2026-09-12 04:30:47
The tenure of John Ternus has started with a bang. Not a full-on explosion, but a nice loud pop. Certainly not a whimper — as you could definitely categorize some recent Apple events. It seems like Tim Cook set up his successor well, teeing him up — including quite literally in the event's intro video — to unveil the iPhone Duo in his first keynote address. Love it or lust after it, it’s undoubtedly the most interesting new iPhone in years. Probably since the initial device nearly 20 years ago. This is the first one to truly alter the form factor.
Yes, it comes at a cost. $1,999 to be exact — if you’re okay with just 256GB of storage, which you probably won’t be if you’re already committed to buying this device. So yeah, we’re well into the $2,000+ range now. Remember when Steve Ballmer laughed at the $500 starting price 19 years ago? Yeah, times change.
Overall, this year’s iPhone event seemed strong. Ternus brings a new energy that, try as he might, I don’t think Cook was ever quite able to achieve. His keynotes always felt a bit too forced. A bit too rehearsed. Ternus seems far more natural on that stage. The marketing speak may be the same, but you get the sense that he knows these products backwards and forwards – because he simply must given his previous role literally helping to engineer them. Somehow, that knowledge translates into the presentation.
To the point where I’d love to see him on the actual and literal stage again, not just in pre-recorded videos.
As solid as the iPhone Duo unveiling was, can you imagine if Ternus was up there, in-person, pulling one out of his pocket and flipping it open? You can almost see him doing it once and then saying something like: “Did you catch it? Let’s do it again with a camera zoomed in on the screen.” He flips it open again, this time showing off the truly magical software transition. This allows him to tangibly convey that this is Apple at its finest: hardware + software.
Yes, there have been foldables before. Some are even pretty good. But none can do what Apple does on the software front, reimagining how such a device should be used. It’s not just a phone that flips open into a larger screen. It’s a new experience, most akin to a smartphone meeting a tablet. And the only company that has truly nailed the tablet, even after years of trying? Apple.
The iPhone Duo is not just “two phones awkwardly stuck together”, it’s something new.
Look, Apple’s pre-recorded video largely captured all of this. But again, the energy would have been so much better to do it live, as it were. No, sadly, Steve Jobs is not walking back out onto that stage, but Ternus seems to have the right vibe to pull off the in-person keynote. Cook had his own strengths — many of them, obviously — but these presentations were not one of them. Apple has an opportunity here to run it back, as it were, and reclaim the best tech keynote mantle.
Speaking of Jobs, Ternus didn’t shy away from invoking him, even if just indirectly. The opening bit setting up the iPhone as the best device for AI — you don’t say? — was clearly meant to hark back to Jobs original famous iPhone unveil — “...these are not three separate devices…” The notion of the "Intelligent Personal Hub" is straight out of the Jobs "Digital Hub" playbook from way back when. And yes, Ternus even busted out the “one more thing” at the end to unveil the Duo. These call-backs could have elicited groans, or made him seem like too much of a try-hard, but he pulled them off with ease!
Apple seems to be in good hands with Ternus. After reaffirming his commitment to Apple’s values and ways, he dove head-first into the company’s biggest pain point in recent years (well, perhaps beyond the recent component costs): AI. Again, he honed in on the messaging to quickly flip the perceived weakness into a strength. AI runs on devices. Who makes the best devices? That’s right…
And again, the fact that Ternus has spent the last many years overseeing the hardware pipeline suggests that he’ll know exactly how to reveal these devices to the world.
Along those lines, to me, the most interesting part of the keynote may have been what many would say was the least interesting part: the AirPods 5 unveil. There, Ternus managed to convey a real sense of excitement about what amounted to a spec upgrade. Not only that, the features were ones handed down from other products, such as the AirPods Pro. But Ternus knows this is what Apple is all about: honing and whittling until breakthroughs become commonplace technology taken to the masses.I’ve long argued that this product enthusiasm was the actual key to the Jobs keynotes. He was genuinely excited about these products, and it showed. And if he wasn’t, they didn’t make the cut!
I think a few too many products made that cut that probably shouldn’t have in recent years. Including, most notably, the Vision Pro. It’s certainly an impressive piece of technology, but it was clearly launched far too early, with no large market to find. And by many accounts, Ternus may have felt similarly. Apple needs this kind of editor again. Hopefully Ternus can fill that role. This is a good start.
2026-09-11 01:46:11
“I’m John Burgundy?”
