95: ‘Twenty-One Thousand Words’ With Rene Ritchie

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Rene Ritchie and John Gruber discuss Apple’s 2014 iPhone and iOS launch in depth, focusing on how the event, iPhone 6/6 Plus, Apple Pay, and iOS 8 reflect a more open, expansive Apple. They debate tradeoffs in design, camera bulges, storage choices, landscape UI, app extensions, and how these changes reshape user workflows and the broader ecosystem.

Main Topics: Apple’s evolving event strategy and openness (Priority: 5/5): The Flint Center event marked a larger venue, broader press invite list, and more live event transparency than prior Apple launches, suggesting a post-Katie Cotton era and a more open Apple PR approach. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus design tradeoffs (Priority: 5/5): The hosts examine screen sizes, landscape usability, camera bump, weight, battery, and pocketability, arguing the Plus is effectively a new class of device while the 6 is the more direct successor to earlier iPhones. Storage tiers and product segmentation (Priority: 5/5): Gruber strongly criticizes Apple’s choice to keep entry models at 16GB, arguing it is punitive given modern camera and OS storage needs and that 32GB should be the floor. Apple Pay as a platform-level payments solution (Priority: 5/5): Apple Pay is framed as a better, more secure, and more universal implementation than prior NFC attempts because Apple controls hardware, software, secure storage, and user authentication. iOS 8 extensibility and workflow changes (Priority: 5/5): The pair discuss how iOS 8 reverses the old 'pull' model—bringing actions, widgets, sharing, and messaging into the current context instead of forcing app switching. Third-party keyboards, QuickType, and messaging upgrades (Priority: 4/5): They cover Apple’s new keyboard ecosystem, predictive text, and faster messaging features like voice bites and interactive notifications, while noting some rough edges and privacy/security implications. Photo and camera improvements in practice (Priority: 4/5): The conversation highlights camera stabilization, higher-quality shots, 240fps slow motion, and the practical need for more storage as users generate larger media files.

Key Arguments: Apple’s September event showed a more open, less exclusive Apple, with expanded press access, more attendees, and even live-blog-style coverage from Apple itself. The iPhone 6 Plus is not just a larger iPhone; its two-handed use, landscape interface, and split-view layouts make it feel like a different class of device. The iPhone 6 is the more natural successor for most users because it preserves the familiar one-handed iPhone experience while adding size, better battery, and better cameras. Keeping the base storage at 16GB undermines the value proposition of devices built around better camera and media features, and it risks making new iPhones feel underprovisioned from day one. Apple Pay succeeds where previous mobile payments efforts failed because Apple did not require retailers to adopt a proprietary backend and instead built a secure, user-friendly system around existing standards. iOS 8’s biggest shift is workflow: extensions, widgets, and interactive notifications bring actions to the user instead of forcing app switching, making the system feel faster and more integrated. The Plus model may cannibalize the iPad mini and even some iPad sales because it occupies a middle space between phone and tablet. Apple’s choices around thinness, camera bulge, and battery reflect real engineering tradeoffs; a flush camera would likely have meant a thicker phone or worse imaging. The expanded invite list and inclusion of watch writers, fashion bloggers, and Brian Lam suggest Apple is embracing a broader ecosystem and no longer policing old grudges as strictly. Many iOS 8 features are easy to miss unless you use them daily: closing iCloud tabs from another device, per-app settings access, hidden contact shortcuts, and interactive notifications.

Data Points: iOS 8 review length: 21,000 words - Gruber references his extensive written review, comparing it to a book-length treatment. Photos in iOS 8 review: 200 pictures - The review included extensive visual documentation. Writing time for iPhone and Watch pieces: One waking day - Gruber says he wrote both pieces back-to-back in roughly one day. Writing window: About 1 p.m. to 6 a.m. - He describes the unusually intense writing session. Length of each phone/watch review: A little over 4,000 words each - He says each piece was around 4K words, totaling roughly 8K in a day. Original iPhone review unit recipients: 4 people - He cites the tiny initial press group: Begg, Pogue, Mossberg, and Levy. Event attendance estimate: 2,000–2,400 people - They discuss the Flint Center’s unusually large capacity for an Apple launch. Apple event duration: 2 hours - They note the event was tightly paced and finished right on time. Schiller presentation length: 30 minutes - The iPhone portion was described as concise and efficient. iPhone 6 Plus pre-order estimate: 3 to 4 weeks - At one point, the Plus was already shipping later than the standard iPhone 6. iPhone 6 pre-order estimate: 3 to 4 days - The smaller model was available much sooner than the Plus. Apple Watch/Watch band pricing example: $500 band and up - Used to argue that premium watch pricing is normal in the watch market. Rolex replacement band example: At least $2,500 - Used as a comparison for high-end watch accessory pricing. Harry's starter set price: $15 - Sponsor offer for a razor, shave cream, and three blades. Harry's coupon discount: $5 off - Promo code 'talk show' for first order. Drobo Gen 3 price: $349 - New Drobo external storage starting price. Drobo speed improvement: 3 to 5 times faster - Compared with previous generation. Drobo USB 3.0 throughput: Over 200 MB/s - Third-party reviews reportedly verified performance. Lynda subscription price: $25/month - All-access streaming learning plan. Lynda trial: 7 days free - Promo for show listeners. Hover promo: 10% off first purchase - Using code 'chowder'. Apple Pay payment security: One-time card number/tokenization - Described as more secure than exposing the actual card number.

Pivotal Quotes: "I think the huge transformation for me between iOS 7 and iOS 8 is that entirely reverse the – before everything was pull... and now everything – the model is so much more towards push data." — Rene Ritchie: On the core workflow change introduced by iOS 8. "I’m just saying I think that that’s what’s coming, whether you like it or not, whether you have a strong opinion on it or not." — John Gruber: On premium Apple Watch pricing and the merging of watch and tech markets. "Apple Pay... really is better for everybody." — John Gruber: On why Apple’s payments system benefits users, retailers, banks, and Apple.

Implications: The episode frames Apple as moving toward more open, integrated, and context-aware products. For users, that means faster workflows, better devices, and fewer app-switching hassles; for the industry, it signals pressure on payments, wearables, storage expectations, and tablet/phone category boundaries.