Apple appears to be slowly moving away from regular, timed hardware and software releases that come on an annual basis, instead favoring more of a staggered product release cycle, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman highlighted in his most recent Power On newsletter.
Gurman suggests that Apple Intelligence is evidence that Apple is "ever-so-slightly" moving away from a big fall launch for its hardware and software products. iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia debuted without any Apple Intelligence features, despite the fact that Apple Intelligence was a key focal point of iOS 18 at the Worldwide Developers Conference, and heavily advertised for the new iPhone 16 models.
Instead, the first Apple Intelligence features will come out in October in an iOS 18.1 update, and Apple plans to add new Apple Intelligence capabilities in iOS 18.2, iOS 18.3, and iOS 18.4. Everything that Apple highlighted in June 2024 won't be available until well into 2025.
Apple has delayed some software features in the past, introducing them in later updates, but with Apple Intelligence, Apple announced everything well in advance and made it clear that the software updates would roll out over time.
Gurman suggests that Apple could continue on this path, adopting a strategy that will see it release products when they're ready rather than pushing to get devices out on a scheduled timeline. As Apple's product lineup has grown more complex, software has also become more complicated. This year, Apple had to pull iPadOS 18 for the new M4 iPad Pro models after it was released, plus it had to remove beta versions of watchOS 11.1 and the HomePod Software 18.1 because the software was causing significant issues.
Apple is not expected to stop offering yearly releases of the iPhone, but there are signs that it is holding updates on some other products. There was no new version of the Apple Watch SE this year (and it seems to be on a 3-year update cycle as of now), nor did Apple introduce a new Apple Watch Ultra, instead adding a new color for the Ultra 2.
Macs and iPads that are planned for 2025 will come at various points throughout the year and may not be tied to specific events like WWDC and the September iPhone event. Gurman has previously said Apple will introduce new MacBook Air models, new iPad Air models, and a new iPhone SE early in 2025, with a Mac Studio to follow in mid-2025 and a Mac Pro to come later.
Gurman suggests that continuing on with a staggered approach could result in more innovation thanks to fewer timing constraints, and that such a strategy would also make Apple less predictable, which is something that the company aims for.
Top Rated Comments
I am OK with staggered releases so things are more stable and focused, but do NOT provide them in marketing if they're not available at launch, or at least make it EXTREMELY clear it is not available at the time of purchase.
And as far as staggering software updates go, Apple already did it this year and it hasn’t worked out great so far given all the bugs, bricking, and such. I’d love to be wrong on all of this though.
I personally just want Apple to spend a year focusing on stability and polish in its software rather than innovation. There doesn’t have to be a ton of (arguably) unnecessary features for every major release. Maybe save those for every other year instead, with the year in between focusing on stability and polish, similar to the Leopard and Snow Leopard updates.