Video interview with Apple managers: tops, challenges and flops | News

Over the last two and a half decades, Apple has certainly been spoiled for success. The majority of what was taken into hand was intended to become a long-term success – whether iPod, iPhone or, in recent years, the ever-growing services division. In an interview with Apple’s hardware boss John Ternus and marketing director Greg Joswiak, the two managers discuss what they currently describe as major achievements and challenges. However, less resounding successes are also discussed that did not perform as Apple had hoped.

MacBook Neo of course a success…
It’s little surprise that Ternus and Joswiak are putting the MacBook Neo in the foreground. Ternus expressly differentiates the device from inexpensive Windows notebooks and says that many competing models in this price range are made of plastic and are so cheaply built that they can literally be bent. With the Neo, however, they were able to follow the motto “We don’t ship junk” and deliver a high-quality device that is based on previous technologies and is therefore a fully-fledged Mac. Apple glasses were also discussed. Joswiak calls the connection between the digital and physical worlds a kind of “inevitability” – and makes it clear that he continues to see computer glasses as an important long-term development.

…but MacBook Air 2008 and Apple Maps 2012 don’t
What’s almost even more interesting, however, is what is considered a flop internally. Joswiak mentions, of all things, the first MacBook Air from 2008. As iconic and new as it was back then, the sales figures were unfortunately just as bad, he says. Obviously, the product was initially not positioned the way many customers wanted it – but this was probably also due to the high price ($1,799) and limited hardware performance. Ternus also points to the rocky start of Apple Maps and describes it as an example of an ambitious project that initially went poorly, but through persistence developed into something strong.

On the topic of AI
For Ternus, the live translation of the AirPods Pro is an example of how AI should work – namely in such a way that users don’t even notice that they are relying on artificial intelligence. Ternus and Joswiak are trying to consciously differentiate Apple from the competition. The message is that Apple doesn’t just want to deliver technology just because it’s new, but rather use it in a way that creates better products, functions and experiences. AI must therefore be integrated in a form that does not require people to be chat box experts.