Apple seems to be gradually moving away from regularly scheduled releases of hardware and software once a year, preferring to stagger product release cycles. bloomberghighlighted by Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter.
Garman suggested that Apple intelligence is evidence that Apple is moving “just a little bit” away from big fall launches of hardware and software products. Despite Apple Intelligence being a key focus of iOS 18 at the Worldwide Developers Conference and much hype about the new iPhone 16 models, iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia debuted without Apple Intelligence functionality.
Instead, the first Apple Intelligence features rolled out in October in the iOS 18.1 update, and Apple plans to add new Apple Intelligence features to iOS 18.2, iOS 18.3, and iOS 18.4. Everything Apple highlighted in June 2024 won’t be available until 2025.
Apple has deferred some software features in the past and introduced them in later updates, but Apple Intelligence allows Apple to announce everything upfront and make it clear that software updates will be rolled out over time. did.
Garman suggested that Apple may continue down this path, adopting a strategy of releasing products as soon as they are ready, rather than launching devices on schedule. As Apple’s product lineup has become more complex, so has its software. This year, Apple had to retire iPadOS 18 for the new M4 iPad Pro model after its release, and also had to remove beta versions of watchOS 11.1 and HomePod software 18.1 because the software was causing serious issues. did.
Apple has no plans to stop offering annual iPhone releases, but there are signs it’s holding back updates for some other products. There was no new version of the Apple Watch SE this year (and it appears to be on a three-year update cycle at this point). Apple also didn’t announce a new Apple Watch Ultra, instead adding new colors to the Ultra 2.
Macs and iPads planned for 2025 will be launched at various times throughout the year and may not be tied to any specific event, such as WWDC or the September “iPhone” event. Garman previously said Apple would introduce a new MacBook Air model, a new iPad Air model and a new iPhone SE in early 2025, followed by Mac Studio in mid-2025 and Mac Pro after that.
Garman said that continuing a staggered approach could lead to more innovation with fewer timing constraints, and that such a strategy would also make Apple less predictable, which could lead to suggests that this is the goal.
