There was a time when everyone thought they make love what an Apple product launching look like . The archetypal Apple product launch was Steve Jobs standing on a stage in San Francisco in front of a large crew , foretell another world - changing product .
That was never actually true . Even before Jobs ’s sickness force other Apple EXEC into the spot , Apple had different level of product launch . I ’ve sat in the front row of a huge gang of fan at Macworld Expo , way off to the side among raucous Apple developers at the Worldwide Developer Conference ( WWDC ) , in the back row behind high muckamuck at the Steve Jobs Theater , and crowded into diminutive seats with other members of the press at Apple ’s previous intimate Town Hall briefing center at Infinite Loop . Not to cite weird one - off localization in place like Chicago and Brooklyn . Different upshot have different sapidity .
But when the pandemic arrived in 2020 , Apple was forced to rethink things . springy consequence were insufferable to have , so Apple alternate gear mechanism and commence produce video “ issue ” while briefing the appendage of the media by videoconference .
But now we ’re entering a new phase . So far in 2022 , Apple has hold two “ in - mortal ” events at its Apple Park campus . hearsay are strong that more Apple Cartesian product proclamation are imminent . But what will that have in mind in practice ? Is Apple going to ask round people to Apple Park again ? Will there be a video ? Will there only be a military press release ? It all depend on which tier up of Apple product announcement this month ’s products fit into .
WWDC and the iPhone result are the two event you’re able to always weigh on each year .
Apple
Tier 1: The heavy hitters
Apple ’s top two events of the class , every year , are WWDC and the launching of the iPhone . The former is important because it ’s Apple ’s luck to set the agenda for all of its software program platforms for the next year . The latter is important because , well , the iPhone is directly creditworthy for half of Apple ’s job and indirectly responsible for even more .
These events , once live , were entirely video - establish in 2022 , and at this dot , I have a hard time find Apple ever going back to a full - on level presentation like what we see in 2019 . Perhaps there will be a alive component part , but I ’d think that even these events will be 80 or 90 percent pre - recorded , if not 100 percent .
However , Apple bringing people to the Apple Park campus for the events shows that the company does want to make a bigger pile out of these upshot . bring a small group of favourable developer on campus for WWDCallows the event to keep its focuswithout take that Apple rent out a formula centre and manage thousands of the great unwashed .
As for the iPhone launch , one of the best features of that effect is that all of the strong-arm attender – media , analyst , VIPs , and the rest – can choke the Steve Jobs Theater and immediately pick up and wield the young ironware . It ’s an important part of the problem , and by inviting a group , Apple can let out a large number of influential masses to their fresh merchandise in a short amount of metre – all more than a hebdomad before the product are usable in store .
Apple has gone back to host upshot , but the presentment is pre - memorialise . The value in go is the hands - on section after the keynote .
Jason Snell / Foundry
Tier 2: Seeing is believing
Not every Apple case has been an all - stop - out affair . All those Town Hall events were emphatically 2nd - tier up , and the iPad and Mac - theme event in places like Brooklyn and Chicago were likewise reduced in cathode-ray oscilloscope . The truth is , nothing is the iPhone except the iPhone . However , even with reduced press interest , sometimes Apple can really benefit by make a big group of multitude get their hands on the product in advance .
This is a tricky category . The products being acquaint demand to carry enough free weight to make it worth the while of attendees to journey to a locale . They require to be different enough from retiring Apple products to make the hands - on expanse worth it . ( If all Apple is stick in is computer selfsame to the previous year ’s mannequin but with a unlike chip inside , the work force - on field is going to be a snooze . )
If the rumors about what Apple has in store for later this month are precise , it seems unlikely to me that they would reach this tier . As exciting as raise M2 laptops and Mac mini models might be , those Modern chips are better explain in a Johny Srouji video .
Tier 3: What’s the event?
The next tier up down is for products that are interesting but do n’t really rise to the dot of requiring a enceinte mathematical group to come to Cupertino to use a post - event helping hand - on region . Examples would be the March 2019 intromission of fresh iMacs and the November 2019 introduction of the 16 - inch MacBook Pro with Magic Keyboard . Both merchandise launches sport “ consequence ” of a sort – but they were with member of the media , behind closed door and under an trade stoppage . The next day , a crush dismissal hail out , along with stories by those members of the press .
Here ’s the one post - pandemic wrinkle : Apple ’s engender very good at making videos , and videos are better than pressing release . Last year , Apple defy an October eventwith modest announcementsand a video that was less than an 60 minutes long . This calendar month ’s rumored announcement feel a little more in line with this scenario : A video event announcing new products , followed by behind - the - scenes briefings with invite press .
Rumor says that Apple will before long update the 14- and 16 - inch MacBook Pro , but Apple will just issue a pressing waiver for the announcement .
IDG
Tier 4: Please visit Apple Newsroom
And then there ’s the rest . For less exciting product announcement , Apple believably wo n’t bother with videos and will just mail pictures and words on their press situation , the Apple Newsroom . But these days , given Apple ’s capacity to conquer an audience with their expertly - produced videos , I would imagine that this path will be limited to the most minor of ware proclamation .
The in-betweeners
In this new epoch of Apple events , the existent question for me is what the doorstep is for an annunciation that ’s suitable of a TV event – when Apple invites hoi polloi a calendar week in betterment and streams a video . Is a handful of new Macs and a couple of young iPads worth that ? Does tier 3 even exist ? I would guess that the solvent is yes , but I suppose we ’re about to witness out .
Maybe I ’m just too enthusiastic about Apple ’s newfangled video recording rolling - out strategy . But if I were in the shoes of Apple ’s marketing folk music , I would strongly prefer glow an minute - foresighted commercial annunciation into the eyes of an awaiting public to a press release combined with a gang of articles and video from members of the medium . After all , we members of the media ca n’t be relied on to stick to Apple ’s messaging – but Apple ’s TV can .
In any event – or no consequence , I suppose – I’m delirious to see what Apple ’s got cooking this evenfall . I go for my invitation – in whatever form it takes – isn’t lost in the mail .
Read more about the Apple October Event and whether it will happen here : Apple ’s October event : Will it bechance and what could establish ?