Fine, that’s not actually how Apple’s latest keynote kicked off, but that’s how it would have if I were in charge. I mean, after the cinematic intro (complete with a cameo from a no-longer-the-“main character” Tim Cook), out walks John Ternus in his simple maroon shirt and jeans. Rumors had been swirling about a new iPhone in this very color and sure enough, later on he makes the reveal: “And we’re excited to introduce Burgundy. A sophisticated and unique new color.”
Not quite: “I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.” But also not entirely far off!
I’ll have more to say on Ternus and his performance in another post, but for now, I’d thought I’d run through some quick thoughts and notes on the contents of the keynote itself. [Update: here's that other post.]
First, it was interesting/good that after his preamble reaffirming his full belief in and support of Apple’s principles and ideals, Ternus wasted no time making it clear where he believes the future of the company resides: AI. While in the past, the company has swept aside or misdirected from the technology — naturally, when it became a problem — he reframed it as the key element of what will likely drive Apple, and the industry going forward. And that’s because Apple, as it turns out, may have exactly what they need to lead here. Not only the best devices on which to run AI. But the device which is central to so many lives: the iPhone.
If the Mac was the “Digital Hub” back in Steve Jobs’ day leading Apple, the iPhone is the “Intelligent Personal Hub” per Ternus’ term. I mean it could be catchier, but we all get what he means. Again, the iPhone as the brains — both in terms of compute and memory — as we all enter the Age of AI. While others aim to ingest your data to power their AI. Apple, as it turns out, already has it.
The iPhone 18 Pro models look great in that they look exactly like the iPhone 17 Pro models. But in Burgundy! And ‘Glacier’, their new light blue color. While the company believes they’ve reinvented Silver, the real killer for many will be the return of Black. Not Space Gray. Or Midnight. Or Deep Blue Something. Apple is Back in Black.
After a brief Siri AI walk-through (since much of it was already talked about at WWDC), we got an overview of the A20 Pro. 6-core CPU (including 2 “desktop class” “super cores”). 7-core GPU. 2 Neural Engines. 2 nanometers. Then more talk about thermal packaging and vapor chambers than you probably thought possible. But it’s all in the name of battery life, which seems truly excellent here, so we’ll allow it. The big boy Max model is pushing two days (for video playback), Apple claims.
Then the cameras. Variable apertures. More pro than ever (which will make switching to the iPhone Duo a particularly hard call). And a way for Apple to try to stem at least some of the AI deep fake trickery on the rise.
Despite the Dynamic Island getting smaller, it can now display three live activities. The Child Safety work continues to sound great (but again, was mostly discussed at WWDC). The new ‘iPhone Handoff’ ability comes just in time to entice some of us to buy both an iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo since you can now easily swap numbers and connectivity between the two (well, provided you’re on T-Mobile in the US, or soon Verizon — AT&T? Where is our OG iPhone launch partner?!).
Remember FineWoven? Apple would prefer not to either. TechWoven remains. Now in Burgundy, of course. There’s also now a wrist strap for the iPhone to go along with last year’s crossbody strap.
The price? $1,199 to start. Yes, that’s up $100 from last generation. Yes, that’s due to component costs and supply chain issues. No Apple doesn’t mention it. But they of course mention the new Apple Upgrade program, which brings the price down to a mere $34.99/month. Which sure looks a lot nicer than $1,199.
Pre-orders will indeed start on a Saturday this year, 9/12, clearly to avoid the anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The device still launches on Friday, 9/18 though.
Ternus comes back out to introduce the AirPods 5 and he is psyched! No, these aren’t the models with cameras that Apple themselves accidentally leaked. Nor are they the top-of-the-line ‘Pro’ variant. These are the standard models, but this year they’re getting some ‘Pro’ elements that have trickled down. That includes active noise cancellation on the entry model and volume controls on the more expensive model. Why there are two models when the latter only costs $20 more and is clearly better — including longer battery life and a wireless charging case — I don’t know. I guess so Apple can proudly note that they’re keeping the same $129 starting price In an age where all other prices are moving the wrong way?
Apple Watch Series 12 looks like a nice leap forward. Continuous heart monitoring. Better sensors and a better chip. Ceramic is back (including in a new blue shade), and Bronze is the new Burgundy here (though yes, there are Burgundy bands). Apple Watch Ultra 4 gets roughly 15 seconds of airtime as the sensors seem much the same as the Series 12, just with much better battery life.
