By Jason Snell

February 3, 2025 11:49 AM PT

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Apple in 2024: The Six Colors report card

It’s time for our annual look back on Apple’s performance during the past year, as seen through the eyes of writers, editors, developers, podcasters, and other people who spend an awful lot of time thinking about Apple. The whole idea here is to get a broad sense of sentiment—the “vibe in the room”—regarding the past year. (And by looking at previous survey results, we can even see how that sentiment has drifted over the course of an entire decade.)

This is the tenth year that I’ve presented this survey to my hand-selected group. They were prompted with 14 different Apple-related subjects, and asked to rate them on a scale from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) and optionally provide text commentary per category.

As is only fitting for the survery’s tenth year, I’ve made a few adjustments to the questions I asked:

• I’ve grouped Apple Watch and the new Vision Pro category under the pre-existing Wearables category, and asked panelists to submit votes for all three (but only gave them a single box to write overall commentary about Apple’s wearables efforts).

• I’ve broken the former Software quality category into two separate, connected categories: Apple OS quality and Apple app quality. I felt that the old category tended to cause OS releases to swamp anything else that Apple did during the year in the realm of the many apps it develops alongside its platforms.

• Finally, the old Environmental/Social impact category has been renamed World impact. In my mind, this category represents an opportunity to judge how Apple’s deeds live up to its philosophical words about making the world a better place. Panelists are free to define it however they’d like… and, believe me, they always do.

I received 59 replies (a 75 percent response rate), with the average results as shown below:

Since most of the survey categories are the same as in previous years, I was able to track the change in my panel’s consensus opinion. The net changes between 2023 and 2024 are displayed below:

Read on for category-by-category grades, trends, and select commentary from the panelists. (You can also read the entirety of panelist commentary—all 32,000 words—if you like.)

Mac

Grade: A- (average score: 4.2, median score 4, last year: 4.2)

The panel was very positive about the Mac, with many praising Apple’s continued hardware advancements in the Apple Silicon era, nost notably the M4 chip and the redesigned Mac mini. The move to 16GB of RAM as the new baseline for entry-level models was widely welcomed. However, there are lingering concerns about the lack of updates for high-end machines like the Mac Studio and Mac Pro.

M4 and more:

• “The M4 chip series is the best since the M1. The single-core performance and power efficiency are both great.” — John Siracusa
• “The move to Apple silicon continues to pay dividends. Probably the smartest thing Apple’s done in years.” — Philip Michaels
• “The Mac lineup seemed to find a groove and stick to it in 2024.” — Jeff Carlson
• “The M4 was a really nice continued advancement of the power behind the Mac line.” — Myke Hurley
• “I am borderline ecstatic regarding the new nano-texture display option on MacBook Pros.” — John Gruber

The Mac mini:

• “The Mac mini got its long-deserved time in the sun with a nice update and chassis redesign.” — Benjamin Mayo
• “The cheapest ticket to the Mac lineup is a perfect introduction to everything Apple does well.” — Andy Ihnatko
• “Who would have thought the Mac mini would be the lead in the excitement for 2024?” — Allison Sheridan
• “The base model M4 Mac mini is one of the most compelling and best value Apple products we’ve seen.” — Christina Warren

High-end Mac frustration:

• “The long wait for the Mac Studio with the latest Apple silicon continues to feel illogical.” — Brian Mattucci
• “The uncertainty surrounding the ‘big’ desktop Macs and the chips that will power them continues to be a problem.” — John Siracusa
• “The only hitch in the lineup: The Mac Studio and Mac Pro remain unchanged since 2023, when the M2 models debuted.” — John Gruber
• “The Mac Studio and the Mac Pro are the unloved children.” — Christina Warren

Apple Intelligence:

• “One wonders what Apple could have been doing instead of spending person-hours on AI stuff that doesn’t seem particularly good or useful.” — Jessica Dennis
• “Apple Intelligence might be a bust, but it forced Apple to finally give every Mac 16GB of RAM.” — Christina Warren
• “I have not found the Apple Intelligence features very useful.” — Michael Tsai
• “MacOS is in a point of confusion. The introduction of Apple Intelligence in waves and without tentpole features that solve problems is mystifying.” — Glenn Fleishman

Give the people RAM:

• “Good riddance, 8GB RAM. You simply don’t have enough memory to be missed.” — Zac Hall
• “Call it the Apple Intelligence Dividend, but I was happy to see the base RAM in Macs increase to 16GB this year.” — John Siracusa
• “Apple finally acknowledges that perhaps 8GB of RAM isn’t enough for users.” — Michael Gartenberg
• “Every Mac sold by Apple now has a (long-overdue) baseline of 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.” — Nick Heer

Something may be missing:

