The speculation about the next iPhone is all over the place. Despite flagging sales in the last quarter and an incentive for Apple to really make a difference with the widely expected fall refresh, some online pundits are already declaring it a failure. Why? Well, for one thing, maybe it won’t be an iPhone 7 after all. Instead, Apple will simply update the iPhone 6 series, making it an iPhone 6x or something.

The real new product won’t come until 2017. Or that’s what they say.

Now I suppose it’s possible Apple will eschew the alternate-year upgrade cycle. So instead of delivering a new form factor with major improvements — and maybe more colors — Apple allegedly won’t be ready to make such compelling changes. Hence, it will just be a minor refresh. It’s not as if they’d come up with nothing.

One argument has it that Apple no longer needs new models every year, mostly because people are buying new smartphones less frequently. So if the demand isn’t there, why waste money with a major redesign? Well, except to increase demand, of course. Besides, even if the refresh isn’t so terrific, a new model number and some modest visual changes might help Apple deliver a far more compelling marketing message than just saying, sorry folks, we couldn’t do any more.

In saying that, though, it’s also true that it’s getting harder and harder to come up with distinctive features that anyone really cares about. In recent years, the updates to Samsung Galaxy smartphones haven’t been so compelling, with added fluff that may sound sexy in ads and receive great reviews from tech publications and Consumer Reports, but doesn’t do much to improve your day-to-day user experience.

Indeed, what should a smartphone do that it doesn’t already do?

The main differences between the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s series were more powerful processors, a higher resolution camera chip, and 3D Touch. But don’t get me started about Live Photo, which lets you create short video clips, with the usefulness ratio of less than zero. I’m not so enamored of 3D Touch either, but I suppose that some of you might depend on it. Live Photo strikes me as the sort of nonsense for which Samsung is sometimes guilty, creating fluff for its marketing value as opposed to anything that’s actually useful.

All this calls for a reality check: Apple has obviously not announced any plans for an iPhone 7 or a lesser model, and won’t until September if past is prologue. There have been alleged leaks of chassis details and other design elements that may or may not be accurate. But there’s little there that indicates the form factor will be identical to its predecessors. That doesn’t mean any of it can be taken seriously, however.

But it’s true there are usually leaks from the supply chain on new Apple gear, so it’s more than likely the rumors will focus on something resembling the final design in the next few weeks. So I’m not going to assume anything is correct at this point, particularly the report that Apple is going to give up on a proper headphone jack and use the Lightning connector instead. I suppose it’s possible, and it’s true Apple has a habit of dropping old ports and sometimes introducing new ones.

However, when you consider the sheer number of ear buds, headphones, etc., in the hands of customers, and the very modest tradeoffs from this design, it doesn’t seem that Apple would go there to shave off a millimeter or two from the design. Yes, I know about the MacBook and its use of a single USB-C port. But USB-C can essentially replace the functions of the existing ports, although you’ll need a dongle for multiple devices. It still has a headphone jack.

When I look at the list of possible improvements, one suggests Apple would standardize on 32GB storage for the entry-level model. To me that makes sense for several reasons, but the biggie is the fact that the price difference between 16GB and 32GB is probably negligible for the quantities purchased by Apple. You should expect the normal performance enhancements with an expected A10 processor, better camera components and other goodies. None of this would be a game changer compared to the 2014 or 2015 models since they do so well.

I suppose it’s possible Apple has other features in mind. One would be facial recognition, and some of the new features might depend on what iOS 10 will offer. Since we’re just a couple of weeks away from the WWDC, that information will be out there before the next iPhone arrives. It might just preview potential hardware changes as well.

Unfortunately, Apple’s critics are assuming that the next iPhone is fated to be a massive disappointment. There’s no evidence of that at all, no evidence that an iPhone 7 won’t have some compelling new or enhanced features, and no evidence that it will be just a new member of the iPhone 6 family. Indeed, the latter would be a poor move for Apple, because it guarantees a bad reception and lower sales. Even if the changes are minor, Apple can give the next iPhone a proper shave and haircut, call it an iPhone 7, and tout it to the skies as the next great thing.

What’s an iPad anyway? Well, if you paid attention to what the critics said, when it was first released in 2010, it was little more than an overgrown iPod touch. Both ran iOS, but you can also buy a version of the iPad that can access cellular data for an online connection. Over the past six years, hundreds of thousands of apps optimized for the iPad’s display have been released. This puts the device way ahead of Google, where apps rarely take advantage of the larger screen real estate beyond scaling the contents. This is true despite the fact that Android tablets arrived a year ahead of the iPad.

