Apple has come under fire for its new error-filled maps application, which replaces Google Maps on iPhone 5s and in iOS 6, the company's new mobile operating system. In a rare public letter, Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the quality of the maps last week. Frustrated iPhone 5 users have also complained about a bug that causes their phones to suck cellular data even when connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Of course, there's always a counter-argument.

Here's one from Kris Abarilla, who responded to my question about the changing state of Apple fanboydom on Google+: "Fanboydom certainly hasn't changed much since Jobs. The people are loyal to the brand, not to the person who ran it.

"Even after people realize how bad the Maps App is in the new iOS 6, those very same users are touting the greatness of Apple."

It's clear Apple employees and the company's fanboy and fangirl loyalists will continue not just to buy Apple products but to love them, and the company behind them.

The question is: What about everyone else?

"Though Apple will remain a highly profitable company for years to come, I would be surprised if it ever gives us another product as transformative as the (original) iPhone or the iPad," writes Joe Nocera in the New York Times' opinion section.

"Part of the reason is obvious: Jobs isn't there anymore," he wrote. "It is rare that a company is so completely an extension of one man's brain as Apple was an extension of Jobs. While he was alive, that was a strength; now it's a weakness. Apple's current executive team is no doubt trying to maintain the same demanding, innovative culture, but it's just not the same without the man himself looking over everybody's shoulder."