• “Apple still insists on not making touchscreen Macs or more interesting and weird form factors.” — Federico Viticci
• “The iMac is way overdue for a 27-inch model.” — Glenn Fleishman
• “We need new external display options. It’s time, Apple.” — Chance Miller
• “The lack of an upgrade to the Studio Display is a bit surprising.” — Kirk McElhearn

iPhone

Grade: B (average score: 3.7, median score 4, last year: 4.1)

Feelings about the iPhone lineup were mixed. Many panelists praised the incremental hardware improvements, but there was also disappointment in Apple Intelligence and the new Camera Control feature. The rolling down of previously higher-end features—the Action Button to the lower-end iPhones, 5X zoom to the smaller iPhone Pro—were well received. However, there were still complaints about the lack of a smaller phone option, lackluster color choices for Pro models, and software features that feel rushed or unfinished.

Apple Intelligence:

• “The software promises Apple is making around Apple Intelligence aren’t compelling, and Apple didn’t deliver on them in 2024.” — Joe Rosensteel
• “This year’s focus on Apple Intelligence is disappointing, and sucked a lot of the air out of the room when it came to actual feature improvements.” — Dan Moren
• “Most of these features are as squirrelly as everybody should have expected; no more, no less.” — Andy Ihnatko
• “2024 was all about the slow trickle of Apple Intelligence features of uncertain value.” — Brian Mattucci
• “AI features that actually do something are far behind Google and Samsung.” — Michael Gartenberg

Camera Control:

• “The Camera Control is possibly the worst Apple UI device since the hockey puck mouse.” — Dr. Drang
• “The sheer number of settings to change its behavior is laughable, and perhaps speaks to a need for Apple to give it a second look.” — Benjamin Mayo
• “I’d actually pay more to get a 16 Pro that didn’t have the Camera Control button, because it’s turned into a button that I exclusively use on accident and never on purpose.” — Matt Birchler
• “The button itself is fine, but third-party case makers accommodated it by cutting a huge hole in the side of their cases, which I find awkward and uncomfortable.” — John Siracusa
• “It’s too finicky and often doesn’t do what you expect it to do.” — Jeff Carlson
• “I tried really hard to use the Camera Control to its full potential… the reality is it’s most useful as a way to launch the Camera app and take a picture. Nothing more.” — Chance Miller

iPhone size:

• “I field non-stop complaints from people who want a smaller iPhone and aren’t upgrading from the iPhone SE because of that.” — Adam Engst
• “I miss the iPhone Mini… so much.” — Jessica Dennis
• “I do wish Apple would have continued the mini for folks who prefer something smaller.” — David Sparks

A lack of color:

• “Apple, it won’t take away from the other Pro models to have fun colors. Offer the boring ones of today, as well as some fun ones… PLEASE!” — Casey Liss
• “I love the colors on this year’s standard iPhones, but I continue to hope for some better options on the Pro side.” — Eric Slivka

The incrementality of iPhone updates:

• “This iPhone 16 lineup doesn’t seem to be much of an improvement over previous models.” — Adam Engst
• “Phones are becoming commodities, and Apple Intelligence ain’t it right now.” — Philip Michaels
• “This is one of those years where the new iPhones seem fine, but I feel no urgency to upgrade.” — Michael Tsai

iPad

Grade: B- (average score: 3.5, median score 2, last year: 2.4)

After a completely quiet year in 2023, the iPad came roaring back with major updates in 2024, and our panel responded favorably. The M4 iPad Pro was praised for its thin design, OLED display, and performance. The iPad Air’s solid update was also praised. But many panelists remain disappointed about iPadOS, which limits the potential of the excellent hardware. Several panelists raised complaints about a confusingly complex iPad lineup.

Give a little, take a little:

• “Apple finally updated the iPad lineup, and it has all of the strengths and weaknesses it has always had: great hardware with amazing computational power that’s almost impossible to utilize because of software limitations.” — Marco Arment
• “The iPad’s frustrations are eternal: the hardware is fantastic. The software feels increasingly left behind, limited, and at times downright clunky.” — Dan Moren
• “Going into its 15th year, the iPad continues to be incredible hardware let down by a lackluster operating system that is neither as intuitive as iOS nor as advanced or flexible as macOS.” — Federico Viticci

The M4 iPad Pro:

• “The M4 iPad Pro is a marvel.” — Rich Mogull
• “The thinness and compactness of the design is remarkable, and it leaves a lasting impression.” — Benjamin Mayo
• “The M4 is a great iPad chip, but the highlight of the year for me was the Tandem OLED display on the new iPad Pro.” — John Siracusa
• “An even thinner design and optional nanotexture define this generation for me.” — Zac Hall
• “I use the 11-inch as my main device at home and I love everything about it. The OLED screen is fantastic, and it is so incredibly thin and light – it’s a joy to use.” — Myke Hurley