To many, a tablet is a media consumption device, another screen with which to watch YouTube or Netflix content. Compare that to the very first TVs to hit the market. In 1946, the RCA 630-TS, considered, according to posted histories on the subject, the “Model-T” of TV sets, arrived with a 10-inch black and white display. In contrast, the medium-sized iPad sports a 9.7-inch high-resolution or Retina color screen. Prices aren’t altogether different, at least if you use 1946 dollars for the RCA, which sold for $435 at first. But if you count for inflation, that’s $10,288.84 in 2016. That number can get you a well-equipped Mac Pro, but it would leave less than $600 for the display.

To be sure, you can have an enjoyable TV viewing experience on the iPad, particularly if you use a good set of headphones with it.

Supposedly the iPad is also a productivity device. People use it on the road, managing email, word processing, some audio and video editing and other chores. You can even use a Bluetooth keyboard. The two iPad Pro models use a Smart Connector with a special Smart Keyboard that some regard as reminiscent of the setup of the Microsoft Surface Pro.

Regardless, being productive with an iPad is awkward, even though there’s a decent number of apps that include Microsoft Office. The mix of a physical keyboard, if you use one, and a touchscreen is especially uncomfortable, which makes you wonder why Microsoft and Intel are so enamored of convertible PCs.

Now I’ve made a number of efforts to take to an iPad, but it’s one of those tweener devices that doesn’t quite succeed in the tasks a smartphone manages, nor a personal computer. Indeed, I do spend quite a bit of time on my iPhone, particularly after my normal workday is over.

But that’s just part of it. As most of you know, I use a 27-inch iMac for most of my writing and for recording and editing my two network radio shows. While the iPad is a passable solution for the former, the latter is just not possible due to Apple’s restrictions on the sort of apps that are accepted for mobile gear. While sandboxing — walling off apps from each other with for certain exceptions (entitlements) — is an important security deterrent, Apple is just too restrictive.

So I use an audio capture app, Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Hijack, to capture the sound from both a Skype connection and an outboard mixer. I have loads of options with which to grab audio from different sources, which gives me plenty of flexibility to put my shows together.

Once the audio files are generated, I can use one of many audio editing apps to get the files in shape for the network, GCN. It’s really simple on a Mac, but Audio Hijack won’t appear in the App Store because of Apple’s sandboxing restrictions on OS X. But since I can install apps from a variety of sources, it doesn’t matter.

But on iOS, such things are not possible, at least without jailbreaking an iPhone or an iPad, which would make them extremely vulnerable to malware. Apple doesn’t offer “official” access to another app’s audio streams. That, and other restrictions, limits my use of the iPad.

As it stands, iPad sales are down. One reason may well be the iPhone “Plus” phablets. A 5.5-inch display, essentially a small tablet, no doubt cannibalizes sales of the iPad to some degree. So does the Mac. Add to that the fact that people hang onto them for several years before upgrading.

I can see where an iPad, with the right apps, might be suited for the sort of work that I do. But I wouldn’t guess how many more of them would be sold if more categories of apps were available. That’s something I assume Apple knows, and I can always hope that future versions of the iOS will expand the possibilities.

So far, the rumor mills aren’t revealing much insight about what iOS 10 might offer to allow the iPad to perform additional tasks. The expanded multitasking in iOS 9, with Split View, is a start. I feel confident Apple can continue to expand the iPad’s capabilities and still offer high security. Maybe the WWDC will provide news of additional tools to help it realize its potential. Or maybe I’m just talking to myself. That would be nothing new.

Ever since Siri, Apple’s digital personal assistant, debuted in the iPhone 4s in 2011, it has been both a source of amusement and extreme frustration. While Apple’s TV ads, which often feature such notables as Samuel L. Jackson, depict Siri obediently responding to one’s commands, it doesn’t always play out that way in the real world.

Under regular use by people who aren’t trained performers, Siri wasn’t quite that responsive — or accurate. Even today, when I request that Siri set an alarm for a specific time, it sometimes gets “AM” or “PM” reversed. And that’s the least of it. In the meantime, competitors have arisen. So we have Google Now, Amazon’s Alexa, and Microsoft’s Cortana that are being offered as comparable — or even better — than Siri.

To be fair, Siri’s original release was quietly and properly labeled as a beta, and it showed. Even though Siri has grown better with each release, and now delivers a more well-rounded feature set, it’s still evidently limited by the fact that Apple isn’t in the business of gathering personal information about you. That’s one key reason, say the critics, that Google Now is superior. Remember, with Google, you are the product they are selling to their advertisers. Apple has assured you that they will do no such thing.

