Telegram founder pummels Apple in latest rant over 'Overpriced hardware from Middle Ages'

Telegram founder Pavel Durov launched an offensive against smartphone manufacturer Apple on May 21, as he commented on a New York Times report that alleged the multinational technology firm has given the Chinese government ample control over its data centres in Guiyang. 

Equating Apple's business model to that of China's administration, Durov said, it seeks to hold 'complete control' similar to the Communist Party of China (CPC) which also invariably holds total access over the data of its citizens.

'Obsolete hardware from the Middle Ages'

Durov stated that the consumer electronics manufacturer is efficient at selling 'overpriced, obsolete hardware to customers locked in their ecosystem.' In his criticism against the US tech firm, Durov explained 'Every time I have to use an iPhone to test our iOS app, I feel like I'm thrown back into the Middle Ages,' while adding another barb against the company's 'clunky' and 'outdated' software which keeps pushing its devices with specs such as 60Hz displays instead of 120Hz screens that most Android devices have as staple incentive these days.

However, the cloud-based messaging software founder's most vicious tirade against Apple was that owning an iPhone will make you a 'digital slave of Apple'. Durov further condemned the fact the Apple users can only use iCloud to back up their data natively and criticised Apple’s policy of not allowing its users to download apps from anywhere else but the iOS App Store. 'Apple’s totalitarian approach is only appreciated by the Communist Party of China,' he concluded.

History of feud

This is not the first time Apple and Telegram have thrown shades at each other. Their love-hate relationship goes a long way back to 2018, when Durov slammed Apply in a Twitter post where he outlined "7 reasons" why every iPhone user should be worried about the AppStore's 30 per cent tax for some app developers. Following the backlash, Apple was later forced to cut it down to 15 per cent.

In response to Durov's public rant, Apple promptly removed the Telegram app from AppStore over concerns surrounding the "distribution of child pornography" on its freeware cloud-based social media and messaging software.

Apple is currently being sued by the Coalition for a Safer Web for failing to remove access to Telegram while still blocking Parler, and also alleging it is being used by hate groups and extremists to attack the Capitol. The petition charges Apple with allowing Telegram to be available on App Store despite the company's knowledge that Telegram is being used to "intimidate, threaten, and coerce members of the public."