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For Apple, it's been the best of times; it's been the worst of times.
On the plus side of the ledger:
- 4 million iPhones pre-ordered, 10 million sold in the first weekend.
- iOS 8 on about 1/3 of devices, literally hundreds of millions, with an important update already shipped.
- Tim Cook confidently running the product intros and then appearing on Charlie Rose and in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, further cementing his status as the calm but confident man in charge of the new Apple.
- Cook showing he's the kind of CEO who can marshall the support of major banks and retailers to launch Apple Pay next month, which might prove to be his signature product at the helm.
On the minus side:
- A huge number of celebrity iCloud accounts hacked ("Celebgate").
- A botched iOS update making phones unusable.
- An unwatchable video stream from the iPhone launch.
- A muddle message around the Apple Watch, the first all-new product of the post-Steve Jobs Apple.
- Some early reports of durability issues with iPhone 6 Plus ("Bendgate").
- Some inability to install iOS 8 contributing to the slowest adoption of any upgrade in several years.
- Missing features in iOS 8 mostly due to the Mac OS X upgrade not being ready, including one that could make data inaccessible.
Here's a detailed replay of the last 4 weeks, with all the triumph and tragedy. There's a good chance much of the bad will soon largely be forgotten, but in a moment where Apple is arguably at the height of its power once again -- with the stock nearing all-time highs and the iPhone poised to deliver record sales -- the company is under a cloud due to a series of missteps.
August 31 -- "Celebgate": The iCloud Hack
Barely a week before the biggest product announcement of the Tim Cook era, the personal photos of numerous celebrities, including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, are "exposed" all over the internet. Many reports suggest that hackers are able to gain access to their iCloud accounts because Apple has made it too easy to repeatedly guess passwords.
Apple issues a statement absolving itself of responsibility, but the truth is that it's at least partly culpable. First of all, it's two-factor authentication wasn't yet protecting iCloud backups -- since fixed. Second of all, though Cook tells Rose that the attack on the celebrity accounts was phishing, Apple did subsequently close the hole that allowed for "brute force" attacks to hunt for passwords. The company's official statement suggests other kinds of social engineering might have been involved.
By September 5, Cook is still talking about users' role in security, not Apple's: "When I step back from this terrible scenario that happened and say what more could we have done, I think about the awareness piece," he said. "I think we have a responsibility to ratchet that up. That's not really an engineering thing." He makes a legitimate point, but the reality is that "Celebgate" happens at least in part because Apple fails to engineer solutions to stop it.
September 9 -- Failure to launch
Apple's streaming video of its iPhone and Apple Watch launch is a mess. It's most unwatchable for the first part, though occasionally it comes through with a Chinese translation in voiceover. The mini-fiasco becomes a chance for numerous people to mock Apple on Twitter and reminds them that when it comes to providing services in the cloud, Apple isn't so good at it. You know, like securing your personal data....
September 9 -- One more thing
... but by the time the presentation is done, that's all a footnote. Apple has announced two new iPhones, both heavily rumored but still very satisfying to the faithful. They close the "size gap" with Android, promise better camera quality, and, of course, will carry the new iOS 8, home to the greatest number of polished apps of any ecosystem on earth. Apple also touts its new digital wallet, Apple Pay. Then, in bringing back the Steve Jobs-ian "One More Thing..." Apple shows off the Apple Watch. The demo is weird, people are skeptical the device is useful. Some then get upset that Apple gives away the new U2 album Songs of Innocence because it automatically downloads to their phones (you can't please everyone, right?). What should be seen as a gift leads to a bit of unhappiness and a reminder that Apple isn't as hip as it once was, partnering with a truly legendary rock band whose best days were two decades ago.
The event starts low, hits a high with the phones and Apple Pay, then ends on a muted low with the Watch and the U2 thing. It's not really obvious at the time, but in 2 hours, that roller coaster ride is September in microcosm.
September 12 -- Pre-order, Part I
As per usual, Apple is willing to take orders for the new phones a week in advance of its actual release. Apple's site is late to "open" and then people struggle to access it for several hours. Another reminder that when it comes to online services, Apple is not so good (see above... but then see below!)
September 12 -- Everything's coming up Rose
Cook's interview with Charlie Rose airs later that night. He's mostly affable and sometimes bordering on ebullient. Occasionally, though, he teeters on the edge of revisionist history: "We could have done a larger iPhone years ago," he tells Rose. But as noted by The Verge and others, Apple was worried as recently as April 2013 that customers "want what we don't have," specifically phones with screens larger than 4 inches. Is the company's finger still on the pulse of what people want? Is it still the tastemaker? In the end, Cook is Cook and therefore humble, reminding folks about the early issues with Apple Maps: "We screwed up."
September 15 -- Pre-order, Part II
Those web site delays from the Friday before notwithstanding, a record 4 million iPhones are ordered in the first 24 hours. Clearly, there's pent-up demand for those bigger screen models -- maybe Apple does still have "it." As with the keynote, the good news has almost drowned out the bad. (Oh, and Apple quietly releases a tool that lets you delete U2 from your phone.