On the software side, the ‘Readiness’ score as well as more longevity-focused metrics get Apple up to par with rivals. But the real hero feature — or villain, depending on your point-of-view is 'Audio Intelligence'.
The last-minute rumors were true. Apple Watch can now passively listen to what is going on around you throughout your day and note it down to distill back to you later in a daily recap. It can also quickly rewind what someone just said to you if you need to hear it again without asking them to repeat it! Apple is obviously quick to tout the focus on security for all of this — no actual audio is recorded — and it’s opt-in, with granular controls to use it sparingly. And yes, Apple is quick to tout key features for those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
But still! It’s sort of wild that Apple is pushing forward with this given the obvious backlash it will garner. To be clear, I’m okay with this, but I’m not sure those I’m around with my Apple Watch will be? Perhaps Apple sees this as a way to get people used to such ideas ahead of those aforementioned AirPods with cameras — which will clearly be called 'AirPods Pro with Visual Intelligence' — which will be doing similar things only with images. We’ll see how this goes. Could it be something Apple has to bail on if public backlash mounts given the sheer number of Apple Watches in the wild? Or will everyone just quickly forget about it?
At this point, Ternus comes back out for yes, “one more thing.” Has anyone ever been so excited to utter that famous phrase from Apple’s past? Given Ternus’ expression on delivery, I think not.
He’s quick to note that others have done foldable devices, but that they’re more like “two phones awkwardly stuck together”. Apple intended to create a new device stemming from both the iPhone and the years of work on the iPad.
And yes, the iPhone Duo looks great.
Would it have looked even more great presented on stage, in-person? Probably, but you might also miss what is arguably the coolest feature: the way the software seamlessly transitions from open to closed. That’s the thing here. And the thing that the competition keeps failing to nail. It’s not just the hardware. It’s the hardware and the software. This is just Apple running their old playbook to perfection.
This isn’t just an iPhone you can unfold, the software experience is going to be entirely different. If it seemed weird that Apple would do a more squat, “passport”-style design, they’re not just scaling the software down to fit, they’re moving elements around — notably the dock and other key controls to the side to leverage the wider footprint.
And Apple clearly feels good enough about the hinge and crease that they‘re touting the ability to use it while half-folded, and have come up with specific use cases (and software tweaks) for those times. Also, the crease, in part, seems nearly invisible thanks to using a matte screen on the inside — seemingly a small obvious thing that also no one else is doing for some reason? What makes the crease more pronounced on the other devices? The reflections off of it.
Yes, the camera system on the Duo will clearly be a step below the Pro models — that alone is a good argument for not calling this the ’iPhone Ultra’ — but it still should be solid. Seemingly the dual camera system that Apple is aiming for with the next iteration of the iPhone Air?
The new camera features that can be unlocked with multiple screens are fun. Yes, yes, the competition has done some of these before. No one cares.
What people care about is a killer device. And again, that doesn’t just mean the hardware. That is literally half of the equation. Everyone always forgets that other half. If Apple gets thousands of developers onboard to update their apps for this new screen paradigm, look out.
Apple seems to know they have another potential hit here and pulled out all the big guns to help present it. Steve Lemay and Molly Anderson appear out of Apple Design — the latter wielding her British accent as is the way. Greg Joswiak emerges in night mode to bring the Apple Pencil support news (and drop the ‘Star White’ and ‘Night Sky’ names as he likes to do). Craig Federighi walks through iOS tailored for Duo and gets to say “heeeere’s Johny” to segue to Johny Srouji – who gets to talk through how they actually made the foldable fold. Joz comes back for the camera and folio case — with a kickstand! — which looks awesome. Very clever.
Decidedly less clever is the price. But Apple was able to hit the all-important $1,999 starting point. Granted it only has 256GB of storage and if you’re already spending $2,000 on a phone, you’re probably going to want more than that, but still. Optics.
The iPhone Duo is launching roughly a month after the Pro models, on October 23, which further muddies the Pro vs. Duo waters. I know Joz would tell you to get both. And with ‘iPhone Handoff’, you can now more easily accommodate that. For the low, low price of $3,198. To start.
With that, we’re back to Ternus to wrap things up. One hour and 18 minutes that felt neither long nor rushed. A solid event with cohesive messaging around this “Intelligent Personal Hub” notion that we might be hearing more about over the next decade or so as Ternus ramps up his time atop Apple. He’s kind of a big deal now. A true John Burgundy.
One more thing: So which model am I gonna go with? Yeah, I need to try the iPhone Duo. In 'Night Sky'. Probably 512GB? Maybe 1TB? These are increasingly expensive decisions...
