Apple in 2023: The Six Colors Report Card
Jason Snell of Six Colors has released his annual Apple Report Card, with rankings compiled from scores submitted by 58 Apple-adjacent w riters, editors, developers, podcasters, and other professionals, including me and longtime TidBITS contributors Glenn Fleishman, Michael Cohen, Jeff Carlson, Josh Centers, Kirk McElhearn, Rich Mogull, and Joe Kissell.
This year, Hardware Reliability, the Mac, and the iPhone topped the list, with the iPad taking over the bottom spot from HomeKit.
Last year, most categories improved or stayed the same, but Apple’s three primary product segments—the iPhone, iPad, and Mac—all dropped (see “Apple in 2022: The Six Colors Report Card,” 9 February 2023). This year, the Mac’s rating was unchanged, the iPhone improved slightly to more than erase last year’s drop, and the iPad continued its precipitous slide. Apple also took it on the chin for the Apple Watch, the Apple TV, Services, and Wearables, all of which fell by significant amounts. However, HomeKit, Hardware Reliability, Software Quality, Developer Relations, and Environmental/Social all gained. For thoughts on why these and other rankings changed as they did in 2023, read the full report, complete with pithy quotes from your favorite Apple pundits.
I was impressed by Christina Warren. Every single quote of hers in that report I would sign right away.
And along those lines, kudos to TidBITS’ own @mcohen for daring to speak up and say it like it is (and I say that as a a guy who routinely goes to and really likes TX)
On the basis of what criteria were the devices rated? Did everyone use the same criteria?
Why do you think the iPad is rated so low (and is dropping)?
I have a really nice iPad M1 (2021) 11-inch. But I rarely use it. It’s sitting here next to my nice MBP M1. Sometimes if I go out I’ll take it with me. But rarely. I’ll take it on plane trips. But the last trip I took was almost a year ago.
When I do use it though it seems nice, though I wish it were more “Mac-like” rather than having it’s own OS. Is that the problem? That MacOS and iPadOS are so different? Like maybe an inexpensive MB Air with a touch screen would be better? Like a Windows Surface device that can be removed from the keyboard and used as a tablet?
No, you’re just asked to provide a rating from 1 to 5.
Well, the full article has a lot on that. But this year it’s an easy answer—Apple didn’t release a single new iPad in 2023. Your experience of not having much to do on it is the other big reason. I never turn my iPad on other than install software updates. It does nothing I need better than my Macs.
Kieran Healy contributed a stats-heavy look at the Six Colors Report Card. Looks like I’m right in the middle of the group in generosity to Apple.
Once I leave my desk, my iPad Mini is the primary device I use. Since getting it I have little use for a Mac in the evening or on the road. Been waiting for an update, for sure.
Just to provide a counter factual, I have both a 10.5” and a 12.9” iPads, and my wife has a recent iPad Air and we use all of them, (and our Macs) daily. We haven’t bought new ones because the ones we have work very well, so maybe that’s the reason for low sales in 2023? The machines are just too good, and no new machines introduced…