Rumor: macOS no longer has its own development team

Mac systems have been given significantly less priority within Apple, and the macOS development team has been merged with that of iOS, which is receiving much more attention. Bloomberg news agency also reports that the Macs will also receive modest updates in 2017.

Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who has good resources inside Apple, was told by employees that Apple’s board has no clear goals for the Mac, key figures from the hardware department have left, and technical setbacks have delayed new systems. . They also say the Mac team has lost touch with Jonathan Ive’s design team and software department.

After a reorganization, that software department would have become part of a broad development team in which most people work on iOS and the teams for the iPhone and iPad determine the direction. What would also create obstacles for new products, according to the sources, is that teams would have to work on two or more concepts simultaneously, where previously a single clear vision would have been pursued.

Bloomberg reports that the 12″ MacBook was delayed because two test models were being developed: the light Stealth Fighter and the heavier Stealth Bomber. When the light version was finally chosen, the engineers had a hard time getting all the electronics into the thin For the 2016 version of the MacBook, engineers wanted to add a Touch ID scanner and a second USB-C port, but those plans were scrapped.

With the MacBook Pro line that came out this year, Apple initially wanted to integrate a new type of battery with high capacity and a form factor that was focused on the design of the laptop. The battery failed an important test, so Apple decided to revert to an older design. This decision forced teams from other Mac models to step in, causing this delay. A software error also resulted in an incorrect display of the remaining battery life. Apple has since scrapped that view in macOS.

Tim Cook informed his staff on Tuesday, prior to Bloomberg’s publication, that new Macs are on the way. According to Bloomberg, no major external changes are to be expected. The company would mainly like to add USB-C ports and a new AMD GPU to the iMac and have processor upgrades for the 12 “MacBook and the MacBook Pro on the agenda.