Apple Broke a 13-Year Hardware Streak in 2024

For over a decade, Apple has consistently announced all-new hardware product lines, from the iPad in 2010 to the Vision Pro in 2023. But for the first time in 14 years, Apple failed to announce any major new hardware products in 2024, focusing solely on updates and refinements to its existing product lines.

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While Apple unveiled a large number of significant hardware refreshes in 2024, such as the redesigned iPad Pro and Mac mini, these were all evolutions of existing categories, not entirely new product lines. The only entirely new announcement of note, Apple Intelligence, was software-based and does not qualify as new hardware. This makes 2024 the first year since 2009 in which Apple did not release a completely new hardware product. Here's a look back at the major new products announced each year from 2010 to 2023:

2024 stands out for its lack of a new category, focusing instead on enhancing existing devices and introducing new software features.

It's worth noting that many of Apple's product lines have reached a high level of maturity. Instead of creating entirely new categories, Apple is seemingly doubling down on perfecting its existing lineup, as demonstrated by the introduction of OLED display technology to the ‌iPad Pro‌, the more refined design of the Apple Watch Series 10, or the M4 family of Apple silicon chips.

While ‌Apple Vision Pro‌ was announced in 2023, it did not launch until February 2024, and constitutes a major new "spatial computing" product line for the company. It demanded a whole new OS, accessory ecosystem, retail store space, and more. As a result, is likely that Vision Pro dominated Apple's focus in 2023 and 2024.

Similarly, Apple's pivot toward AI in the form of ‌Apple Intelligence‌ was announced in June 2024. ‌Apple Intelligence‌ seeks to reshape how users interact with their devices, introducing unprecedented levels of personalized automation and generation on Apple devices. Since ‌Apple Intelligence‌ exists solely as software for existing product lines, Apple focused on expanding ‌Apple Intelligence‌ support in 2024, exemplified by the introduction of the iPhone 16, ‌iPhone 16‌ Plus, and seventh-generation ‌iPad mini‌, as well as bumping the entire Mac lineup up to 16GB of memory as standard.

Apple's long-rumored, but ill-fated, electric vehicle project, may also have diverted substantial resources before its reported cancellation. This effort, combined with the monumental development demands of ‌Apple Intelligence‌ and the Vision Pro, likely consumed a significant portion of Apple's recent R&D capacity.

Moreover, Apple's 2024 product lineup is still likely feeling the lingering effects of the global slowdown during COVID-19, as most Apple products operate on a development cycle of two to four years. These overlapping factors may explain why 2024 lacked the introduction of an entirely new hardware product line.

Compounding this, the global tech market has seen slowing growth in consumer hardware, with many buyers opting to extend the lifecycle of their devices. It would therefore make sense that Apple has prioritized incremental upgrades such as the ‌Apple Pencil‌ Pro and fourth-generation AirPods, over launching new product categories that require significant consumer adoption and investment.

2025 is rumored to see the introduction of a smart home "Command Center" resembling a ‌HomePod‌ with a 7-inch display, which could constitute an all-new product line amid Apple's expected refocus on the smart home. Beyond this, no totally new hardware product lines are expected this year.

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Top Rated Comments

257Loner Avatar
27 weeks ago

2018: iPhone XS Max
I'd say 2024's new Mac mini was more monumental than 2018's iPhone XS Max.
Score: 99 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hamis92 Avatar
27 weeks ago
This list seems so arbitrary. If Thunderbolt Display, which was an update to the 27” LED Cinema Display changing the ports and the name but keeping the same design, made this list, the 2024 Mac mini, a far more significant update, should unquestionably be there too.
Score: 61 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sunapple Avatar
27 weeks ago
If XS Max counts then so does Apple Pencil Pro.
Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Anonymous Freak Avatar
27 weeks ago
Yeah, XS Max ain't a "new product line". It was just expanding the "X" product line into the larger size the same way they had been doing since the 6 Plus. Which you don't have in there, by the way. If you're going to call the 5C "a new product line" how is the 6 Plus not? It was the first time they bifurcated by screen size.

And heck, you can make this line of "years of new products" go back even further.
2009: Magic Mouse
2008: MacBook Air, LED Cinema Display (If you're going to include Thunderbolt,) Time Capsule
2007: iPhone, AppleTV, iPod touch
2006: Intel Macs, iPod HiFi
2005: iPod shuffle, iPod nano

If you define "new product line" simply enough, it's easy to get one per year. And your list definitely defines it simply enough.

This article is really reaching for relevance. I know this time of year is slow on news stories, but come on...
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThatsMeRight Avatar
27 weeks ago
Honestly, this list is so arbitrary.

2011: Thunderbolt display... one of many displays Apple released
2012: iPad mini... okay, sure... but it's literally just a variant of an iPad
2013: iPhone 5C... honestly just one of many iPhones released each year
2013: iPad Air... literally just a rebrand of the regular iPad
2015: hey, another iPad
2016: hey, another iPhone
2017: another iPhone and another Mac
2018: XS Max? Literally just a bigger version of the XS (which on its own is just an upgraded X)
2019: another display, another type of AirPods
2020: another type of AirPods... 'MagSafe' ecosystem (= farstretched, we're also not talking about the 'Lightning ecosystem' for example), again AirPods and HomePod
2022: another display and another Apple Watch

You could scrap half the list. Or you could double the list. It's all just so arbitrary. I mean... 'yes' to an iPhone 5C in 2013, multiple AirPods, multiple HomePods, etc. but 'no' to literally Apple's thinnest product ever (the iPad Pro in 2024) with tandom OLED tech?! And Apple Card?!!

If you want to be really critical, the list could also look more like this:

2007: iPhone
2010: iPad
2014: Apple Watch
2023: Apple Vision Pro

And the last one, while announced a bit earlier, was only released in 2024 and honestly should be counted for 2024 as well.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
uczcret Avatar
27 weeks ago
This article feels a lot like bait for the "Apple doesn't innovate anymore" crowd...
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)