Compexity of the product lineup:

• “The fact that Apple’s iPad keyboard page has a huge dropdown for a user to pick which iPad they have so the website can show them compatible models is not great.” — Stephen Hackett
• “I still find the iPad-and-accessories lineup confusing, but it is in much better shape this year than last.” — Nick Heer
• “I am not surprised that Regular People suffer from Apple Pencil confusion — even I had to go back and check which one(s) would work with my new iPad.” — Jessica Dennis

Other iPad updates:

• “The iPad Air got a modest improvement going to M2 and remains a solid choice.” — Allison Sheridan
• “The new iPad Mini is… well… maybe next time.” — Rich Mogull
• “I bought the new iPad Mini, and I like that it’s purple.” — Jessica Dennis
• “The Mini was my iPad of choice for many years, but for me, it’s been squeezed out by the combination of my phone getting ever-larger and the incredible utility the Magic Keyboard brings to my iPad Pro.” — Casey Liss

iPadOS limitations:

• “I still want to run macOS on an iPad.” — Craig Hockenberry
• “It’s probably time they let us run macOS or at the very least virtualize it.” — Dan Moren
• “The fact that after all these years the iPad is still using the exact same foundations as iOS, including its multitasking model, is just baffling.” — Gui Rambo
• “If they want to sell more devices, they’re going to have to make the iPad more useful.” — Shahid Kamal Ahmad
• “The promise of iPad’s modularity still doesn’t pay off.” — Alex Cox
• “It seems like the rest of the world is not as excited as I am about the new iPad Pro. That may have something to do with the (continuing) limited and confusing nature of iPadOS.” — John Siracusa
• “With iPadOS, Apple seems like it is just throwing ideas against the wall to see what sticks, and sadly, not much is sticking.” — Eric Linder

Wearables, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro

Grade: B (average score: 3.6, median score 4, last year: 3.5)

Apple Watch specifically: Grade: B (average score: 3.7, median score 3, last year: 3.4)

Vision Pro specifically: Grade: D (average score: 2.4, median score 3)

It was a pretty notable year for Apple’s wearables, with major AirPods updates, Apple Watch improvements, and the arrival of the Vision Pro. The new hearing aid features for AirPods Pro 2 were widely celebrated as one of Apple’s most impactful innovations. The Apple Watch Series 10 and Ultra 2 updates were seen as incremental, with some frustration over the lack of significant redesigns. However, the Apple Vision Pro dominated the conversation, with reactions split between awe at its technological advancements and disappointment over its price, usability, and lack of compelling software.

Hearing aid features:

• “The AirPods Pro 2’s Hearing Aid feature is probably the biggest announcement in all of Apple’s wearables lines this year.” — Dan Moren
• “The hearing features added to AirPods Pro 2 are a huge game-changer in my world.” — Dave Hamilton
• “The addition of medical-grade hearing aid functionality to the AirPods Pro is Apple at its best.” — Casey Liss
• “Using AirPods as a way to take a hearing test or have your hearing augmented means millions of people who didn’t even know they had hearing loss will enjoy more moments with their loved ones in conversation.” — Stephen Hackett

Apple Watch:

• “Apple Watch remains good. There isn’t much in the way of new features that I’m excited about, but it remains good.” — Lex Friedman
• “I feel like this was a miss year for the Apple Watch from a hardware perspective – thinner is great, but I want to see more design change!” — Myke Hurley
• “Apple Watch is turning more into a fitness tracker that happens to show the time, and away from serving as a proper watch.” — John Gruber
• “The Apple Watch Ultra is getting really close to being a true sports watch, but once you hit that category, Garmin still wins out.” — Rich Mogull

New AirPods 4 and “new” AirPods Max:

• “AirPods 4 with ANC are a terrific update.” — John Gruber
• “The new AirPods 4 are great for those of us who don’t want our headphones to be shoved into our ear canals.” — John Siracusa
• “I regret to inform the world that I bought the USB-C AirPods Max. No one else should do the same.” — Christina Warren
• “AirPods Max simply adopting USB-C and some new colors with no other changes is so sad that it’s hilarious.” — Eric Slivka

Vision Pro:

