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Gurman: Many of Apple's Latest Products Are 'As Incremental as Ever'
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Nicky G
macrumors 65816
I'll never understand why Apple didn't just release this version of the AirPods Max back when they updated them to USB-C. The regular AirPods received the H2 chip at that time, they might as well have put the H2 chip in the Max models as well at the same time and just called those version 2, rather than spread two incremental updates out over a long period of time. I don't know, minor gripe, it's just weird.
Octavius8
macrumors 65816
Everybody agrees! Apple just changes colors and a port or charging way and calls it “new”.
Old tech for current prices.
That’s why USA banned some Chinese company…
Old tech for current prices.
That’s why USA banned some Chinese company…
Yeah, when a new iMac was released, it wasn’t just a new iMac. It was a NEW iMac with incrementally better internals. Nothing incremental about incrementally better internals. And the iPods, when a new one came out it had… more storage… sometimes. And more colors. THAT’s innovation, not incremental at all.
“Imagine if I had literally ANYTHING valuable to add to the conversation??!” 😉
That’s because your assumption is that he’s getting the info. If you instead assume “he’s making it up” everything makes more sense.
Yeah. 😀 That’s a wild take. They could have called it “Ralph” and he’d be like “THIS ISN’T DESERVING OF THE NAME RALPH!! Please don’t stop paying attention to meeeee! I’ll be as salty as required if that means you keep looking at my stuff!”
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Mark Gurman’s comments are correct with nuances. The product changes are incremental but if customers use product for a long period of time and need to change due to product unusabilities due to the aging, the changes are significant. Outside of that, the only biggest Apple product changes will be foldable phone and oled touch screen MacBook because these products will transform the way people are using the products differently from the current product version. These transformative hallmark products are the only ones that will change fundamentally current technology user experience.
In his Power On newsletter over the weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman opined that most of Apple's product announcements this month "were as incremental as ever."
For example, he said the latest AirPods Max being named "AirPods Max 2" is a "massive stretch" given the headphones received the H2 chip and little else.
AirPods Max 2 did gain many new features overall, including increased active noise cancellation, improved sound quality, Adaptive Audio, Personalized Volume, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, and Live Translation, but many of these capabilities were enabled as a result of the headphones finally getting the H2 chip from 2022.
"The real issue is putting a '2' in the name," he argued. "It means that Apple is treating a maintenance update as if it were a new generation. Historically, this branding would signal meaningful hardware changes." With the AirPods Max 2 name, however, he said it "implies a leap forward that isn't present."
"Like the earlier USB-C refresh, this update feels designed to sustain sales rather than push the product forward," he added.
While the MacBook Neo is impressive in the sense that it is easily Apple's most affordable new MacBook ever, and the Studio Display XDR checks a lot of boxes, many other products unveiled this month received faster chips and little else, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iPad Air, and the regular Studio Display.
Nevertheless, Gurman acknowledged that customers continue to purchase Apple products, with the company reporting an all-time revenue record last quarter.
"Imagine if the recent product updates themselves were as impressive as the advertising," he concluded.
Article Link: Gurman: Many of Apple's Latest Products Are 'as Incremental as Ever'
HowardEv
macrumors 6502
It’s so lame the Mini still has no internal battery for UPS and use on the go. It’s got the exact same chipset and OS as the MacBook Pro, which includes support for a battery, but no battery options. Instead it still has a wall cord and internal power supply like it’s a year 2000 era desktop chip.
And it’s lame that they haven’t introduced a cheap Apple wireless display to use with the Mini that also has a internal battery. It could attach to a wireless keyboard and become a laptop form factor, but with no peripheral wires, as all the wires to peripherals would be plugged into the Mini.
Yes, i’ve requested this product before, and gotten many confused fanboy explanations for why the Mini needs a cord and it would be too expensive to make it portable and wireless displays are too slow or low res. Really? Cmon Apple its not 2000 anymore.
And it’s lame that they haven’t introduced a cheap Apple wireless display to use with the Mini that also has a internal battery. It could attach to a wireless keyboard and become a laptop form factor, but with no peripheral wires, as all the wires to peripherals would be plugged into the Mini.
Yes, i’ve requested this product before, and gotten many confused fanboy explanations for why the Mini needs a cord and it would be too expensive to make it portable and wireless displays are too slow or low res. Really? Cmon Apple its not 2000 anymore.
He sounds pretty salty here. just think back 10 years ago where most Macs were left without updates completely for years on end, or were infrequently given new chips that made little/no difference.
The Mac is literally in its golden era and annual spec bumps of 20%-30% are fantastic for everyone.
The Mac is literally in its golden era and annual spec bumps of 20%-30% are fantastic for everyone.
HouseLannister
macrumors 68040
No one else offers that in a mini PC form factor that I am aware of. My UPS is more than twice the size of a Mac Mini and would only keep it running for a half hour at most if the monitor is off.
Of everything they sell, the mini sells the least. Mostly because anyone buying a system today wants an all in one (screen/battery/keyboard) and those that want a desktop usually want something more performant than a laptop to start with. In the end, it’s all about how much money they could make, and spending money making something few would want wouldn’t yield the returns they’re looking for.
There’s been a string of him being wrong back to back here and I wouldn’t doubt that his Bloomberg handlers are making him sweat. Going irrationally negative will ALWAYS get attention, though, which is why we often see folks head for that door as soon as things get antsy.
Happy_John
macrumors 65816
Yes, incremental is good. Just blank out the marketing. Just like washing powder and toothpaste, every change is "new and improved", and technically that is correct.
Regular incremental updates are great then you have a real need to replace a device, because you have the opportunity to benefit from any small improvements over the previous increment. An of course a company will market the hell out of an incremental update, because that's what marketing departments are paid to do.
But people have to not lose their minds and feel the need to replace their equipment every time an incremental update is released.
Happy_John
macrumors 65816
Not to be "Captain Obvious", but if that's what you really wanted, why the hell did you buy a Mac mini instead of buying a MacBook Pro?
The fact that a Mac mini hasn't had a power brick since 2010 is one of the very, very nice things about it.
They didn’t even market it, though. When all the “marketing” is the number 2 (likely so users wanting the one with the H2 chip won’t get the runaround at a retailer trying to sell the old one at full price), what even does he have to complain about? Other than Apple got another scoop on him? 🙂 There’s not even any youtube ads.
AirPods Max also received a completely new redesigned amplifier, not sure why people ignore that one. That literally is by its nature a hardware change.
As much as I may have wanted it, not sure why anyone expected a major design refresh. Apple clearly spent tons of time putting together the overly complex, some might even say over engineered, original AirPods Max design, of course they weren’t going to completely dump it.
boswald
macrumors 68030
Does everything have to be revolutionary to this guy? I get it, the APM2 aren't groundbreaking. Fine. I accept that. But you know what? I'll still buy them. I don't expect the world to change every single time Apple releases something, but when I see something that fulfills a need, I try to get it. See how easy that is? You save a lot more energy that way.
They should have waited for the H3 chip to update the Max. I prefer my AirPods Pro 3 over my Max, but this update was just embarrassing. The second H3 is available, AirPods Max 2 will be so far behind.
