Ask HN: Is Apple now a chip company?
Apple does not make laptops with unique designs anymore. They recently redesigned the MacBook Air and Pro's and they went with a utilitarian and conservative look. They did not push any boundaries.
They don't make the most bleeding edge phones anymore (Samsung is pushing the envelope with foldables).
They don't make the best looking wireless earbuds.
They don't make the best looking smartwatches.
They don't make the best looking tablets.
On the software front, Google has caught up on Android's UI and has the same polish as iOS. Apple is no longer the software design leader.
The only area that Apple is truly ahead is in chip design. Does that mean Apple is now a chip company first and design second? Also, does that mean Apple no longer attracts the very best designers and instead attracts the best chip designers?
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Your argument would be better if you stayed within the same sort of dimensionality. Hardware vs hardware.
Has Apple hardware declined in your opinion outside of the chips? Their screens, their speakers, their manufacturing , their fit and finish?
And the reason they can do that is because they have a tight lock on everything else. Making a generic M1 compatible chip for widespread adoptions is hard. Making it fit into a specific piece of hardware and work with specific software is many orders of magnitude easier.
> People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.
If you think that Apple is still guided by this mentality, then their purpose is still focused on making the best software they can.