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..."there's never been a set of products with a "greater degree of future potential."

The same could have been said about the first Apple 1 computer. In fact I'm sure it was.
But now its not even true - because most of Tim’s revenue products are ripe for disruption - especially the iphone.
 
I'd love a modern version of the IIfx.

I really liked the IIfx. But its $8,700 price in 1990 would cost $17,400 in today's money. Today's MacPro starting at $6K is a good deal.

Perhaps there'll be an Mx-based MacPro lite at $4,000 this year.
 
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I disagree.

You also need to get the best products.

While I do love my AirPods Pros, they are a sideline for Apple. It is just that Apple is so huge that a sideline business is a $13 billion annual business. So while nice on a straight dollar appearace, it is small on a percentage contribution.

I think Cook has totally blown it with Siri and HomePod. The iPhone is an annuity with just steady evolution, and the oft-mentioned "design" means very little since most are wrapped up in cases. He did OK with Cloud services but still lagged everyone else.

But as for a real new product, one even thinking of flagship status... we get updates to existing or stagnant voice speakers.
I’m a bit baffled by what you are expecting from Apple for a “flagship” device as a new product. The iPhone became a flagship device, but that happened over time. The Watch has grown to the point of outselling the entire Swiss watch industry, but you say the Watch isn’t a flagship because it’s not generating enough revenue?

So is your goalpost for flagship status $500 billion or $1 trillion in sales?

Ultimately, I would argue that Apple itself is the flagship product that they’re selling. Their goal isn’t to have a handful of items that live and die by themselves, but rather an ecosystem of products and services that seamlessly work together. If all you do as a company is focus on making hero devices, where you get a single sale every year or couple of years, you’re risking everything if for some reason a product doesn’t perform.

We will no doubt continue to see Apple update and upgrade existing devices, but they’ll also launch items that continue to build the ecosystem. And I would bet that some of these items that they launch will be laughed at or panned initially for being too far outside Apple’s existing offering, because some people can’t, or refuse to, see the big picture that is Apple.
 
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