Apple’s Rapid Push: Touchscreen Mac, Folding Phone, New Strategy

In 2010, Steve Jobs famously stated that Apple would never put a touchscreen on a Mac, citing ergonomic issues where users would experience arm fatigue. However, Apple recently launched a MacBook Pro with a touchscreen, alongside two other distinct products in October: a smart home display and a folding phone. This rapid and varied product release strategy, encompassing three different categories in just four weeks, marks a significant shift for Apple, which hasn't moved at such a pace in over a decade.

Apple's New Direction Amidst Market Shifts

This flurry of new products has led some to question Apple's direction, especially given that the company has once again surpassed Nvidia to become the world's most valuable company. While AI-related stocks are faltering, Apple appears to be doubling down on hardware, experimenting to find what works. This experimentation isn't without its challenges; for instance, the $2,000 folding phone, the Duo, has seen users cracking screens and a wave of returns.

Adding to the intrigue, current Apple leader John Turnis also echoed Jobs' sentiment in 2021, telling the Wall Street Journal that a touchscreen Mac wasn't necessary, as the iPad served as the best touchscreen computer and the Mac was optimized for indirect input. Despite these past statements from both Jobs and Turnis, Apple has proceeded with a touchscreen Mac. This raises the question: what has changed?

Breaking the Jobsian Doctrine

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the late 1990s, the company was near bankruptcy with a chaotic product lineup. Jobs famously simplified the product matrix into a 2x2 grid: consumer/pro and desktop/portable, eliminating anything that didn't fit. This decision established a core Apple doctrine: say no, ship fewer products, but perfect them. The company became known for arriving late but perfect, never compromising.

However, Apple has repeatedly broken Jobs' rules over the years. Jobs declared 7-inch tablets "dead on arrival," yet the iPad Mini remains in the lineup. He resisted large phones, but the Plus and Max models became bestsellers. The recent October launches, however, feel different. Not only have they broken foundational product rules, but they've done so across three product categories in a single month, shortly after John Turnis took the helm. This accelerated rule-breaking prompts the question: why now?

The iPhone's Legacy and the Search for the Next Big Thing

The iPhone, now 19 years old, remains Apple's primary revenue driver, contributing to the company's over $400 billion annual revenue. It was a revolutionary product, introducing capacitive multi-touch and Mac OS software to a phone. However, since then, Apple hasn't delivered another product that fundamentally changed an entire industry. While the Apple Watch and AirPods were successful, they are largely considered accessories rather than groundbreaking products.

Apple's attempts at innovation haven't always panned out. The Apple Car project, for example, reportedly cost $10 billion over a decade before being scrapped. The Vision Pro, while technically impressive, has been largely seen as a $3,500 flop. Apple Home products have underperformed compared to Amazon and Google, and the new 2026 Home View was perceived as a confused product, stuck between an Apple Watch and an iPad.

Even the iPad, once touted as the future of computing, now seems to be in a precarious position. Apple appears to be creating products that cannibalize iPad sales, such as a foldable device the size of an iPad Mini without iPad software, and a MacBook with a touchscreen that doesn't run iPad apps. After the iPhone's innovation has plateaued and the iPad hasn't become the "next big thing," Apple is clearly in an experimental phase, unafraid to take risks.

Apple's Stance on AI and John Turnis's Leadership

Apple has remained notably quiet on AI while competitors have been rapidly shipping models. An optimistic interpretation is that Apple is adhering to its doctrine of perfection, waiting for the right moment. The AI sector has seen significant volatility, with crashes in China and the US, and nearly a trillion dollars wiped out in a short period. OpenAI is struggling to raise money, interest rates are rising, and investors are becoming wary of the risks associated with funding AI data centers. The broad financial return of AI isn't yet clear.

Apple seems to be betting that the future isn't pure AI, but rather a new platform that users hold, with AI tastefully integrated into the background, so much so that users may not even realize it's there.

This brings the focus back to John Turnis. Known for his leadership style of saying no to things, his recent actions—a flurry of new products and a cautious approach to AI—seem to contradict his usual stance. Turnis became Apple's fourth CEO on September 1st, with Tim Cook moving to executive chairman. While Cook was known for his supply chain expertise, Turnis is a hardware engineer who ran hardware engineering for years.

Since taking the helm, Turnis has reportedly begun "killing things." Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests Turnis removed Vision Pro successors from Apple's roadmap, canceling the Vision Air and freezing Vision Pro 2, redirecting resources to smart glasses. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Turnis internally opposed both the Vision Pro and the Apple Car, and intends to be a single decision-maker rather than running products by committee, a style reminiscent of Steve Jobs.

The Strategy: Expansion vs. Focus

The fundamental difference between Jobs and Turnis's approaches lies in their context. Jobs killed products because Apple had too many; Turnis is expanding into more categories because Apple hasn't found the next big thing after the iPhone.

This strategy carries risks. A string of product failures could damage the Apple brand. However, experimentation could also lead to a breakthrough. The unresolved question is whether a company of Apple's size can still find a breakthrough by actively searching for it. Jobs didn't search; he had an idea and committed everything to making it happen. Apple today has the resources to try everything, which is an advantage, but it could also dilute the conviction needed for any single bet.

This challenge extends beyond Apple. The world is rapidly changing, with the rise of AI and a general sense of malaise in tech, making it harder for industry leaders to foresee what's next. In 2005, when the iPhone was being developed, the tech landscape was simpler, and the vision for future products was clearer.

Ultimately, whether Apple's current strategy is bold or confused remains to be seen. Society is increasingly questioning the necessity of new products, often feeling that "nobody asked for this."

A Final Thought on Steve Jobs' Legacy

Towards the end of his life, Steve Jobs was aware that his words about products might be taken as gospel. At his memorial in 2011, Tim Cook shared Jobs' last piece of advice: "Never ask the question, 'What would Steve Jobs do?'" This sentiment underscores the need for Apple to forge its own path, even if it means breaking from past doctrines.