Ex Apple Engineer. Let go for using a Galaxy device as my main driver after 17 years. šŸ‘šŸ˜„

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As the title implies. I am an ex Apple engineer who is let go after refusing to use the iPhone as my main phone.
My project manager kept getting on me about using an iPhone. He always complained about my phone, as every time he wanted to try out I new process i never had my iPhone on me and would always complain.
One day he called me into his office and asked me why I didnā€™t use an iPhone like the rest of the team. I explained to him that I really didnā€™t like our part product that much, and I was being blunt with him and then I felt we were going in the wrong direction and not moving the software in the right direction. and that we were moving backwards.
He he decided to put me on leave as he felt I was not being a team player and would put me back on the team as soon as my attitude changed.
I said thatā€™s OK I quit anyway. And walked out.

Some backround about Apple and why i feel they are in big trouble going foward.

Most senior engineers are being demoted to reduce pay. Apple is all about money. That is no 1. User experience is way down the list.

i was a former product manager. Who did excellent work. Made enough money over 25 years to partially retire. They decided to demote me in place of a kid who they paid half as much. Then force me out. This is happening across the company.

A few engineers are going else where like Oppo, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. But most are going to Samsung. I got an offer but turned them down as I am older and wanted to partially retire.
Right now Samsung has the best software engineers on the mobile side as well as on the hardware side.

Apple is a master at cost cutting and tricking the public into inferior products. Their marketing team basically run the company. They retained the best, kept their experienced managers and even hired more.
The opposite of what happened to me happened to their marketing managers.

This led to massive profits. So Apple figured why put so much money into the products when we can undercut the product still sell so many anyway.

One of their biggest blunders was using stainless steel in the X and pro models. Jonny Ive left the company over this. He and Tim Cook didnā€™t get along very well.

Stainless steel is cheap. Surgical grade is slightly more expensive but still relatively cheap. 7000 series Aluminum is more expensive and a much better substrate of metal. It was developed as an alternative to Titanium and is used in Spacecraft, Fighter jets, Satellites etc. Basically the aerospace industry.

Most high end phones on the Android side use it.
Apple thought they could cut costs, while tricking the buying public into thinking its more expensive because its heavier. And in the US it worked, and worked well.

But now its backfiring as Apple is now forced to use Titanium. A more expensive metal and are set to lose millions. They were warned SS would be too heavy as the more features they added the heavier the phone would get.

This is just one example. There are many more.
 

fuzzylumpkin

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Well, welcome to the forum.

I certainly agree with your assertions about Apple... except the part about them being in trouble going forward. People will unfortunately keep buying what they are selling, because they are very good at selling it. The use of titanium won't be an issue, they will just pass that cost on to the customer triplefold the same as everything else they produce.
 
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Well thank you!

While i agree with you. I was not talking about people not buying their products, but on them losing money on products or profit margins and trouble with inferior products getting them in trouble in the future.

In the US espicially people will buy anything they sell. Because of branding, not the actual product. This can only go on for so long though. As all it takes is for one company say like Samsung to revolutionize a certain feature or product to gain mindshare.

Once that happens most good companies have their superior quality and feature set to gain that mind share back. Apple will not have that as they are losing that luxury afforded to them by the quality engineers they used to have.
That is what i meant by being in trouble.
 

Kizzy Catwoman

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As the title implies. I am an ex Apple engineer who is let go after refusing to use the iPhone as my main phone.
My project manager kept getting on me about using an iPhone. He always complained about my phone, as every time he wanted to try out I new process i never had my iPhone on me and would always complain.
One day he called me into his office and asked me why I didnā€™t use an iPhone like the rest of the team. I explained to him that I really didnā€™t like our part product that much, and I was being blunt with him and then I felt we were going in the wrong direction and not moving the software in the right direction. and that we were moving backwards.
He he decided to put me on leave as he felt I was not being a team player and would put me back on the team as soon as my attitude changed.
I said thatā€™s OK I quit anyway. And walked out.

