eXtensions - Monday 8 December 2025
By Graham K. Rogers
The departure of John Giannandra, and others, brought speculation on the future of Tim Cook and even Apple. This was heightened when rumors began that Jonny Srouji might also leave. Netflix is buying Time Warner, depending on regulatory approval. I fixed banking and credit card app problems this week. A colleague's M1 Mac mini was an easier fix. Changes to the night mode feature in Portrait Mode have upset some iPhone users. I am annoyed by the loss of filters on the iPhone 17 Pro when using RAW photo settings.
There are signs, backed up from a number of sources, including Juli Clover (MacRumors) that the next iOS update will be released soon. The reports tell us that the release candidates of iOS 26.2 (and other Apple operating systems) are being made available now. That usually means the user release will follow within a week or so. The article shows a couple of the changes that should be appearing, and links to a complete list of features available.
It was not a total surprise when it was announced that John Giannandra was to leave Apple. Despite his earlier successes as head of Machine Learning, his star dimmed when he was blamed mainly by tech press pundits for the problems with AI development at Apple, and the change in responsibilities that followed seems to have confirmed that. Note that as part of the announcement that he was to leave, his replacement was named as Amar Subramanya. Also note that "Microsoft is having to dial back expectations for how quickly customers will actually spend money on these newer products" (Aaron Holmes, The Information - paywall). The rush to provide AI that the tech press insisted on may not be what the users want.
In the following days, there were more announcements. Kate Adams (legal counsel) and Lisa Jackson (VP for Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives) were to retire from Apple. Jennifer Newstead, chief legal officer at Meta, probably head-hunted some time ago for the announcement to be made this week, will replace Adams as Apple's general counsel (Newsroom). Apple does not do things like this on the fly. There is no randomness involved. The lines of succession had already been decided. Not that this stops rampant speculation, as Wesley Hilliard (AppleInsider) reminded us on Friday. Adding to that, in a slightly tongue in cheek article, Wesley Hilliard (AppleInsider) looks at the warnings of potential doom, reminding us that there are only 164,000 Apple employees left.
Most people should be aware that if Tim Cook does leave the CEO position, say with an announcement perhaps after the next financial report in January, a successor will be installed with little fuss. The successor decision has already been made. If (speculation mode on) there is an announcement at the Q4 2025 report, any departure would not be immediate: risk of a share price collapse; so there would be enough time for everyone to grow used to the idea, although I expect at least one online publication will rejoice at Cook's departure.
On Sunday morning I saw a report that Jonny Srouji was also said to be considering leaving Apple (Michael Burkhardt, 9to5Mac). I took this initially with a large pinch of salt when I saw that this came from a Bloomberg report, and wondered if this were a ploy to stir things up, particularly as they added the potential future retirements of Greg Joswiak and Deirdre O'Brien (whom I had considered as a potential future CEO). One sentence, however, did interest me: "Reportedly, Srouji also 'would prefer not to work under a different CEO.'" That does reinforce the idea that these retirements - and particularly the appointments that have followed - are part of a move to provide a stable executive team before any announcement concerning Tim Cook's future.
The Bloomberg report was indeed from Mark Gurman who also writes, "the company has to rebuild its ranks and figure out how to thrive in the AI era. . . " missing the point that Apple has probably already decided on who should succeed whom. The report does have a comprehensive look at who has left (and where they have gone) with a note that several of Apple's executive level personnel have been with the company for many years and are approaching retirement. If Cook is to retire soon, now is a good time to establish a strong team to support the next CEO.
One departure announcement this week that was met with a reaction almost of delight, inside and outside of Apple, was that of Alan Dye, the Interface man, who is probably responsible for the Liquid Ice interface that appeared in OS26 versions. Much of this change was unnecessary: change for the sake of change. I am disappointed with the washed out app icons among other things, particularly on macOS. The delight about Dye's exit was contrasted by the positive reporting on his replacement, Steve Lemay, with Ed Hardy (Cult of Mac) even providing a photograph with a halo. That does seem to bode well. John Gruber (Daring Fireball) made some sharp remarks. Dye's departure and his influence over Liquid Glass reminds me somewhat of the discussions a few years back over skeuomorphism: when the icons mimicked their real life tasks (Robert Irish, AppleInsider, 2022).
This week, it was announced that Netflix had won the bidding for Time Warner with $87 billion. Apple had expressed some interest and there was disappointment in a couple of reports that Cupertino was not to take this. It includes HBO, studios and a lot else. Netflix has some hurdles to leap before this can take effect as they acknowledge in a letter to subscribers, headed "Welcoming Warner Bros. to Netflix", particularly the part about regulatory approval. The "monopoly" word has already been used, although with the worldwide availability of other streamed TV sources, that may be less of a problem. I guess it depends on the loudest politicians' voices. Perhaps Larry Ellison's Paramount Skydance will end up with Time Warner after all. However, according to a report by Anthony Ha (TechCrunch) Netflix co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, thinks he already has the nod.
