Welcome to our Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in one handy roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning, but it’s cool if you want to read it during lunch or dinner hours as well.
The color silver
Video games have changed in many positive ways since I was mad at them in the 1990s, from improved graphics to a broader perspective that caters, with only a small amount of acrimony, to hardcore and casual gamers. . But one thing that’s undeniably worsened is the growing dominance of downloadable content (DLC) culture, where studios shamelessly release half-finished games and then milk their most loyal fans with years of subscriptions and paid extras. It makes me nostalgic for the days when you only had to pay once for an everlasting masterpiece like Cannon Fodder or Sensible World of Soccer.
Why are you thinking of the DLC, David? Because this week, Apple repeated its annual trick of releasing a new color in the middle of an iPhone generation, wowing fans with the excitement of a yellow case. I feel delayed color launches the same way I feel downloadable content. I do not approve.
“Yellow” isn’t some shiny new invention that Apple has had its engineers working on for the past six months. The company could very easily have released the yellow iPhone 14 alongside the other color finishes last fall, but it decided against it for one simple reason: launching a new color is a smart way to attract attention and boost a product just when sales are falling. . It’s a cynical way to grab a few headlines and whip up some extra units.
What is the customer’s place in all of this, if not as a source of income? Hardly at all. Apple is not trying to provide the best experience to the greatest number, but to hamper their choice in a calculated way to generate the maximum profit.
If you bought an iPhone 14 last September and you particularly liked the color yellow, you were faced with a choice between two compromises: either buy a phone in a color you don’t like that much, or wait, hopefully ‘Apple will benevolently choose yellow as a bonus. color this cycle, then end up buying your new phone at a less convenient time. The same choice faced green-loving iPhone 13 buyers in 2022 and pro-purple iPhone 12 customers in 2021; compromise on color or compromise on timing. And the same could apply to loyal early adopters who purchased the second-generation HomePod earlier this year but, as was the case with the HomePod mini, may look enviously at the additional color options that launch mid – product life path. It’s deeply frustrating and the complete opposite of putting the customer first.
But this policy, of deliberately withholding attractive elements from a product so that it can sell the upgrade later, is part of a larger strategy that Apple is often suspected of. Why did Apple take so long to bring a large screen to the iPhone or a stylus to the iPad? Why did widgets and night mode arrive much later on iOS than on Android? That may be because the company knew it could sell its devices without these features in the short term, and that they would come in handy later when it needed to persuade customers to buy the next generation. Every Apple product competes with its own predecessor just as much as with contemporary products from competing manufacturers, which means the company is driven to release useful features as slowly as possible: Release the perfect iPhone tomorrow and you’re coming. to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
I don’t expect Apple to change its ways any more than I expect video game publishers to stop selling DLC. There are too many financial incentives; the market has spoken. But it makes me frown every spring when a new iPhone color pops up and we’re all supposed to be pleased. What good is it now, Tim Apple? What am I supposed to do with this stupid blue phone I’ve been dragging around for six months? Do you think I’m made of money?
Foundry
Trending: Top Stories
The Mac is about to enter a performance super cycle like we have never seen.
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If Apple love music so muchwhy is streaming not correct?
Apple Music Classical will launch on March 28 with the “the largest catalog in the world”.
From charging to Face ID, Michael Simon demystifies 3 recent iPhone Myths.
Apple Classical Music has finally arrived in the App Store… but it’s still on “pre-order”.
The rumor mill
Is the iPhone yellow confirm that there will be no Apple spring event?
The Apple Rumor $700 price hike for the iPad Pro is as ridiculous as rumors get.
Latest iPhone 15 leaks confirm major upgrades for the four models.
A HomePod with screen would be launched in the first half of 2024.
Apples spring surprise could be the early arrival of the MacBook Air M3.
A new iMac could finally arrive later this year.
Podcast of the week
In Episode 831: Your opinions on the yellow iPhone, Clean Energy Charging and the new Macs to come.
You can watch every igamesnews podcast episode on Spotify, Soundcloud, Podcasts app or our own site.
Software updates, bugs and issues
Apple has released tvOS 16.3.3, which includes a long-lived fix Sign out of Siri Remote issue.
And with that, we’re done for this week. If you want to receive regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Twitter or on Facebook to discuss the latest news from Apple. See you next Saturday, enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay Appley.
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