What happened to Apple's legendary attention to detail?

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Leadership, Culture, and Succession

  • Many tie the loss of detail-obsession directly to the former CEO’s death and inadequate succession planning.
  • Current leadership is framed as an operations/finance regime: optimizing margins, OKRs and shareholder expectations rather than product taste.
  • Some argue a visionary, product‑obsessed CEO is required to enforce quality and say “no” at scale; without that, middle management optimizes for metrics, not craftsmanship.

Perceived Software Decline and iOS 26/Tahoe

  • iOS 26 and macOS 26/Tahoe are repeatedly called buggy, slow, and visually incoherent: broken animations, layout shifts, black camera viewfinders, CarPlay glitches, Bluetooth instabilities, and performance regressions even on new devices.
  • Several note that virtually every screen they use daily has at least one obvious defect; others say their own installs are mostly fine, suggesting uneven quality.
  • Some see this as a long-running “software quality crisis” rather than a one-off bad release.

Liquid Glass, Notch, and Visual Direction

  • Liquid Glass is widely criticized as low-contrast, washed out, blurry, and MySpace‑like; some like its playfulness but still see poor refinement and accessibility.
  • The notch on Macs/iPhones remains contentious: defenders point to extra pixels; critics cite hidden menu items and “stolen” usable space.
  • Accessibility settings (larger text, dark mode) are reported to break layouts and make core apps unusable, especially for older users.

Features vs Quality and Release Cadence

  • Many blame a “feature treadmill”: yearly OS branding and stock/press pressure push flashy features over polish.
  • Suggested alternatives include biannual or tick‑tock releases (features then refinement), but commenters doubt current leadership would sacrifice perceived growth.
  • Some say attention to detail hasn’t vanished but has been redirected into dark patterns (iCloud upsell, “Not now” prompts) instead of UX.

Hardware Strength vs Software Weakness

  • Broad agreement that Apple’s hardware (Apple Silicon, battery life, trackpads, displays) is excellent; some say this is the only thing saving the company’s reputation.
  • Others list long-running hardware missteps (butterfly keyboards, bending phones, thermal issues) to argue “legendary quality” was always overstated.

Everyday UX Frictions

  • Numerous concrete annoyances: confusing Apple Pay card changes, Screen Time/parental controls that barely work, aggressive security pop‑ups, Safari layout regressions, keyboard and text‑selection oddities, inconsistent search and Settings navigation.
  • Users report modal dialogs that resize after appearing, delayed UI readiness, and animations that block interaction.

Myth vs Memory and Ecosystem Shift

  • Some argue the attention-to-detail legend was always partly myth; classic Mac OS and Snow Leopard also had serious flaws, but competitors were worse.
  • Others stress that older Macs still felt cohesive under a clear “Macintosh Way”; today macOS is seen as just another web‑ and mobile‑influenced platform with nagging and lock‑in.
  • Comparison point: despite complaints, many still find macOS markedly preferable to Windows 11 and Android UX.

Culture, Talent, and Gatekeeping

  • One line of discussion blames cultural dilution: original “A players” left, hiring standards softened, and gatekeeping against low-skill or misaligned hires weakened.
  • Others push back, arguing management incentives, not inclusivity or DEI, drive decline; harsh “brutal honesty” is contrasted with professional, tactful communication.

User Responses and Alternatives

  • Some long‑time users vow to freeze on older OS versions or delay upgrades by a year; others plan to switch to Android or Linux desktops (Fedora, Mint, Omarchy, helloSystem, Framework laptops).
  • A minority genuinely like iOS/macOS 26’s new features and aesthetics and report few issues, suggesting experiences vary widely.