• “The Vision Pro is an incredible feat of engineering. Just holding the thing feels nice, and the years of work that went into it shows. The high price of the device has surely limited its adoption from both the user and developer perspectives.” — Stephen Hackett
• “Apple Vision Pro was the most disappointing launch I’ve seen from Apple in recent memory.” — Marco Arment
• “The Vision Pro is a fantastically impressive technological achievement that no normal person should actually buy.” — James Thomson
• “I think it requires a lot of a person to understand how to wear AVP comfortably, and people simply aren’t used to it.” — Brian Mattucci
• “The Vision Pro has been a calamity. What it needed was content, and what it also needed was app support. Apple hasn’t done the first and alienated developers so badly in other areas that it didn’t get the second.” — Charles Arthur
• “Until there’s developer access to more APIs and more accessibility to dev kits, I don’t think there will be anything interesting made for AVP.” — Alex Cox
• “The lack of apps, let alone a killer app, outside of watching movies alone, is an indictment of Apple’s developer relations problems as much as it is an indictment of the AVP itself.” — Christina Warren
• “At best, the Vision Pro seems like a first step on a long journey. It will require many years of dedication, and perhaps some significant pivots, to turn this platform into a success.” — John Siracusa
• “The Vision Pro deserves better than its current reputation as a pundit punching bag. While everyone’s busy dunking on Apple’s spatial computing experiment, I’m regularly strapping it on and using it for work and entertainment.” — David Sparks
• “Am I predicting that the Vision platform will have as bright and essential a future ahead of it as the Macintosh did in 1984? No. But I suspect it has a bright and essential future ahead of it.” — John Gruber
• “I’m glad they released the Vision Pro, but it still feels like a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist (for most people).” — Aleen Simms

Home

Grade: D+ (average score: 2.7, median score 3, last year: 2.8)

Apple’s smart home strategy in 2024 continued to frustrate our panelists, with many complaining that HomeKit remains unreliable, the Home app is unintuitive, and Apple has largely neglected the space. There were some minor improvements, such as improved integration with Control Center and some Matter enhancements. There’s some hope that 2025 may be a banner year for Apple in the smart home, but for now, the platform feels stagnant.

Home app frustration:

• “The Home app is ugly. Home app integrations in Control Center are useful but inflexible.” — Lex Friedman
• “Make the Home app better. It’s still awful.” — Shelly Brisbin
• “The Home app is a dreadful piece of software. I’m fairly technical, but still find it confusing, and the layout and home screen design is just abysmal.” — Rob Griffiths
• “Scenes vs. Automations continue to break my brain. ‘One of your devices didn’t respond’ is a message that could use a slight improvement; WHICH ONE???” — Allison Sheridan

HomeKit:

• “HomeKit is unreliable, and doesn’t work with enough devices.” — Casey Liss
• “I have experienced many bugs with Home. Even after I switched to the new home architecture, the tvOS 18.0 beta broke which Apple TVs could be used as a home hub for a few months.” — Joe Rosensteel
• “HomeKit continues to mostly work, but the promised world of Matter has still not materialized, the HomePod remains a buggy mess, and it’s hard to see any signs of effort on either front.” — Marco Arment
• “Does Apple have a Home strategy? Does it really Matter?” — Peter Cohen

A feeling of drift:

• “Did anything happen in 2024?” — Adam Engst
• “Apple kinda skipped this year as far as the smart home is concerned.” — Benjamin Mayo
• “I can’t name one improvement to HomeKit or anything Home-related in 2024, and this is a platform sorely in need of many improvements.” — John Gruber
• “2025 is sounding like it might be the year of the home for Apple, so 2024 didn’t see very much.” — Eric Slivka

Does Matter matter?:

• “Matter seems to be a total nothingburger.” — Casey Liss
• “I expected a bigger upgrade to the Home app and HomeKit ecosystem in 2024 with the continued rollout of Matter. That didn’t happen.” — Chance Miller
• “Last year, everyone was stoked to tell me they had added Matter support to their various widgets. This year, it was mentioned as an afterthought.” — Dave Hamilton
• “I was pleased to find that Matter all ‘just worked,’ though the automation options are a bit limited, and I still don’t like the Home app.” — Michael Tsai

Siri and HomePod:

• “Siri continues to be a boat anchor weighing down the HomePod and other HomeKit accessories.” — John Siracusa
• “My HomePod continues to not work well for Siri or music.” — Michael Tsai
• “I like my new HomePods mini, but Siri still hampers their value.” — Dr. Drang
• “I was disappointed by the lack of any Apple Intelligence strategy for the HomePod.” — Benjamin Mayo

Hope for the future:

• “Rumors are swirling about Apple entering new markets, with cameras, locks, and even smart screens a possibility for 2025 or later.” — Stephen Hackett
• “I’m intrigued by the idea of Apple finally waking up and making a HomePod with a screen that could potentially serve as a flexible, interactive home hub.” — Federico Viticci
• “Apple’s Home efforts have been saved for me this year by the new Control Center actions I can add. Outside of that, I am not sure of anything else I could focus on. I have hopes for a 5/5 next year though…” — Myke Hurley
• “If Matter ever really arrives, which ecosystem a particular product supports will become a moot question.” — Stephen Hackett

Apple TV

Grade: C+ (average score: 3.2, median score 3, last year: 3.0)

Apple TV remains a solid, reliable streaming device, but 2024 was another year of minimal change, both in hardware and software. There remains considerable appreciation for the ad-free, privacy-focused experience—especially compared to competitors. New features such as automatic subtitles and Enhance Dialogue also received praise. But the product remains much more expensive than the competition, and 2024 did little to change the overall perception that Apple TV is in maintenance mode rather than active development.

