I feel Apple has lost its alignment with me and other long-time customers
Long‑time Apple users are questioning whether the company’s latest iPhone, AirPods, Apple Watch and macOS updates still reflect the “it just works” design ethos associated with the Steve Jobs era. Many criticize visual changes like Liquid Glass, the focus on thin hardware such as the iPhone Air, and sealed, short‑lived accessories as trading usability and longevity for fashion and marketing spectacle. Others counter that smartphones and laptops are now mature products, Apple is still delivering class‑leading hardware and long support lifecycles, and that disillusioned power users may simply no longer be the company’s primary audience.
Design Changes: Liquid Glass, Tahoe, and iOS 26
- Many see Liquid Glass and the new macOS/iOS look as “innovation for its own sake”: more transparency, motion, and visual noise that reduce legibility and feel Vista‑like.
- Complaints center on harder‑to‑read text, extra taps for common actions (e.g., Safari tabs), and design churn instead of bug‑fixing.
- Others like the new aesthetic and in‑place menus and say once you tweak accessibility (e.g., reduce transparency) it works well, arguing Apple is trying to avoid seeming stale after a decade‑old UI.
iPhone Air, Lineup Strategy, and Form vs Function
- One camp sees iPhone Air as a gimmicky, half‑fake thin phone with worse battery and camera, arguing phones are already too thin and too big; many would prefer a thicker “fat battery” phone or a return of the mini.
- Another camp thinks Air is a smart segmentation: Air for people who value feel, thinness, and fashion; Pro/Pro Max for camera, battery, and “tool” buyers. They see this as analogous to Watch vs Watch Ultra.
- Some frame Air as a large‑scale manufacturing/supply‑chain test and/or a step toward foldables, though others say it doesn’t exercise the truly hard foldable problems.
Awe, Maturity, and Event Fatigue
- Strong sense that “awe” has faded: phones, laptops, and watches are mature; keynotes feel over‑hyped for incremental gains.
- A minority push back, citing Apple Silicon, AirPods, satellite features, and Vision Pro as genuinely transformative, but concede the cadence is slower and surrounded by a lot of marketing gloss.
AirPods, Watch, and Ecosystem Value
- AirPods Pro are widely praised as one of Apple’s best products in years: great ANC, sound, and especially device‑switching within the ecosystem; many Android and Windows users say they still buy them.
- Others argue they’re overpriced, e‑waste by design (non‑repairable, battery replacement = replacement unit), and that comparable earbuds exist much cheaper.
- Apple Watch divides opinion: some find it bloated and fidgety and dislike the yearly “life‑saving sob stories” marketing; others say those health/emergency features are uniquely valuable, especially in remote areas.
Repairability, Modularity, and E‑Waste
- A visible group wants thicker, modular phones with easily swappable batteries and screens, citing Fairphone and old Nokias as proof it’s feasible and better for cost and e‑waste.
- Opponents argue that most buyers don’t want to repair anything themselves, modularity would hurt waterproofing and size, and fast charging + power banks largely replaced hot‑swap batteries.
- Several report mixed real‑world repair experiences: cheap kiosk repairs often poor; Apple sometimes breaks devices during service but replaces them; genuine parts are expensive either way.
Alignment, Lock‑In, and Nostalgia
- Many long‑time Apple users feel “out of alignment”: they see Apple chasing lifestyle/status and shareholder value over the old “it just works for serious users” ethos.
- Others counter that tech circles have complained since the 90s, that Apple’s real alignment is with billions of mainstream users, and emotional loyalty to any megacorp is a dead end.
- There’s broad agreement that ecosystem lock‑in is real (photos, iMessage, apps, Watch, AirPods), making switching to Android/Linux costly in time and convenience, even when people are unhappy.