[rdtsc]

> I'll just say this: the fact the most discussed thing about the new iOS version is how to make their terrible new UI (that no one asked for) off is telling something about the state of innovation at Apple.

I observed that too. Polled a few people I know who upgraded and they all have the same impression that they'd rather turn it off. I shared the accessibility settings with some to help them out. I haven't upgraded my main phone might have to wait a while longer.

This has to be resume driven. I presume designers at Apple have to end the year with a review to justify their salaries. "So Bob, what would you say you do here?". The answer "Well not much, we designed things nicely already, and now we're just chilling, listening to podcasts and having 2 hour lunches" is not going to fly. They want to say something like "That flashy glass thing, we did that!". Except, in this case I wish they'd all just be chilling and having 2 hour long lunches, instead of messing with the interface since they apparently managed to make things worse.

[lesuorac]

I assume it's technology driven. The effect is probably expensive to produce so phones with weaker performance can't do it.

[fodkodrasz]

So basically it is to have shorter battery life despite advances in battery technology, and have planned obsolescence? This makes this even more compelling to leave their ecosystem.

This is just jumping the shark, as they need to push out something that can be talked about their products, and Apple Intelligence is a flop so far. As the saying goes: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”

[vladvasiliu]

I have an iphone 11 (non pro) I use as a GPS. The update works fine on it, I haven't noticed any unusual slowdown. If I'm not mistaken, that's a 6 year-old model, and I think it's the oldest one supported.

I can't comment on the battery life, since it's plugged in almost all the time. I haven't noticed any change on my regular phone (14 pro).

[cmckn]

My humble opinion is they took the opportunity to play “look over here!” after the Apple Intelligence (or lack thereof) fiasco.

[IAmGraydon]

It’s shareholder driven. They have to act like they’re still innovative even though they have no idea where to actually innovate at this point. So they chose to change something very visible that they could point to as a big innovative change to keep share prices moving in the right direction. Ever heard of end-stage capitalism? Well, this is it - when every principle is sacrificed in the name of revenue.

[rdtsc]

> It’s shareholder driven.

Yeah I think both are in the same vein. At the corporate level it's shareholder driven and on the individual and team level it's resume driven. It boils down to "What cool thing have you done in the last 12 months?" kind of question.