Apple’s newest devices target markets led by smaller rivals
Apple unveiled a series of new products Tuesday that showed how it continues to center its marketing pitch on consumer privacy — at the potential expense of other companies — while muscling into new markets pioneered by much smaller competitors.
In an hour-long infomercial that was streamed from its Silicon Valley headquarters, Apple showed off a new high-end iPad and an iMac desktop computer based on new computer processors that Apple makes itself. The company also said it was redesigning its podcast app, which competes with companies such as Spotify, to enable creators to charge for their shows. And it revealed the AirTag, a $29 disc that attaches to key rings or wallets so they can be found if lost.
But after its product show, Apple made other news that could have far more significant, industrywide implications. The company said in a news release that it planned to release highly anticipated iPhone software next week with a privacy feature that worries digital-advertising companies, most notably Facebook.
The feature will require apps to get explicit permission from users before tracking them across other apps. As a result, when opening many apps next week, owners of iPhones will see popup windows that ask them whether to allow that tracking. Companies that rely on digital advertising are expected to gather less data about users as people decline the tracking.
Apple and Facebook have been locked in a war of words over the change, with Facebook arguing that it will hurt the digital advertising that helps fund free internet services. Apple has said it is merely giving consumers the right to choose whether to be tracked.
Companies like Facebook often rely on details about users and their online behavior to show them advertising that is intended to be tailored to their interests.
On Tuesday, Apple’s AirTag drew criticism from Tile, a company that for years has made similar devices for finding lost items. “We welcome competition, as long as it is fair competition,” said CJ Prober, Tile’s CEO. “Unfortunately, given Apple’s well-documented history of using its platform advantage to unfairly limit competition for its products, we’re skeptical.”
Tile has accused Apple of anti-competitive practices since Apple began working on a competing product. Last year, Tile’s general counsel testified to Congress that, shortly after reports that Apple was working on similar gadgets surfaced, Apple pulled Tile’s devices from its stores and made it more difficult for them to work with iPhones.