Disturbance in the Force: Elon Musk claims Apple broke his email system

Apple Iphone Hero Image
Apple Iphone Hero Image (Image credit: Stephanie Barnes / iMore)

What you need to know

  • Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk claims his email system was disrupted by an update from Apple.
  • Musk complained about the software changes during the Satellite 2020 conference.
  • While he didn't offer specifics, Apple's iOS 13 was widely criticized for having a number of bugs at the time of launch.

Apple launched iOS 13 back in September 2019, and while many were excited about the introduction of a system-wide Dark Mode, that excitement was soon dampened due to an overwhelming number of bugs found in the software. After updating, many iPhone users, including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, noticed apps had become a little unstable.

During an interview at the recent Satellite 2020 conference, Musk recalled his experience with Apple's update while answering a question on the importance of software and the role it plays in his projects, according to a report from Business Insider.

The interviewer mentioned a previous comment Musk made regarding the gradual decay of technology, before asking the CEO whether he thought this would impact his Mars mission since much of the technology involved is powered by both hardware and software. Musk quickly responded to clarify the comment but ended up taking a tiny jab at Apple in the process.

What I was referring to is that technology does not automatically improve. People are used to the phone being better every year. I'm an iPhone user, but I think some of the recent software updates have like been not great, certainly feeding into that point. It, like, broke my email system. . .which is quite fundamental.

Musk didn't offer much else about his experience with the buggy software, but he did go on to stress the importance of constantly hiring fresh talent in the tech industry.

We certainly need a lot more smart people to work in software.

The full interview is below. You can watch the entire thing or just skip ahead to the 13:00 minute mark to hear Musk discuss his email issues.

Stephanie A Barnes
Contributor

Stephanie Barnes is a contributor at iMore. She fell in love with technology after building her first PC as a little girl. She later followed that passion to become a front-end/iOS engineer before switching to writing full-time. Stephanie's writing on technology, health and wellness, movies, television, and much more can be found all over the internet, including at HuffPost, HelloGiggles, PopSci, MindBodyGreen, and Business Insider. At iMore, she covers everything from breaking news to product roundups with the latest and greatest devices, apps, and accessories on the market. Stephanie also writes the occasional how-to guide to help readers get the most out of their Apple's devices and services.