, and loss of user‑controlled result ordering.
  • Discoverability of features increasingly depends on hidden modifiers, long‑presses, or keynote videos rather than visible UI.

Lock‑in, hardware, and alternatives

  • Many critics still stay on Macs because no PC laptop matches the combination of screen, trackpad, speakers, thermals, and battery life; Apple Silicon is especially praised.
  • Others are moving or flirting with Linux (GNOME, KDE, Fedora Atomic, Framework, Asahi) or Windows, noting that Electron and web apps have made switching easier.
  • Some see Apple’s tightening security model (Gatekeeper, notarization, entitlements) as turning macOS into an “appliance” and making internal or indie development harder.

Broader industry context

  • Several note that declining quality isn’t unique to Apple: modern Windows, Google services, and many apps show similar “good enough, ship it, patch later” patterns.
  • Underlying causes discussed: growth‑at‑all‑costs incentives, bureaucracy, metrics that reward new features over maintenance, and the assumption that online updates can fix anything after release.