I have had a couple of unrelated banking problems in recent weeks. A lot of westerners here sometimes complain about the difficulties of banking in Thailand. In general I have had few major problems, although in recent years, following pressure from western countries (and from internal sources) there has been a tightening up of the regulations surrounding banking. I found this recently when I tried to open an additional bank account at a branch I already bank at. I had been aware (from help received at another branch) that I would need 3 types of ID. I already have the passport and a work permit, but my driving licenses have lapsed and (to the shock of some bank staff) the UK does not have a national ID card.
I tried to be clever and asked the department responsible at my office for a new picture ID. I took that in to the Bangkok Bank in Phutthamonthon, but that was apparently not sufficient. The helpful staff wrote out a list of documents they could accept. When I showed that to HR staff, one pointed to the 3rd item and said, We can do that. A week later, I had my document and went into the bank. As soon as the staff saw it, the paperwork began.
There were only two minor problems: I did not know the visa type I hold, but a quick call to HR revealed that; and the bank wanted my tax number. iCloud to the rescue. With my Mac at home as the central device, all my documents for work and personal use are stored online. I looked in the right folder on the iPhone and showed the bank staff member my most recent tax form. She copied the information and my new bank book was soon handed over.
The second problem was with the app I use to access credit card information. Citibank stopped their operations here a couple of years ago and UOB Bank took over. The handover had a couple of glitches, but overall went fairly well. I did need help to make the app work on the iPhone at that time. When I switched to the iPhone 17 Pro last month, that app was a sticking point. It worked fine on the iPhone 15 Pro, but when I tried to set it up on the new device, we were stopped right at the start, because I did not know my user name. That might seem rather basic, but the name on the older device was in Thai. I cannot write Thai; I had no idea who (or when) that was typed in. I was dreading the telephone help line.
This weekend, after collecting my repaired glasses from Paris Miki in the Paragon Center, Bangkok, I noticed the UOB branch next door and walked in. It was mercifully quiet and I explained as best I could (the staff had limited English to match my limited Thai) but the young lady I was speaking to (and some other helpful staff members) were keen to help. The first problem was my passport: the online information had details of the previous one. I have had the current one for more than 5 years. She would fix that later. The problem of the name was down to Citibank: they had entered the user name in Thai. She fixed that too. Slowly, and patiently, she talked me through the process of setting up the new app, while we both referred to the app on the older iPhone at frequent intervals. It may have taken half an hour, but I was grateful when it was done. And relieved that I now had access to the app again.
I had a cry for help just as I finished lunch on Thursday. A colleague with an M1 Mac mini reported that her Mac had frozen while she was working on something. It took me a couple more messages to find out more (the screen was on, the trackpad cursor was missing) but all work had ceased. I had a quick look and without the trackpad it was almost impossible to shut down. I borrowed a wired mouse, but when I connected that, there was still no cursor. A hard shut down was in order (I used to do this with key commands - no longer available) but pressing the power button does reveal a panel that suggests the shutdown is controlled.
The restart was problem-free and the trackpad worked properly again. The only thing was to re-connect to the WiFi so that she could continue the online work she was doing in Microsoft Teams. It occured to me some hours later that we may have a chicken and egg situation. Did the university wifi disconnect and leave Teams in limbo, with a cascading effect following; or did the link to the Microsoft servers falter, causing a run of problems?
These questions came up after I read an article by Michael Simon (MacWorld) who appeared to have had intermittent behavior with Tahoe on an M3 Mac that he traced to Spotlight. It reminded me of the power use (and heat) on my last Intel MacBook Pro that was a result of runaway processes in Photos. This particular problem caught my eye as Howard Oakley had also been looking at Spotlight earlier in the week. His articles are always valuable The analysis and fix that Simon came up with is worth looking at.
I saw comments from Filipe Esposito (Macworld) and Ryan Christoffel (9to5Mac) this week on changes made by Apple to making the Night Mode feature unavailable when in Portrait Mode. Both contributors (I have seen others since) try this out and confirm, from their tests and Apple documentation that this is no more. I do not use Portrait Mode much, and I am unsure if I have ever used Night Mode. My own experiences suggest that Apple has made several changes to the way the cameras on the iPhone 17 work. There is little evidence that users asked for these changes.
My own particular beef about the camera, concerns filters. I had the Camera app set up to take 48mp RAW images, using either the square or 16:9 aspect ratios, and so that I could view scenes using the Noire filter. Filters are no longer available for those using the 48mp RAW image setting, although they are there when using HEIF images. I was disappointed when I found this and now have to reimagine a scene when I am taking photographs.
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I can still apply the filters when I edit any photograph, but this is not about the final output, but how I see light when using a camera. It is not particularly hard to compensate, although the editing takes time. The viewfinders of my film cameras all show me color, even though I am using black and white film. Likewise, my D850 shows me color through the eye-piece and I imagine the final effect I am after. Some scenes need color, but I prefer the monochrome images that were all that was available when I was taking pictures as a child. Perhaps a future update will return these features to the iPhone.
Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. After 3 years writing a column in the Life supplement, he is now no longer associated with the Bangkok Post. He can be followed on X (@extensions_th). The RSS feed for the articles is http://www.extensions.in.th/ext_link.xml - copy and paste into your feed reader. No AI was used in writing this item.
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