What problems has Apple’s core business encountered in the past year?

The common perception is that Apple products are ridiculously expensive because they are beautiful, well-built products that are backed by the company and, as founder Steve Jobs always said, “just work.”

By and large, Apple still does. It recently became the first trillion-dollar company in the U.S., selling tens of millions of iPhones, iPads, computers, and other gadgets each year at high prices. But as the company’s quality control and customer service continue to slip, there seems to be an underlying sense of dissatisfaction among its customers.

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Image source @Visual China

In the past year, there have been many examples of this in Apple products:

MacBook Keyboard Stopped Working

Apple introduced a new keyboard design in 2015 that was meant to reduce the space taken up by the keys. Apple has since extended the improved design to its MacBook Pro laptops, which were refreshed in 2016. Throughout the refresh, the keys have been criticized for having too little travel, being too weird, and seeming to break easily.

In May, a group of consumers filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple over keyboard problems that either stuck or had issues with the design. Users reported that things like dust seemed to be enough to break any of the keys. In June, Apple admitted fault and said it would cover the cost of keyboard replacements for the lawsuit users over a four-year period.

MacBook Pro overheating

Around the same time, Apple released a powerful new MacBook Pro with a redesigned keyboard that was less noisy and less prone to breakage. But that laptop had its own problems.

Just after Apple's new MacBook Pro went on sale in July, reports emerged that the super-fast computer was running so fast that the powerful processor was being throttled below normal speeds to avoid component damage. Apple apologized to its users for the incident, saying the problem had not yet occurred in testing and that a software fix would resolve any issues. But comments on the matter remain quite mixed.

Delayed delivery of products

Apple has traditionally been very quiet about what it's working on, but lately it's been eager to show off devices before they're even available. Lately, it's been working hard to deliver some previews:

AirPods

The wireless earbuds were originally announced in September 2016 and would be available in October of that year, but they were not available until December last year in limited quantities, with most of them shipped after the Christmas shopping season. Most consumers will not get the product until 2017.

HomePod

Apple's smart speaker was announced in June 2017 and would be released in December of that year, but it didn't hit the market until early February 2018.

AirPower Wireless Charging System

Apple released a new wireless charging system with the iPhone X in September 2017. The company did not specify when it would be available, saying "you will be able to find the AirPower charger on the market next year." Now there are only four months left in 2018, but there is still no news about the AirPower charger, and some people believe it will appear at Apple's September event.

FaceTime

The company also announced a new feature for the operating system that will allow groups of up to 32 people to use FaceTime video chat together. It was revealed that this product had appeared in the developer version of the operating system and was later removed. It is said that the new version of FaceTime will not be released with iOS 12macOS Mojave later this year.

Restriction of cell phones and questionable battery replacements

Late last year, research found that Apple was secretly slowing down the system as iPhone batteries aged. Apple said this was to make the battery last as long as possible. However, because this was done without the user's knowledge, many people believed that this practice confirmed a long-standing rumor that Apple deliberately slowed down older phones when releasing new phones to convince users to upgrade.

A class-action lawsuit quickly followed, Apple apologized, and by the end of 2018, it reduced its battery replacement service from $79 to $29 for an iPhone 6 or later. In March, the company introduced software that gives users more control over how their phone manages its battery.

But there have been sporadic reports of some phones with replacement batteries experiencing swelling problems. Even some new phones have experienced swelling batteries. Apple could not immediately be reached for comment on the swelling batteries.

Apple Watch

There have also been reports of many models of the Apple Watch exploding or bursting on the wrist of the user. A brief statement on the Apple Support website shows that in some cases, users have been blamed for this problem. Apple technical support staff said that the wearer had dropped the watch on something without realizing it, thus damaging the device. Considering that the Apple Watch is supposed to have a durable display, this seems unlikely.

But in a class-action lawsuit against Apple, plaintiffs said the Apple Watch screen is susceptible to breaking or popping out due to a design flaw.

"Apple has determined that under certain circumstances some Apple Watch 2 devices may not power on or the battery may swell," Apple noted on MacRumors.

The company did not say exactly how many Apple Watches were affected by the issue and declined to comment for this story.

After-sales service appointment confusion

There was a time, when Apple was still primarily selling computers and iPods, when you could walk into an Apple Store with a defective product and the company would usually replace or repair it as quickly as possible. Now, in part because of Apple's unbridled success, scale, and cost-control mentality, it's almost impossible to walk into an Apple Store in a major city and snag a customer service person to quickly fix your problem.

Google Ventures partner and technology writer MG Siegler recently wrote in his blog that you have to make an appointment in advance. Even then, if the after-sales service person doesn't find you at the required time, you will fill out a bunch of digital paperwork and then tell you that your device will be fixed in two weeks. In Siegler's case, Apple believes that it was Siegler's own fault that the Apple Watch broke.

Gas leaks from iPads and iPhones

Earlier this month, a group of Amsterdam Apple Store workers had to be treated for smoke inhalation after an iPad inside the store leaked gas into the air. Early reports said there was an explosion, but it did not appear to have caused any fires. A similar incident occurred at an Apple Store in Switzerland in January when an iPhone battery overheated and the store had to be evacuated.

A new Apple?

All of this is not to say there haven't been problems before this. Steve Jobs once told someone to hold their new iPhone 4 differently when it wouldn't make a call; Apple once recalled 1.8 million laptops for defective batteries; and the iPhone 5 appears to have had its own battery swelling issues.

Yes, some of the recent reports are rumors amplified by social media, and when you sell as many products as Apple does, there are bound to be occasional quality control issues in the supply chain. But things seem to be going badly for Apple lately.

Since taking over as CEO in 2011, Tim Cook has introduced only two new products—the Apple Watch and the HomePod (three if you count the AirPods). Instead, he has mostly chosen to enrich variations of existing products, introducing new sizes, new features, and new colors every year. This approach has obviously helped Apple's cash flow, but it's hard to see how this product expansion has done anything other than make it difficult for Apple's manufacturers and support staff to keep their attention.

Maybe this is just an embarrassing blip in Apple's long history — but it could also be a sign of deeper problems at the world's largest technology company. It all seems fine from the outside, but how long can the company continue to expand on its core business before more serious flaws emerge — especially as it shifts into healthcare and self-driving cars?