Former Apple CEO John Sculley went on camera yesterday to give his thoughts on Apple's current product lineup and offered a couple of interesting tidbits on where he thought the Apple Watch could be improved.

In an interview with The Street, Sculley said he still loved Apple products and used his iPhone, iPad and MacBook daily, but that he'd so far passed on owning the company's smartwatch offering. "I think the Apple Watch is beautiful, but it doesn't have enough utility to be something that I feel I have to have at this point in time," he said.

jobs_and_sculley

Steve Jobs (left) and John Sculley (right) in 1984.

Asked what Apple would need to change to make it a worthwhile purchase for him, Sculley said that first the company needed to de-connect the hardware from the dependency it has on the iPhone. "When you go jogging, I don't want to carry my iPhone and Apple Watch to count the steps – Apple will solve this though, they are good at that kind of stuff."

Secondly, Sculley said Apple needed to take advantage of the "incredible excitement" over smart messaging which he called the "next big thing". "Whether it's WeChat or Facebook M, we are starting to see a move to an era where messaging could be an intelligent assistant, and that could be a perfect application for the Apple Watch if they can incorporate it."

"I don't think an Apple lover has to have every product, but the ones I have and use I love," continued Sculley, expressing a particular fondness for the iPad Pro. "I think it's a spectacular experience to read the newspaper on it every day and even read books, I much prefer it to a Kindle."


Sculley was vice-president and president of Pepsi-Cola before he served as Apple's CEO from 1983 to 1993, where he is famous for forcing out Steve Jobs from the company, something he has since called "a mistake". In 1987 he was named Silicon Valley's top-paid executive, with an annual salary of $2.2 million. When he left Apple, the company had $2 billion in cash and $200 million in debt.

He is widely considered an expert at marketing, and continues to speak and write about disruptive marketing strategies. He also has investments in a number of high-tech start-up companies, including Zeta Interactive and WorldMate. Jeff Daniels portrayed Sculley in the recent movie Steve Jobs.

Top Rated Comments

Reason077 Avatar
123 months ago
I think the Apple Watch has (or tries to have) too much utility.

Smartwatches that try to replicate the functionality of phones will always be compromised and overly complicated.

Instead, it should try to be more like, say, a Fitbit. Lots of health sensors, but keep everything else really simple. Pair it down to only the most essential functionality and keep everything else on the phone.

Make it beautiful and really light-weight. Give it a battery that lasts weeks so that you barely even need to think about it being there.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thekeyring Avatar
123 months ago
I saw an ad on Facebook "Ex-Apple Guru Releasing Android phone" ... I felt like pointing out the "guru" was the man who nearly caused the company to go bankrupt.

Does he comment this much on the goings on at Pepsi?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aluminum213 Avatar
123 months ago
As an Apple Watch user, the product is simply not there yet

Shockingly slow, making all apps useless. If the information isn't on the watch screen to see instantly it's too slow
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djcerla Avatar
123 months ago
Clearly, he never used one.

You only need your iPhone when working out the first time, so it can record GPS data and understand your pace, then you can leave it at home.

If a Fitbit has "utility", then the Apple Watch has much more, even in the current 1.0 form.
[doublepost=1462960510][/doublepost]
I think a lot of Apple Watch owners keep telling themselves this, but in reality - once the novelty has worn off - they usually reach for the phone. It's just easier and faster for most interactions.
Nope.

It's super useful when your hands are busy. And the other day I replied to a phone call under the shower.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
psimac Avatar
123 months ago
His example of where the Watch could be improved is incorrect. It counts steps just fine without needing an iPhone connected to it. It would need an iPhone to give you walking directions, but not to count steps or tell time or to even play music. This is a misconception that so many get wrong.

Isn't Sculley the father of the Newton?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Arran Avatar
123 months ago
Sculley appears to be misinformed:

"...When you go jogging, I don't want to carry my iPhone and Apple Watch to count the steps..."
Apple Watch counts steps by itself.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
apple oct 2024 mac tease

Apple Expected to Announce These Two to Three Products 'This Week'

Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip. Gurman...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
joz macbook tease

Apple Teases Upcoming M5 MacBook Pro Launch: 'Something Powerful is Coming'

Tuesday October 14, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased the launch of an upcoming product, saying "something powerful is coming" on social media. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A short animation accompanying Joswiak's teaser reveals a brief glimpse of a MacBook Pro along with the words "coming soon." The shape of the MacBook Pro is a V, which is the Roman numeral...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....