Update: As promised, some further thoughts on John Ternus in particular leading these keynotes...
2026-09-09 17:11:49
🔗 Apple to Unveil $2,000 'iPhone Duo' at High-Stakes Event • Bloomberg
The day is upon us. Happy New iPhone Unveil Day to those who celebrate. But there's always time for one last leak – from who else, Mark Gurman:
That’s why Apple is jumping in now. The challenge is producing something compelling enough to justify the price. Its device, called the iPhone Duo, will start at $2,000. That makes it costlier than rival models from Samsung Electronics Co. and others, though the price is in line with Apple’s goal for a product with costly components.
The entry-level version will include 256 gigabytes of storage, with Apple offering higher-capacity versions that will take the price all the way up to roughly $3,000. Apple blew through its cost goals due to the recent memory shortage, so it’s eating some of the expense to keep within reach of $2,000. It’s also passing the costs along to consumers who buy higher capacities.
Earlier this week, Alex Kantrowitz and I recorded our monthly Big Technology podcast episode where we previewed the Apple event and obviously we focused on Apple's forthcoming foldable. Part of the discussion was the name, noting they could go with something like 'iPhone Duo' – which had been put out there previously, but didn't have nearly the pickup of the 'iPhone Fold' or 'iPhone Ultra' – simply because it didn't really make sense to call the device the 'Ultra' when spec-wise, it was likely to lag behind the iPhone Pro models a bit (due to the unique constraints of such a device). Most notably, all the rumors point to the camera system not being as advanced as those found on the Pro models. Given how important that element is to the iPhone – yeah, it would be weird to name this the 'iPhone Ultra'. And sure enough...
'iPhone Duo' is a good name. It immediately conveys exactly what the difference is: two screens. It also pairs nicely with Apple's most recent hit product, the MacBook Neo. And even the various 'Pro' models. Three letters, all ending in 'o'. And yes, Apple has some history with the 'Duo' name, most notably in the PowerBook era of the 1990s.
Though the name actually will hearken back to one from rival Microsoft for many: the Surface Duo will clearly look ahead of its time later today! Including, perhaps, the incredible hinge. (As an aside, some of the people driving that device at Microsoft – most notably, Panos Panay – now work at Amazon, perhaps working on some similar devices.)
Back to the iPhone Duo, a starting price of $2,000 was entirely predictable, of course. As was a specmaxxed $3,000 version in our era of chip shortages. The fact that it seemingly will be shipping in October, likely after the iPhone Pro variants ship later in September, is likely related to the same issues on the supply chain. But this will add a wrinkle to some peoples' equations – notably, mine – do you buy the iPhone 18 Pro now or wait for the iPhone Duo? Please don't say 'why not both?' – please don't say 'why not both?' – please don't say 'why not both?'...
The color will seemingly be an easier choice: white or 'dark blue'? Go Blue all the way, baby. (I'm sure some people hope it will be dark enough so as to look black.)
One more thing: in passing, Gurman notes that the iPhone Duo will work with the Apple Pencil. This is notable since no other iPhone models does. But it also makes sense if, when unfolded, the device is more similar to an iPad (mini). I had long been wondering if Apple might do a special, smaller Apple Pencil – don't call it a stylus, lest you blow it! – for the device. And they seemingly debated/tested it, but presumably this will just the regular-sized variant?
Okay, one more, one more thing: Also buried in Gurman's report is this:
The new Apple Watch health capabilities will come alongside a revamped iPhone Health app. Another upgrade to the watch is a feature to compete with a slew of recent AI wearables: a privacy-focused enhancement for analyzing your day and providing a summary of what took place, including conversations. The system can’t show a transcript and doesn’t record or store audio.
Um, what? A feature of the Apple Watch that keeps track of the... conversations you had throughout a day?! Depending on how – and how well – that works, it could become a core selling feature of the Apple Watch?
And if Apple can really pull it off without recording... There will still be people weirded out knowing that your Apple Watch may be "listening" in real time. So this is seemingly a fairly wild feature for Apple to launch. But perhaps testing the waters ahead of the 'EyePods' – AirPods with cameras, coming next year?
Update: Leaker pdfu on X has published a bit more about what to expect fromt he "Ambient Sensing Summaries/Recaps" new feature for the Apple Watch mentioned above. Sort of wild the things it apparently will apparently be able to detect – using an ATM? Applying lotions? Attending a keynote? Flossing?!