Some backround about Apple and why i feel they are in big trouble going foward.

Most senior engineers are being demoted to reduce pay. Apple is all about money. That is no 1. User experience is way down the list.

i was a former product manager. Who did excellent work. Made enough money over 25 years to partially retire. They decided to demote me in place of a kid who they paid half as much. Then force me out. This is happening across the company.

A few engineers are going else where like Oppo, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. But most are going to Samsung. I got an offer but turned them down as I am older and wanted to partially retire.
Right now Samsung has the best software engineers on the mobile side as well as on the hardware side.

Apple is a master at cost cutting and tricking the public into inferior products. Their marketing team basically run the company. They retained the best, kept their experienced managers and even hired more.
The opposite of what happened to me happened to their marketing managers.

This led to massive profits. So Apple figured why put so much money into the products when we can undercut the product still sell so many anyway.

One of their biggest blunders was using stainless steel in the X and pro models. Jonny Ive left the company over this. He and Tim Cook didnā€™t get along very well.

Stainless steel is cheap. Surgical grade is slightly more expensive but still relatively cheap. 7000 series Aluminum is more expensive and a much better substrate of metal. It was developed as an alternative to Titanium and is used in Spacecraft, Fighter jets, Satellites etc. Basically the aerospace industry.

Most high end phones on the Android side use it.
Apple thought they could cut costs, while tricking the buying public into thinking its more expensive because its heavier. And in the US it worked, and worked well.

But now its backfiring as Apple is now forced to use Titanium. A more expensive metal and are set to lose millions. They were warned SS would be too heavy as the more features they added the heavier the phone would get.

This is just one example. There are many more.
Wow!! To be honest I suspected their quality had been going down. I have a 12 Pro Max (refurbished Apple) and a Pixel 6 Pro. Compared to my 6 Pro the iPhone feels like a lead weight in my hand. And they are the same size phone, but the 6 Pro is slimmer and lighter.

Welcome to the forums.
 
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Wow!! To be honest I suspected their quality had been going down. I have a 12 Pro Max (refurbished Apple) and a Pixel 6 Pro. Compared to my 6 Pro the iPhone feels like a lead weight in my hand. And they are the same size phone, but the 6 Pro is slimmer and lighter.

Welcome to the forums.
Thank you!

Ask yourself. What is the last mobile product from them to show real innovation?
it was the X. Facetime was a true game changer, as well as their OLED implementation with curving the panel electronics under the edges of the phone. This panel trick was duplicated by the rest of the industry.

A VR headset that cost $3500? šŸ˜„ Dynamic island? Hahahaa. I almost choked on my coffee when they announced that one. It was duplicated practically the next day in software on the Android side within 48hrs.

Samsung is innovating. Really innovating. Foldable phones are the future once they are perfected in my opinion. They seem like a beta product now. Once the figure out a screen with the same durability and clarity as gorilla glass and make them thin enough and light enough its game over.

But i feel like that is a while off. Their Galaxy tab S9 Ultra with its 14.6 inch Amoled at 5.6 thin is innovating.

Apple will announce a 14.5 inch ipad and say its the largest screen ever on a tablet and everyone will clap. šŸ˜„šŸ‘
 
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B. Diddy

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Welcome to Android Central! Thanks for sharing your absolutely fascinating perspective. I'm sure there are those that will argue that mobile tech in general has reached a stagnation point, and that the real innovation now lies in software (ugh, AI). I'd ask you more about that, but I'm guessing you have to be careful about NDAs and whatnot.šŸ˜¬

In any case, I hope you continue to enjoy the green side of things! šŸ˜Ž
 
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Welcome to Android Central! Thanks for sharing your absolutely fascinating perspective. I'm sure there are those that will argue that mobile tech in general has reached a stagnation point, and that the real innovation now lies in software (ugh, AI). I'd ask you more about that, but I'm guessing you have to be careful about NDAs and whatnot.šŸ˜¬

In any case, I hope you continue to enjoy the green side of things! šŸ˜Ž
Thank you!

