[gchpaco]

Zapfino is the most immediate counter that comes to mind. Monaco was for decades the best monospaced font going. My Mac has Futura on it (a fantastically influential and important font that I happen to dislike aesthetically a great deal), Gill Sans (probably the best sans serif body font), Hoefler Text (gorgeous), Optima and Palatino, for starters.

You don't need to commission new fonts if you have the good taste to buy the distribution rights for excellent existing fonts.

[tptacek]

The only fonts in that list that Apple commissioned are Monaco and Hoefler Text, both from more than ten years ago.

I'm not complaining that Apple ships with a poor selection of fonts. I'm complaining that despite the heritage, they don't appear to be innovating with typography at all anymore. Microsoft is simply crushing them on this front.

[jemmons]

You're confused. Microsoft isn't innovating here either. They're paying someone to innovate. That's why it's called "commission".

If Apple employed great type designers and was giving them nothing to do, that'd be a problem. But there's been no shortage of great font releases without Apple's patronage -- and all these releases can be installed on a Mac. So what's your real problem here?