Static hardware, but still the best:

• “No new Apple TV hardware for the second year in a row, and only minor tvOS updates leave us wanting as we await the home revolution of 2025.” — Eric Slivka
• “I’d like to see some new hardware here.” — Paul Kafasis
• “The Apple TV box is laughably over-engineered for what it mainly does: stream content.” — Steven Aquino
• “The hardware feels as uninspired as ever, but the Apple TV is still the best streaming set-top box out there.” — Chance Miller
• “Hardware not updated since 2022, software feels like it barely changes each year, and yet still the best streaming device to buy.” — James Thomson
• “I’m a big fan of the Apple TV. I’m willing to pay a premium over other hardware to get an ad-free, upscale experience.” — Paul Kafasis
• “There is not a single other privacy-preserving device for the streaming age. Not one.” — Rich Mogull
• “Apple TV still doesn’t feel like it’s changed a whole lot, but I still swear by it because it’s not the crapware that every other vendor creates.” — Jeff Carlson

tvOS feels stagnant:

• “We haven’t really had any noteworthy changes to tvOS in… years?” — Casey Liss
• “Apple really isn’t making any progress on tvOS.” — Joe Rosensteel
• “What exactly improved or changed in 2024? Anything?” — John Gruber
• “I’m still holding my breath for tvOS to have its iOS 7 moment.” — Steven Aquino
• “After a few years of tvOS updates making the platform more annoying and more clearly an advertising platform, it was nice for tvOS not to move further down this road in 2024.” — Matt Birchler
• “I continue to be frustrated with the poor quality of many of the streaming video apps I use on Apple TV.” — John Siracusa
• “The only thing I hate about Apple TV is how every damn service has its own weird user interface.” — Craig Hockenberry

Small touches:

• “tvOS 18 did include a handful of niceties, like automatic subtitles and a much better Enhance Dialogue algorithm.” — Benjamin Mayo
• “Nothing much happened this year, though I like the new feature of automatically showing subtitles when you rewind a bit.” — Michael Tsai
• “I’m giving it a 4 because of the new Snoopy screensavers.” — Andy Ihnatko

Not an Apple priority:

• “Apple obviously cares a lot about Apple TV+. It seems to care a lot less about tvOS and the Apple TV hardware.” — Christina Warren
• “Apple TV continues to be a product in Apple’s lineup.” — Marco Arment
• “It feels like Apple TV has not only gone back to being a hobby but a hobby that you started, invested a lot of money in, and then got bored.” — Michael Gartenberg

Services

Grade: B- (average score: 3.5, median score 3, last year: 3.3)

Panelists praised Apple TV+ for its high-quality content, though its film lineup still lags behind its strong TV series. Apple Music saw improvements, but panelists felt frustration with the macOS Music app and Siri integration. The biggest recurring complaint remains iCloud storage, with Apple’s 5GB free tier seen as inadequate and outdated. Apple’s services ecosystem benefits from deep integration with its hardware, but few of its offerings are considered best in class, and many panelists felt people are paying more for convenience than for excellence.

Apple TV+:

• “Apple TV+ continues to stand out as the shining beacon of excellence in an otherwise neglected lineup of services.” — Quinn Nelson
• “TV+ is far from the biggest streaming service, but I’d argue adamantly that it has by far the highest batting average for quality content.” — John Gruber
• “There are always Apple TV+ shows on my favorites of the year, and this one was no different. Slow Horses, Bad Monkey. Great work.” — Myke Hurley
• “TV+ has been disappointing. Slow Horses is the standout series. Most else is indifferent and uninteresting.” — Charles Arthur

iCloud storage:

• “Still only 5GB free storage for iCloud, which means a lot of people don’t back up their iPhones. This is unconscionable these days.” — Kirk McElhearn
• “We. Still. Get. 5GB. Of. Storage. For. Free. On. iCloud.” — Casey Liss
• “I guess I should stop waiting for Apple to increase the free base storage amount.” — Roman Loyola
• “The free iCloud tier should be genuinely useful for backing up a modern iPhone. And paid Plus tiers should now offer more storage than they do.” — John Gruber

Apple Music:

