Why Apple’s iPad, and AirPod launches were a smart strategy shift

Resurrect beloved products? Continual surprises? What’s not to like? Leif Johnson reports

Iexpected ‘one more thing’ after Apple announced new iPads, AirPods and an updated iMac, and I was annoyed when I didn’t get it. Sure, I was disappointed, but my anticipation for another hardware refresh only proved that Apple’s experiment with dribbling out modest product releases is working.

On each of the first three days of the third week of March, Apple dropped updated versions of existing products with little of its typical fanfare or event theatrics. It began with the iPad mini and iPad Air, then on the Tuesday progressed to the iMac, and finally the AirPods on the Wednesday. Nobody would call these earthshaking updates. Certainly none would have made the crowds ooh and ahh during a keynote. You could even argue they were disappointing on some level.

But I’d started to look forward to them, as each drop suggested Apple was building to a crescendo. For that matter, each reveal kept Apple in the minds of the tech press for a whole week before Apple’s Show Time event, event in the face of news cycle competition from the likes of the Game Developers Conference, Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference, and standout news such as the reveal of Google’s ambitious Stadia service.

At first, it didn’t seem like Apple had any plans to slow the pace. It left me excited for more, and I’d like to see more of this kind of thing from Apple in the future.

A new release style for a new era

It’s a smart strategy, especially in an age when Apple’s line-up is increasingly crowded with spec-focused upgrades of older models that no longer have the flair of the so-called ‘game changers’ Apple used to reveal on stage.

First, the slow-roll strategy reminds onlookers of Apple’s past successes, which in turn helps generate optimism for unannounced projects. Secondly, the strategy helps Apple preserve the razzle-dazzle of new products – like a whole new streaming service, which

now can own the spotlight on Monday, untarnished by, well, old stuff. Thirdly, and most importantly, the slow roll gets everyone talking about Apple for several days in a row – and the hardware releases also deflected attention away from that whole Spotify thing.

Could Apple have done even better? Oh, without a doubt. By the time Wednesday rolled around, it was easy to believe Apple would maintain the momentum for the rest of the week. We found ourselves thinking that Thursday could bring the rumoured iPod touch refresh, and Friday could bring AirPower, though this has since been killed by Apple (see page 17).

It’s possible, of course, that Apple just didn’t have five days’ worth of hardware. Whatever the reason, its slow-roll proved that Apple hasn’t forgotten how to put on a good show.