We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing.
- We are constantly focusing on innovating.
- We believe in the simple not the complex. Focus
- We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. Control
- We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. Focus
- We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change. And I think regardless of who is in what job those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well.
Abstract
Apple’s focus is on consumer experience above all else.
Principles
Focus
- Apple makes few products, but makes them really well
- Make only a few ads, but make them really well.
- Attention to Detail. Color-matching cables and stickers, black PCB, specific squircle curvature to maximize visual appeal.
Control
- Vertical integration: control key technologies
- The Grand Theory of Apple - YouTube Apple is a technology company, only incidentally. Technology is a means to an end—delivering great experiences.
Excellence
- Ship when the product is ready.
- Arriving late to a market is okay, if the product delivers a convincing experience.
Design
Apple Macbook Pro Retina 15 / 13 Official Promo Video - YouTube
If you never change anything, what you can engineer is really just incremental. But when you’re willing to change things, you open up a whole new world of design.
There are many design innovations […] that users won’t actually see, but they’ll certainly experience.
Air is pulled into vents […] by fans with asymmetrically positioned fan blades. […] We position ours asymmetrically to spread the sound over a variety of frequencies which makes it seem quieter and less intrusive.
Introducing iOS 7 - Official Video - Apple (HD) - YouTube
Simplicity is so much more than the absence of clutter and ornamentation. It’s about bringing order to complexity.
Design is more than how something looks. It’s how something feels and works, on so many different levels.
Apple often quotes Alan Kay:
People who are serious about their hardware, should design their own software.
Marketing
Why Keynotes? Apple wants to fully Control the first impression of the device, and thereby implant a strong, purposefully constructed image in the press and ultimately the consumer’s mind.
Why Ads? Apple’s TV ads are (for most people) the first impression of the product. It’s the one opportunity to control the messaging.
The New iPad Pro — On Any Given Wednesday - YouTube
- Subtle sound effects of water while showing the river, the whoosh of the school bus or the crowded chatter of the coffee shop make the scene interactive and focused.
- Essentially, it’s message is: “wouldn’t you want to be that person?”
- Apple marketing adheres to this messaging a lot. Phil Schiller said after unveiling the new (trash can) Mac Pro, showing a slide with a guy with three 4K displays: “you can be this guy.”
iPhone 8 (PRODUCT)RED™ Special Edition - Commercial - YouTube
- How can a phone be sexy?
- The music & visuals match to produce a emphatic and resonant atmosphere
iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro - Reveal - YouTube
- Same as the iPhone 8 commercial above. It brings character to the phones; the iPhone 11 is playful, alive, and tactile, while the Pro is austere, practical, and precise.
iPhone X - Announcement Video - YouTube
- It interacts between the phone’s display showing a colorful wallpaper and the person’s face lit up by a similar gradient of colors.
- Message: this phone blurs the boundaries between human and device.
- The message is supplemented by the primary feature that assists this coalescene: Face ID
- Phil Schiller, in the Keynote, says specifically that the phone “recognizes you.”