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Apple's Shift Toward More Staggered Releases Could Bring More Innovation and Less Predictability

Surely the recent evidence suggests Apple is doubling down on their strategy of “release iPhones and watches annually at all costs“? They literally launched the phones despite their flagship feature not being on the phones at launch, and released iOS18 on the M4 iPad despite it clearly not being tested properly.

I’m personally not a fan of the iPhone upgrade program for this exact reason - it forces Apples hand to release things when they aren’t ready. I see no sign of this stopping based on Apple’s recent trend.
 
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Onimusha370 said:
Surely the recent evidence suggests Apple is doubling down on their strategy of “release iPhones and watches annually at all costs“? They literally launched the phones despite their flagship feature not being on the phones at launch, and released iOS18 on the M4 iPad despite it clearly not being tested properly.

I’m personally not a fan of the iPhone upgrade program for this exact reason - it forces Apples hand to release things when they aren’t ready. I see no sign of this stopping based on Apple’s recent trend.
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iPhone 16 wasn't very different than the 15, but it was ready to launch. Remember the hardware and software are not one and the same -- they travel their own roads with a few interdependencies here and there.
 
If they really do this for iPhones then it will likely highlight something not everyone understands. They will likely put out iOS releases at different times than iPhone releases as it should be. That's how it is with computers and their operating systems.
 
Onimusha370 said:
I’m personally not a fan of the iPhone upgrade program for this exact reason - it forces Apples hand to release things when they aren’t ready.
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Still are plenty of easy cosmetic things Apple can do and call it "new": different colors, tweak screen sizes, add/remove buttons and move them around, etc. etc.

Won't get people lining up outside the stores to buy, but does its job if it looks different enough to pass as the new model. (Works for automakers and is disgusting as # IMO.)
 
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picpicmac said:
Oh please.

Few things have become more tiresome than the toxic fandom of certain companies whining about "innovation" or a supposed lack thereof.

What the whiners want is stimulation for their otherwise boring lives.

Often the most important innovations in computing are under the hood, completely invisible to the end use.
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Exactly this.

Also it has been what 4 years since they entirely changed their entire desktop computing architecture and build it in house, reengineered all their products including introducing new displays, iMacs, laptops, desktops.

And people are whining that innovation is dead. Are they blind?

Look at a 5 year cycle not a 1 year cycle.

And look at Microsoft and google. What have they achieved in the last 5 years? Nothing notable.
 
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I really hope that this means Apple will concentrate on making the software better, rather than ignoring age-old bugs and usability issues to push new features that nobody asked for.

I don't know if there are separate teams that work on separate apps and the operating system, but it would be great if they test all they can of an app to make it as good as it can be. At the moment, it is doubtful people at Apple even use their own apps, considering how many problems there are. It would make the feedback app actually useful, rather than thinking it’s a waste of time submitting anything
 
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scrapesleon said:
So they still don’t plan on stopping to release these minor changes on new iPhones stubborn much
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iPhone sales are still making up a substantial portion of their sales and dropping the annual cycle on that would have too large of an impact on their bottom line. We can already see how they have let go of the annual cycle on most of their other products (iPads haven't been on an annual cycle for a while, the regular Apple Watch is probably next since it already happened with the Ultra).
 
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This isn’t the first time Apple has staggered software features to point updates. Does Gurman have a minimum number of Apple stories he needs to file each week/month? Because sometimes it feels like he’s fulfilling a quota or something. He might be fairly accurate with rumors but outside of that I wouldn’t look to him. I think someone like Jason Snell has a better understanding of how Apple thinks/works than Gurman does.
 
JohnC1959 said:
Those two statements seem a bit at odds with each other. How can you not have any substantial competition if you don't innovate? If they are leading (I'm sure many will both agree and disagree with this) then the competition isn't innovating either.
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I’m talking about innovation and product prices at Apple. If you have no one to compete with, you become stagnant. You can also keep raising your prices because everyone wants your product over the competition. These are fairly simple concepts.
 
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If it were a staggered release, iPhone 16 would be announced in October, November 2024, or even early 2025.

This is Apple stumbling on AI, not staggering.
 
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In the end, it is the consumer and professionals that win. We get to use computer hardwares 'til they absolutely become senile. And meanwhile, we get to save a bunch of cash just sitting in the bank. I like it. I am not complaining so much honestly. Software updates are free. Free is good.
 
"more innovation" indicates there were some innovation before. We have not seen innovation for very long time.
 
Why can't Apple just release flawless groundbreaking innovation every year for the rest of my life? Am I asking too much?
 
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Well, they are free from Intel's release cycles now. So there's really no reason to keep following the old release schedule. Steve Jobs would have been very impressed with this current state of affairs, the architecture change to Apple designed chips is a dream come true. Tim Cook did him proud.
 
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At next year’s WWDC, we’ll probably be getting a release date for the last of features announced at this year’s event that haven’t yet been released.
 
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