Apple to Release Products 'When Ready,' Ending Annual Upgrade Cycle

Apple reportedly is abandoning its yearly upgrade cycle.

As its product line expands, Apple has found that it is not practical to update all products annually. Some products, such as the Apple Watch Ultra or iPhone SE, do not need to be updated so frequently. Apple has already deviated from its fall release schedule, choosing to release products when they are ready.

For many years, Apple has been updating its main products annually, and the market has become familiar with this process: previewing new software systems in June, then launching corresponding devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Macs in September and October. However, the timing of this major event is now changing.

According to Apple analyst Mark Gurman, Apple may abandon its annual product upgrade strategy. Gurman thinks that, despite all those advantages, Apple's release strategy has begun to show deficits: Apple's product line is now richer, including multiple iPhones, iPads, Macs, and AirPods. It is not practical to update all these products at a pace of once a year. In addition, some products (such as the Apple Watch Ultra or iPhone SE) do not need to be updated so frequently.

In fact, Apple has already deviated from its fall release schedule. In May of this year, Apple launched a new iPad, and in January 2023, it released a faster Mac and a redesigned HomePod. It sometimes also launches new Macs in June, such as the 15-inch MacBook Air at the 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference, and the 13-inch version the year before.

However, Apple seems to have to adopt a more flexible approach, that is, to release products when they are ready, and not release them if they are not ready.

Gurman pointed out that Apple's organizational structure is divided by function, hardware, software, and services, rather than setting up separate departments for each product category. This means that company engineers usually need to contribute to the entire product series. For example, the audio team not only needs to develop new headphones but also needs to provide work support for the speakers and acoustic effects of each Mac, Apple Watch, and iPhone.

In addition to all products, Apple also has a series of operating systems - iOS, macOS, visionOS, watchOS, tvOS, and iPadOS, as well as software running on AirPods and home devices. This makes it more difficult to launch all products on time.

Key New Feature Updates Have Been Forced to be Postponed

In recent years, Apple has often faced some embarrassing situations, because Apple has had to postpone some key new features in software updates for several weeks or months.

For example, Apple confidently announced product improvements at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June this year, but some features were postponed from September to December or even March of the following year. The latest software update also shows the pressure of Apple's release strategy. The current iPad operating system iPadOS 18 has almost no new features and includes a bug that causes some M4 iPad Pros to be unusable after installation. To solve this problem, Apple had to replace the hardware and withdraw the operating system, causing it to be unusable for two weeks. Apple is aware of this problem, and the pursuit of launching most new hardware and software products at once in the fall has caused too much pressure.

Pay Attention to Apple Intelligence

Gurman pointed out that for changes in Apple's release strategy, just pay attention to Apple Intelligence. When Apple released it in June this year, it implied that all its features would be launched gradually within a few months, and Apple CEO Tim Cook even admitted in a phone call with analysts that the release of Apple Intelligence features would be phased.

At present, Apple does not indicate the phased launch of the AI system in its marketing. It claims that the iPhone 16 is the first device built for Apple Intelligence, and its website and retail stores are full of new AI feature logos. However, the iPhone 16 released last month does not come with Apple Intelligence features.

In the past few years, Apple has avoided discussing features that are not ready. It does not want to promote the idea that upgrades are delayed. However, distributing the product launch time throughout the year, seems to be very positive, showing their flexibility in launching products.

In terms of hardware, it is obvious that some annual upgrades are not necessary. However, for competitive, financial, and marketing reasons, Apple may release a new iPhone every year, but now it is more flexible in the launch time of other products.

Apple did not release the Ultra 3 watch this year but added a new black color option for the Ultra 2. It also did not update the low-end model Apple Watch SE. This has focused attention on the flagship Series 10 watch, which has a new design and other new features.

The Ultra and SE watches will be updated in 2025, making the update cycle of these non-flagship series models two years. This is partly because Apple's hardware innovation has slowed down, so accumulating functions over two years for release can have a greater impact.

But there are other signs that Apple's releases are becoming more and more dispersed. The company plans to launch a number of hardware products in the first and second halves of next year. Given Apple's plan to make major updates to iOS 18 for most of 2025, this makes sense. It will help link the launch of new hardware products with the new software features of iOS 18.