The general maxim I always use is “Apple is a Design company.”

They ship hardware & software, but their core product feature for each is the design of it. Both individually and as a whole ecosystem.

It’s actually kind of incredible they’ve done so well at this after Jobs & Ive left. Speaks to their culture.

Related quote I like:

”Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like,” says Steve Jobs, Apple’s C.E.O. ”People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

The Guts of a New Machine: https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/30/magazine/the-guts-of-a-ne...

Right, exactly. I feel design has really been pigeonholed into “visual design” by many.

Which is funny because Apple often does design fails with regards to how stuff works. The obvious Magic Mouse 2 charging port, their mices continued insistence that there be only one physical click button so it's literally impossible to right and left click at the same time despite games and other software occasionally needing that, being maybe the only monitor manufacturer in the world to still ship a monitor with a single input, the Mac Mini constantly being plagued by Bluetooth/Wifi issues because of its chassis design etc.

Do you have examples of needing to use both mouse buttons at the same time?

In games it's common. Example would be holding down rmb for one action like aiming, then clicking the lmb to shoot.

Basically every FPS post-Call of Duty. Right mouse button to aim down the sight, left mouse button to shoot.

> Which is funny because Apple often does design fails with regards to how stuff works.

Even exquisitely-designed things aren't right for everybody, which is fine. I also personally like old-fashioned clicky 2-button mice like my Logitech M720.

(The one item on your list that isn't a "different strokes for different folks" thing isn't something I've ever experienced with my Mac minis, FWIW.)

Who are these folks that don't even want the possibility they can use their mouse while charging? And aren't just being Apple apologists.

A 2-3m charge will get you through the day, but my point was simply that "one size fits all" design doesn't exist.

> The general maxim I always use is “Apple is a Design company.”

I would say a “taste” company.