September 15 -- Ring around the Rose
The Charlie Rose gab-fest continues with Cook doubling-down on privacy. Apple doesn't sell your info, everyone else does. The message is right; it's a clear differentiator. Just two weeks removed from "Celebgate," though, it perhaps doesn't resonate like it could given people aren't sure Apple can protect that data right now. With Apple Pay set to launch shortly, the perception of security might be more critical than the one around privacy.
September 17 -- iOS 8 Is Great!
Remember Apple's inability to do cloud, services, et al. Funny how no one talks about that when millions download its latest mobile software almost the instant it becomes available right? With some slowness, but few reports of any real glitches on the server side, iOS 8 launches. It's literally on tens of millions of iOS devices inside of a day.
September 17 -- i-i-iOS 8, Part I
Alas, millions can't install it because they lack enough free space on their iPhones and iPads. The fix involving iTunes isn't especially well explained by Apple (see this awful support page by way of example). A significant problem is devices with just 16GB of memory. Apple will sell another 100+ million of those this year, by the way.
September 17 -- i-i-iOS 8, Part II
But wait, there's more -- and less. Apple will have to pull the plug on all apps that make use of HealthKit because of bugs with that centerpiece of iOS 8. Yet the nastiest potential glitch of all awaits those who follow an on-screen prompt to activate iCloud Drive, an excellent feature that's unfortunately not yet available on the Mac. If you say yes, all your Pages, Numbers and Keynote files become inaccessible on the Mac until you can get the new version of Mac OS X, Yosemite, likely out next month.
A series of other features relating to Continuity, which allows you to continue activities on your Mac that you started on your iPhone also don't work yet. On the plus side, this means your Mac hasn't started spontaneously ringing every time you get a phone call (as most folks iPads have... To stop: Settings --> FaceTime --> iPhone Cellular Calls (set to off).
September 19 -- Long lines for iPhones
The wait is over... but just beginning for many. Long lines around the world (but not China, thanks to regulators there) greet would-be buyers and the larger iPhone 6 Plus sells out pretty much everywhere. Though Apple had made far fewer of them, the early demand is good news as it shows Apple has a hit on its hands not just with the new phone, but also with the phablet. By the time the weekend is over, Apple will have sold a record 10 million combined of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Somehow, analysts yawn, comparing that to the 9 million last year and thinking it's not impressive. They seem not to notice that the 6 Plus is $200 more than the 5c and has likely sold in equal quantities to it on opening weekend.
September 24 -- "Bendgate" Part I
The second "gate" in less than 4 weeks for Apple, as some users report their iPhone 6 Plus is bending near the volume buttons. This is demonstrated in a YouTube video by an average guy with bare hands, yet Apple somehow decides it's not a real problem because only 9 people have reported it. A search on YouTube for "bendgate" currently returns over 2,000 results and, in addition to the original video, a Wired reporter notes his tester unit also bent in what he describes as normal use over a week.
September 24 -- i-i-iOS 8.0.1, Call me, maybe?
Apple tries to put out the first update to its new mobile OS, but something goes terribly wrong and people lose the ability to make or receive calls. Their phone becomes something very much other than that. The update is yanked quickly, the solution is again to use iTunes to reinstall iOS 8.0, but unless you already know what you're doing, well...
September 25 -- "Bendgate" Part II
Apple issues a pointless statement that the iPhone 6 Plus is strong then invites journalists to see its testing lab. The good news is that it seems to prove it tests its phones. The bad news is that in no way did it change the narrative here. This meme has already gone mainstream and it certainly appears there is some kind of problem. Serious enough to affect everyone? Doubtful. Serious enough to affect the perception that Apple builds bulletproof-quality products? Yes. (See immediately below!)
September 25 -- iOS 8.0.2 to tango
Promising to fix the 8.0.1 glitch within days, Apple fixes it... within days. I'm watching my local news still reporting yesterday's news about 8.0.1 and have already downloaded and installed the updated version hours earlier. It seems stable, it doesn't disable anything important and it even has the fix in place for HealthKit, which means the related apps should be coming to the App Store imminently.
Whether there's another shoe yet to drop, the piling on is well underway. Apple is being called a catastrophe and the semi-sober are getting semi-apocalyptic:
I am feeling like Apple is starting to come apart at the seams. It executes some stuff perfectly & tons of problems.
— Glenn Fleishman (@GlennF) September 26, 2014
More than likely, the volume of problems is a function of trying to do many things in a very tight window and the sense of proportion is a function of the media magnifying glass . In the end iOS 8 will approach the 90% adoption of iOS 7, the new iPhones will help Apple close in on a 200 million phone year, and iCloud security will be stronger than ever. But at the moment, what should be a period of pure ecstasy has its far share of agony at Apple.
