I Hate Microsoft. I Hate Apple to the Power of 10.

Let me get this out of the way right up front so nobody accuses me of being a fanboy for the other side: I do not like Microsoft. I’ve spent decades dealing with their half-baked updates, UI whiplash, forced reboots, and their uncanny ability to fix one thing while breaking three others. I’ve cursed Windows more times than I can count.

And yet—somehow—Apple still manages to be worse. Exponentially worse. Not accidentally. Not clumsily. But deliberately, methodically, and profitably.

If Microsoft treats users like an inconvenience, Apple treats them like a renewable revenue stream that needs to be harvested on a predictable schedule.

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Apple Doesn’t Just Think You’re Stupid — They’ve Built a Business Model Around It

Apple absolutely believes you’re not technical enough to know what’s best for you. That part is obvious. It’s baked into the UI, the locked-down settings, the patronizing explanations, and the relentless removal of user choice “for your own good.”

But the real problem isn’t arrogance.

The real problem is financial exploitation through engineered obsolescence.

Apple doesn’t merely allow your hardware to age out.

They actively march it toward irrelevance—one update, one policy change, one “security improvement” at a time.

Your iPhone doesn’t suddenly become slow by accident. Your iPad doesn’t suddenly lose features because it’s tired. Your Mac doesn’t suddenly stop being “supported” because physics intervened.

It happens because Apple decided—on a spreadsheet—that it was time.

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You Don’t Own Your Apple Hardware — You’re Renting It Without Knowing It

Apple has perfected something far more insidious than planned obsolescence.

They’ve figured out how to rent you hardware while letting you believe you bought it.

You pay full price:

• $1,000+ for a phone
• $800–$1,500 for a tablet
• $2,000–$4,000 for a Mac

But ownership ends the moment Apple says so.

The second Apple:

• Stops signing OS updates
• Disables app compatibility
• Requires a newer OS for “security”
• Locks features behind OS versions your hardware can’t run

…your perfectly functional device is financially devalued on purpose.

You didn’t break it. Nothing is wrong with it.

Apple just pulled the rug out from under you.

That’s not ownership. That’s a lease with no contract and no disclosure.

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The Slow Creep: How Apple Cripples Devices Without You Noticing

Apple doesn’t usually nuke your device in one dramatic update. That would cause backlash.

Instead, they do it surgically:

• Performance throttling framed as “battery health”
• Features quietly removed or restricted
• Apps suddenly requiring newer OS versions
• iCloud features nudged into paid tiers
• Background processes growing heavier with each update

You’re told:

“Your device is just old.”

No. It’s made old.

The hardware didn’t fail. The policies did.

And the fix is always the same:

“Upgrade.”

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macOS and the CPU Musical Chairs Disaster

If you want proof that Apple doesn’t care about long-term ownership, look no further than their CPU history.

Apple has switched Mac CPU architectures like a kid changing outfits:

• PowerPC → Intel
• Intel → Apple Silicon (ARM)

Each transition:

• Killed upgrade paths
• Broke software compatibility
• Forced developers to rewrite apps
• Left users stranded on “last supported versions”

Backward compatibility? Minimal. Forward compatibility? Often nonexistent.

When Apple moves on, you are collateral damage.

Contrast that with Intel’s x86 platform, which—love it or hate it—has maintained astonishing backward and forward compatibility for decades.

You can still:

• Run old Windows software on new PCs
• Upgrade components incrementally
• Replace parts instead of entire machines

Apple doesn’t want that.

Apple wants sealed boxes, soldered RAM, glued batteries, proprietary storage, and zero escape routes.

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Windows PCs: Ugly, Annoying, But Still Yours

Here’s the part Apple fans really hate hearing.

There are still people—right now—running:

• Windows 10
• Windows 8.1
• Even Windows 7

And those machines:

• Still boot
• Still run their software
• Still do exactly what they did years ago

Microsoft may nag, but they rarely reach back in time and disable functionality on hardware you already own.

You can:

• Keep using old versions
• Block updates
• Replace parts
• Install alternative operating systems
• Repurpose hardware

In other words: you retain agency.

Apple hates agency.

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Security as a Weaponized Excuse

Apple loves to justify forced obsolescence with the magic word:

“Security.”

But here’s the trick:

Security updates don’t require killing hardware. They require maintaining software.

Apple chooses not to.

Because long-term support doesn’t sell new devices.

And Apple is not a hardware company. They are a lifecycle monetization company.

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Why This Matters (Even If You Like Apple)

This isn’t about brand preference.

It’s about precedent.

If companies can:

• Disable functionality remotely
• Dictate usable lifespans
• Tie features to arbitrary OS cutoffs
• Remove repairability

…then ownership becomes an illusion everywhere.

Apple just happens to be the most successful—and shameless—at it.

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Final Thought: At Least Microsoft Is Honest About Being Annoying

Microsoft is clumsy. Microsoft is frustrating. Microsoft makes bad decisions.

But Microsoft doesn’t pretend your computer is a lifestyle subscription disguised as aluminum and glass.

Apple does.

So yes.

I hate Microsoft.

But I hate Apple to the power of 10—because they smile while they do it, and convince millions of people to thank them for the privilege of being slowly, quietly, and expensively pushed out of hardware they already paid for.

And that’s not innovation.

That’s exploitation with a logo.