Today, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, engaging in an extensive discussion about content moderation, the Trump administration, and Apple’s perceived stagnation in innovation.
Zuckerberg’s Appearance on Joe Rogan
Zuckerberg has expressed his criticisms regarding App Store policies and Apple’s privacy practices for some time. During his conversation with Rogan, he stated that the 15-30% fees imposed by Apple for App Store transactions serve as a façade to obscure decreasing iPhone sales. He argued that Apple hasn’t really produced any significant innovations in a while and is merely “sitting” on the iPhone:
“[Apple has] leveraged the [iPhone] to implement numerous rules that feel arbitrary. They haven’t truly innovated anything impactful for a long time. It’s akin to Steve Jobs originating the iPhone, and now, 20 years later, they seem to just be resting on their laurels.
In fact, I question whether their iPhone sales are even growing anymore. It seems like they might actually be on the decline. Part of the reason could be that each new generation doesn’t offer enough improvements, leading consumers to wait longer before upgrading.
So, overall sales appear to be mostly stagnant or declining. How does Apple continue to boost its profits?
By exerting pressure on developers and imposing what many refer to as a 30% tax.”
Zuckerberg also expressed dissatisfaction with AirPods and Apple’s refusal to grant Meta equivalent access to the iPhone for its Ray-Ban smart glasses:
“They’ve developed products like AirPods, which are impressive, but they have significantly restricted other companies’ ability to create products that connect to the iPhone in a similar manner.
There are numerous companies that could produce high-quality earbuds, yet Apple has established a unique protocol for the iPhone that facilitates AirPods’ connection.
It’s a much more seamless experience due to their exclusivity, but they prevent others from utilizing that protocol. If they allowed it, we’d likely see much stronger competition for AirPods.
Whenever this issue arises, they become defensive, claiming that permitting other companies to interface with their technology would jeopardize user privacy and security. However, that’s an excuse; they simply need to enhance their protocol’s design.
We requested access to the protocol used for AirPods to ensure a smooth connection with our Ray-Ban Meta glasses. However, they cited security issues regarding a protocol they haven’t even encrypted. Then, they announce we can’t connect due to these vulnerabilities.
The security flaws exist because of their lack of encryption, yet they use that as justification for restricting access to their platform.”
He further articulated his worry that Apple might one day unveil its version of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, benefiting from superior integration with the iPhone. Bloomberg has disclosed that Apple is developing its own smart glasses.
The dialogue shifted to iMessage and Apple’s use of color coding to differentiate message types, which, according to Zuckerberg, serves to embarrass children:
“The system they established with iMessage, where they classify messages into blue and green bubbles, can lead to embarrassment among kids.
Essentially, if you don’t have a blue bubble, you’re not part of the ‘in crowd’, and they often frame this in terms of security.”
Rogan and Zuckerberg then attempted to verify whether RCS offers encryption for iPhone users, awkwardly Googling the answer. Notably, Apple implemented RCS support in iOS 18 last year.
The conclusion: it currently does not support encryption. The RCS Universal Profile, as established by the GSM Association, lacks encryption capabilities. Apple has stated it is collaborating with GSMA to enhance the security and encryption of RCS messaging rather than creating its own proprietary version of end-to-end encryption.
Lastly, regarding the Vision Pro:
“They released a product priced at $3,500, which I believe is inferior to what we offered for $300 or $400. Clearly, that product isn’t going to perform well.
Apple is a capable technology company, and I anticipate that their upcoming iterations will outshine the first. The Vision Pro represents one of their more significant forays into new territory in some time.”
DMN’s Perspective
This week, Zuckerberg has been preoccupied with enforcing new content guidelines across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. It’s surprising he found time for this extensive three-hour discussion with Rogan.
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