Apple should only do ‘when it’s done’ launches

Fall 2024 has been the time to refresh my Apple gear, whether I like it or not — my iPhone 13 was at the edge of reasonable trade-in value, and the battery life on my Apple Watch Series 6 recently plummeted to the point where I was using Low Power Mode just to get through the day. So here I am, the owner of a fresh iPhone 16 Pro and a refurbished Apple Watch Ultra 2. No, I wasn’t willing to spend full price on year-old specs just to get an Ultra in black.

Both products say something about where Apple’s at. Despite the fact that the Ultra is supposed to be the best Apple Watch you can buy, Apple didn’t bother putting out an Ultra 3 this year to match the Series 10. Presumably, it’s because executives felt they didn’t have any meaningful additions ready, which is fine — the Ultra 2 is still superior to the Series 10 in many ways. But Apple has even delayed the rollout of Apple Intelligence, the major selling point for the iPhone 16 lineup. When the iPhone takes a hit, you know there’s an issue with Apple’s product schedules.

Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman touched on this situation in a recent newsletter, but I’d like to go a step beyond what he argued for — I feel like all Apple products, hardware and software, should shift towards a “when it’s done” timetable. There could be several benefits for both Apple and us tech shoppers.

There would be no more spec sacrifices

What’s the point of half-baked products?

A recurring theme of Apple rumors for the past few years has been features failing to materialize as predicted, and/or being pushed into the next generation. Some people claim that it’s just leakers and news sites making things up to get clicks — but the rumors themselves often mention delays, and at this point, everyone has to admit that Apple is having trouble. Moving past Apple Intelligence and the Ultra 3, consider the raw specs of the iPhone 16 Pro — it sports a faster A18 Pro chip, a sharper ultra-wide camera, improved battery life, and the Camera Control button, but you’re otherwise getting a similar package to the 15 Pro, which itself wasn’t a huge leap over the 14 Pro. The leap from an iPhone 13/13 Pro is about as recent as you can go to feel like you’re getting a tangible upgrade. We’ll have to wait for the iPhone 17 to see a substantial redesign.

Apple’s stuck in this rut because it insists on shipping flagship devices every September. The strategy has worked in the past, admittedly, keeping specs paced with rivals while serving up products just ahead of the Christmas shopping season. But if the result is wavering sales because the company is scrambling to build innovative hardware, adopting a flexible schedule just makes sense. Even a few extra months might make all the difference. Would you care if an iPhone occasionally shipped in November or December instead of September, if it meant getting tech that would otherwise have to wait until the following year?

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It’s time for rapid evolution

Software that moves as fast as the industry

Apple’s policy of holding back on major software changes makes even less sense. Android and Windows now regularly get new features throughout the year, and while that might initially sound demanding to engineer, there’s freedom, too — updates can come out whenever they’re ready rather than under a chiseled deadline. Apple sometimes adopts a similar approach — as evidenced by Apple Intelligence — but when the company reverts to a purely annual schedule, its platforms can feel stagnant.

Speaking of Apple Intelligence, it’s going to demand more frequent updates for all the company’s operating systems, no doubt. Generative AI is by its nature a fast-changing beast — it learns on its own, and the industry is learning with it, figuring out better uses and more advanced implementations. Come fall 2025, it’s going to look terrible if Google Gemini and ChatGPT are still miles ahead of Siri in knowledge and voice interaction. As it is now, Siri looks weak next to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, which have a limited focus.

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Seemingly, some of the features Apple holds back just don’t need to wait. The company improved lockscreen and homescreen customization on iPhones with the earliest iOS 18 betas — was there that much to gain by saving widespread availability until September? It does help showcase the iPhone 16, but not so much when the same code runs on 2018’s iPhone XR.​​​​​​​

The old-fashioned magic

An opportunity to floor people again

Tom Coates / Wikimedia

Remember the days when every iPhone launch was a firestorm? Some of that had to do with the cult of personality around Steve Jobs, but the overriding factor was wondering how each new model would reshape the smartphone industry. The industry was young, and Apple was so adept at innovation that both shoppers and pundits knew the rest of the industry would be forced to play catch-up.

That’s still true to an extent, but the excitement is lower these days, precisely because Apple has settled for modest improvements. Putting aside why that’s happening, Apple could restore some of that glory and its marketing advantage by saving launches for when they really make an impact. We’d also be genuinely surprised again — guessing as much about release dates as we do about whether we’re getting more than processor and camera tweaks.

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There are business reasons for Apple’s current approach, such as lining up supply chains. Plus, arguably, no one should care that much about iPhones, or Macs, iPads, and Apple Watches, for that matter. It’s nevertheless frustrating to see Apple lose its way, particularly for those of us who remember the energy from lineups at Apple Stores.