Apple is often criticised for the extraordinary prices on its products, with many claiming that customers are paying just for the Apple engraved on the back while receiving a sub-optimal experience overall. Even so, Apple has had great success where Microsoft has potentially fallen short, particularly when it comes to smartphones and tablets – the successes of the iPhone and iPad far outweigh Microsoft’s attempts at bringing itself into the modern era with Windows Phone, Windows 10 Mobile, as well as its Windows RT and Windows 8.1 attempts at the tablet industry.
This time, however, a Microsoft executive has publicly announced his discontent with Apple’s products, claiming that Apple is “doing their customers a disservice at times with old tech,” a fairly broad statement to make with no further explanation – but possibly an accurate statement nonetheless. Brian Hall, Microsoft’s General Manager for its Surface line of products, posted the statement on his Twitter profile:
I compete with Apple and respect them. but they ARE doing their customers a disservice at times with old tech… https://t.co/PR2pC6TsJh
— Brian Hall (@IsForAt) August 5, 2016
To some extent, such a broad statement without further explanation can make sense. When was the last time Apple’s MacBook received a design refresh or any major improvements in terms of the hardware used? Its products still make use of older generation processors and lacks the graphics power for any minor PC gaming (which leads into the issue of Windows being the dominant gaming platform for PCs).
These are the kind-of things that Windows users take for granted – when they buy a new laptop or PC, they expect a fairly new processor and a performant graphics card. Apple’s products don’t offer this, instead, they’re stuck with what Apple decides is best – whether it is best for their customers or not, and this is where the claim of “disservice” comes in. In a way, it is stifling innovation, by keeping millions of customers on old technology.
Apple didn’t respond to requests for its response to Hall’s comments.
Let us know what you think about Apple, its products and how it treats its customers in the comments below – but let’s keep it civil, Microsoft supports its own platforms as well as Apple’s.
