The Vergecast — "Apple’s Best Product Ever" (April 3, 2026)

Overview

In celebration of Apple's 50th anniversary, hosts David Pierce and Nilay Patel dedicate this episode to ranking the best Apple products ever, based on a massive audience poll hosted on The Verge. Along the way, they dive into Apple's history, the current state of AI and tech industry shifts, launch a new "Hype Desk" segment, and share podcast news. The show is lively, irreverent, and packed with nostalgia, debate, and hot takes about technology and culture.

Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Housekeeping and Announcements (01:53-06:16)

• Webby Awards: The Vergecast is up for best tech podcast, and the hosts urge listeners to vote.

  “We are once again nominated for the Webby Award for best technology podcast. Please vote for the Vergecast. I'm your friend David Pierce.” — David (01:53)

• Movie Night: Vergecast is hosting a screening of the classic tech thriller "Sneakers" on April 27th in NYC. Subscribers get early ticket access.

• Light-hearted banter about ratings, bots trying to rig the Apple poll for iTunes, and a community focus for future events.

2. News Segment — AI Industry Analysis & OpenAI Drama (06:16–28:28)

Topics Covered:

• OpenAI's Sora video app is killed off for practical business reasons.
• OpenAI raises $122 billion and claims 900 million weekly ChatGPT users — a figure the hosts find hard to trust.
• The industry is shifting from hyped, world-changing consumer AI to practical business automation (enterprise SaaS and coding tools).
• Microsoft’s AI chief, Mustafa Suleiman, describes “superintelligence” in terms of delivering value to enterprises:

  “Superintelligence is really about, are these models capable of delivering product value for the millions of enterprises that depend on us to deliver world class language models?” — Mustafa Suleiman (quoted by Nilay, 08:03) “There’s just a pretty vast chasm between enterprise value and ‘it’s alive.’” — Nilay (08:53)

Key Insights:

• There’s a growing disconnect between how AI is marketed (world-changing, creative tools) vs. where it’s actually making money (back-office automation, business software).
• Commentary on OpenAI’s acquisition of the TBPN livestream/podcast network — is it a smart communications play or just more “side quest” noise?
• Ongoing tension between actual user needs (automation, better spreadsheets, business logic) and overblown AI hype in consumer markets.

Notable Quotes:

“It would be like if a bunch of people had run around at the early days of spreadsheets and been like, I have made God. It’s like, no, you made spreadsheets.” — David (12:52) “They all think this is a marketing problem. They think this is a communications problem. And I'm telling you it is a product problem.” — Nilay (17:16)

Timestamps:

• OpenAI Sora shutdown/ChatGPT usage numbers: 06:16–09:21
• Industry shift to enterprise AI: 09:21–13:30
• OpenAI’s TBPN acquisition and media strategy: 14:09–21:30

3. New Segment: The Hype Desk (28:28–36:38)

Format:

• Hosts: Ross Miller & Ashley Esqueda (The "Human Air Horns")
• Purpose: Fun segment for "cool stuff" discovered off the main show, mixing in practical products, conventions, and (potentially) sponsorship deals.

Highlights:

• Ross and Ashley discuss ADHD-friendly Pomodoro timers:

  “It looks like a chumby. … It was like under 20 bucks, so it’s really nice.” — Ashley (32:16)

• Report on PAX East gaming convention: shoutout to titles like Pokémon Champions and Ditto, with fun discussion of game nostalgia and cosplay hats.

Key Moment:

• Nilay explains the point of the Hype Desk:

  “You can't buy me and David, but you can buy these two.” — Nilay (30:52)

4. Main Event: Ranking the 50 Best Apple Products (39:26–79:29)

The Project

• Over 1.6 million votes collected.
• Head-to-head, Elo-style ranking, with both audience and hosts making their own top 10 lists.

Discussion Style

• Rapid-fire reactions from 50th to 11th place, then detailed debate and personal lists for the top 10.
• Era/Generational divides, “recency bias,” and heated arguments about product significance vs. impact.

Notable Insights & Debates

• Printers “never had a chance” — the two Apple printers take the bottom spots.

• Audience recency bias: Newer products like AirDrop, AirPods, Apple Pay rank surprisingly high.

  “FaceTime, Apple Pay, and AirDrop all in the top 20 is bananas.” — David (58:57)

• Software generally ranked low: QuickTime, GarageBand, Final Cut Pro all mid-pack or lower, despite being foundational to creative work.

• Factional Fights:

  • Nilay repeatedly slams audience picks for under-valuing classic PowerBooks and keyboards.
  • Both hosts make a case for QuickTime and Mac OS X being unsung heroes.