Ambient Sensing summaries/Recaps have fields for time and date, place, meal info, people, and their relationship to the user.
— pdfu (@itspdfu) September 9, 2026
The code supports the following activity categories:
• Eating Meal
• Snacking
• Preparing Meal
• Making Drinks
• Baking
• Plating
•… https://t.co/olgAxLhSEa
Update September 10, 2026: Some thoughts after the event...
2026-09-08 20:52:12
Do you feel like every other headline and talking point coming out of the companies at the AI frontier contradict each other? You're not alone there. The future is so bright... because of the nuclear blast that the rogue AI agents will trigger. By accident or on purpose. But not to worry! It will be great, as long as we all agree to get ahead of the problem. But if not, we have a great opportunity to fix the problem with the fantastic new technology we're creating.
Meanwhile, Siri AI nears. You know, the version that actually works. For real this time. Well, unless developers decide not to work with it, which very well could happen given Apple's many contentious relationships. That will make creating the mythical "personal assistant" tech awfully hard...
Read on for thoughts on...
2026-09-08 06:00:39
When I woke up this morning, my entire social media feed made me feel insane. I mean more than usual. It was the same video over and over and over again. The quantity and repetition were such that I actually thought it was some kind of bug. It was not. It was simply the reaction to Nathan Fielder's new film, You Can See Everything.
One of the reasons that I was so surprised that it took over my entire feed is that I'm not actually a Fielder fan. I'm not against him, and I'm quite sure I would be a fan, but I just have never watched his stuff. Sure, I've seen clips here and there, and they're good, but I just simply never have taken the time to sit down and watch his content. One day I will, I'm sure. And I'm also sure that day may be soon. Because You Can See Everything may have the greatest teaser ever made.
I consider myself somewhat of a movie trailer connoisseur.1 My skills aren't perfect, but I can often tell if a movie is going to be good or not simply from the trailer.2 This is usually because modern trailers tell you way too fucking much about a movie. Which is part of the reason why the You Can See Everything teaser is so great. It tells you almost nothing, and yet everything you need to know. It's almost like a one-minute and eleven second piece of art in its own right.
Three paragraphs in and I haven't address the convicted felon in the room...
The trailer opens with the A24 logo over an ocean backdrop.3 Over the sound of the waves in the background, we get a voiceover: "I'm not that person..." It's a female voice, but fairly deep and certainly raspy. "I can promise you that." We cut to the woman.
Holy shit. A true, "Jesus Christ. That's Jason Bourne." meme moment. But it's not Jason Bourne. Nor is it Jesus Christ...
It certainly speaks to the time we're living in that my mind immediately races towards the notion that A24 may be using AI to re-create Elizabeth Holmes. But wait, "re-create"? She's not dead. She's just in prison. So my second thought is if A24 somehow secured her release to film some scenes for this movie. Or if her prison somehow looks like a cozy home on the beach. What. Is. Happening?
Wait a second. Who is that she's talking to? And why are they sitting so close to one another? Again, is this AI?! At this point I vaguely recall that there was some talk about a documentary with her being filmed in stealth. Or was that bullshit?
"I don't have anything to deceive you on, of course I'm not deceiving you." IS THAT A BABY NOISE IN THE BACKGROUND?!
Then we cut to the person she's talking to. Nope, that rumor wasn't bullshit.
"I'm engaging with you as a human being." Is there a "hm" after that statement? There sure is. Nathan Fielder has a blank stare on his face that somehow doubles as a look of pure terror. The score and the continued sound of waves just add to the feeling.
Cut back to Holmes – my brain is still trying to figure out if she's AI in some way. "Why would I deceive you?" She says in a tone that is one or two octaves higher than the famously deceptive voice she wielded at Theranos.
"There's no... there's no reason for me to do that." Why is she smiling like that? Why is she shaking?! Does anyone else feel hypnotized?
Why is Fielder's mouth open, jaw askew?! He finally speaks, "Okay. Alright. Okay, good chat." He's nodding. She's nodding. There are some more sort of inaudible noises. His eyes are trying to read her. Her eyes are pure puppy dog. This may be the most awkwardly intimate thing I have ever seen. Are these two people in love or is one about to murder the other one?
It could go either way. It keeps going.
"You're being real right now?" That is definitely a fucking baby making noises in the background! "I'm always being real." This cannot be real. Her unmoving facial expression cannot be real. That stare is unnerving. Does she blink? Even once?