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According to current estimates, Windows 10, released in July, 2015, has over 15% of the PC operating system user base. Based on the most recent totals, the total user base is approaching 300 million, which sounds impressive. But when you look at the  percentages, not so much. Indeed, it appears that the migration rate slowed rapidly within a few months after the initial release.

Until July 29, the Windows 10 upgrade is free for consumers. That makes it the same, at least for the first year, as OS X upgrades. But whereas Apple gains huge numbers of upgraders during the year of an OS’s existence, the same isn’t true for Windows. One reason is that Windows 10 isn’t every PC user’s cup of tea.

True, it’s closer in approach to Windows 7, particularly when compared to the poorly-received Windows 8/8.1 release. But it retains the lame interface elements of the latter, along with the too-thin lettering. However, the Start menu now works like a proper Start menu, and some of the new features might be useful. So there’s a virtual desktops feature similar to Apple’s Spaces. In addition, Cortana, the digital assistant, is present. That’s being touted as a huge advantage, especially since Apple hasn’t yet introduced Siri on a Mac. This is something that may debut under the next OS X, which may be called macOS to unify the branding.

Coinciding with the arrival of its first anniversary, Microsoft is touting a major upgrade to Windows 10, referred to as the Anniversary Update. Once again, Microsoft’s skills at catchy branding is lacking. But the ads for Windows 10 aren’t so compelling either. They are focused on silly lifestyle concepts, which is peculiar, since the main audience for Windows still consists of enterprise users. Indeed, few expect large numbers of businesses to upgrade from Windows 7 — or even Windows XP — anytime soon. It may take years before they switch to Windows 10 or one of its successors.

That said, Microsoft is pulling out all the stops to entice — or trick you — into upgrading your PC. Over the past year, the company has been criticized for downloading Windows 10 in the background whether you wanted it or not. If your PC has a small SSD, or limited capacity on a regular hard drive, victims of this unwanted behavior may find their computers robbed of gigabytes of free storage. Indeed, I often wonder how Microsoft gets away with this stunt, since downloading something sight unseen — without your knowledge or approval — is one of the classic definitions of a malware infection.

To make matters worse, Microsoft is altering a long-time user interface convention to trick you to launch the upgrade installer. So on a Mac, PC or even a Linux computer, clicking the “Close” button should dismiss a dialog, right? Well, Microsoft is now pushing a notification dialog that alerts you to a Windows 10 upgrade. You would expect that clicking the “X” in the upper-right corner of the dialog would simply dismiss it.

But, based on an obscure interface change, that action authorizes the upgrade instead. I’m serious! This is the sort of behavior that is, plain and simple, unethical. Indeed, traditional Windows programming guidelines state that, when you click Close or Cancel in a dialog, it should, “Never give it the same effect as OK.”

Well, not till now!

Perhaps most PC users will just groan and bear it! Maybe they wanted to try Windows 10 anyway, and this is a good opportunity, ahead of the time when you’ll have to pay upwards of $119 for a consumer license. But that doesn’t make this stunt any more acceptable.

I suppose this comedy of errors won’t make so much of a difference on a consumer’s PC. The enterprise is under more severe controls, so unwanted OS upgrades would traditionally be blocked. But I can imagine how it might impact the small business with a handful of computers.

So a few weeks back, I was listening to a well-known radio talk show host lambasting Microsoft for forcibly upgrading one of his work PCs to Windows 10 — while he was on the air! These shows use a PC to track callers to the show, and list the people waiting to speak to the host. But not while that Windows 10 upgrade was going on.

To his credit, the host, Thom Hartmann, talked about this stunt on his show. He regarded it as spyware. He pondered whether he should just switch to the Mac and be done with such unwanted behavior.

To be sure, Microsoft, despite reporting decent revenues and very high profits, is in trouble. PC sales are tanking. In order to entice skeptical users to upgrade to Windows 10, Microsoft made it free for a year, and when the upgrade pace declined, turned to unsavory tactics to force the installers, unwanted, onto PCs. This latest maneuver, to change the user convention for clicking an X in a dialog to trick you into upgrading your PC, is just going too far.

Fortunately for me, my sole forays into Window are courtesy of a Parallels Desktop virtual machine on a Mac. If a Windows 10 update doesn’t work properly, I can always restore it to a previous version courtesy of a Time Machine backup. Or dump the PC virtual machine altogether and try something else.

PC users who don’t want Windows 10 might be forced to restore their PCs, potentially a long and annoying process. When it comes time to buy a new PC, just say no and switch to a Mac. Apple won’t force you to upgrade anything by chicanery. If you don’t want a download, just turn of the options to update your OS, plus the “Automatically check for updates” option in the App Store preference pane. You can then go on with your business free of spyware or other unwanted intrusions from the OS maker.