Taking a look back at another week of news from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop includes the iPad Pro's lack of vision, Tim Cook's 'CEO Report Card', more OLED rumors around the iPhone display, wondering if Apple should buy the rights to 'NFL Thursday Night Football', thoughts on the Mac App Store, Apple's Christmas advert with Stevie Wonder, more 3D Touch options in third-party apps, and ten top apps for your iPhone.
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days (and you can read the weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes).
The iPad Pro's Failed Lack Of Vision
Has the iPad Pro lost a key strategic battle already? While sales figures are still to come in, rather than pitch the iPad Pro as something new and genre-defining (as the iPhone did), Apple has focused on it being a 'big iPad'. The focus on the Apple Pencil and the Keyboard Cover was a start, but Tim Cook is insistent that the Pro is not a replacement computer. The sloppy storytelling around the launch has meant Apple has not been able to define the 'big tablet' space. Instead that power has been handed to Microsoft:
Microsoft’s tablets are predominantly in the twelve-inch category, and that momentum of growth projects ‘success’ to consumers. If anyone is going to help define the larger tablet space over the next year months, it’s going to be Microsoft. Satya Nadella has looked at the fractured ecosystem of manufacturer devices running a common OS and decided that this wasn’t a clear enough vision of Microsoft’s future in software and services. He has taken chances with the Surface brand to build that vision and sell it to the world and so far it is a success in terms of marketing and positioning.
Even if you don’t purchase a Surface and go with a device from Dell, Lenovo, Acer, or any other manufacturers, you are getting a package much closer to Microsoft’s vision of large-screened tablet and portable computing than the competing Apple or Android systems.
The iPad Pro as Apple's attempt to build a Surface Pro? That works for me, and encapsulates the frustrating idea that the iPad Pro has failed in terms of vision, even if the sales will be high.
Tim Cook's CEO Report Card
Is Tim Cook doing a good job as Apple's CEO? That's the question asked by Chuck Jones here on Forbes. He highlights six areas where Cook has been strong, two average areas, before looking at the stock performance:
I believe it is better to compare Apple to the S&P 500 and NASDAQ vs. picking a handful of stocks. It is also better to take a multi-year timeframe vs. a one year or less or vs. a certain event.
When you compare Apple’s stock from when Cook was named interim CEO on January 14, 2009, the shares are up 848% compared to the S&P 500 at 148% and the NASDAQ at 243%.
When you start with August 24, 2011, when Cook was named the permanent CEO Apple’s shares are up 122%, the S&P 500 is up 77% and the NASDAQ is up 107%. While Apple may not maintain its outperformance I believe it has a decent shot since it is trading at a PE multiple substantially less than the S&P 500 or NASDAQ.
Read all of Jones' arguments here for a final score.
A New Screen For The Next iPhone?
Is Apple ready to change the technology behind the iPhone screen? Previous reports that Samsung was courting Apple to use OLED screens in the iPhone 7 are no longer thought to be accurate, but the South Korean company is continuing to chase Cupertino. With a bit more lead time, is it targeting the iPhone 8 for the high-colour, low-power screen technology of OLED?
The use of this screen technology offers a number of advantages – the reduced power requirements is the most attractive, but the wider viewing angle, brighter screen, and more vibrant colors should not be discounted.
This would be the value that Apple would find in an OLED display, and you can likely imagine the marketing campaign around ‘the best screen on any iPhone yet’, but there is a significant upside for Samsung as well. While its smartphone and mobile devices division continues to struggle to make any significant contribution to Samsung’s bottom line, both the silicon manufacturing and the component supply business are doing well. landing the next generation plus one iPhone contract.
Read why OLED will be able to help Apple's continued marketing story here on Forbes.
Apple TV Should Play The Ball
Should Apple use part of its cash pile to buy the exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football? Eric Jackson believes it should, and lays out the arguments here on Forbes for an audacious grab to boost Apple TV and Apple's online media presence. Here's one argument:
Apple has sold 25 million Apple TVs to date. Some of those are duplicate next-gen boxes. Let’s assume 20 million are in use. If Apple announces this deal for NFL rights, my guess would be Apple would go to 100 million Apple TVs in the US and another 20 million outside the US. So, you’re talking 100 million new Apple TV units in the next year. Assume an ASP of $180 for those. That means $18 billion in additional revenue for Apple at a typical Apple margin of 40%. This isn’t a hobby any more for Apple. So Apple spends $6 – 800 million a year for X number of years, to generate an additional $7.2 billion of profit? Sounds like a good use of cash to me right there.
As a baseball fan in the UK, I'm already sold on streaming US sports events thanks to MLB.com, and while the networks will fight tooth and nail to keep the rights on broadcast TV, this is an intriguing approach to growth.
What About The Mac App Store?
Over on MacWorld, Dan Moren is not happy. Following a change in the certification process, many OSX apps had to be deleted and reinstalled so they would open again both on Moren's machine and others around the world. Contrasting the issues with the Mac Store with the iOS Store, Moren sarcastically labels the Mac Store as 'The Second Best App Store Around':
The limitations on the Mac App Store, however, go beyond simply imposing the same restrictions as on iOS. Apple’s rolled out a number of useful features on the iOS App Store that have just never made it to the Mac App Store.
Take TestFlight, for example. Apple acquired the company, which let iOS developers easily distribute beta versions of apps to testers, back in February 2014, and it still hasn’t added support for Mac apps, though Apple Watch apps and even tvOS apps are now compatible with the service. That’s not only inconvenient, but downright harmful: As Iconfactory developer Craig Hockenberry pointed out back in July, it means that Mac developers can’t test iCloud integration at all before final release, since it requires TestFlight.
Once more, Apple has a product with a huge amount of potential, but is not resourcing it sufficiently given the volume of users and developers who rely on it.
Before You Watch Elf, Here's Apple's Christmas Advert
The traditional Christmas advert from Apple has debuted on YouTube (reports Apple Insider) and features the classic Stevie Wonder track 'Someday at Christmas' sung by Andra Daye and Wonder himself (who demonstrates the VoiceOver capabilities of OSX as he mixes the new track on a MacBook).
It's worth noting that Apple is not pushing a specific product here, just a sense of 'Apple does music' and a dash of festive, er, wonder.
More 3D Touch Options In Third-Party Apps
Two iOS app updates have added 3D Touch support on the home screen (reports Apple Insider). Microsoft's OneDrive lets you jump to recently used files with the deep press, while Google Drive also adds a search option and an upload photo option alongside the recent files list. Apple's innovative screen/UI technology is never going to have overnight success, but a series of slow wins as it becomes more prevalent and developers add in the options during an update.
And Finally...
Everyone loves a good application, and while there are countless apps to choose from, there are some apps that are worth considering. Jay McGregor looks over ten apps he feels that should be on your new iPhone.
Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s edition of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.
