Apple’s Cold Shoulder: Blogger’s Independence Asserted
After a decade of Apple executives appearing on his podcast, John Gruber found himself shut out. This year, Apple declined his invitation to appear on The Talk Show. The move highlights a growing divide and the potential impact of critical commentary on high-profile tech relationships.
A Decade of Dialogue Ends Abruptly
From 2015 to 2024, John Gruber, of Daring Fireball, welcomed Apple executives onto his podcast for special WWDC episodes. However, that tradition ceased last month when Apple rejected his invitation to participate in this year’s show.
Gruber: Apple’s not happy with me. Me: good pic.twitter.com/8sE58Rk30U
— John Gruber (@gruber) June 18, 2025
“I’m not trying to lack humility here — but I feel them deciding not to do my show this year is a total win for me and was a huge loss for them,”
—John Gruber
Public trust in technology companies is declining; a recent study found that only 47% of U.S. adults trust tech companies to do what is right (Pew Research Center, 2024).
The Backstory: Critical Commentary
Gruber had published a blog post that was quite critical of Apple. He stated that the company presented an inaccurate narrative at WWDC 2024. He indicated this damaged the company’s credibility and could signal larger problems.
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Gruber views this exclusion as a means to underscore his independence. For the WWDC 2025 episode, he interviewed Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal and Nilay Patel from The Verge.