Signal: An M5 Smack in the Face 📧
As expected (and previewed by Apple execs yesterday), a few new Apple products quietly hit today via press releases (no videos I've seen yet). And they're all about the new M5 chip: MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, Vision Pro.
Again, nothing too surprising, except perhaps how they're actually showing more specs for the iPad Pro? Or the fact that there's no trade-in option for the first Vision Pro to "upgrade" here. That seemingly doesn't speak well to demand for a used version of the very inconvenient (but still technologically impressive) device. But you'd think the fact that Apple didn't lower the price of the Vision Pro from the silly $3,500 would have opened a market for, say, a $1,999 pre-owned M2 Vision Pro? I mean, it still wouldn't have sold well, but maybe some enterprises and/or developers would have bought them?
It's also just an extraordinary middle finger to those of us who went out and bought the Vision Pro on day one like schmucks. Granted, we went in eyes wide open, literally. But still, you'd think Apple would want to keep those early adopters most interested in the ecosystem by giving them some sort of upgrade deal? But nope, not Apple.
Not even a free new Y-band – sorry, "Dual Knit Band". You want Apple's admission that their initial straps weren't any good while this one is actually "comfortable"? That'll be $99. Basically: enjoy your newly slow and outdated Vision Pro, losers.
I Wrote...
M.G. Siegler
Take One...
🗣️ Eddy Cue on Apple's Hollywood Goals – Kudos to Matt Belloni for trying like hell to get Cue to say something interesting about Apple's strategy, but all we really get is something along the lines of the goal is "to make good movies" (which, subjectively they really did not until F1) and "good TV shows" (which, subjectively they have) and some variation of the standard Apple talking point about the focus being on "the best, not the most" (or "first", in the case of many of Apple's devices). The biggest headline was probably Cue saying that Apple TV – the artist formerly known as Apple TV+ – has "significantly more" than the estimated 40M to 45M subscribers. Oh yes, and some color around said name change which amounted to a variation of my opening paragraph on the news (there was no non-plus, so why was it 'plus'?). Of course, there is a non-plus on the hardware and app side, but Cue seemed almost flippant on that – could that be a sign the Apple TV set top box will get a name change? And, of course, he danced around the notion that they could buy Warner Bros Discovery, which almost reads like that his thoughts might be different if Paramount doesn't buy them and the studio separates... He also deflected a question about their non-moves in podcasting, which was interesting given today's news about Netflix and... [The Ringer]
I Quote...
"We're hearing that some criminals are stopping dealing drugs and moving on to the phone business because it's more lucrative."
– Sarah Jones, the UK's policing minister, talking about the stolen phone epidemic in London. Amazingly, it sounds like one phone (seemingly with 'Find My' still enabled) was able to locate thousands of others which led to arrests which may have shut down the main pipeline of the thefts.
As someone who had my iPhone swiped out of my hands in broad daylight on the streets of London, I hope so!
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