Yes and No. Innovating will come at smaller steps, but software isn't any good without innovative technologies to run it on. But you are correct that it has reached a stagnation point.
Yes i know alot of things which i cannot disclose because of an NDA.
Such as a 14.1 inch ipad pro that was in the works but canceled or put on hold because of panel availability. šŸ˜‰

To correct myself from earlier. The Iphone X was the last innovative product they released. But Apple really didnt do the innovating except for the panel.

Face ID was not developed by Apple. It was developed by a startup company called Primesense started by a Mr Aviad Maizels back in 2005-6. Funded by Microsoft and was a co-founder in the company. They did this as Microsoft wanted to remain anonymous To keep the technology a secret.

This development led to the Microsoft Kinect. Yes, that Kinect. The same technology is used in face ID. It is now used in Windows Hello As Microsoft has rights to the patent, just not rights to capri which was developed for smartphones.

Primesense was developing a miniature version called capri for smartphones In conjunction with Microsoft. In 2013 Samsung was well under way in developing a IR camera for face unlock to combat Apples Apple ID Fingerprint recognition.

Apple got news of this and tried to develop their own facial recognition with little success. In 2012 is when Apple replaced a good portion of their engineers with cheaper younger versions.
So what they couldnā€™t develop they bought. Apple bought Primesense under Microsofts nose in 2013 and four years later face ID was born.

So the last product they really innovated on was the Apple watch? Or did they buy that too? šŸ˜‰
 

fuzzylumpkin

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Thank you!

Yes and No. Innovating will come at smaller steps, but software isn't any good without innovative technologies to run it on. But you are correct that it has reached a stagnation point.
Yes i know alot of things which i cannot disclose because of an NDA.
Such as a 14.1 inch ipad pro that was in the works but canceled or put on hold because of panel availability.

To correct myself from earlier. The Iphone X was the last innovative product they released. But Apple really didnt do the innovating except for the panel.

Face ID was not developed by Apple. It was developed by a startup company called Primesense started by a Mr Aviad Maizels back in 2005-6. Funded by Microsoft and was a co-founder in the company. They did this as Microsoft wanted to remain anonymous To keep the technology a secret.

This development led to the Microsoft Kinect. Yes, that Kinect. The same technology is used in face ID. It is now used in Windows Hello As Microsoft has rights to the patent, just not rights to capri which was developed for smartphones.

Primesense was developing a miniature version called capri for smartphones In conjunction with Microsoft. In 2013 Samsung was well under way in developing a IR camera for face unlock to combat Apples Apple ID Fingerprint recognition.

Apple got news of this and tried to develop their own facial recognition with little success. In 2012 is when Apple replaced a good portion of their engineers with cheaper younger versions.
So what they couldnā€™t develop they bought. Apple bought Primesense under Microsofts nose in 2013 and four years later face ID was born.

So the last product they really innovated on was the Apple watch? Or did they buy that too?
Samsung had been putting curved OLEDs into phones for several years before Appl released the iPhone X
 
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Samsung had been putting curved OLEDs into phones for several years before Appl released the iPhone X
Yes i know that. But that is not what i am talking about. Apple was the first to curve the panel electronics to get the screen closer to the edge of the flat phone. Samsung was the first to curve the screen with the phone. Big difference. Itā€™s not the display that's curved but rather the flex cable connection to the display controller.
 

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mustang7757

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Yes i know that. But that is not what i am talking about. Apple was the first to curve the panel electronics to get the screen closer to the edge of the flat phone. Samsung was the first to curve the screen with the phone. Big difference. Itā€™s not the display that's curved but rather the flex cable connection to the display controller.
Yeah but weren't they using LG screen at one point and lately Samsung?
 

belodion

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Welcome and enjoy. :)

The only thing about iPhones that I will not accept is the disfigurement of the display with front cameras and other gubbins. That is of course almost universal among Androids too, but there are a very few full-display Androids, versus one iPhone.

