Apple has never really done that (at least in the post Jobs return era). They demonstrate what their intention is… then release the device. Zip, except maybe some WWDC stuff in-between.
Which makes sense: Apple is Product Vision & UX focused, Meta (and most other companies) are Product Delivery & User Consumption focused.
Neither is wrong, they’re just aiming at different goals.
The trashcan Mac Pro desktop was heavily promoted to tech journalists before release to try and keep pro users from abandoning Apple. IPads and iPhones were going gangbusters then, and Apple had gone a long time without refreshing the Mac Pro. The common sentiment was Apple no longer cared about professionals that required workstation-level performance. IIRC, this was in the aftermath of the release of a neutered Final Cut Pro which seemed to cater more to prosumers than pros, since it removed key features.
The intention was to signal pros to hang in there, and then the trashcan got released and had perf issues with throttling due to thermal challenges. Good times.
They had one meeting where they told journalists they were not going to abandon the pro market space. This was when the trashcan had been out for a long time. Too long in fact.
> The intention was to signal pros to hang in there, and then the trashcan got released
No, the trashcan was released way before that meeting. One of the things discussed in the meeting was limitations of the trash can form factor.
I'm afraid you're referring to yet another Mac Pro marketing push that came later (for the 2019 "Lattice" / cheese grater redux version).
I just looked up the dates & it lines up with my recollection and initial comment: the previous refresh (pre-trashcan) was in 2010. The Final Cut "Pro" X release that frustrated video professionals came out in 2011 and the trashcan itself was finally released in 2013. A lot of loyal video pros abandoned Apple for the Adobe/PC ecosystem in that era.
Definitely a stronger push around it for sure tho.
(I still say it was a great design, they just best on the wrong direction of chip/etc tech with it so it rapidly got useless)
Great insight
They ship hardware & software, but their core product feature for each is the design of it. Both individually and as a whole ecosystem.
It’s actually kind of incredible they’ve done so well at this after Jobs & Ive left. Speaks to their culture.
”Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like,” says Steve Jobs, Apple’s C.E.O. ”People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
The Guts of a New Machine: https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/30/magazine/the-guts-of-a-ne...
Even exquisitely-designed things aren't right for everybody, which is fine. I also personally like old-fashioned clicky 2-button mice like my Logitech M720.
(The one item on your list that isn't a "different strokes for different folks" thing isn't something I've ever experienced with my Mac minis, FWIW.)
I would say a “taste” company.
They are not competing goals.
All companies have to show progress.
Apple can afford to show finished products because it has multiple product lines. At any given time, at least one product line is shipping a finished version.
Meta, on the other hand, won't be shipping a finished product for their pitch ("Meta"-verse) anytime soon. So they have to be content with work-in-progress.
They are competing focuses however. Obviously they can all be satisfied, but you can’t focus on all of it. Otherwise it becomes “everything is a priority, so nothing is”.
I’ve worked at places that tried that. It’s foolhardy & doomed.
And it’s a pretty rare thing to have that mode of failure for them.
That sticks out as one of the worst delays between announcement and shipping I can recall in Apple's history (~10 months and multiple delays).
> https://venturebeat.com/mobile/apple-explains-white-iphone-d...
Very fascinating from a material science standpoint
The home button and the bezel were made by different manufacturers IIRC, and the two plastics aged/coloured at different rates.
It took them ages to get it such that the button and bezel will colour match perfectly.
Easy to do with black, very difficult with white.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2010/06/apple-delays-white-i...
Apple Maps.
I still remember the hilarity.
https://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/607-ios-maps-fail....
They didn’t. So not a counter example.
I think that fairly counts as a "marketing ploy"? Apple is so good at it that folks that folks don't even realize what is happening.
Compare with Meta: pretty sure this is the 3rd “sneak peak” cycle on this hardware in the last couple of months.
The product is complete and it's just about ramping up production and sending stock to retail stores.
Tldr when your goal is to exploit peoples time you are reactive more than innovative, less secrets other than understanding human nature. When the goal like apple is to create the sleekest highest status product, it must be original and based on more objective standards (like aesthetics)
Meta cannot. Basically nobody can. Meta must drum up interest and hype to get people continuing to care about vr.