What they said: Best Apple quotes of 2016

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Best Apple quotes 2016
If you can't say something nice ...
Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

2016 Year in Review Cult of Mac The world of quotes is a poorer place without Steve Jobs, who was a quote machine. Nonetheless, plenty of people talked about Apple this year, whether lauding the company’s successes or damning its strategies.

Here are the most memorable Apple quotes of 2016.

On Apple’s innovation

“There are people who want us to innovate faster and when we do there’s people who say, ‘Whoa, whoa, you’re going too fast.’ That’s just a balance in the world.

— Phil Schiller on the raging controversy over the new MacBook Pro, which wasn’t “innovative” enough for some users or “pro” enough for others.
Source: Backchannel

“That’s the coolest thing in the world.”

— Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush after accidentally discovering, on camera, that his Apple Watch could take phone calls.
Source: Various

On ‘courage’ and killing jacks

“The reason to move on: courage. The courage to move on and do something new that betters all of us.”

— Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, gives a much-ridiculed reason for dropping the headphone jack in the iPhone 7.
Source: Apple keynote

“If it’s missing the 3.5 millimeter earphone jack, that’s going to tick off a lot of people.”

— Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on rumors the iPhone 7 would not come with a standard headphone jack (which of course turned out to be true).
Source: Australian Financial Review

On Apple’s future and competitors

“This Tidal/Apple beef is fucking up the music game.”

— Kanye West’s opening salvo in a tweetstorm, in which the singer attempted to goad Apple into buying Jay Z’s Tidal music service. (That didn’t come to pass.)
Source: Twitter

“I think it’s great that they’re doing this, and I hope it works out.”

— Elon Musk on Apple’s Project Titan, the rumored car project that would compete with Tesla.
Source: Vox Media’s Code Conference

“Machine learning is making our products and services smarter, more intuitive, and even more personal.”

— Tim Cook on Apple’s special blend of machine learning and privacy.
Source: Apple Q4 earnings call

On Apple security and international affairs

“Boycott all Apple products until such time as Apple gives cellphone info to authorities regarding radical Islamic terrorist couple from Cal.”

— President-elect Donald Trump, following Apple’s refusal to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone for the FBI. The boycott never materialized.
Source: Twitter

“While we believe the FBI’s intentions are good, it would be wrong for the government to force us to build a backdoor into our products. And ultimately, we fear that this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect.”

— Tim Cook, in a rare public letter laying out Cupertino’s position on FBI demands to break into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone.
Source: Apple

“We’re sympathetic with Apple on this one. We believe in encryption.”

— Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, offers support for Apple in its fight with the FBI.
Source: Mobile World Congress

“No, Apple is not destroying the fabric of America. But I do wish they’d be manufacturing some of their devices here in the United States rather than in China.”

— Sen. Bernie Sanders, during his presidential campaign, discusses corporate greed with the New York Daily News editorial board. (He added: “I do wish that they would not be trying to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.”)
Source: New York Daily News

On Apple’s core values

“Surprisingly fewer and fewer designers, regardless of their particular design discipline, seem to be interested in the detail of how something is actually made.”

— Apple design chief Jony Ive laments the slipping standards of his profession, speaking at an Apple-sponsored exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Source: Various

“One need never pluralize Apple product names.”

— Phil Schiller schools folks who use awkward phrasing like “iPads Pro.”
Source: Twitter

“The store is now the biggest product we produce.”

— Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s retail chief, on the redesigned Apple stores.
Source: Fortune

“I bleed Apple.”

— Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services, proclaims his dedication to his employer.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter

“‘Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.’ Remembering Steve and the many ways he changed our world.”

— Tim Cook, quoting Steve Jobs on the anniversary of his death.
Source: Twitter

Note: Two quotes attributed to Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, were inadvertently taken from a parody account on Twitter. They have been deleted from our post.

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