I don't know what the designers think they're doing.
 
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Kizzy Catwoman

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Thank you!

Yes and No. Innovating will come at smaller steps, but software isn't any good without innovative technologies to run it on. But you are correct that it has reached a stagnation point.
Yes i know alot of things which i cannot disclose because of an NDA.
Such as a 14.1 inch ipad pro that was in the works but canceled or put on hold because of panel availability.

To correct myself from earlier. The Iphone X was the last innovative product they released. But Apple really didnt do the innovating except for the panel.

Face ID was not developed by Apple. It was developed by a startup company called Primesense started by a Mr Aviad Maizels back in 2005-6. Funded by Microsoft and was a co-founder in the company. They did this as Microsoft wanted to remain anonymous To keep the technology a secret.

This development led to the Microsoft Kinect. Yes, that Kinect. The same technology is used in face ID. It is now used in Windows Hello As Microsoft has rights to the patent, just not rights to capri which was developed for smartphones.

Primesense was developing a miniature version called capri for smartphones In conjunction with Microsoft. In 2013 Samsung was well under way in developing a IR camera for face unlock to combat Apples Apple ID Fingerprint recognition.

Apple got news of this and tried to develop their own facial recognition with little success. In 2012 is when Apple replaced a good portion of their engineers with cheaper younger versions.
So what they couldnā€™t develop they bought. Apple bought Primesense under Microsofts nose in 2013 and four years later face ID was born.

So the last product they really innovated on was the Apple watch? Or did they buy that too?
I must admit that the Apple watch is the best out there. I tried a few wear OS watches when my 6s died and I didn't want another iPhone. They were horrible in comparison to my original and series 2 watches. I went back to the Apple Watch with series 6 and got a second hand iPhone. Since then I have used second hand or refurbished iPhones rather than new. I don't like them enough to pay new prices. My 12 Pro Max I got for Ā£849 in Feb refurbished from Apple. I paid that much because the second hand one I got was immediately faulty and I wanted a new battery, screen and chassis. But I still saved hundreds of pounds going refurbished. I needed a larger screen to use larger text on my screen. Since then the Airpods have been great cos I can use them as hearing aids. And the spatial audio is amazing!! There are small accessibility features that I love. Personal voice on iOS 17 is amazing and I wish I had had something like this when I had a tracheostomy in 2019 and couldn't speak. It works spookily well.

But even with these options my main phone is the Pixel and I am looking forward to buying an 8 Pro in October.
 

Bkdodger1

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I've been using an iPhone 12 pro since release date and it really has been such a reliable and solid device... I don't get into all the build quality stuff but for me I think the device is well made and durable ...I could see it easily lasting another 3 years and more though I will probably upgrade this year we shall see ...I do have more fun with my Android side of things ...
 

mustang7757

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I've been using an iPhone 12 pro since release date and it really has been such a reliable and solid device... I don't get into all the build quality stuff but for me I think the device is well made and durable ...I could see it easily lasting another 3 years and more though I will probably upgrade this year we shall see ...I do have more fun with my Android side of things ...
There no question the iphone build quality is excellent.
 

Morty2264

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Welcome to Android Central! I'm sorry that happened to you, especially after being honest and upfront with your project manager. I too agree with the user who stated that unfortunately Apple will likely never go backwards -- their customer service and marketing are top-notch and people will always buy from them. Not that I want them to fail, obviously -- but there is this elitist sheen to Apple and to some who use Apple products. Can't we all just get along? šŸ˜œ
 
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Golfdriver97

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Welcome to the forums. I can see the point about the cost that, in the US and probably Western Europe, Apple sales won't fall because it's a status symbol. However, this may affect other markets that Apple may be selling reasonably well, but fall to the price hike.