Despite Apple's slow sailing in the smartphone market, reaching a trillion dollar value and staying for a short period. And its decision not to disclose the number of device sales again. And keep its promises to offer jobs in the United States. And her announcement of building a new campus in Austin, Texas. However, Apple did some things during that year that it is likely not successful with it or we see it as a major shortcoming of Apple. As prices for its products rose starkly and widely, Siri continued its weak role in AI. This is apart from other problems that appeared throughout the year, the latest of which is the new iPad Pro 2018 and the problem of its curvature easily. In spite of these disadvantages, but in truth, Apple has also provided other good things. We will mention some of them in this article and leave you to comment and mention what you see as good or bad in the comments below.

The good things Apple has done

Apple has to resist at times or give up at other times or provide facilities at various levels in order to maintain its advanced position. Likewise, based on her long experience, she should not look under her feet, so she had to pay attention to the development of scientific research and to present something new in a more bold manner. One of those good things Apple has done over the past year is.

Apple's foreign and domestic policies

There is no doubt that Apple is leading a fierce trade war in many directions, the most famous of which is by China or by Trump himself. Tim Cook has not shut down contact with the White House, however, even though Trump's beliefs are inconsistent with Apple's values ​​and the policies and mindsets of most of its employees. However, Tim Cook's task is to clarify the real damage caused by the new tariffs, and that stubbornness against the Trump administration is not permissible, otherwise Apple will be in unfortunate problems. In terms of Apple products that are collected in China, the Trump administration will impose large tariffs on these products in addition to their already high price, which will inevitably lead to exceeding the limits of loyalty among Apple customers and moving to other companies.

Laying the groundwork for augmented reality technology

Still, applications of augmented reality on the iPhone and iPad are lacking and we can call them "clunky". If this technology is limited to picking up the phone and moving it left and right to play a game or run an application, then we see that many are tired of this method, with its physical benefit, movement and mental pleasure. However, it is likely that Apple will support this technology by deploying augmented reality glasses, so the only movement required is the user's head.

It is worth noting that Apple is working in full swing to develop this technology. And the development of AR glasses for augmented reality. It also spares no effort to provide and support the most amazing augmented reality apps starting with iOS 12.

Recruitment of John Giannandrea

In April, Apple hired John Giannandrea, who was head of Google's search and artificial intelligence, and Apple handed him the lead in the AI ​​division and machine learning group. Giannandra's first task is supposed to be to fix Siri, which was recently reported to have improved dramatically but is also still far behind her peers like Alexa and Google's assistant. Gianandra's deep experience in artificial intelligence can be used, as he is highly qualified in defining and implementing Apple's vision for Siri. This task is likely to be very difficult for him given Apple's conservative approach to preserving user data and privacy.

Enable Apple Music to be played on Amazon Echo speakers

In a good step Apple has taken is to allow Apple Music to be played on Amazon's Echo devices and its Alexa smart assistant. It is a convenient move for the millions of iPhone users who prefer advanced Echo Alexa devices over the much-delayed Apple headphones with its assistant Siri. Apple is trying to compete with Amazon and Google in the smart speaker market as well as stiff competition with Spotify in the music subscription services market. Apple has about 56 million users who pay for Spotify's $ 87 million. It may be more important to Apple right now to reach all Echo Alexa users better than just restricting them to the Apple HomePod.

The new Apple Pencil

The first pen that Apple launched in 2015 was okay, except that Apple updated the product during this year and launched the second generation of it. Where it is charged in an easier way through wireless charging by magnetism with the side of the iPad, as well as the introduction of new gestures on the sides of the pen to control the way it works. The big step, especially useful for creative lovers.

The Bad Things Apple Did in 2018

There is no doubt that there are things that apple lovers are not satisfied with, the most prominent of which is the high price, and other problems we will mention, the most important of which are as follows:

Problems with the Apple HomePod

Apple likes to study the user's needs and desires and then introduces technology to them accordingly. Perhaps a glitch occurred that skewed this approach when Apple introduced the HomePod. Where people expected Apple to introduce a smart and revolutionary device as they were accustomed to doing. They expected it to be a loudspeaker with a high-end digital assistant plus a low price and some flexibility in getting music services. But Home Boom was released with a limited digital assistant, which is Siri, of course, not to mention the high price it was selling for, which is $ 349.

What about the new AirPods?

In the first version there are a lot of issues that users encounter, ranging from sound quality, charging method, and no quick detection. And other problems when pairing it with an Apple Watch. There is also a lot to add to these headphones such as adding biometric and hands-free sensors, as well as wireless charging.

Strangely enough, Apple's new and innovative AirPods product has not been updated by Apple for two years, so why? Many are waiting for the announcement of the second generation in January. Perhaps Apple offers something that satisfies its customers. It is said that the new generation will likely support wireless charging. It would be a good idea if Apple introduces the AirPower wireless charging pad that we've been hearing about for more than a year.

Not announcing a comprehensive plan to improve Siri

So far, Apple has not talked about a comprehensive plan to improve Siri, it has only talked about specific applications of machine learning. Will Siri stay like this late. We hope it won't be long and that Apple will surprise us with a comprehensive reform plan.

The impact of high Apple prices on purchasing habits

When Apple released the iPhone X in 2017, it bet that people would pay for premium smartphones more than $ 1000. In fact, this prediction can pay off in some places, and it may not work in many others. This led to low selling operations in important regions such as India and other countries such as Egypt. Apple phones sell for very high prices in markets where most people pay less than $ 300 for a phone. Perhaps that idea was the reason for the launch of the iPhone SE in 2016 to address that shortcoming. And it seems that it did not do much benefit, as Apple stopped producing this iPhone recently. According to the reports, the rate of shipping iPhones to India decreased by 40% on an annual basis compared to 2017, and Apple's share in those markets decreased from 2% to 1%.

Apple should consider these markets, especially China and the Middle East, and not just focus on saturated markets like the United States.

The ECG feature made it a major selling point for the new Apple Watch

One of the controversial matters in the last period is that Apple made the ECG feature of measuring electrical signals of the heart its main selling point. The strange thing is that Apple has made this feature specific to the United States of America only, without the rest of the world. You can read this article.

Do you expect Apple to provide things that will improve its position in the coming year? Or are there other obstacles waiting for her? Let us know in the comments.

Source:

fastcompany

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