Apple could switch from annual product launches to a more spaced-out approach: report | Tech Tips

Apple faced backlash for not releasing the iPhone 16 series with iOS 18’s new AI features, despite marketing the phones as designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up. To avoid such situations, the company might be considering abandoning its annual product release approach. Let’s dig deeper to understand why Apple could be changing its strategy.

Apple product release strategy shift: why

As per Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, Apple is musing over shifting the product release strategy from an annual approach to a more staggered one. Here’s the why:

• Apple’s product portfolio is too broad and varied and may expand in the coming years. Managing updates for all these products on an annual basis can be tough.
• Apple has been already following this spaced-out approach for certain products like the iPhone SE and Apple Watch Ultra. So, the public doesn’t expect yearly updates on these products.
• This new approach means Apple could release products as and when it sees fit (or when the product’s fully ready).
• Unlike conventional companies, Apple is “organized functionally — by hardware, software and services“. So, while this means an engineer is empowered with focused skill development, expert problem-solving, and better oversight, the company can reduce redundancy, and allocate resources more effectively. But, this also means the engineer can get overwhelmed by work and responsibilities and cause delays. 
• In Gurman’s words, “Pursuing a big fall launch for most of its new hardware and software offerings has become too much of a toll — and the company is ever-so-slightly inching away from that path“.

• Even if the iPhone 16-Apple Intelligence shenanigan was to bait investors and capture public interest in AI, the narrative has been that the upgrades were delayed. Apple would want to avoid this.
• Gurman also thinks “some of this is because Apple’s hardware innovation has slowed down, so it makes sense to save up two years’ worth of features to make a bigger splash”.
• If not for anything else, this could make the company less predictable than it is now.

Gurman claims the company plans to launch multiple hardware products in both halves of next year. For example, the iPhone SE 4 is expected to be released in the first half of 2025 and by that time, iOS 18 will be more mature. 

However, as he emphasises, the new approach may not be for Apple’s big-ticket products like iPhones, rather he thinks the company is and could get “more selective in other areas“.

If Apple does make the shift, we want to see how the investors and the larger market react (including its competitors) and how it affects Apple’s bottom line. Let’s see.

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