• “Apple didn’t make a big deal about the personalized ‘New’ tab in Apple Music, but it makes a big difference. The app feels a lot more vibrant and alive.” — Benjamin Mayo
• “The Music app on macOS is in desperate need of some love.” — John Siracusa
• “Siri and Apple Music’s default for ‘play this song’ to be the most recent release version in my library needs to be stopped.” — Andrew Laurence
• “Apple Music is pretty good, but annoying issues with the app on all platforms wear me down. Any time music just doesn’t play — without any sort of error messaging, naturally — I get just a bit more frustrated.” — Casey Liss

The value of Apple’s services:

• “My continued line about Apple Services is that they are not best in class in any area. But the ubiquity and the way they work with Apple products keeps me paying.” — Christina Warren
• “I know services are printing money for Apple, but the value-for-money for consumers is bad and getting worse. Every time I see a NEARLY FORTY DOLLAR bill for Apple One I die a little inside. Which means I’m dying a little inside twelve times a year.” — Casey Liss
• “As Apple’s services business grows, it begins to do things that feel uncharacteristic but are increasingly commonplace. Partnering with Taboola is one example.” — Nick Heer
• “I understand how important services are to Apple and Wall Street. I simultaneously fear how much building services revenue now enters the equation for new products.” — David Sparks

Other services:

• “Apple Fitness+ continues to add new workouts and the interface improvements make it easier to get to your saved workouts.” — Allison Sheridan
• “I’ve found myself opening Apple News on a surprisingly regular basis. In particular, the election coverage in the Apple News app was top notch.” — Chance Miller
• “Developers can now confidently include iCloud syncing in their apps, making a seamless and delightful experience for users.” — Allison Sheridan
• “Passwords and Keychain sync are borderline disruptive.” — Rich Mogull

A sense of stagnation:

• “Most of the services are somewhat stagnant, which is why we see all sorts of bundles that bring services into users’ hands they wouldn’t necessarily buy, like Apple News.” — Michael Gartenberg
• “Much like the home category, I am struggling to think of anything notable Apple did in services this year.” — Matt Birchler
• “Apple really needs to give some attention to the client apps for its ‘lesser’ services on its ‘lesser’ platforms.” — John Siracusa
• “Barely noticed any improvements, didn’t notice any regressions.” — Matt Deatherage

Hardware reliability

Grade: A+ (average score: 4.6, median score 5, last year: 4.6)

The top-scoring category in our survey remained exceptionally strong, with very few complaints or major issues reported. Many panelists noted that they had no significant hardware problems, and some praised Apple’s consistency in delivering high-quality devices year after year. The transition to Apple Silicon has continued to pay off for the Mac, with users appreciating the improved performance and durability compared to older Intel-based models. While a few minor concerns were raised, such as Touch ID inconsistencies and the non-replaceability of certain components, the general consensus is that Apple is in a “golden era of hardware reliability.”

Solid stuff:

• “Stellar year as far as reliability goes. I can’t recall any scandal at all, which is perhaps a first.” — Benjamin Mayo
• “No news remains great news in this category.” — John Gruber
• “Another year without any major complaints in this category is a victory for everyone.” — Chance Miller
• “I was reminded of just how bad Apple’s laptops were six years ago. Butterfly keyboards from hell. Chips that required loud fans to cool if they were in thin chassis. Performance that frankly peaked in 2015. The work Apple has done since 2020 or 2021 to re-earn trust is remarkable.” — Christina Warren
• “The iPhone is made at a scale basically no other product in the world matches, and it still releases on time and at very high quality without fail.” — Matt Birchler
• “If there’s one area where Apple is leagues ahead of its competition, I think it’s hardware manufacturing and overall experience.” — Federico Viticci
• “Apple has long been a leader in hardware reliability. Now, with the company publishing repair guides and making parts available to end-users and small shops, users have more options than ever when something goes wrong.” — Stephen Hackett
• “We live in a golden era of Apple hardware reliability that’s so good that it’s easily taken for granted. No other consumer-tech company executes at this level of hardware reliability.” — Marco Arment

Apple’s operating systems and apps

Operating Systems specifically: Grade: B- (average score: 3.4, median score 4)

Apps specifically: Grade: B- (average score: 3.5, median score 4)

We’ve split the Apple software category in two, allowing commentary about both Apple’s apps and its operating systems. The arrival of Apple Intelligence was the banner topic in this category, with many panelists feeling it was overhyped, underdelivered, and introduced new problems while failing to justify the trade-offs. There were also some fears that Apple’s software design is trending toward unnecessary complexity. Many users wish Apple would focus more on stability and polish rather than pushing new features annually.

