The company’s latest release, the iPhone 5, has Apple faithfuls basking in the brightness of a slightly larger screen and a thinner body packed with a litany of other upgrades meant to improve the performance of the product and how you use it.

To those who have tried it and found it wasn’t as sweet as expected, the iPhone 5 looks little more than the new fad masked as something supposedly revolutionary.

When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away, many wondered how the direction of the company would change.

On the surface, Apple’s tune seems the same. Each product embodies ultimate simplicity, yet would be largely characterized as so simple they are sleek rather than scant. The company also greatly benefits from the massive hype it acclaims from the time a rumor is leaked of a new arrival until it is officially released. However, with Jobs no longer at the helm, the company seems to have taken on a face of its own.

Gone from the iPhone 5 and the new operating system, iOS 6 (which also runs on older iPhones, the iPad and iPod Touch), are Google apps such as YouTube and, most notably, Google Maps. To Apple, the decision to cut ties with a competitor’s product was overdue, even if it was highly popular and reliable.

However, as with most changes, the transition has not been flawless. Misidentification of major airports and the absence of lakes, trains and bridges from their proper coordinates have users in an uproar and similarly as clueless to their surroundings as Steve Carell’s character in “The Office,” Michael Scott, who drove into a lake in a momentous episode simply because his GPS system told him to. The panic has set in for users who rely on Apple’s products (maybe to a fault), and some are even calling for Apple Vice President of iOS software Scott Forstall’s head.

In unmapped waters, Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to the problems the new map app has created with a rare offering of humility to users that still left many unappeased who were looking for more than a “bear with us” answer. Nothing can be expected to be perfect, but was this not the impression the company branded under Steve Jobs?

After his passing, the company promised not only to stay the course, but to continue to shoot for excellence. Overreaction to the transition or not, Apple’s response has definitely divided some extremely loyal customers — which begs the question, has the apple gotten too big for the branch?

According to a recent New York Times article, statisticians and investors estimate that based on its current trajectory, Apple could be the first $1 trillion company as soon as April 9, 2015. Once a PC maker, Apple has transformed itself into a giant that has cleared its own path in the cell phone, music player and laptop industries. There simply is no other company quite like it, but that doesn’t ensure it will never fall, either.

Other analysts believe there is a possibility Apple could never reach the $1 trillion mark, and point to the recent map debacle as a telling point. There is no doubting the strong foundation that Apple has built through years of excellence, but if it continues to make its users feel incompetent and helpless through its products, its unwaveringly loyal fan base might begin to look elsewhere.

As the recent Samsung commercial that depicts Apple users waiting in line for the iPhone 5 suggests, this is little more than a tired game, and those still in for the ride are either too blinded from the truth or not young or hip enough to stray from the pack anymore.

I got my first iPhone a few months ago when I was finally released from the hold of my T-Mobile contract and subsequently joined Verizon and got an iPhone 4S. Having never really cared for having more than texting and calling, the transition from a standard cell phone to the iPhone was pretty extraordinary. I have never had a problem I wouldn’t have expected from any other device with an iPod or MacBook, and I downloaded the iOS 6 software for my 4S without experiencing any problems with the maps app. I like to think I’m not being swayed by Apple’s simple, yet stunning alterations the Samsung commercial mocks Apple users for enjoying, but maybe I’ve been using Apple products for too long to understand what else is out there.

As Apple continues to shoot for sleek change and accumulates hype that will bring the company a value of more than $1 trillion, I hope it continues to remember that the satisfaction of its consumers still is top priority. Because as simple as Apple has made it for us, no one wants to be treated as if he or she is simpleminded.

Michael Briggs is a guest columnist at The State News and a journalism senior. Reach him at briggsm3@msu.edu.