Apple's sudden drop in stock value has been hard to miss, and harder to ignore. It is clear even as the most avid Apple fanboy that Apple haven't been themselves since the death of Steve, but the problems run deeper than the captain.

Apple were once the first to do, well; everything. The first to create a true stylus-less smart phone, a tablet for the masses, and a viable, usable MP3 device. Apple were always seen as first. As a young girl I would watch Apple launches in awe, over the course of a few hours the world would become a different place as Apple defined the latest tech craze. Being the first wasn't just a necessity, it was a core part of who Apple were.

Apple have done their best to continue the trend of being the first, however, given there have been no serious developments in hardware (other than obvious shrinkage) since the launch of the iPad and Apple Watch; Apple tried to find new and novel ways to be 'The First'. They were the first company to remove the headphone jack from their flagship smartphone, the first to create laptops with only USB C ports - in an attempt to claim they were the first to do something, Apple had no choice but to choose the most outlandish, (and frankly infuriating) ways of making their products original. That's not to say that Bluetooth headphones aren't better than wired headphones, (I spent months justifying Apple's decision to non-believers as wireless is the future of everything) but there are only so many years you can skip - if the world isn't prepared for wireless headphones, you cannot force it to be so.

Meanwhile other tech giants started to release products early, in their own attempts to reach the market before Apple did. Samsung rushed to release smart watches before the Apple Watch; tuts from Apple non-believers swept tech circles as Apple were not going to be the first company to release a smart watch, but lifelong Apple fans understand one thing. Being first is not what makes Apple, Apple.

The first generation of the Apple Watch was rushed, arguably even unnecessary. Given Apple released a cellular version of the Apple Watch a mere two years after the original, I have to ask myself, why didn't they just wait? If they weren't busy rushing out two previous editions of the Apple Watch, maybe they could have had the cellular edition a year earlier, and not released the Apple Watch at all until this was entirely ready. The cellular Apple Watch is arguably one of the biggest advances in the mass consumer technology market in recent times, it is the stuff of sci-fi movies past, present and future. The launch of the first cellular wrist worn device by Apple should have been a spectacle of Steve Jobs' era intensity. In reality, it was launched as a supporting act for the iPhone X  and got about as much screen time in its initial launch as Animoji.

Apple Watch Series 4 was finally an update that seemed like it had come from someone who actually uses an Apple Watch. The larger screen and infograph watch face were a fantastic enhancement. Complications are what make the Apple Watch such a brilliant tool, and the ability to quickly and easily open applications or view information on the Apple Watch face are what make it truly revolutionary, not to mention usable. However, on release key Apple complications that existed on old watch faces were not compatible with the infograph or infograph-modular watch faces. Not 3rd party complications, Apple's own complications. It was not uncommon to see people with a series 4 watch getting their monies worth, still using the infograph watch face - with the weather complication in 4 places. An even stranger example, is despite the Podcast Watch application only being released in mid-2018 (and thus we can assume the series 4 was well in the pipeline) the Podcast complication is still not compatible for the infograph watch faces on the series 4.

I recently attended the final rounds for a software internship at Apple, and one of the questions I was asked was "Would you rather release a product late, but perfect, or imperfect on time?" The answer to this is obvious to anyone who considers themselves a fan of Apple, if a product is imperfect, you don't release it, if you can't possibly make it perfect, you never release it. When prodded on this, I bit my tongue before deciding to mention the lack of complications on the series 4. Pedantic? Most definitely, but if Apple can't be pedantic, who can?

"Would you rather release a product late, but perfect, or imperfect on time?"

The user interfaces of certain Apple owned default applications have certainly taken a tumble in the quality of the design since IOS 11. There are obvious features missing from certain applications, such as notes on the iPad Pro, to the extent a recent Apple advert for the iPad featured a third party application which is on the App Store for $10. The iPad Pro is currently one of the best Apple devices, and the most underrated. As a college student my iPad is invaluable, to be able to switch from writing to typing in lectures is brilliant, as well as recording lectures to playback over my notes. As I study Computer Science the iPad isn't even much use for much of my degree, but as a note taking tool it is second to none, and many people on my course have now purchased one having seen how brilliant they are for college. I would make a comment here about the iPad lollipop the old Apple Pencil allowed us to enjoy, but these problems have thankfully been fixed in the latest iteration.

I'm not going to pretend you can rectify the problems of one of the largest companies in the world with a few nitpicks by a Computer Science major. Many of the problems Apple are facing are due to pricing strategies as well as difficulty in production and conquering large overseas markets. But as someone who is a lifelong fan of Apple, there has been a tangible shift in how products are when Apple release them. Would Apple still be having problems if they'd released the Series 4 with a full set of complications? Of course, but does an Apple Watch released before it's perfect let Apple fans down, and feel inherently un-Apple? Yes. And these problems are becoming more and more common.

Maybe in all of this I have simply lost my childlike awe,  gritty reality is hitting, and Apple were never as perfect as they looked through the eyes of a 7 year old. But despite the dongles and the disappointments, I remain a steadfast Apple believer, waiting for them to stop trying to be first, stop releasing products before they're ready, and focus on what Apple have always been, not the first; the best.