Apple Intelligence:

• “Apple Intelligence has really hurt Apple’s reputation, on both the oversell and the underdeliver sides.” — Dr. Drang
• “Apple Intelligence to date not only doesn’t live up to its potential, it doesn’t live up to commercials Apple has aired.” — Matt Deatherage
• “Apple lowered the bar for software quality in its race to ship Apple Intelligence features.” — Chance Miller
• “Never has Apple spent more time on features that seem important strategically but actually feel mostly like things people don’t care about or won’t use.” — Dan Moren

Slipping reliability:

• “Can Apple get off the annual OS update cycle yet?” — Paul Kafasis
• “New shiny continues to trump reliability. It’s not awful, but it’s not great.” — Casey Liss
• “Apple’s computers are lots of things but, ultimately, they are tools. I would like them to feel more confidence-inspiring.” — Nick Heer
• “The software quality slide continues. The same old bugs are still there.” — Michael Tsai
• “Please, Apple, take a year off from flooding us with new features and fix bugs across all the operating systems.” — Kirk McElhearn
• “There’s a trend towards complexity in Apple software. The recent changes in Mail categorization made no sense to me—and they were enabled by default!” — Craig Hockenberry
• “Both [macOS and iOS] are just sort of ‘meh.’ Nothing earth-shattering, long-standing bugs remain, and the Mac continues its horrendous slide towards the iOS UI.” — Rob Griffiths
• “Apple really needs to shift the balance between new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements.” — John Siracusa
• “I have concerns and complaints about aspects of the direction Apple’s software design is headed, but their software reliability has been very good for me.” — John Gruber
• “Stuff mostly works. But nothing’s perfect.” — Michael E. Cohen

Some welcomed new items:

• “The Sports app is entirely new this year, and I think it is a pretty novel approach to a sports scores interface.” — Benjamin Mayo
• “The new icon tinting and Home Screen customization options in iOS 18 are great.” — Chance Miller
• “Safari is the true favorite child, with features added every cycle.” — Stephen Hackett

Developer relations

Grade: D (average score: 2.4, median score 3, last year: 3.0)

The vibes are bad out there, folks. This is the lowest score this category has received since the very first year of the survey. Apple’s aggressive responses to regulatory pressure, particularly in the EU, were widely criticized as hostile, manipulative, and profit-driven rather than user- or developer-focused. The rollout of third-party app stores and alternative payment options was seen as an exercise in “malicious compliance” designed to discourage participation rather than actually foster openness. Additionally, Vision Pro’s weak app ecosystem highlighted the declining trust developers have in Apple’s new platforms.

It’s not going well:

• “Apple is blowing it with developers. Full stop.” — Craig Hockenberry
• “Developer relations remain needlessly strained. Antagonistic positions and greedy policies from Apple’s executives continue to burn developer goodwill.” — Marco Arment
• “Apple is doing a lot of taking these days and not giving back to the developer community that has helped make its products thrive.” — Craig Hockenberry
• “If Apple treated all of its customers the same way they treated developers, we’d all still be waiting for cut, copy, and paste on the iPhone.” — Andy Ihnatko

Responding to regulation:

• “Apple’s response to legislation is ridiculous. Using notarization as a way to stop apps from existing, the Core Technology Fee, and countless more dark spots.” — Myke Hurley
• “Apple should compete on merit, not threats.” — James Thomson
• “They know what’s right, and they refuse to do it, because they want to protect every possible revenue source they have.” — Paul Kafasis
• “The new App Store structures are designed by lawyers and accountants, not folks who create software.” — Craig Hockenberry
• “They might be doing it by kicking and screaming, but the regulatory pressure is making the developer ecosystem better.” — Benjamin Mayo
• “Apple’s pushback to the DMA makes the company look petty and recalcitrant.” — Dan Moren
• “I have nothing constructive—I just don’t like watching friends getting fucked over for making things people love.” — Alex Cox
• “The situation is largely unchanged, but stagnation is catching up to Apple. More of the same is making matters worse.” — John Gruber

Vision Pro is a warning sign:

• “Vision Pro, even more than Apple Watch, shows that developers aren’t just going to show up and build apps for Apple’s new platforms anymore. And I can’t blame them.” — Christina Warren
• “The relative dearth of native app support for Vision Pro is a warning sign.” — John Gruber
• “I don’t think developers embraced Apple Vision Pro with open arms like Apple had anticipated they would.” — Chance Miller
• “It’s been hilarious watching the Vision Pro App Store colossally fail. Apple is now reaping what it sows.” — Casey Liss

App Store issues:

• “The App Store monopoly continues in most of the world, and, where it doesn’t, Apple is still being an enormous prick.” — Brent Simmons
• “Frustrations with the App Store review process seem unresolved. More of the same is making matters worse.” — John Gruber
• “I wish Apple would focus more on reliability and less on changing features that we’ve just gotten integrated into our workflows.” — Dave Hamilton

World impact

Grade: C (average score: 3.1, median score 4, last year: 3.8)

Formerly “Environmental/Social,” this category asks panelists to consider anything they deem appropriate about how Apple lives up to its stated high ideals. Those can include education and environmental initiatives, commitment to accessibility and diversity, treatment of Apple’s workforce, and other political and policy stances. The results were complex and mixed—as usual. Apple continues to lead in environmental sustainability, accessibility, and privacy, earning praise for carbon-neutral products and meaningful accessibility advancements. But Tim Cook’s $1 million donation to the Trump inauguration sparked outrage and disappointment among some. Apple’s growing reliance on AI also concerns about its environmental impact and ethical stance, while its business operations in China remain a persistent point of contention.

