“Something is rotten in the state of Cupertino”: Critique after delay of Siri AI

Is Apple currently lacking consistency? Following the surprising postponement of important AI functions for the Siri voice assistant until next year, the iPhone manufacturer has come in for a lot of criticism, particularly regarding its communication and presentation policy. The company, which has rarely announced products in advance to avoid disappointment, is said to have announced the Apple Intelligence features last summer without them being ready in the foreseeable future. Instead, the company only presented a demonstration. Apple has since removed a matching television advertisement from YouTube. Now the prominent Apple blogger John Gruber, to whom Apple provided information about the Siri problems in the form of a statement last Friday, has also spoken out. He has harsh words in his text. Originally, Apple wanted to give Siri more context to the user, allow direct app control and read out screen information to interact with it by voice.

Apple has lost credibility

In Gruber's opinion, “something is rotten in the state of Cupertino”. He is annoyed himself for not having foreseen the possible delay in advance. “Keynote after keynote, product after product, feature after feature, year after year, Apple has developed from a company that you couldn't believe would remain solvent to by far the most credible company in the tech industry.” But it is precisely this credibility that has been damaged since June 2024 when the new features were shown. In his opinion, “careers will end” before Apple returns to the level where people know that a statement can be believed.

The “fiasco” is not that Apple is behind schedule with Apple Intelligence. Nor is it that the company had to announce “an embarrassing delay in promised features” last week. “These are problems, not fiascos, and problems happen. They are unavoidable.” Leaders prove their ability not by “how they deal with successes, but how they deal with issues – how they recognize, understand, adapt and solve them”. However, Apple had created a story – about Siri's contextual skills – “that wasn't true”. It was a story “that some people in the company knew for sure was not correct”. However, the future course was set on this basis, according to Gruber.

“Just a concept video”

Gruber goes on to write that, in his opinion, the “personalized Siri” was “not a demo” at the time of WWDC, but a “concept video”. However, concept videos are “bullshit and a sign that a company is in disarray, if not in crisis”. Gruber called on Apple CEO Tim Cook to address and resolve the Siri and Apple Intelligence debacle at a company meeting. “If there wasn't such a meeting, and it doesn't happen soon, that's it.” Once “mediocrity, justifications and bullshit take root, they [take over].” A culture of excellence, responsibility, and integrity cannot accept this.

The Apple blogger's harsh words are also unusual because he is known for his good relationships in the highest spheres of Cupertino. He regularly holds live events at the WWDC developer conference, where important Apple managers appear. However, Apple has certainly postponed or completely discontinued products in the past. The most famous example is the AirPower multi-charger, which Apple had to discontinue after years of development. However, according to Gruber, this was on the periphery – and not as important an area as Siri and Apple Intelligence. Apple had also terminated a car project after investing billions, but it was never officially confirmed.

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