iMac anniversary, split iPhone launch, and App Store upheaval

It's time to look back at the legendary iMac on its 27th birthday, but also time to look ahead to rumors of a future shakeup over iPhone launches — and the present day shakeup in the App Store, on the AppleInsider podcast.

Without the iMac in 1998, there wouldn't be an Apple today — and there probably wouldn't have been an Apple even in 1999. So much depended on that little machine, and so many of us have relished it and its later versions over nearly three decades now.

But over the next decade, according to Apple's Eddy Cue, it's possible we'll move on from the iMac's eventual successor, the iPhone. And if we do, it'll be because of AI, which Apple is now turning to for search as it prepares to lose its lucrative deal that sees Google the default search option on iOS.

Then changes with Google and Apple are in the future, but right now the App Store is in upheaval because of a US court ruling that Apple is now appealing against. More than a legal question, it's practically now a moral one — should companies get a free ride on the back of the App Store, and should Apple really get a cut of everything sold via apps?

BONUS: Subscribe via Patreon or Apple Podcasts to hear AppleInsider+, the extended edition. This time, if Eddy Cue is right — and serious — then we're facing a future without the iPhone. There used to be a world without iPhones, apparently, but surely we're not going to give them up now, not unless there is a truly compelling replacement.

Contact your hosts:

Links from the Show

More AppleInsider podcasts

Tune in to our HomeKit Insider podcast covering the latest news, products, apps and everything HomeKit related. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Overcast, or just search for HomeKit Insider wherever you get your podcasts.

Podcast artwork from Basic Apple Guy. Download the free wallpaper pack here.

Those interested in sponsoring the show can reach out to us at: advertising@appleinsider.com.

Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast. Just say, "Hey, Siri," to your HomePod mini and ask for these podcasts, and our latest HomeKit Insider episode too. If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple's Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.

1 Comment

9secondkox2 9 Years · 3430 comments

About 1 week ago

More than a legal question, it's practically now a moral one -- should companies get a free ride on the back of the App Store, and should Apple really get a cut of everything sold via apps?

I think these have pretty simple
answers.

No, there is no such thing as a free lunch. A laborer is worthy of their wages. No free rides. Forcing anyone to provide such a thing at their expense for the profit of another, whether partner or competitor, is criminal. It's forced robbery - using the law to do so.

And until Sony, MS, Nintendo, Google, etc. stop getting a cut of in-app purchases, then Apple shouldn't have to forgo that logical stream of revenue either.

When this becomes a multiparty suit and developers are able to absolutely PROVE that Apple, Nintendo, MS, Sony, Google, and others's labors are not worthy of such things, then Apple should not bear this burden.

The in-app thing is a sloppy slope of extortion, especially when a developer and create a "free" app that does hardly anything, but offers an "in-app" payment model that unlocks the rest of the app the user should have gotten to begin with. It ends up being a sneaky scheme to cheat the platform out of its due.

Of course people want free stuff. or cheap stuff. Who doesn't? But that's where the law is supposed to come in and protect those who are harmed by such extortionate and deceptive practices. What we have been witnessing is the opposite of law and order. Over the last decade or so, The courts have become the ally of the criminal instead of the law abiding citizen putting in the work to do things in order. Hopefully there are come qualified judges left who know right from wrong and are able to discern between the loudest voices and the nuances of the letter and spirit of the law.

Never have seen a large corporation work so hard to do things right (a rarity for sure) only to get robbed in broad daylight by elementary school style arguments.