Apple’s environmental efforts:

• “Carbon neutral products are great. I am really happy they are able to do this with more and more.” — Myke Hurley
• “The M4 Mac mini is the first carbon-neutral Mac ever made.” — Stephen Hackett
• “For a company that pays so much lip service to being green, using so much energy on very underwhelming AI stuff is very hmmmmm.” — Jessica Dennis
• “Apple Intelligence isn’t going to inflict the same degree of damage on the planet as Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft’s AI efforts. However, Apple utilizes those same AI foundries to build and train its models, so they aren’t entirely free of responsibility.” — Andy Ihnatko
• “Most data on AI efficiency is all over the place, and I thought they’d have at least some information based on their on-device strategies.” — Alex Cox
• “I’d like to hear a little more about that when the company announces its next Apple Intelligence features.” — Dan Moren
• “If AI fits in with Apple’s pledge to be carbon-neutral in five years, they’re not making that well known.” — Matt Deatherage

Accessibility:

• “Apple’s accessibility features are so far ahead of the rest of the industry that I don’t even know who’s in second place.” — John Gruber
• “From an accessibility standpoint, the AirPods Pro hearing aid feature has to exemplify Apple’s ethos on making the world a better place.” — Steven Aquino
• “Apple continues to tweak deep accessibility features, like this year’s Braille Screen Input updates.” — Shelly Brisbin

Tim Cook’s donation:

• “Tim Cook donated $1M to Trump’s inauguration. Apple still relies deeply on China. Apple continues to think it operates above the law. Gross.” — Casey Liss
• “Seeking favor with fascists not only helps the fascists, it harms the world.” — Brent Simmons
• “Tim Cook can’t donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration slush fund when Apple donated a mere $43,200 to Biden’s and expect us to do anything but laugh.” — John Gruber
• “Did Tim Cook give more money to the Trump inauguration than to victims of the LA fires?” — Dr. Drang
• “Apple lives up to its own standards, Tim’s personal ones left me puzzled.” — Peter Cohen

Mixed feelings:

• “Apple is too big and too complicated to be a pure good force in the world.” — Myke Hurley
• “Apple does exceed the on-the-ground bar that is ‘better than Meta,’ but every year they seem to get a little closer to the floor.” — Alex Cox
• “Sometimes Apple reminds you that it is a corporation.” — Zac Hall
• “Apple used to be better when it comes to global impact. Now they seem much more money-grubbing to me.” — Paul Kafasis

Notes

For the record, every year I tell people they don’t need to write a lot, but many just can’t help themselves. Their complete 32,000 words of commentary are also available, and I’ve encouraged them to post them elsewhere if they desire. I didn’t vote in the survey, though you can hear me provide my own thoughts on today’s episode of Upgrade.

Thanks to all of those who participated: Shahid Kamal Ahmad, Steven Aquino, Marco Arment, Charles Arthur, Matt Birchler, Shelly Brisbin, Jeff Carlson, Robert Carter, Michael E. Cohen, Peter Cohen, Alex Cox, Matt Deatherage, Jessica Dennis, Dr. Drang, Adam Engst, Glenn Fleishman, Lex Friedman, Michael Gartenberg, Rob Griffiths, John Gruber, Stephen Hackett, Zac Hall, Dave Hamilton, Nick Heer, Craig Hockenberry, Myke Hurley, Andy Ihnatko, Paul Kafasis, Andrew Laurence, Eric Linder, Casey Liss, Roman Loyola, Brian Mattucci, Benjamin Mayo, Kirk McElhearn, Philip Michaels, Carolina Milanesi, Chance Miller, Rich Mogull, Dan Moren, Quinn Nelson, Howard Oakley, Rosemary Orchard, Dan Provost, Gui Rambo, Joe Rosensteel, Allison Sheridan, Brent Simmons, Aleen Simms, John Siracusa, Eric Slivka, David Sparks, Brett Terpstra, James Thomson, Michael Tsai, Federico Viticci, Christina Warren, and the two anonymous voters. And thanks to Khoi Vinh for suggesting this concept way back in October of 2015.

All our previous surveys are available via our Apple Report Card archive page.

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