Then the music starts to drop. The eerie sounds set in. Who is manipulating who here?4
They cut to a wide shot. The two are leaning in to chat on a couch in a living room. This is definitely not prison, but is it real? There is a baby in a rocker. Holmes was shaking because she is rocking the baby with her foot! The baby yelps.
We cut to the title card. "YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING" set over a shot of a car driving through a suburban street. It's sunny. "A documentary by Nathan Fielder & Lance Oppenheim".5 "In theaters this October."
That's it. That's the entire thing. I've probably watched it 30 times. I've noticed something new each time. The headphones. The MacBook. The Tahiti poster. Why are her ears so red? Are they sunburnt? Is she nervous? It's utterly mesmerizing and completely unsettling. I almost wish I learned nothing more about the movie until seeing it, but because this dropped alongside a surprise showing of the actual documentary at the Telluride Film Festival, it's basically impossible not to know more at this point.
I won't spoil anything here except to say that it is real and it does sound spectacular. And again, I'm not a Nathan Fielder guy, nor am I particularly interested in Elizabeth Holmes. But this teaser is that good. It's a must-see. Every single person online seems to agree.
1 I actually used to run a blog reviewing them back in the day – true story! ↩
2 To that end, I'm farily worried about Alejandro Iñárritu's upcoming Digger. Hopefully the trailer is just off for a challenging film to pin down, like One Battle After Another. Meanwhile Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning looks like it could be firmly in the great performance/bad movie camp... ↩
3 Which is such a flex and points to the power of the studio's brand. ↩
4 Are they both maniuplating us?! ↩
5 Oppenheimer, by the way, is also the director of that other A24 viral hit trailer this summer: Primetime. "You see how this looks, right?" ↩
2026-09-08 00:32:52
🔗 Why Apple’s Phil Schiller is Stepping Down from Running the App Store • Bloomberg
With the news last week that Phil Schiller would be stepping down from his longtime post atop Apple's App Store, my initial reaction was that it could signal an impending shift on the policies that govern the store. Well, that may indeed be true, though perhaps not in the direction I anticipated. Here's Mark Gurman:
Now, Schiller is 66 and clearly wanted to have some semblance of retirement. He can focus on philanthropy and spend more time with family. But there’s a bit more to the story, I’m told. Ternus and services chief Eddy Cue want to make even more money from the App Store and figure out ways to raise margins and squeeze additional recurring revenue from the platform. Schiller, on the other hand, seems to believe that such moves will only further irk developers and governments. While there was no internal blowup or anything like that, it’s something he wanted no part of.
Given his role, Schiller has been right in the center of the ongoing battles with developers – most notably, Epic Games – over the App Store fees and other restrictions. Again, I thought that perhaps with the move to John Ternus as CEO, it could also be an obvious time to revisit such policies. But I hadn't considered that Apple could actually be in favor of making them more onerous.
This is obviously just a single report, and I'm wary that it's from someone aiming to frame Schiller as the champion of developers as he rides off, after years of hostilities. But as John Gruber recalls, as far back as 2011, Schiller was at least bringing up the notion of changing App Store policies to be more advantageous to developers. The rationale was probably some mixture of both being magnanimous – Apple never set out for the App Store to be a big money-maker, and while it became one, perhaps they should stick to their original ideals – but also pragmatic: the App Store policies were under attack back then and this would only likely intensify, as Schiller correctly predicted.
Nothing changed, of course – or at least not in a major way, beyond some tweaks to policies and cuts here and there, increasingly due to legislation and lawsuits around the world. But Schiller certainly deserves credit for reading this correctly 15 years ago, and emailing no less than Steve Jobs and Eddy Cue about it.
In that light, this new report could indeed be bad news for developers. What if Schiller was the one not only tasked with holding the line of the App Store policies, but was actually also the one stopping them from getting worse?
What I'm saying is that Epic's Tim Sweeney perhaps shouldn't be holding his breath. His battles with Schiller may be over, but what if the new boss isn't just the same as the old boss, what if they are worse?
For what it's worth, even if Apple does go the opposite way here and seeks to milk the App Store – the centerpiece of their increasingly all-important Services strategy and segment – for more money, I wouldn't expect, say, the revenue split to get worse. That would just be Apple asking for even more lawsuits and legislation. But instead, we could see a new wave of fees. Apple would probably tie these to new capabilities/offerings. Because again, they're not insane, but this report suggests that it might be a bit too easy to see the ultimate goal of such strategies. And that Schiller wanted nothing to do with that...
