I have to agree. Mac has for years now felt like a redheaded stepchild at Apple, and the loss of the dedicated Mac development team at Apple sent the message loud and clear: Tim Cook doesn't give a fuck about the Mac.

Zero risk? I wish they were more cautious and orthodox sometimes. Vide Mac Pro, Final Cut Pro X, TouchBar. Just give me a faster version of the previous one, don't reinvent every category every decade or so. Because sometimes they manage to, but others they just screw up (like everyone else).

I kind of agree, but feel a need to point out that the "absurd cash piles" are a byproduct of tax rules, not of (alleged) timidity on the part of Cook et al.

It's a stretch to say that it's a byproduct of tax rules. It's more a product of avoiding taxes, period.

Apple could repatriate its overseas profits at any time. It would have to pay taxes on those profits, yes, but that would be no different than their domestic profits. Apple would be able to deduct foreign taxes, including foreign VAT payments[1], which would put their foreign profits in parity with their domestic profits in terms of tax burden.

[1] Unlike foreign income you can't take a credit on VAT payments. But VAT payments are deductible like any other business expense. Because corporations are taxed at a fixed percentage (no progressive income brackets), it's a distinction without a difference.

What tax rule are you talking about? The cash in the "absurd pile" has already been taxed as income.

US corp taxes in general

"This is what you get when bean counters run tech companies."

Yeah, letting the COO be CEO isn't necessarily a good idea in a tech company.