• Iconic Hardware:

  • Emphasis on the wedge MacBook Air, iPhone 4, Bondi Blue iMac, original iPhone as era-defining.
  • The wedge MacBook Air: “The entire industry chased this for 30 years.” — Nilay (69:35)

The Top 10 (Consensus vs. Hosts)

| Audience Ranking | David’s Top 10 | Nilay’s Top 10 | |-------------------------|------------------------|-------------------| | 1. iPhone (original) | 1. Mac OS X | 1. Mac OS X | | 2. M1 chip | 2. iPhone (original) | 2. iPhone 4 | | 3. Macintosh (1984) | 3. M1 chip | 3. iPhone (orig) | | 4. iPod (Clickwheel) | 4. MacBook Air (wedge) | 4. iMac G3 | | 5. Mac OS X | 5. Macintosh | 5. MacBook Air | | 6. iPhone 4 | 6. iMac G3 | 6. iPod (orig) | | 7. iMac G3 (Bondi Blue) | 7. iMac (unibody) | 7. iPad 2 | | 8. MacBook Air (wedge) | 8. iPhone 4 | 8. Ti PowerBook G4| | 9. Slim iMac (unibody) | 9. iPod (Clickwheel) | 9. Apple IIe | |10. iPod w/ Clickwheel |10. QuickTime |10. M1 chip |

Notable Top 10 Quotes:

“If you have a list without the IIe in particular in the top 10, I don't know what you're doing.” — Nilay (64:25) “Mac OS X is … the foundation of 25 years of Apple software. None of the rest of this happens if OS X isn’t [here].” — David (75:15)

Main Points of Disagreement:

• David values QuickTime, unibody iMac, and original Macintosh more highly.
• Nilay puts the iPhone 4 above the original iPhone, and champions the Titanium PowerBook G4.

Shared #1 Pick: Both argue Mac OS X is the single most important Apple product ("none of the rest of this happens if OS X isn’t here") — even though most of the audience doesn’t see it that way.

5. Lightning Round & Other Topics (81:33–104:35)

• Brendan Carr Is a Dummy: Ongoing podcast-within-a-podcast lampooning FCC commissioner Brendan Carr’s speech policing antics (including a direct clip from CPAC, 82:50):

  “If there’s one thing Americans hate, it is censorship. They do not like it.” — Nilay (84:06)

• Fediverse & Surf App: Verge announces new "Surf" pages on the open social web, with custom feeds for the podcast and site content.

  “These kinds of products are the first evidence that the OpenSocial web can be more than a bunch of Twitters.” — Nilay (91:32)

• DIY Hardware Update: Nilay describes converting an old iMac into an external display with a third-party control board ("it works perfectly… I’ve never been happier in my entire life." 97:13).

• Tech Price Increases: David flags rising costs for RAM, memory, Raspberry Pi, and even the PS5 — evidence of continued supply chain trouble.

  “They took a thing that was $120 and raised the price by $100. … Folks, it is wild out there.” — David (99:30)

• PSA: “Don’t download the White House app.” Enough said.

Notable Quotes & Moments

On Audience Biases:

• “This is just a young audience. … If I were not a professional journalist, my Apple knowledge would have started with the iMac G3 and the Steve Jobs return.” — David (43:22)
• “If you just put ‘original’ in the name, it’s going to win.” — (61:47)

On Mac OS X as #1:

• “There's no Apple without Mac OS X.” — Nilay (75:11)
• “It is the foundation of 25 years of Apple software.” — David (75:34)

On Old Hardware:

• “Still the laptop everybody wants at the end of the day … Titanium PowerBook G4.” — Nilay (65:42)

On Shame & Disagreement:

• “Now I’m feeling the Nilay shame already.” — David (66:04)

On the Process:

• “We poured all of our heart and soul into ranking 50 Apple products.” — David (79:17)

Timestamps — Key Segments

• 01:53 — Housekeeping, Webby awards, Movie Night
• 06:16 — OpenAI, Sora shutdown, AI industry shifts
• 14:09 — TBPN acquisition/media strategy
• 28:28 — Hype Desk: Pomodoro timers and PAX East
• 39:26 — Apple 50th anniversary coverage & start of rankings
• 40:52-61:32 — 50 to 11 Rankings, hosts’ running commentary
• 61:32-79:29 — Hosts’ Top 10s compared to audience results
• 81:33 — Lightning Round: Brendan Carr, Surf, iMac DIY, tech pricing
• 104:41 — Listener calls to action & show wrap-up

Overall Tone

• Funny, irreverent, self-deprecating: Hosts constantly roast themselves, each other, the audience, and the industry.
• Nostalgic and nerdy: Lots of tech history, love for obscure hardware, and deep enthusiasm for Apple minutiae.
• Critical thinking: Regularly call out “recency bias,” market hype, and the serious gaps between tech mythology and reality.

Summary

Whether you’re an Apple old head or just bought your first iPhone, this episode offers a raucous, thoughtful, and sometimes heartwarming walk through Apple’s product history — all while skewering the tech industry’s present and future. If you care about gadgets, design, and how culture remembers tech, this Vergecast is a must-listen…and a great read.